2013 Tour de france champion Chris Froome (Sky) takes a strong pull at the head of the peloton(Image credit: Oran Kelly / PhotoSport International)
With the countdown clock at zero, Team Sky begins its team time trial.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Geraint Thomas was one of four Sky riders to crack the top-10 in the Dauphiné time trial(Image credit: Sirotti)
Team Sky will be without Bradley Wiggins for the team time trial world championship but the British squad will field six strong riders from its Tour de France winning team, including yellow jersey winner Chris Froome, Richie Porte and pursuit specialist Geraint Thomas.
Wiggins is close to securing victory at the Tour of Britain and an overlap between the British stage race and the world team time championships means he is unable to be part of the six-rider Team Sky line-up. However he will ride the individual time trial on Wednesday and then give support to Chris Froome in next Sunday's Elite men road race.
Team Sky is hoping the combined strength of Froome, Porte, Thomas plus Edvald Boasson Hagen, Vasil Kiryienka and Kanstantsin Siutsou will have the power and balance to secure them a place on the final podium.
Froome and Porte are back in Europe after along spell training in Colorado. Froome seemed unsure of his form just a few days after returning to Europe but was upbeat about Team Sky's chances.
"I think on a good day we can run a podium," he told Cyclingnews after warming down after reconnaissance of the 57km time trial route.
"It's fast, really fast. Like any team time trial it's going to very rapid. It should be about an hour long effort. We've got a decent team here: a couple of guys who rode the Vuelta, a couple of guys who trained specifically for this."
Thomas happy to back in Tuscany
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Geraint Thomas lived and raced in Tuscany with the Great Britain Under 23 Academy before becoming one of the best team pursuit and time trial riders in the sport. He liked the flat and fast course and is looking forward to using his track power and aerodynamics to use in the team time trial.
"It's super fast, it's like riding the track because its super smooth," the Welshman told Cyclingnews before heading back to the team hotel.
"I'm looking forward to it. I know al the roads except in the centre of Florence, so it's nice to be back."
"It'll suit big engines who can ride fast on the flat. I think we've got a good team for that. Everyone can ride fast. It's always different trying to put out the power on a TT bike on the flat but I can that thanks to the track and so can these guys."
Like many, Thomas is fascinated by the close battle and the spectacular racing the team time trial event always produces. Team Sky has done little specific preparation but all six riders here in Tuscany were in the Team Sky Tour de France squad.
"I think we'll be there or thereabouts," Thomas predicted.
"We haven't do much specific work for it. But we all rode the Tour de France and so have that experience. We've all been around and done it before. We all know what to do. One of the fascinating thing about team time trials is that no one team has ever dominated. There's always a scrap between four or five teams."
"Hopefully we'll win it but it's between us, BMC, Orica has some big units. RadioShack has got some strong guys but I'm not sure on their strength in depth, Garmin will be there. It's the usual suspects."
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).
