Jan Barta was highly ambitious for the Tour of Britain time trial but the Czech had to settle for fourth. The result was a disappointment as he has finished in the top 3 in most of the TTs he has done this year.

Yesterday’s final stage of the Tour of Britain was divided into two parts. First a time trial was held in the heart of London, followed by an 89-km circuit race. By coming in 4th in the time trial, Team NetApp-Endura’s Jan Barta not only scored another top result in his special discipline, but also improved to 11th place in the general classification. In the subsequent circuit race, the Czech pro even managed to gain a few bonus seconds to move up to a solid ninth place in the tour’s overall rankings. Dylan van Baarle (Garmin Sharp) clenched the overall victory.

“Fourth place wasn’t what Jan was expecting in the time trial. Even though he gave it his all and was doing very well halfway through, in the end three guys were faster. Jan finished in the top three in virtually every time trial this season and was expecting to do the same thing here. Since he didn’t make any visible mistakes, it really comes down to just not being quite fast enough today. Jan ended up being a few seconds out of the top ten heading into the final stage this afternoon. That motivated him to try everything he could and go along with every attack. Today he was finally able to break into the group. With those two bonus seconds, he was able to move up to ninth place in the general classification. This success will certainly motivate him for the World Championships,” Sport Director Enrico Poitschke said, summing up the Tour of Britain.