In the recent Vuelta a España test, BMC came out on top, beating their Belgian rivals into second place, although the two parcours are far from similar in terms of length and profile.
“It almost feels rare when we lose team time trials these days, but to come off a recent victory in a team time trial at the Vuelta, that certainly shows the level of the team, the motivation of the team, and the confidence,” van Garderen told the media on Friday evening.
BMC last came out of the Worlds TTT with a gold in Richmond, 2015, and four of this year’s riders were present in that winning ride. Of all the squads in Norway they arrive with perhaps the most consistent squad of all, although the fight for the medals is currently too close to call.
“It’s always good when you’ve been the world champions to make a statement and put on a good show in the team time trial,” van Garderen said. “I think that the other teams are certainly watching us. We definitely have our eyes on some of the other teams, but they’re maybe a little bit afraid of us.”
While BMC and Quick-Step head into the event as the only two teams to have won gold, they are far from the only strong teams in Bergen. Team Sky have brought Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Michal Kwiatkowski, while Sunweb and Orica both have designs on making the podium.
