Michael Matthews and Tom Dumoulin were two of the big-name riders that helped ensure a double Team Sunweb victory during the opening weekend of the 2017 World Championships in Bergen, Norway.
Adding to Sunweb’s stunning season – Dumoulin’s Giro d’Italia win, Michael Matthews Tour de France green jersey & teammate Warren Barguil’s polka dot win to name but a few – the team won the Men’s Team Time Trial.
Sunweb Beat BMC Racing Team & Team Sky
Sunweb completed the 42.5km course in 47 minutes 50 seconds, eight seconds faster than runners-up BMC and 22 seconds ahead of third-placed Team Sky.
The team consisted of Tom Dumoulin, Wilco Kelderman, Michael Matthews, Lennard Kamna, Soren Kragh Andersen and Sam Oomen. They were only fourth fastest at the first time check and then second to BMC at both the second and third time checks.
Team spokesman Tom Dumoulin described the opening day as crazy. “First the women this afternoon and then us. The team was so homogeneous, it was absolutely amazing,” he said.
“It was so smooth. We had a very good pace and we kept it all the way to the line. We tried to keep together, especially on the long climb at 10km to go, and that just worked out, barely. We made it over the climb and we were all flying.
Dumoulin concluded by describing the victory as “unexpected, but very nice.”
Team Sunweb Women’s Victory
In the women’s event Team Sunweb finished 12 seconds ahead of second-placed Boels-Dolmans, with Ellen Van Dijk saying the team started as underdogs and finished as victors.
“It was a really tough course and it was so important not to over pace on the climbs,” she said.
“As you blow up the whole team so we really focused on that. That was our strength, we kept it really smooth and it was feeling good all the way. This year we really didn’t expect to go for the win but when you do it really as a team like this and use each others strengths in such a good way it’s such a satisfying feeling. We were the underdog and now we’re world champions.”
The 2017 World Championships continue until Sunday with the following schedule set.
Monday September 18: Junior women’s individual time trial. Under-23 men’s individual time trial.
Tuesday September 19: Junior men’s individual time trial. Elite women’s individual time trial.
Wednesday September 20: Elite men’s individual time trial.
Friday September 22: Junior women’s road race. Under-23 men’s road race.
Saturday September 23: Junior men’s road race. Elite women’s road race.
Sunday September 24: 1005-1650 (CET) Elite men’s road race.
World Championship Men’s Team Time Trial
1. Team Sunweb, 47’50”
2. BMC Racing Team, +8”
3. Team Sky, +22”
4. Quick-Step Floors, +35”
5. ORICA-SCOTT, +1’03”
6. Movistar Team , +1’19”
7. Team LottoNL-Jumbo, +1’19”
8. CCC Sprandi Polkowice, +1’44”
9. Team Katusha-Alpecin, +1’45”
10. BORA-hansgrohe, +1’55”
World Championship Women’s Team Time Trial
1. Team Sunweb, 55’41”
2. Boels-Dolmans, +12”
3. Cervelo-Bigla, +28”
4. Canyon-SRAM, +1’05”
5. Team Virtu Cycling Women, +2’52”
6. FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope, +3’23”
7. BTC City Ljubljana, +3’47”
8. Beplink Cogeas, +4’07”
9. Hitec Products, +4’59”