Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) at speed(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Members of the Liquigas-Cannondale team, including Ivan Basso, Ted King, Peter Sagan and Eros Capecchi, have spent a day on the covered track in Brescia to perfect their positions on their new time trial bikes.
The riders had already undergone biomechanical studies and worked on their positions during the team’s training camps in Sardinia but the controlled conditions of the track allowed team coach Paolo Slongo, team doctor Roberto Corsetti and directeur sportif Stefano Zanatta to further tweak the riders' positions.
Paolo Longo Borghini was the first on track at 9:30 in the morning, followed by Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan. Eros Capecchi, Damiano Caruso, Davide Cimolai, Ted King, Paolo Longo Borghini, Alan Marangoni, Maciej Paterski, Simone Ponzi, Juraj Sagan, Cristiano Salerno, Elia Viviani and Cameron Wurf were all scheduled for time on the boards during a long day of testing.
The Liquigas-Cannondale team knows a good result in team time trials is vital for success in major stage races, while a perfect time trial position could help riders like Sagan in prologue time trials. He finished fifth in last year’s Paris-Nice prologue, just ten seconds slower than winner Lars Boom.
“The testing was an important test for the new riders and helped the others perfect their position,” Slongo said. “The theoretical and the practical changes have given us some useful feedback and will help us during the season.”
The riders covered laps of the Italian track at a set pace and then compared power outputs after making changes to their position and equipment. Basso tested a new Rudy Project helmet, making sure it fitted well while he was in his tucked aero position.
“The test confirmed that the position that I’ve got is pretty good. It’s aerodynamic and allows me get to get everything out. We’ve got a new helmet that works really well but I didn’t change my position because it works for me,” Basso told Gazzetta dello Sport.
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The 13 riders will travel to Tenerife on Thursday for a 12-day high-altitude training camp.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
