Movistar rider feels his Hour Record attempt may hold him back
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Alex Dowsett (Movistar) is a happy man on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The men's podium: Edmund Bradbury, Alex Dowsett and Ryan Perry(Image credit: Simon Wilkinson / SWpix.com)
Alex Dowsett celebrates his stage win on the podium(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Alex Dowsett celebrates his first GC victory(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alex Dowsett (Movistar) set the new Hour Record at the Manchester Velodrome
Alex Dowsett was the last rider out on the time trial course at the British road championships on Thursday, so didn't have that nervy wait that some have to endure before they find out they've won. He is, however, on tenterhooks over whether he has made it into Movistar's nine-man roster for the Tour de France, something he concedes is touch and go.
"I'd say it’s 50/50 whether I'm going to go or not," Dowsett told Cyclingnews after pulling on his fourth national champion's jersey. "I'm good on the flat, not very good on the climbs. If I don't go I wont be happy but I'll know I've done everything I can within the time frame."
Movistar's ambitions at the Tour revolve around Nairo Quintana’s bid for the yellow jersey – with Alejandro Valverde a back-up general classification option – and Dowsett would be going as a pure domestique, despite the short opening time trial in Utrecht.
The 26-year-old has had a successful season so far, breaking the UCI Hour Record and winning the first stage race of his career at Bayern Rundhfart, both in May. However, it is that former, most notable achievement that Dowsett fears may in fact work against him when it comes to Tour selection.
"My problem is that everyone has been preparing all year for the Tour de France," he said. "The only thing I should have done differently is not doing the Hour, if I wanted a pure focus on the Tour.
"I wouldn’t have changed this year at all but the Hour record took some getting over. My body composition was different than I expected, I was 3-4 kilos heavier, had a lot of muscle on me that I didn't need for going up a mountain, so it's been difficult turning that around."
After the Hour Record, Dowsett raced the Bayern Rundfahrt and tried to get in the sort of shape required for a mountainous three-week Grand Tour, shaving off muscle that had built up particularly on his back.
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He then raced both the Critérium du Dauphiné – where he pulled out on stage 6 – and then Route du Sud in order to prove himself to the Movistar management. While he admits he was sluggish on the climbs at the Dauphiné, he was pleased with his form and the way he was able to support Quintana at the Route du Sud.
"In both races I was very good on the flat," he told Cyclingnews. "I could keep Valverde and Quintana up the near the front when they needed to be, which I know went down well.
"But in the Dauphiné I was useless on the climbs, but then better in the Route du Sud. So [there was] improvement but it's just whether it's enough."
Despite Dowsett's eagerness to go to the Tour, it wouldn't be a season-defining blow were he to miss out. He insists he wouldn't have changed the structure that brought him that Hour Record and that if it were to be over tomorrow his season would be a qualified success.
"I've done everything in my power. If nothing else happens this year, I've won my first stage race, I've won a stage of a stage race, I've won nationals, taken the Hour record. It's been a good season if nothing else happens.
"Obviously I'll be disappointed if I don't go to the Tour but I know I'd have done what I can."
Dowsett signed with Movistar for 2013 and was dropped straight into his first Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia, where he impressed with a huge victory on the long 54.8km time trial. He beat Bradley Wiggins and other esteemed names that day and given the nature of the performance, and the reputation he has built for himself, it is perhaps surprising he hasn't ridden a Grand Tour since.
"Last year I was more or less in the Tour de France, and I just got ill on day two of the Tour de Suisse," he said. "It was a choice of two evils – I could have either have pulled out and recovered but then risked not going, or finish the Tour de Suisse and hope the cold would go, but it just didn't shift.
"Movistar have been incredible to me, when they picked me up in 2013 they said 'we'll stick you straight in a Grand Tour that suits you', which was the Giro, 'and then you'll do the Tour de France the year after'. I was in that Tour until I got ill – I wouldn't have taken me if I was them either."
Dowsett’s season will take shape in the next couple of days but either way he’ll be looking ahead to the world road championships in Richmond in September and a time trial course that he reckons will play to his strengths.
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Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
