For the second year in a row, Rusvelo rider Artem Ovechkin finished second in the Russian time trial championships. However, the in-form Russian had expected more and lamented the poor weather conditions that didn't suit the skinny rider.

RusVelo rider Artem Ovechkin clocked the 3rd best time in the elite individual time trial Russian championships winning his second consecutive bronze in the event. He finished the 50km race in 1.03.02, at the average speed of 47.594 km/h. Two Katusha teammates, Anton Vorobyev and Sergey Chernetsky took first and second.

The 25km course was set on a broad highway, a fact that made the ascents and descents visually less impressive. Yet it turned out to be a very hard test of the different time trialists' qualities, including weather resistance. The air under the leaden skies was just slightly warmer than 10° C; it was raining all the time with frequent gusts of northwestern wind.

“A medal is a medal, but I can’t help feeling a bit disappointed," Ovechkin said. "The form is here, but the weather proved too much for me – I did a lot of specific training in Spain, it was hot out there, and who could expect conditions like that at the end of June? Cold weather has always been a problem for me, I’m too skinny for that. As to the course, it was OK, a little less hilly than I would like. Well, I’ll keep on trying to break this spell of being third”.