If you look at the list of participants in the men’s Olympic time trial, you’ll be a little clueless—at least, we did. Because there is only one Dutch name on it, while less bike countries like Portugal and the United States send two participants. Slovenia, the country of Roglic and Pogacar, has to be content with one starting ticket.
Reason for us to dive into UCI regulations regarding Olympic time trial sgart certifications. The following is clear from the online memo on the subject:
– All countries in the top 30 of the UCI standings will get at least one starting ticket for the Olympic time trial (Netherlands of course is part of this and on that basis Tom Dumoulin is at the start).
In addition, the first 10 countries of the 2019 World Cup are entitled to a second starting ticket. Holland finished there with Dylan van Barley and Gus van Emden 15th and 21st, respectively. Portugal had a man in the top ten with Nelson Oliveira and therefore entitled to two places.
Below you can see the top 10 world time trial championships in Yorkshire. These countries are allowed to send two arbitrators, provided that they are also among the top 30 countries in the UCI ranking in October 2019. In the case of Estonia, for example, this was not the case, so only Tunil Kängert will start in Tokyo.
So tomorrow Tom Dumoulin will start as the only Dutchman on the time trial. He will start in the last starting set and begin his Olympic mission at 8.56 am Dutch time. The women’s start times (set an alarm!) can be found here.
