Etixx-Quick Step is seeking a third world title in the team time trial in Qatar. In the last two years, they had to leave the honor to BMC and hopes for revenge in the desert.  "Both teams are on equal footing,” sports director Tom Steels tells Sporza.

In the Eneco Tour Etixx-QuickStep were just six seconds behind BMC. "We came very close, but had to do with one rider less and were not at full strength," says Tom Steels.

"Here we are going well and then we know that we will automatically participate in the fight for the podium and victory. In my view, both teams are equal. We start with a sextet that has made good progress. They are all riding well and have grown at the right time to reach their top form.

"We arrived here on Tuesday and the adaptation went very well for everybody. The course recon has certainly reassured us. The heat does require an adjustment, but we try to keep our riders as cool as possible. Everyone knows the course and the difficulties . We can start to be pretty comfortable.”

How difficult is the course? 

"It is very tricky. Flat time trials make sure that you get almost no recovery. There are no descents to catch the breath. The first 13 kilometers are full of turns and then you come to the main road.

"In training the speed was there between 60 and 65 kilometers per hour. Then you get so little time to recuperate. Combine that with the heat and the unstable wind and you get a physically and technically enormously challenging time trial."

BMC and Etixx-Quick Step are the top favorites. Who will be close to them? 

"Orica, Movistar, Katusha, Team Sky ... They're all here at the start with a very strong team."

"The heat makes it very unpredictable and everyone can experience something unexpected. On the long straight you could very easily lose a rider if you start too fast in the technical part at the start of the time trial.

"The first time chec will be very important. I do not think there will be very big differences on the long straight. All teams will go incredibly fast there.

"In the last part you are going from roundabout to roundabout and then you have to wait and see what riders have power enough to take turns of 30 to 35 seconds."