This afternoon saw the Tour of Britain take on an 18 kilometre long team time trial around the area of Carmarthenshire. With a flatter opening section, although encountering traditional British rolling roads, the final third of the parcours saw a tricky two kilometre climb before a fast run ever so slightly downhill to the finish.

A route that suited the specialists in the discipline and power riders, the team set off strongly, measuring their efforts over the testing terrain and following the pacing plan from the team’s experts. Using up riders efficiently, with Nils Eekhoff and Tim Naberman doing stronger early pulls, the final four charged towards the finish, giving it their all until the line and stopping the clock in a time of 21 minutes and 19 seconds. It was an effort that would see them end the day in fifth place, and keep the team well placed heading into the hills to come.

“Today was the TTT so it was an important day for the GC teams,” explained Donovan. “There were a lot of big teams here with big ambitions so we were up against some top opposition. I think the boys did a really good job and to be fifth was a pretty good result actually. The time we did was solid. We were really smooth the whole way through and used the guys for their strengths. We pushed full all the way to the line and I think we got the most out of it that we could. For me personally it was the first TTT that I’ve done as a pro so it was a bit of a learning experience but it was also good fun and the lads did a really good job. Overall it was a good day and we’re happy with how it went. We’ve only got the road stages to go so we’ll get stuck into those again. It’s been a good start to the Tour of Britain and hopefully the rest of the race can follow on and we can get some nice results.”

Team DSM coach Phil West continued: “It was a good day by the guys, a nice team effort in a team time trial. It was a solid ride by the guys and we tried to work to our strengths in the group and use our powerhouses in the first part of the parcours, where it was really fast and also had some drags. We used Tim and Nils there to keep the tempo high and then in the back end where there was a climb in advance of the finish, our climber group came into their own and held on to do a really solid team effort for fifth place. I’m really happy and technically it was a nice ride also.”