Last Commonwaelth Games cycling event

This Wednesday (Oct 13) sees the last of the Comm Games cycling events...the Individual Time Trial. The men's course is 40km and the women's is set at 29km. After yesterday's exciting finish for the men's road race and the track cycling generally it could be well worth a look. The pbkblog gives a good background to the main contenders:

The men will race a 40km course, with no Bradley Wiggins or Geraint Thomas. England’s Chris Froome and Scotland’s David Millar are among the Gold medal favourites. Millar who came second in the World Championships time trial last week should certainly be one to watch. Australia will miss Richie Porte, who has been denied permission to ride by Team Saxo-Bank as they require him to race in the Spring Classics in Italy in support of Andy Schleck. New Zealand will be worth keeping an eye on with veteran Gordon McCauley, bronze medallist in the 2006 Commonwealth Games individual time trial and winner of this years Tour of Tasmania, no doubt looking for a strong finish. Canadian National time trial champion Svein Tuft (Team Garmin-Transitions) is also a medal contender, since his silver at the 2008 World Championships time trial he’s been putting in solid performances including a second overall in this years Tour of Denmark.

The Women’s time trial, raced over 29km promises to be hard fought with Emma Pooley (Cervelo Test Team) fresh from her victory in the World Championships Time Trial and riding the wave in a season which has seen her take the British national champions crown from Nicole Cooke. She will have strong competition however in the form of Wendy Houvenaghel and Nicole Cooke who will be out for payback. While Houvenaghel is likely to concentrate more on the track, Cooke certainly will be looking for a strong performance in the time trial to compensate for any disadvantages she may experience in the more team orientate road race in a relatively weak Welsh team. New Zealand’s Linda Villumsen (HTC-Columbia) will be a major hope after her bronze in the 2009 World Championships time trial and a strong finish in the 2010 World Championships in Australia.