Barta, Smukulis to bring national titles to Tour de France

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Three more riders, Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura), Peter Velits (BMC) and Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) will bring national time trial championship jerseys to the Tour de France after winning their titles this week, as countries around the world hold their national championships.

Neighbors Czech Republic and Slovakia held their race on the same course in the Czech town Slavkov u Brna. Barta set the fastest time on the 40km course with a 55:38, while Velits won the Slovakian title with the second fastest time, 56:09.

"It feels very good to have another victory, but it would have been a big disappointment if I did not win," Velits said. "I felt pretty good about my form in comparing my time to Jan Barta of NetAapp-Endura, who is usually one of the top-10 time trialists in the world."

Barta is showing strong form ahead of the Tour, where he will support teammate Leopold König in the general classification. "Jan rode a very strong race and he has proven once again, that he is able to deliver a top-result in every time trial this season. Today, we just saw another confirmation of his form towards the Tour de France," NetApp directeur sportif Enrico Poitschke said.

Trek Factory Racing added another national title to its roster with the victory of Fumiyuki Beppu. He joined teammates Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) and Laurent Didier (Luxembourg) in becoming national champion in the time trial, but did not make the Tour de France squad.

It was the third time trial title for Beppu, who had to lug all of his gear from France to Japan for the championships, and hopes to make the trip even more worthwhile by winning the road title on Sunday.

"It’s really a big challenge to do the Nationals, but I like it," Beppu said. "I’m proud of my country and I will wear the jersey with a lot of respect. That’s also why I want to win Sunday. But it will not be easy. Three years ago, on the same course, I was in the break. But the peloton was controlling the gap very well and they caught us back. Then luckily I won in a sprint.”

See photos from the Japanese time trial in the gallery above.

More National Championship Time Trial Results