Like other teams set to compete in the World Championships team time trial, Team Sky did a reconnaissance of the TTT parcours on Saturday, when the route was closed to traffic. Instead of giving finishing touches to their preparations, a fast ride around Richmond almost put an and to their chances in Sunday's rivalry, as three of their six riders crashed heavily after hitting a pothole.

According to Rod Ellingworth, Danny Pate, Elia Viviani and Luke Rowe crashed while speeding nearly 60kph. Apart from visible bruises and skin abrasions, the full extent of their injuries wasn't known when they returned to the team hotel last afternoon.

He also admitted that the incident comprimised their performance in the TTT on Sunday and it wasn't sure whether all riders would be able to line up at the start.

"It's true that they had a crash," Ellingworth told Cyclingnews. "Luke, Elia and Danny Pate all came down pretty hard. They're all back at the team hotel but they've all lost plenty of skin that's for sure.

"Danny has lost a lot of skin and it looks like Viviani has banged up his knee. We're still waiting on a full set of check ups to see what the extent of the damage is but obviously this compromises what we were here to do."

Things didn't turn out all that dramatic for the British squad after all. Ellingworth informed via text message early on Sunday that both Pate and Rowe experienced only superficial scratches in a crash, while Viviani, whose participation was the biggest uncertainly last evening, is good to go despite suffering from a knee injury.

Team Sky squad for the World Championships TTT consists of:

Danny Pate, Elia Viviani, Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe, Salvatore Puccio and Vasil Kiryienka