Castroviejo "satisfied" with Worlds TT

Jonathan Castroviejo missed out on his pre-race goal but was still a happy man after finishing the World Championships Individual Time Trial in Florence.

The Movistar rouleur had hoped for a top ten prior to the race but eventually had to make do with 14th, more than three minutes down on winner Tony Martin.

Post-race, he said he was pleased considering the circumstances.

"I'm really pleased with how I felt, but it's hard for me on a route like this", he told the Spanish Cycling Federation's website. "Riders with my weight have to do almost double the effort on a course like this to be up there with the best, but still the likes of me, Porte and Kwiatkowski were relatively close.

"My goal was to finish inside the top ten, and the difference between fifth and my position was for large parts no more than half a minute. We got close, and I'm happy with the outcome".

While Castroviejo was the only Basque on show in Florence on Wednesday, another rider with close ties to the Basque Country took to the course as well.

The man in question was naturally Ioannis Tamouridis. The Greek champion wasn't on his best day, though, and eventually came through for 44th.

Photo: www.zimbio.com