RABOBANK'S MOERENHOUT ON THE HUNT FOR WORLD TT CHAMPIONSHIP
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;setCaption(document.image_thumb); "Rabobank’s Lars Boom is also riding Giant in the UCI World TT Championship. Photo by Cor Vos.")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_one_thumb); "Rabobank’s Koos Moerenhout is looking forward to riding his newest Giant TT bike in the UCI Road World Championships Time Trial. Photo by Cor Vos.")
RABOBANK’S KOOS MOERENHOUT ON HUNT FOR FRESH CHALLENGES AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
“We’ve got new time trial bikes from Giant…we’ve got no excuses,” says pro.
At 35, Rabobank’s Koos Moerenhout is nearing the end of his career, but he’s still looking for new challenges - and Thursday’s will be the UCI Road World Championships Men’s Individual Time Trial in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
“I don’t want to leave the sport without having tried at least once absolutely everything I think I can do well in,” Moerenhout says, “and this year I’ve got the opportunity to try for the World’s time trial.”
Veteran Moerenhout will be racing for Holland in the 49.8 kilometre race against the clock, together with Rabobank team-mate Lars Boom. Moerenhout had some good results this season, with a time trial victory in the Tour of Austria, a silver medal in the Dutch national time trial championships, and a gold medal in the Dutch national road-race.
“We got new time trial bikes from Giant and they’re much stronger and more resilient,” Moerenhout comments, “now we’ve got them, we’ve got no excuses. The key to success in time trialing is to push your body as far beyond its limits as you can, to practice constantly and get exactly the right position. You’re usually a lot further forward than you would be on a road bike.”
He goes on, “I find the time trial bike itself acts as an inspiration, it’s like stepping into a Formula One car, with that kind of vehicle you automatically expect to go faster. As for time trialing, I’ve got a love-hate relationship with it. You don’t look forward to it five minutes before you start, because you know how much it’ll hurt for the next hour. You body keeps on telling you to stop. At the same time, it’s a fantastic discipline. In time trials, you’re pushing yourself to your absolute limit.”
So what can he achieve in the World’s time trial on Thursday? “I’m not really sure,” he says. “There are a lot of big favorites here, so a top ten result would be great. But if you know you’ve done everything you can then whatever happens, you can’t really complain.”