Time trialist
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.
DetailsEdit
In a traditional individual time trial, riders set off alone (not in a group or peloton) 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 (LT) or aerobic threshold (AT). The best time trialists (such as Miguel Indurain, David Millar, Ellen van Dijk, Tony Martin, Tom Dumoulin and Fabian Cancellara), are believed to have very high power output at LT/AT, which they can then maintain for the duration of the time trials.
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To be a successful time trialist, a cyclist must have exceptional aerodynamic posture and be able to take in plenty of oxygen.<ref name=comic /> 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, 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 domestiques for their team leaders, or participate in breakaways.<ref name=comic>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 winners Miguel Indurain, Jan Ullrich and Bradley Wiggins 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 was able to win the 2017 Giro d'Italia by defending the lead he had built in the individual time trial in subsequent mountain stages.
Famous time trialistsEdit
- Men
- Template:Flagicon Jacques Anquetil
- Template:Flagicon Maurice Archambaud
- Template:Flagicon Lance Armstrong
- Template:Flagicon Chris Boardman
- Template:Flagicon Victor Campenaerts
- Template:Flagicon Fabian Cancellara
- Template:Flagicon Sylvain Chavanel
- Template:Flagicon Rohan Dennis
- Template:Flagicon Alex Dowsett
- Template:Flagicon Tom Dumoulin
- Template:Flagicon Viatcheslav Ekimov
- Template:Flagicon Chris Froome
- Template:Flagicon Filippo Ganna
- Template:Flagicon Daniel Gisiger
- Template:Flagicon Bernard Hinault
- Template:Flagicon Serhiy Honchar
- Template:Flagicon Miguel Indurain
- Template:Flagicon Vasil Kiryienka
- Template:Flagicon Knut Knudsen
- Template:Flagicon Greg LeMond
- Template:Flagicon Thierry Marie
- Template:Flagicon Tony Martin
- Template:Flagicon Eddy Merckx
- Template:Flagicon David Millar
- Template:Flagicon Francesco Moser
- Template:Flagicon Abraham Olano
- Template:Flagicon Lech Piasecki
- Template:Flagicon Tadej Pogačar
- Template:Flagicon Ole Ritter
- Template:Flagicon Michael Rogers
- Template:Flagicon Primož Roglič
- Template:Flagicon Tony Rominger
- Template:Flagicon Geraint Thomas
- Template:Flagicon Didi Thurau
- Template:Flagicon Jan Ullrich
- Template:Flagicon Wout Van Aert
- Template:Flagicon Remco Evenepoel
- Template:Flagicon Herman Van Springel
- Template:Flagicon Bradley Wiggins
- Template:Flagicon David Zabriskie
- Women
- Template:Flagicon Anna Kiesenhofer
- Template:Flagicon Kristin Armstrong
- Template:Flagicon Lisa Brennauer
- Template:Flagicon Beryl Burton
- Template:Flagicon Chloé Dygert
- Template:Flagicon Leontien van Moorsel
- Template:Flagicon Ellen van Dijk
- Template:Flagicon Annemiek van Vleuten
- Template:Flagicon Anna van der Breggen
- Template:Flagicon Jeannie Longo
- Template:Flagicon Hayley Simmonds