The 2016 UCI World Championships began in Doha on Sunday with the first event the Team Time Trial. While the road and individual time trial events still to come are comprised of national teams, the TTT is held with trade teams and Team KATUSHA was part of today’s exciting action.

- Our six guys - Bystrøm, Kristoff, Kuznetsov, Mørkøv, Politt and Vorobyev - really did the maximum that was possible. In the last days they have shown they were very motivated for this race and for the coming races. It was a pleasure to guide and support these riders in the Qatar heat. Our result, an 8th place in the World Championship, is much better than our result in previous years. I am convinced we will grow in this discipline. We look forward to the coming races here in Doha. Some of our riders are in really good shape, - said sports director Torsten Schmidt.

The race in Doha was won by Etixx-QuickStep who posted a top time of 42:32 with a blistering 56.426 km/h average on the 40km course. The Belgian team dominated the race, holding 12-seconds to second place finisher BMC and 37-seconds to Orica-BikeExchange. KATUSHA was mid-pack for 8th place at 2:01.

Racing in Doha will continue all week as riders race to wear the rainbow jersey. October 12th is the individual time trial for men and October 16th brings the week to a conclusion with the men’s road race. 

Photo credit © Tim De Waele