Tony Martin (Germany) will bring up the rear in the elite men's time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, but as in the other fields, the winning time may be one the defending champion cannot match, with the testing ascent of Mount Fløyen set to challenge the peloton.
The 31km route begins with a route similar to the junior women's short lap, with riders heading off down the Festplassen toward Lake Tveitevannet and then returning to the Bergen city centre, leaving out the difficult Birkelundsbakken ascent that punished the elite women and U23 and junior men's fields. They will pass over a section of cobblestones and head out for a second lap.
The riders then head up the Vetrlidsallmenningen for the second time to prepare to leave the circuit to ascend the 3.4-kilometre climb of Mount Fløyen.
It is here that the most important decision of the race will be made: do the riders swap their aerodynamic but heavier time trial machines for lightweight climbing bikes?
The UCI has allowed bike swaps and will roll out a 20m-long stretch of carpet to allow riders to change if they wish without slipping on the pavement.
The unusual course could swing the favour away from traditional time trial specialists like Martin, Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain), Tour de France stage winner Maciej Bodnar (Poland) and maybe even Rohan Dennis (Australia) and into the hands of Grand Tour riders like Chris Froome (Great Britain), who heads off third to last.
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) will be chasing Froome all the way, keen to make good on his status of race favourite, and he will have good measures along the way from teammate Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands), who starts earlier.
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