Today the individual time trial at the Latvian National Championships was held in Dobele. The distance was 35km. Team Katusha’s rider Gatis Smukulis won the gold medal of the Latvian Championships. This is his 5th ITT title in a row.

"I am happy to win the time trial again. The Latvian Championships is an important race for me, so every time I try to be in good shape here. Today I felt quite good. After Critérium du Dauphiné I was tired and I still felt it during the European Games in Baku where I missed some freshness. But I had time for some recovery before the Championships and now I feel really good. The race was almost flat with small climbs and descent. I started behind Saramotins, so I knew his time at every point and had possibility to control the situation. So I had something left in reserve and did not force anything because on Sunday it will be a very tough race and I want to be at 100%," explained Gatis Smukulis.

Second place in ITT was taken byAleksejs Saramotins from IAM Cycling, who lost 8 seconds. The bronze medal is for Krists Neilands from Rietumu – Delfin, who finished 2 minutes and 22 seconds behind the winner.

Today’s win of Gatis Smukulis is the 30th victory for Team Katusha in the current season.