Individual Time Trials

(Originally published in the August 5 to 11, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

GREAT Britain's Bradley Wiggins became his country's most successful Olympian ever this week after winning gold at the men's Olympic time trial at Hampton Court Palace, London. Wiggins finished ahead of time trial world champion Tony Martin (Germany) and Chris Froome (Great Britain) to secure the seventh Olympic medal of his career and fourth gold.

The 2012 Tour de France winner Wiggins, who is unbeaten in any full time trials since this year, won by a margin of 42 seconds amid jubilant scenes in London, capping a dream year for the 32-year-old. Defending champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) was not in his best form and could not contend with the leaders.

Earlier on, Cadel Evans, one of Australia's main medal hopes in the men's road cycling time-trial, has been forced to withdraw “due to fatigue”. The winner of last year's Tour de France, Evans has had a tough month and struggled with a virus in the last week of the Tour de France but took part in the Olympic road race finishing 79th.

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AN individual time trial or ITT is a type of bicycle race in which a cyclist race alone against the clock. ITT's are also referred to as ‘the race of truth’, as winning depends only on each rider's strength and endurance and not on help provided by team-mates and others riding ahead and creating a slipstream.

Starting times are at equal intervals, usually one or two minutes apart. The starting sequence is usually based on the finishing times in preceding races (or preceding stages in the case of a multi-stage race) with the highest ranked cyclist starting last. Starting later gives the racer the advantage of knowing what time they need to beat (and also makes the event more interesting to spectators). The rider with the fastest time is declared the winner.

Unlike in the road race which requires team tactics, slipstreaming and carefully-timed bursts of power, time trial a competitor race alone. Any help between riders is forbidden. Competitors are not permitted to draft (or ride in the slipstream) behind each other.

Bicycle construction is limited by regulations by the Union Cycliste Internationale or UCI (International Cycling Union in English) based in Switzerland. The UCI also issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disciplinary rules such as in matters of doping. The UCI also manages the classification of races and the points ranking system in various cycling disciplines for both men and women, amateur and professional. 

Current UCI regulations say that the bicycle must be accessible to all participants. It must be marketed (i.e. available for sale on the market) or marketable (i.e. available for sale directly from the manufacturer, by subscription or through an alternative distribution network). Prototypes and the use of equipment specially designed for a particular athlete, event or performance is prohibited. “Special design” means a bicycle with a technical added value when compared with other equipment. It must be designed and constructed to the highest professional standards in accordance with official quality and safety criteria in a manner that respects the UCI’s Technical Regulations, allowing the rider to adopt, without difficulty or risk, the required positions (support points, tip of saddle behind bottom bracket, position of hands on the handlebars, overall rider position).

At the professional level, time trials (TTs) are frequently accompanied by motorcycles, some carrying video equipment or race officials, and riders may be followed by a team car carrying coaches and spare parts. But the cyclists are not permitted to draft behind the vehicles. Race regulations typically dictate a minimum distance behind the cyclist which the car must maintain and a minimum gap that must exist between two cyclists before the car may enter that gap.

The aerodynamic profile of rider and bicycle has a huge impact on the outcome of the race. Components are designed to be as aerodynamic as possible as most of the rider's effort goes into overcoming aerodynamic drag. The rider's position makes the greatest difference and most use the now-standard tuck position, using tri-bars to allow the rider to position their arms in-line with the wind and allow their back to sit as low and flat as possible, reducing frontal area and improving air flow around the body. 

The riders wear one-piece suits that are even tighter than ordinary cycling gear and the absence of creases and flaps in the fabric reduce aerodynamic drag and the elongated fin on the back of the helmet acts as a fairing to smooth airflow.

The bikes themselves are similarly advanced. Time trial bikes often have handlebars lower than normal road racing bikes to facilitate aerodynamics. The handlebars are long and narrow and stick out in front of the bike like cow horns, forcing a rider to lean far forward with elbows tucked beneath them and a very straight, flat back. This is the most aerodynamic position allowed by the rules but it keeps the rider’s hands away from the brakes and means that they steer with their bodies for all but the tightest corners.

The tubes making up the bike have a variety of oval, square and wing-shaped profiles depending on where the air is expected to hit them. The riders will often opt for a disc wheel on the back rather than an ordinary-spoke bicycle wheel because a single smoothly spinning disc creates less drag than eighteen spokes individually beating the air. Truly daring riders occasionally opt for front and rear disc wheels for added aerodynamic performance, but these make the bike almost uncontrollable if they’re hit by a side wind and few riders will risk it.

The saddle is sometimes moved forward relative to the handlebars and bottom bracket to allow the hips a more natural angle of motion, improving performance (for UCI-sanctioned events, the saddle must be a certain distance behind a vertical line drawn through the centre of the bottom bracket).*