UCI count Jesse Sergent as one of the TT favourites

Sergent is one of the riders to watch tonight ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Sep 21st. 11.  At 10:45pm tonight NZ time, Jesse Sergent begins his 46km Elite Men's World Championship time trial race - the UCI have the Kiwi picked as one of the Top 10 favourites.

Four time World TT Champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) is the big favourite, although many believe Tony Martin (Germany) will be the rider to break Cancellara's winning run. He has already beaten 'Spartacus' this year.

The UCI, in a news article on its website, pick the other main contenders as Bert Grabsch (Germany), Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain), Jack Bobridge (Australia), Taylor Phinney (USA) and Sergent.

23 year old Sergent, in his first year in the pro-ranks, has earned three time trial victories this season - the 7km Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen prologue, 14.7km Eneco Tour of Benelux TT and the 20.5 km Tour du Poitou Charentes TT.

Tonight's 46km race is significantly longer, but Sergent has plenty of support to deliver a top performance. His Team RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel announced on Facebook he was sending Director Sportif Dirk Demol to Copenhagen for Sergent's TT.

The flat but technical course, which Sergent faces as the 11th rider off, will be made all the more difficult if the rain and wind makes an appearance as it did today.

Fortunately the forecast is for overcast skies with just a 10% chance of any precipitation, but wind conditions look variable in both direction and strength across the four and a half hours the event will take to complete.

The course includes the 13.9km circuit the elite women and junior men rode today, plus a second four corner loop to extend the two laps to 23.3km each.

Men's Elite TT start list

(12:30 in Copenhagen is 10:30pm in NZ)

UCI World Road Championships

• Road race results from the UCI Road World Championships
• New World Road Champion Mark Cavendish
• Kiwis Worlds foiled by crash
• Jack Bauer ready for Worlds challenge
• Linda Villumsen races to plan
• Crashes hold junior Kiwis back
• Disappointment for U23 Kiwi men
• Junior Kiwis in the action, not just the good action
• Start lists for the road race events
• Kiwi family has two riders to cheer at the Worlds
• All time trial results
• Tony Martin delivers a World Champion performance
• Big images of the Kiwis in action
• Jack Bauer happy with Top 20 performance
• UCI name Jesse Sergent as one of the favourites
• Silver success for Linda Villumsen
• Stunning silver medal for James Oram
• Junior Kiwis benefit from World Champs merger
• Two Kiwis 6th best TT times in the World
• Aussies steal all the action on Day 1 
• Women's elite TT start list
• NZ team and race schedule