2016 World Road Cycling Championships
83rd edition: Oct 9 - Oct 16, 2016, Doha, Qatar
Elite Women's Team Time Trial
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Sunday, October 9: Women's Team Time Trial / Contre-la montre par équipes femmes, 40 km
The winning Boels-Dolmans team streaks across the hot desert.
The Race: Note, the day's extreme heat hit the riders hard with one heat-induced crash and several riders needing medical help after the race.
Here's the story from the winners, Boels Dolmans:
When Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team set goals for the 2016 season, winning the team time trial title ranked atop the list of lofty ambitions team manager Danny Stam set out to achieve. The Dutch-registered squad had come close last year, missing out on the top step of the podium by a mere six seconds to Velocio-SRAM in Richmond, Virginia.
Fueled both by last year’s loss and this season’s success, Chantal Blaak, Karol-Ann Canuel, Lizzie Deignan (née Armitstead), Christine Majerus, Evie Stevens and Ellen van Dijk delivered, stopping the clock at 48:41:62 after a steamy, sticky 40-kilometre effort.
That effort proved plenty fast enough for the world title with a time that was 48-seconds faster than CANYON//SRAM and nearly two minutes quicker than Cérvelo-Bigla in third. The win in Doha, Qatar on Sunday was the 40th win of the season for Boels-Dolmans.
“We’ve worked hard all season,” said Deignan. “We’ve shown ourselves to be the most dominant team in women’s cycling, and it was really important to us to finish off the season with this medal. It’s been a long season, and I’m so proud of how the team came together.
Boels-Dolmans was the second to last team to power down the start ramp. Only eight teams contested the the team time trial in the Qatari desert, with many teams citing the high travel-related costs as a reason not to make the trip. The opening kilometres were the most technical with 14 corners to contend with before the first intermediate check at the 13.6-kilometre mark.
Clocking a time of 17:10.84, Boels-Dolmans was fastest at the first check until CANYON//SRAM reached the marker. With a time of 17:01.43, the four-time defending champions had the upper-hand by eight seconds.
“It’s never nice to know you’re behind, but I knew we need to stick to our plan,” said Van Dijk. “There’s nothing else you can really do anyway.”
By the second intermediate check, the table had turned. At 26.4 kilometres, Boels-Dolmans led CANYON//SRAM by 14-seconds.
“We knew were in a good way when we heard that,” Van Dijk noted. “We were 14-seconds ahead on the second after being eight-seconds behind on the first, so we were 22-seconds faster than CANYON on the straights. That’s when I knew we were having a faster speed, which was good for the head coming into the finish.”
Seven kilometres from the finish, Boels-Dolmans still had all six riders motoring toward the finish line. Canuel and Majerus would sacrifice themselves in the closing kilometres, leaving Blaak, Deignan, Stevens and Van Dijk to drive it home.
“I was confident they could finish it off, but you never know until the end,” said Majerus. “I was super happy when I crossed the finish line and saw the times. That’s when I knew we had done it.”
Complete Results from the UCI:
40 kilometers raced at an average speed of 49.299 km/hr
| Rank | Name | Nat. | Result |
| 1 | BOELS DOLMANS CYCLINGTEAM | NED | 48min 41.0sec |
| Chantal BLAAK | |||
| Karol-Ann CANUEL | |||
| Elizabeth DEIGNAN | |||
| Christine MAJERUS | |||
| Evelyn STEVENS | |||
| Ellen VAN DIJK | |||
| 2 | CANYON SRAM RACING | GER | +48sec |
| Alena AMIALIUSIK | |||
| Hannah BARNES | |||
| Lisa BRENNAUER | |||
| Elena CECCHINI | |||
| Mieke KROEGER | |||
| Trixi WORRACK | |||
| 3 | CERVELO BIGLA PRO CYCLING TEAM | GER | +1:57.00 |
| Ciara HORNE | |||
| Lisa KLEIN | |||
| Lotta LEPISTÖ | |||
| Ashleigh MOOLMAN-PASIO | |||
| Joelle NUMAINVILLE | |||
| Stephanie POHL | |||
| 4 | BEPINK | ITA | +2:46.00 |
| Amber NEBEN | |||
| Francesca PATTARO | |||
| Ilaria SANGUINETI | |||
| Silvia VALSECCHI | |||
| Georgia WILLIAMS | |||
| Olga ZABELINSKAYA | |||
| 5 | TWENTY16 - RIDEBIKER | USA | +2:47.00 |
| Kristin ARMSTRONG | |||
| Allie DRAGOO | |||
| Chloe DYGERT | |||
| Annie FOREMAN-MACKEY | |||
| Alison JACKSON | |||
| Leah THOMAS | |||
| 6 | HITEC PRODUCTS | NOR | +3:24.00 |
| Charlotte BECKER | |||
| Cecilie Gotaas JOHNSEN | |||
| Julie LETH | |||
| Emilie MOBERG | |||
| Thea THORSEN | |||
| Kirsten WILD | |||
| 7 | BTC CITY LJUBLJANA | SLO | +3:43.00 |
| Polona BATAGELJ | |||
| Eugenia BUJAK | |||
| Corinna LECHNER | |||
| Olena PAVLUKHINA | |||
| Anna PLICHTA | |||
| Mia RADOTIC | |||
| 8 | RABOLIV WOMENCYCLINGTEAM | NED | +6:03.00 |
| Shara GILLOW | |||
| Roxane KNETEMANN | |||
| Anouska KOSTER | |||
| Katarzyna NIEWIADOMA | |||
| Moniek TENNIGLO | |||
| Anna VAN DER BREGGEN |
Women's team time trial photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:
Team BePink
BTC City Ljubljana
Canyon-SRAM
Cervelo-Bigla
Team RaboLiv
Team Hitec
The winning Boels-Dolmans team
Just another bikie named Eddie hanging out at the races
The winners, Boels-Dolmans