Fine effort by Dowsett
17 September 2013

Tour of Britain (st. 3)

5th place for the Essex boy at a wet, difficult time trial in Knowsley. Wiggins (SKY) flies to take victory and gold jersey

Despite an important illness forcing him to miss both Brussels and Fourmies races and delay his preparations for the TT Worlds in Florence, Alex Dowsett made a nice performance in the 16.1-kilometer time trial -10 miles, the same distance from his usual club TT rides in Essex- stage three of the Tour of Britain in the Knowsley Safari Park near Liverpool. The Briton from the telephone squad clocked the 5th fastest time of the day, 56 seconds behind an impressive Bradley Wiggins (SKY), who flied across the wet, dangerous roads in the Merseyside to take over the gold leader’s jersey.

The time trial’s top 20 also featured two Movistar Team riders: José Joaquín Rojas and Nairo Quintana. The Colombian kept proving his good conditions in the fight against the clock while building up for the road race of the Toscana Worlds, and finished just over a minute and a half behind one of the biggest specialists in the world. Roads suiting him are coming fast, with stage four -188km from Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis- including the Pen-y-Pass, just 9k from the end.