Dowsett, Brennauer continue TT national championship titles

World champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) repeated his German time trial national title on Friday, beating Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano) in Wangen. Martin, 28, covered the 50.5-kilometer course in 1:00:58, 1:33 faster than Gretsch.

Stefan Schumacher was third, 1:53 off the winning pace.

“Last year I won both the national ITT and world ITT championship,” Martin said in a team press release. “I hope it can happen again. I am really proud to have this jersey, even if I can’t wear it during races because of the world champion jersey. As a German guy, I am really proud to be the champion of my country once again.”

Costa cruises in Portugal

Rui Costa (Movistar), who won the Tour de Suisse earlier in June, was crowned champion of Portugal against the clock in Pataias. Costa completed a circuit of 34km in 42:29, good for a 1:22 advantage over Domingos Gonçalves, second, and 1:28 over Hugo Sabido, third.

Barta blasts to Czech title

Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura) rode to the Czech title on Friday ahead of Vojtech Hacecky (ASC Dukla Prague). Barta logged a time of 50:26 on the 41km course, distancing Hacecky by 1:53. Tomas Okrouhlicky (Sparta Prague) was third, as further 26 seconds back.

Velits is Slovak champion again

Peter Velits (Omega Pharma) made it two titles for the Belgian team on Friday, winning the Slovak national championship. Velits destroyed the field in Nova Dubnica, finishing the 41km test in 50:53. Maros Kovac (Dukla Trencin-Trek) was second, at 2:37, and Milan Brenyi (Trek-KCK Oslany) was third, at 3:51.

The win gave Omega Pharma its third TT national title for the week, after Sylvain Chavanel’s record fifth win in France on Thursday.

Dowsett 3-peats British championships

Alex Dowsett (Movstar) overcame a crash to set a new standard for British time trialists when he won his third consecutive national title late on Thursday in southeast Scotland. Logging a time of 1:02:31, Dowsett topped Matthew Botrill (D2Z) by 20 seconds on the 48-kilometer course.

Ben Swift (Sky) was third, at 21 seconds.

Dowsett won the stage 8 time trial at the Giro d’Italia in May and will wear the red, white, and blue of British champion for a third year.

“I’m really happy — it’s not easy to win three times in a row. When I claimed the first one, [Bradley] Wiggins told me I had to take care of it, and to be honest, I feel really committed to it and it’s becoming my favorite jersey,” said Dowsett in a team press release.

Dowsett held a wide advantage when he went down and was forced to change bikes. He would hold onto the narrow, 20-second lead at the finish.

“It was a hard one, because even though I got back well after the crash, I had some wounds in my hands and couldn’t grab the handlebars well. I don’t know what really happened, but it might have been a problem with the front tire,” he said. “Besides, I lost my power meter and didn’t know how I was doing. It’s the first time I crashed in a TT, and it’s important to look at the watts all the time. I also had pain in my elbow, but my pedal stroke was good, I was going well and had no other option but suffering until the end. I did a great Giro, now this championship … this season is being a really great one and I hope to stay like this for the remainder of the year.”

Brennauer bags German title

Lisa Brennauer (Specialized-lululemon) won the women’s title in Germany on Friday, topping teammate Trixi Worrack on the 25.5km course in Wangen. Brennauer registered a time of 34:47, 11 seconds better than Worrack. Esther Fennel (Koga Ladies-Central Rhede) was third, at 25 seconds.