With two days remaining, the time trial through Worcestershire’s plum-growing country left the Tour of Britain perfectly poised, with the two strongest individuals, Mathieu van der Poel and Matteo Trentin, divided by just six seconds after Van der Poel regained the lead and the stage victory went to Trentin’s teammate, the unheralded but talented first year Italian professional Edoardo Affini.
Last year’s Italian under-23 time trial and road race champion, Affini began the day in 99th overall, more than half an hour behind his leader Trentin, and was the 12th man to roll down the start ramp, which meant that having posted the fastest time he had to wait almost two hours for Trentin and Van der Poel to finish before being certain of his second victory of his debut season.
From a start and finish close to Pershore Abbey, the rolling route looped through the Worcestershire countryside, initially on relatively narrow roads with a series of technical corners, towards the end on a wider main road.
The wind blew throughout, but Affini gauged his effort best, posting a relatively slow time at the halfway time check and, as he had planned, finishing strongest in a time of 16min 39sec. “I saw the main road, saw the cross wind, and thought that was where you could make the difference.”
“The last proper time trial I rode was when I was a junior, so I’m more than satisfied,” said Van der Poel. “I kind of surprised myself.” He and Trentin posted identical times at the halfway point, but Trentin rode a classic sprinter’s time trial, a fast start and a slow fade late on.
“I was expecting to lose more, it’s not the end of the world,” he said, well aware that there are plenty of bonus seconds on offer on Friday and Saturday.
In theory, Van der Poel will be more at home on the four climbs in the final 40 kilometres on Friday, and the uphill run to the finish near Warwick, while Saturday’s flatter run-in to the chequered flag on Manchester’s Deansgate favours Trentin. “It’s going to be hard for sure, Matteo has showed he’s fast and with the bonus sprints it will be a fight to the last day,” said Van der Poel.
The Italian’s Mitchelton-Scott team is also stronger on paper than Van der Poel’s Correndon, which could prove key when it comes to snatching time bonuses. But in truth, this is now a race which could go to either man.