UCI Road World Championships 2022 - Men's elite individual time trial preview

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Event: Men's elite individual time trial

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2022

Distance: 34.2km

Timing: 1:40-17:00 AEST

The second event of the 2022 Road World Championships is the men's elite individual time trial on Sunday September 18. It will set up the winner of the last two titles in the discipline, Filippo Ganna (Italy), against the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) – fresh from his Vuelta a España triumph – Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), Ethan Hayter (Great Britain) and Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland).

The 34.2km time trial course will look very familiar for those who have just watched the preceding women's elite event as, in a first, both are running on the same day, over the same distance and on the same course. 

The circuit, which riders will race through two laps of, is centered on Wollongong and weaves its way through and around the coastal city, providing a corner heavy circuit, with the count at around 30 per lap. There is a smoother run into the finish line once the course returns to the coast. The clock will start on Market Street, which is only just around the corner from the finish line, by the water, and then it goes west toward the Wollongong Botanical Gardens. After that is is a small climb as the course heads off a small section on Mount Ousley Rd and onto the adjacent Dumfries Ave. The climb peaks at the 7.2km-mark into the time trial, also delivering the first intermediate time check.

It is then time to head back to the east, but not all the way yet, as first there is a leg that juts north to Towradgi. After that the coastal run-in  toward the first pass of the line gives the specialists a chance to open up before they  reach the Flagstaff HIll lighthouse, at around the 17km point.

After that comes a second lap and a second pass through the Dumfries Avenue time check at 24.5km, before pushing through the last section to see just how far up the rankings they will be once they pass the Marine Drive finish line for the second and final time.