Alex Dowsett (Movistar) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Tour of Britain’s stage 3 time trial at Knowsley will have a familiar feel to it for Alex Doswett (Movistar), given that his very first competitive pedal strokes came in ten-mile time trials.
The 16-kilometre Knowsley test is also the perfect distance for another British time triallist, however. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) has a similar grounding to Dowsett and the 2012 Tour de France winner lines up as the favourite for stage victory.
“I’m under no illusions that Brad is the man to beat here. He’s shown some terrific form lately,” said Dowsett, who beat Wiggins to win the Giro d'Italia time trial to Saltara in May. “But if he has a bad day – if something goes wrong or if he falters in any way – then I can be snapping at his heels.”
Wiggins and Dowsett are Great Britain’s representatives in the time trial at the world championships in Florence next week. While Dowsett is hopeful that he can better his 8th place from last year’s event, he acknowledged that Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara, Tony Martin and Taylor Phinney are the favourites for the podium places. “It could be good for me but they’re the guys to beat,” he said.
