![Tds Fabian Cancellara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tds_Fabian_Cancellara.jpg)
A time trialist is a
road bicycle racer who can maintain high speeds for long periods of time, to maximize performance during
individual or
team time trials. The term ''cronoman'', or ''chronoman'', is also used to refer to a time trialist.
Details
In a traditional individual time trial, riders set off alone (not in a group or
peloton
In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...
) at intervals, typically anything from one to five minutes, and try to complete the course in as short a time as possible. In order to maximize the overall speed a time trialist must be able to maintain a steady effort throughout the event, of which the best measure is believed to be the rider's power at
lactate threshold
Lactate inflection point (LIP), is the exercise intensity at which the blood concentration of lactate and/or lactic acid begins to increase rapidly. It is often expressed as 85% of maximum heart rate or 75% of maximum oxygen intake. When exercisin ...
(LT) or
aerobic threshold
Lactate inflection point (LIP), is the exercise intensity at which the blood concentration of lactate and/or lactic acid begins to increase rapidly. It is often expressed as 85% of maximum heart rate or 75% of maximum oxygen intake. When exercisi ...
(AT). The best time trialists (such as
Miguel Indurain,
David Millar
David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
,
Ellen van Dijk
Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a tim ...
,
Tony Martin,
Tom Dumoulin
Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Championships and two Olympic s ...
and
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began ...
), are believed to have very high power output at LT/AT, which they can then maintain for the duration of the time trials.
![Tour_de_France_2016,_froome_(27979590983)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Tour_de_France_2016%2C_froome_%2827979590983%29.jpg)
To be a successful time trialist, a cyclist must have exceptional
aerodynamic
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
posture and be able to take in plenty of
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...
.
Aerodynamic performance can also be improved by riders using 'skin suits', overshoes and streamlined helmets.
Bike technology is also important in time trials. By using aerodynamic components, a bicycle can be designed to minimize its
drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...
, allowing a rider to drop their time by minutes during a long course.
Time trials may also form individual stages of stage races. By incorporating time trial specialists into a
cycling team, the team can lower its aggregate time dramatically.
In relatively flat
mass-start stages and races, time trialists often work as
domestique
In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In I ...
s for their team leaders, or participate in breakaways.
Some riders who are primarily
time-trialists have also been able to compete in everything but the steepest climbs because of their good power-to-weight ratio.
Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
winners
Miguel Indurain,
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...
and
Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...
were primarily time-trialists but were also among the best in the mountain stages during the years in which they won the Tour de France. Likewise,
Tom Dumoulin
Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Championships and two Olympic s ...
was able to win the
2017 Giro d'Italia
The 2017 Giro d'Italia was the 100th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The race started on 5 May in Alghero on the island of Sardinia, and ended on 28 May in Milan. The race was won by Tom Dumoulin, who became ...
by defending the lead he had built in the individual time trial in subsequent mountain stages.
Famous time trialists
;Men
*
Jacques Anquetil
Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964.
He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the ye ...
*
Maurice Archambaud
*
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...
*
Chris Boardman
Christopher Miles Boardman, (born 26 August 1968) is a British former racing cyclist. A time trial and prologue specialist, Boardman won the inaugural men's World time trial championship in 1994, won the individual pursuit gold medal at the 1 ...
*
Victor Campenaerts
Victor Campenaerts (born 28 October 1991) is a Belgian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .
Career
He rode at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. In September 2015 it was announced that he would join the UCI World Tour ran ...
*
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began ...
*
Sylvain Chavanel
*
Rohan Dennis
Rohan Dennis (born 28 May 1990) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Dennis was born, raised, and resides in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He won back to back UCI men's individual t ...
*
Alex Dowsett
Alex Edward Albert Dowsett (born 3 October 1988) is a former British professional road racing cyclist, who rode for UCI WorldTeam . He was a time trial specialist, and in 2015, he broke track cycling's world hour record by , with a distance of ...
*
Tom Dumoulin
Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Championships and two Olympic s ...
*
Viatcheslav Ekimov
Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov ( Russian Вячеслав Владимирович Екимов; born 4 February 1966), nicknamed ''Eki'', is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the tit ...
*
Chris Froome
Christopher Clive Froome ɹɪs fɹuːm (born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan/British road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one ...
*
Filippo Ganna
Filippo Ganna (born 25 July 1996) is an Italian track and road cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is a five-time world champion in the individual pursuit, and has won a total of eight medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Champio ...
*
Daniel Gisiger
Daniel Gisiger (born 9 October 1954, in Baccarat) is a retired Swiss road and track cyclist. He grew up in Bienne, in RC Olympia Biel-Bienne.
One of his strongest disciplines was the road time trial where he twice won the prestigious Grand Pri ...
*
Bernard Hinault
Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...
*
Serhiy Honchar
Serhiy Gonchar ( uk, Сергій Гончар; born 3 July 1970) is a Ukrainian former professional road racing cyclist. He won the World Time Trial Championship in 2000.
Due to a temporary spelling error in his passport, he is often incorre ...
*
Miguel Indurain
*
Vasil Kiryienka
Vasili Vasilyevich Kiryienka ( be, Васіль Васілевіч Кірыенка; Łacinka: Vasil Vasilevič Kiryjenka; born 28 June 1981) is a Belarusian former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2020 for the OTC Doors, ...
*
Knut Knudsen
Knut Knudsen (born 12 October 1950) is a retired Norwegian road and track cyclist. As an amateur, he placed fifth in the 4000m individual pursuit at the 1968 Olympics before becoming Olympic champion in the same discipline in 1972. He would fol ...
*
Greg LeMond
Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...
*
Thierry Marie
Thierry Marie (born 25 June 1963) is a French former cyclist. Marie often performed well in prologue stages: he won the Tour de France prologue three times in his career, and because of that he wore the yellow jersey in those three years, for sev ...
*
Tony Martin
*
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...
*
David Millar
David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
*
Francesco Moser
Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition.
Moser wa ...
*
Abraham Olano
Abraham Olano Manzano (born 22 January 1970 in Anoeta, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish retired professional road racing cyclist, who raced between 1992 and 2002. He won the World Road Championship in 1995, and the World Time Trial Championship in 19 ...
*
Lech Piasecki
*
Tadej Pogačar
Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenian cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Tour de France, winning three different jerseys during each Tour, a feat unseen in nearly four deca ...
*
Ole Ritter
*
Michael Rogers
*
Primož Roglič
Primož Roglič (; born 29 October 1989) is a Slovenian racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He started as a ski jumper and switched to cycling several years after an accident suffered at Planica.
At the 2017 Tour de France, Roglič be ...
*
Tony Rominger
Tony Rominger (born 27 March 1961 in Vejle, Denmark) is a Swiss former professional road racing cyclist who won the Vuelta a España in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and the Giro d'Italia in 1995.
He began cycling late, allegedly spurred by competition wi ...
*
Geraint Thomas
Geraint Howell Thomas, (; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a tra ...
*
Didi Thurau
*
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...
*
Wout Van Aert
Wout van Aert (born 15 September 1994) is a Belgian professional road and cyclo-cross racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the men's elite race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He joined in M ...
*
Remco Evenepoel
*
Herman Van Springel
Herman Vanspringel (14 August 1943 – 25 August 2022), also spelled Herman Van Springel, was a Belgian road racing cyclist, from Grobbendonk, in the Flemish Campine or Kempen region. He achieved podium finishes in all three of the grand tour ...
*
Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...
*
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stag ...
;Women
*
Anna Kiesenhofer
Anna Kiesenhofer (born 14 February 1991) is an Austrian professional cyclist and mathematician, who rides for UCI Women's Team Israel Premier Tech Roland. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics at the École Polytechnique Fédéra ...
*
Kristin Armstrong
Kristin Armstrong Savola (; born August 11, 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist, the winner of the women's individual time trial in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Before temporarily retiring to start a ...
*
Lisa Brennauer
Lisa Brennauer (born 8 June 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2022, for six different teams.
On the track, Brennauer won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's team pursuit with ...
*
Beryl Burton
*
Chloé Dygert
*
Leontien van Moorsel
Leontien Martha Henrica Petronella Zijlaard-van Moorsel (born 22 March 1970) is a Dutch retired racing cyclist. She was a dominant cyclist in the 1990s and early 2000s, winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games and holding the hour record ...
*
Ellen van Dijk
Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a tim ...
*
Annemiek van Vleuten
Annemiek van Vleuten (born 8 October 1982) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam .
Van Vleuten is a two-time winner of both the road race (2019 and 2022) and the time trial (2017 and 2018) at the UC ...
*
Anna van der Breggen
Anna van der Breggen (born 18 April 1990) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2021 for Team Flexpoint, , and . She won the gold medal in the women's road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics ...
*
Jeannie Longo
Jeannie Longo (born 31 October 1958 in Annecy, Haute-Savoie) is a French racing cyclist, 25-time French champion and 13-time world champion. Longo began racing in 1975 and was active in cycling through 2012. She was once widely considered the b ...
*
Hayley Simmonds
Hayley Rebecca Simmonds (born 22 July 1988) is a British racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team .
Career
Simmonds attended King's School, Worcester from 1999 until 2006. She studied Natural Sciences at Newnham Col ...
See also
*
UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial
The men's individual time trial event at the UCI Road World Championships is the men's world championship for the road bicycle racing discipline of time trial. Introduced in 1994 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing bo ...
*
UCI Road World Championships – Women's time trial
The UCI Road World Championships - Women's time trial is the annual world championship for road bicycle racing in the discipline of time trial, organised by the world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale
The ''Union Cycliste Inter ...
References
{{Racing cyclist types
Road bicycle racing terminology