The BMC Racing Team rode to a fourth place performance in Sunday’s world team time trial conceding 1:02,71 to the winning team Omega Pharma-Quick Step in the 57,20-kilometer race against the clock.
‘Never really got into the race’
On board their BMC timemachine TM01s, the team of Steve Cummings, Daniel Oss, Taylor Phinney, Manuel Quinziato, Michael Schär and Tejay van Garderen rode into a fourth place at the UCI world team time trial. Before the race Taylor Phinney and the whole team were confident about their pre-race investments. “We were quite confident before the race, we did a lot of preparations and we had the whole team behind us”, Phinney said. “The whole staff, mechanics, soigneurs, everybody had a full support in us. So we are quite disappointed with the fourth place.” The minimum four riders (Steve Cummings, Taylor Phinney, Michael Schär and Tejay van Garderen) came to the finish line together to stop the clock at one hour, five minutes and 19 seconds with and average speed of 52,5 km/h. An outcome that wasn’t expected said BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Max Sciandri. “The human investment was big. This afternoon we were ready to give 100 percent what we did”, he said. “The outcome wasn’t as expected and we never really got into the race. But the boys gave everything, they fought until the end.” For the second year in-a-row Omega Pharma-Quick Step won gold with 0,81 seconds ahead of Orica GreenEdge and 22,55 seconds ahead of Sky Procycling. “We came here with expectations”, BMC Racing Team President/General Manager Jim Ochowicz said. “Getting fourth is not something anyone of us thought about. It is a surprise but it happens. It wasn’t a good race for us obviously but from now on we have to think what we can do better.”
Listen to the post-race comments of Ochowicz, Phinney and Sciandri on the on the BMC Racing Team AudioLine: http://bit.ly/Vg94Oi