Alex Dowsett is rapidly becoming one of the finest time triallists in cycling’s elite WorldTour peloton.
Dowsett, from Maldon in Essex, is the reigning British time trial champion, a title he won for the second time last year while riding for Team Sky.
A closed season move to the Spanish superteam, Movistar, winners already of four stages of this year’s Giro d’Italia, raised eyebrows.
Dowsett’s courage in moving from a British team filled with some of the support staff from his days as a rider at British Cycling’s vaunted Academy, has been rewarded: Movistar included the 24-year-old in their Giro squad, and he promptly repaid their faith by winning the stage eight time trial from Gabbice Mara to Saltara.
Yesterday’s uphill test from Mori to Polsa would have been ringed in red on Dowsett’s calendar, but after gambling on riding a time trial machine on a defiantly uphill course, a mechanical issue forced him to change to a road bike, costing him precious time.
Dowsett is still developing, and having been European under-23 champion, as well as a two-time national champion at under-23 and senior levels, few would be against him maturing into one of the very best.
One of cycle photography’s most exciting new talents, Roz Jones, took this superb gallery of images of Dowsett: the man, his bike, his final preparations, and his launch from the start ramp.
When she’s not taking brilliant images, Roz runs On The Road Cycling Tours, which has just launched a VIP package with the Movistar team.
