(electronic music)
- [Voiceover] Time trials, the shortest stages
but the longest days.
Today's race against the clock
is just twelve minutes of pain
but a whole day of preparation, planning and waiting.
- We've been given behind the scenes access
by Bahrain-Merida to follow the team
and their star rider Vincenzo Nibali
as he sets out to win a third Giro d'Italia.
(vortex closing)
- [Voiceover] For a pro rider, the final days
leading up to the start of a grand tour are long.
The training has been done and there's nothing left to do
but soak up that workload, rest,
eat, but not too much, do the odd interview
and then just wait.
Today's the day they finally get to the start.
(upbeat music)
After their ride, the riders sit down for a light lunch
ahead of the time trial in the afternoon.
They don't want anything too heavy or hard to digest
ahead of the really intense effort to come
or they might see it again.
Post lunch, the riders will head
to the start in the team cars.
The bus went to the start early this morning
to get their space, set up their trainers and get organized.
(speaks in Italian)
- We're driving with the team
to the start of the time trial now
and if you're wondering why Nibali, Pozzovivo and Caruso
are heading to the start early,
well it's because they're starting early,
which is unusual because normally the big names
in time trials start towards the end of the field
however today it's a bit different because,
well it looks all right now but,
there's actually a thunderstorm forecast for later on
and consequently
the big name riders
don't want to be at a disadvantage to their rivals
by potentially doing their time trial in the rain
when their rivals might get a dry run,
so they're trying to miss the rain by starting early,
so when we get there,
Tom Dumoulin is the first off the ramp.
He's the favorite potentially for today because
well he won the Giro two years ago
and he's a time trial specialist
and then eight minutes after that, it's Nibali's turn.
(electronic music)
Some of the riders including Vincenzo Nibali
have gone off to recon the course.
Now although they've been reconning the last couple of days
and many of them will be familiar with the final climb
as it features in the Giro d'Amelia,
this is going to be the first time they can actually
ride the course in its entirety on closed roads
because part of the early section
actually features a one way street.
Those of you who saw our recent Giro d'Italia
time trial tech video on GCN Tech will be aware
that Bahrain-Merida is in possession
of the coolest and fastest team car, a McLaren 570S Coupe
but the relationship they have with McLaren goes far beyond
just having the coolest team cars, so to find out more,
earlier I spoke to John Allert
who's the Managing Director of Pro Cycling at McLaren.
McLaren is now partnered with team Bahrain-Merida
but I'm guessing that relationship goes a bit beyond
just having the coolest team cars in the peloton.
Can you tell us a little bit more about how it's working?
- Yeah sure, so this is a joint venture
that's been founded out of a joint love of racing
and this of course is an amazing
heritage filled sector of racing but it's also an area
that we think has fantastic opportunity for innovation
and so we want to bring the technology and innovation
that we've forged over fifty years in Formula One
and see if we can likewise apply that
to this great team and this fantastic sport.
- Well, yeah sounds amazing,
sounds like an ideal partnership.
Well today's a time trial so, in the context of that,
how would McLaren help, well try to benefit
the team and improve the performance?
- Yeah well a time trial's a perfect example,
so we're looking for milliseconds of performance,
just like every other team in the same way
that we do in Formula One so, aero becomes fundamental,
we've been working with Rudy Project on a new aero helmet
that you'll see Vincenzo wearing later today
but also in terms of, you know, course mapping,
looking at strategy,
trying to understand the best relationship
between man and machine, you know,
these are obviously time trial bikes
and that means they're very, very specific
in terms of their optimal performance
and so we're looking to quantify what that
optimal performance is to make sure we're always improving.
- Well I'm a total aero and tech nerd
so I'm looking forward to seeing
how the relationship develops but thanks for your time.
Fun talking to you. - Fantastic, thank you.
(upbeat music)
- Prior to the race, the riders warm up
next to the team truck behind me,
you can see Vincenzo on his turbo now
and it's a really hot day today so it's nice
'cause the team truck actually has an awning
that comes out so you can warm up in the shade.
Now, all the riders warm up at different times
because they all start at different times in a time trial,
sometimes hours apart, and then the warm up
is carefully timed and sequenced so that
it times up perfectly with their allotted start time.
So Vincenzo will be doing a twenty to thirty minute warm up
which he aims to finish ten minutes before
his allotted start time whereupon he'll get off
and he'll ride to the start
which is about six hundred meters over there.
(dramatic electronic music)
You can feel the pressure starting to build now
but Vincenzo looks incredibly calm and collected.
I'd be a complete nervous wreck with all these people around
and like, the pressure of the race but
I guess he's an old hat at it
having won the race twice before.
(electronic music)
We're in the area behind the start ramp of the time trial.
You'll have to forgive the noise
'cause the atmosphere here is electric,
there's helicopters and crowds and everything.
This is really cool because here you can see things
that you don't normally see on the TV coverage,
so behind me are the UCI officials and that's a special jig
that they're using to measure the bikes
and check that they comply with the rules
and athletes don't have drybars that are too long
or their saddles too far forwards
and they also have a special iPad device
which they're using to search for hidden motors.
So Nibali's just having his bike checked over
by the officials but it all seems to be good,
and then over here behind me is a holding area,
so once athletes have come over from the truck,
they can do a little warm up here, there's rollers there.
They also have a soigneur from each team here
who gives the riders water or energy drinks
or a towel if they need it,
and then it's the moment where
they have to start the race of truth.
They head up onto the ramp through there
and they just wait a few seconds behind the screen,
then they step out with their bike, then,
you can hear the countdown clock behind me,
and they're off.
(clock timer goes off)
(crowd cheers) (upbeat music)
(car engine roars)
(speaks in foreign language)
(car honks)
(crowd cheers)
(speaks in foreign language)
(gentle music)
Nibali has completed his run and he's had a good one.
He beat one of his biggest rivals Tom Dumoulin
posting a quicker time and he was only just behind
one of his other big rivals Primoz Roglic
by twenty three seconds.
His time was thirteen, seventeen
for the eight kilometer course, so very fast.
Now he'll be coming back here so that
he can do his warm down then he'll go back to the hotel,
have a massage and some dinner because tomorrow,
he's got to do it all again.
Two hundred and five kilometers tomorrow,
ridiculous, and that's only just the beginning.
There he is.
All that remains to say is, I hope you enjoyed this video
as much as we have being here
'cause the atmosphere is absolutely incredible
and a massive thanks to team Bahrain-Merida
for giving us the behind the scenes access,
it's been brilliant.
If you've enjoyed this video,
then please give it a thumbs up
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and to see a video all about Vincenzo's time trial bike,
click down here.