Aware that there is no room for mistakes on the smooth but unforgiving TTT course in Richmond where seconds will divide winners from losers, defending champions will line up at the start confident they have six riders at the top of their game.

BMC Racing won the team time trial last year in Ponferrada by an impressive margin of 31.84 seconds on a 57km long course. Team sports director Allan Peiper agrees with other experts, though, that the final result of the race will be decided in seconds this time around.

"I think it's a good course," Peiper said to Cyclingnews. "It's nice and fast, it gives a few different aspects to it, with descents, tight corners, some fast straights, a little bit of rolling terrain, and then a final climb. It encompasses a lot of different aspects, so I think it will be quite testing for all the teams."

"Everyone seems a little baffled as to why the individual time trial is 55km and the team time trial is 38km - the powers that be must have reasons for deciding that. It will make it even closer for all the teams. In the last months team time trials have been coming down to a second between first and second. I think it will be pretty much the same tomorrow. There is no room for mistakes."

Peiper also admitted that a loss of Tejay van Gerderen, who was a part of the winning squad from last year, was a huge blow. At the same time he underlined that the team remains confident as they will enter the race with the strongest possible line up.

"Obviously [Tejay] is a key part of the team, and being a climber who can power on the flats was a loss. But that's part of cycling. You have to adapt to the circumstances. We have a strong team that's fit and on top of their game."

A formidable squad consisting of Rohan Dennis, Taylor Phinney, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato, Stefan Kueng and Silvan Dillier will be backed by Marco Pinotti from the team car. The seasoned time trial coach revealed that a recipe for a success in TTT is very simple, with racing as a team instead of letting one's ego come to the fore being a main ingredient.

“It’s really a simple recipe for a team time trial,” Pinotti told Cyclingnews.

“It’s like the mixture for a cake. The main point is that they need to race as a team and not as individuals. You can’t just make a cake with eggs or flour, you need everything - and in this case everyone - to come together, so that you have the perfect balance.”

“So you know six strong guys aren’t going to make the best cake if you know what I mean. It’s about behaving like a team and putting the team in the forefront of your mind. That means everything that you do out on the road has to be an action that has your teammates in mind. It’s racing without any ego.”

Even if the team time trial effort is not about the individuals, having a motivated powerhouse in likes of Rohan Dennis can make a serious difference. The 25-year old Australian admitted that he believes his chances of coming away from this year's World Championships with two gold medals.

"The team time course is a good, rolling course, and we've a pretty strong line up that's really almost the same as last year. I feel strong, the training has been good, so we'll see," Dennis said.

"For the TTT we've a good line up, you can't deny that but at the same time you be content with what you've got. There are other guys out there who could be hungrier. We just have to do our race."

BMC Racing squad for the World Championships TTT consists of:

Rohan Dennis, Taylor Phinney, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato, Stefan Kueng and Silvan Dillier