Confidence high and his form clearly good after a strong fifth place finish in the recent time trial world championships, Jack Bobridge could well be a contender in this week’s Tour of Beijing. The new WorldTour race begins on Wednesday with an 11.3 kilometre race against the clock and, based on his 4000 metre individual pursuit record set earlier this year, the Australian rider could well be one of the quickest.
Bobridge is riding what could be his final race for Garmin-Cervélo, with a move to Green Edge set to take place over the winter. His compatriot and team-mate Cameron Meyer won the first WorldTour stage race of the year and Bobridge has a chance to bookend the season with another Australian/Garmin-Cervélo success.
While the team isn’t setting him out as the designated leader, his power against the clock should mean he is one of the best-placed on the squad after day one.
“My goal was to make the top ten in Copenhagen, so to finish fifth was something I was very happy with,” Bobridge said, referring to the world championships.
“I had a few easy days back in Girona after the worlds and then some good training. I have trained straight for the time trial but I want to see how I go over the longer stages here. It could be okay.”
Team-mate David Millar is another who is very strong against the clock. He finished second in last year’s worlds and won the Commonwealth Games time trial, then this season took the final TT in the Giro d’Italia.
He travelled to Beijing over the weekend, leaving his wife Nicole and their son Archibald in Girona. “Now that I am here, I am happy to be here,” he said. “It’s tough to leave my son so soon after his birth but this new race is important for pro cycling.
“I am curious to see how it’s all received. This is a new venture for our sport and we want it to succeed. I really hope they pull it off.”
Millar, who grew up in Hong Kong and who therefore feels more at home in Asian surroundings than many of his fellow riders, will be joined by six other Garmin-Cervélo riders. They are the Tour Down Under winner Cameron Meyer, former Milan-Sanremo runner-up Heinrich Haussler and their fellow Australian Matt Wilson, Belgian Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Van Summeren, the Dutch sprinter Michel Kreder and the talented 22 year old American Andrew Talansky.
The latter is in his first full season with the team and has performed well. After finishing fourth overall in the Tour of the Mediterranean, he clocked up top ten finishes in time trials in Paris-Nice, Criterium International, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and the Tour de Romandie. He also completed his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España and, having had time to recover, will hope to show the benefits of that in China.
Meyer believes that he won’t have the condition to challenge, but that others on the team certainly could. “I haven’t raced in a while, so I don’t think my own form will be good enough,” he admitted. “You are going to have to be on top of your game to get a result here.
“It’s a shame for me because there are lots of good UCI points. But we have good guys who can do well here – like Jack, David and Heinrich.”
As a UCI WorldTour event, all of cycling’s top teams will take part in the race.
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Tour of Beijing (WorldTour):
Stage one, Wednesday 5th October: Individual Time Trial, Bird’s Nest – Water Cube via Olympic Park circuit, 11.3km
Stage two, Thursday 6th October: Bird’s Nest to Men Tou Gou via North Gate of Summer Palace, 137km
Stage three, Friday 7th October: Men Tou Gou to Yong Ning Town via Thirteen Ming Tombs Reservoir, 162km
Stage four, Saturday 8th October: Yan Qing Gui Chuan Square to Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre via Mutianyu Great Wall, 189.5km
Stage five, Sunday 9th October: Tian An Men Square to Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium, 118km