August 13, 2008 (Beijing, China) – Another hot, humid, windless day filled with pollution met the women ITT competitors as they contested one lap of the 23.5km course in the mountains dominated by the Great Wall. But variables can be controlled better in a time trial on dry roads and so the US women’s team that rode so well in the road race only to meet with disaster in crashes and near misses, dominated this event, as Kristin Armstrong scooped gold in 34:51, with Christine Thorburn taking fifth spot, 1:02:44 behind.

Britain’s Emma Pooley took the silver, 24:29 back, while Switzerland’s Karin Thurig rode to the bronze finish, 59:27 back. Perhaps the biggest story, besides the American dominance in the time trial, and England’s second appearance in two days on the podium, was the fantastic ride by the forty-nine-year-old veteran of the French team, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, who finished fourth, one and a half seconds out of the bronze medal. Judith Arndt of Germany rounded out the top six, 1:08:05 back. Canada’s Alexandra Wrubelski finished twenty-fourth, 4:23:70 behind, obviously still recovering from a hard fall in the road race where she hit her head.

“It was definitely not one of my best performances but I am glad I came to Beijing and got the experience. It was a tough course but I pretty much knew it from the road race. It was a little different having the heat instead of the rain,” commented Wrubelski.

For Armstrong it was day of celebration. “At the top of the climb I was four seconds behind Emma, and I knew I had to descend as fast as I could, and dig really deep. I train a lot in the pursuit where you really have to focus,” said the gold medal winner, “So coming to the descent, there’s a flat section that you have to be really strong through.” Armstrong knew she had to gain back those four seconds, saying she simply would not give up until she crossed the finish line. Not only did she get them back, she took another twenty out of Pooley.

Armstrong, originally from triathlon, has won this event at the World Championships and also placed second. She noted that last year’s silver medal, following her world title in 2006, was a blessing in disguise. “I realized you just can’t show up at the World Championships and win the time trial,” said Armstrong, who started to prepare specifically for the task at hand in Beijing a good year in advance.

All three medalists said the course was beautiful during their training rides, but race day was no time to admire the surroundings. “If you can describe the beauty of the course, you’re probably not up here today,” said Armstrong, “because anywhere you lose a few seconds hurts. But I do feel very lucky to be here in beautiful China.”

Thurig added that she had “really suffered today. I didn’t enjoy it. I think for spectators and watching on television, with the wall, beautiful flowers and trees, it was nice. It was not a boring course – you have corners and you had to stay focused.”

The medalists all agreed that to win you can’t worry about anyone else. “One of the key things about time trialing is to focus on your own race and not anyone else’s race” said Armstrong. “Time trialing is all about racing your race — it’s you against the clock. I didn’t focus on how Emma went up the hill or anyone else went up the hill – just how I went up the hill.”

Armstrong also paid tribute to fellow American, Lance Armstrong, and reminded everyone that they are not related. “We have similar backgrounds in that we both came from triathlon, and we have the same mentality. It’s wonderful what he has done for the sport and for the cancer foundation. I hope to follow in his footsteps.”

Finally Armstrong thanked the other women racers. “I’m amongst world championship girls. It’s a dream come true,” she added.

Men’s ITT Report
If the road race saw a breakthrough for Canada with Michael Barry’s strong ninth place, the time trial put the country even closer to the podium as Langley, BC’s Svein Tuft rode the ride of his life, leading the competition for nearly the entire race until the top guns were into their second splits, finally placing seventh overall with a time of 1:04:39, 2 minutes and 26 seconds seconds behind gold medal winner Fabian Cancellera of Switzerland who finished the very challenging course in 1:02:11.

This was Cancellera’s second visit to the podium following his bronze medal ride in the road race on Sunday. Gustav Larsson of Sweden took the silver, 33 seconds back, while American Levi Leipheimer, who missed the Tour de France to prepare for this race, scooped the bronze at 1:09 back. Australia’s Cadel Evans took fifth at 1:23, while Samuel Sanchez of Spain finished in sixth position, 2:25 back. Canada’s Ryder Hesjedal had a very strong ITT finishing 16th, 3:30 behind Cancellera.

“I saw the big names,” said Tuft, who beat the likes of David Zabriskie of the US, Australia’s Michael Rogers and Stephan Schumacher of Germany, “and I was just riding by. It’s huge, really huge. You know for me at the end of the race I left it all out there. That’s what I am most proud of – that I left it all out on the road. The postion, oh ya, it’s always great to have a nice finishing result, but if I had come 39th and knew that I gave everything, then I would be happy then too. It was an amazing, amazing place to be.”

Tuft said he prepared very carefully for the race, knowing he would be climbing, both in the road race and the time trial. “My focus was: help as much as I can in the road race for Michael and then get ready for the time trial. I knew coming here there were 350 metres of climbing per lap, and the downhill had a headwind too, so I came here ready to climb.”

Having such a cohesive team was a factor for Tuft. “It’s the Dream Team for me. This has been such a great experience, to have us keep up with the top countries, to be where we are in the cycling world – just three guys popping out some good rides.”

Cancellara had prepared very carefully for this event, but made a point of explaining that while there may be one cyclist out there riding, but there are many people behind him. “I did everything preparing for today. It was a big preparation. Today was the day to show that I did everything to achieve this result. I’m proud to go home with two medals. When I heard on the radio that I was six seconds behind Larsson, I know I had to give everything I had. I didn’t want to lose today. To go away without the win would be to lose for me. I was the favorite – I wanted to win – I did have a lot of pressure.

“The time trial looks like you are alone, but there’s much more to it than this. You have something behind you that is very important – a complete team. The whole preparation, the Swiss Cycling Team, mechanics, my family. I don’t know how many people were there to make this happen. I needed a strong team behind me and Team CSC is excellent as well and played a big part.”

Cancellara talked about his particular way of focusing. “You can go so hard and deep – how the head is working – the head is the commander of the body. When it’s good, you can ride.” He ride he did, in fact, with a 54×11 – when the 55 he ordered did not arrive, he went with the 54. Liepheimer used a 55×11 and felt that he could have used a 56 on the descent. Larsson used a 56×11 and was trying to find a 57 or 58 as he also uses longer crank arms. Clearly though, going with the smaller combination was the right decision, as all three athletes mentioned that while descending in a big gear was important, they still had to do the climb with the same gearing.

Larsson said that he too had focused on this event since last year, and when asked where on the course he had decided to accelerate, replied that there was no let up from the gun. “I gave it 100% and that’s it. If you go just a little big back, sometimes you lose time. It’s right on the edge.”

Leipheimer said he knew he would have to have the race of his life for third place. “The race for third place was very close, I was really fighting hard for that medal. It was a life long dream for me to get a medal at the Olympics.”

Leipheimer added that he also felt that not going to the Tour de France was a motivator for him. “I watched the Tour from home this year and I really wanted to be there so badly. It motivated me to train as hard as I could. I came knowing I was ready to give my best. It gave me the piece of mind to do well in this race. I kept telling myself, there is know way I”m going to be ten or fifteen seconds from a medal.”