Tom Dumoulin will be one of the driving forces on an Argos-Shimano team that is famously known for finishing at the bottom of the rankings in the grand tour team time trials. With a flat course and big, powerful riders on the roster, the Dutchman is, however, hopeful that his team will create a surprise.

Argos-Shimano is known for its poor team time trials at grand tours with the squad finishing last in both the Giro and the Tour and finishing 21st of 22 teams in the Vuelta. Hence, the Dutchmen haven't gained much attention prior to tomorrow's world championships team time trial.

It may, however, be a good idea to keep an eye on the white-clad riders tomorrow. A roster featuring time trial specialists like Tom Dumoulin, Patrick Gretsch,  Tobias Ludvigsson and Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg, strongman William Clarke and sprinter Ramon Sinkeldam suggests that the team may perform much better than usual.

Argos is known as a team of sprinters with a great lead-out to support their fast finishers. The team thrives in the flat terrain and they will get plenty of chances to show their talents on the flat, fast course in Florence. The perfect fit between the course and the team's strengths makes Dumoulin optimistic that there may be a surprise in store

"The course suits us," he told CyclingQuotes after his final recon ride. "It's really fast and we have only big guys. It's in our advantage. We are really motivated and we want to go for a surprise. Of course it is not going to be a podium for us. There are better teams and we have to be realistic but I think top 10 could be possible."

In the grand tours, the team is always focused on stage wins and doesn't put any emphasis on the GC. Hence, thid bad results are explained by a lack of motivation with the team trying to save energy for days when they can potentially win.

Tomorrow things are different.

"For sure, we don't want to be last like in the grand tours," Dumoulin said. "We have a different approach now and in the grand tours we don't go for it. In the grand tours, we don't care if we get 16th or lose 20 seconds. Here it's nice to show us and we have a good team. I think we can surprise."

Being a solid climber, Dumoulin has been selected for the Dutch roster for the road race which is held on a completely different, very hilly course. While the team lacks an outstanding favourite in their ranks, it's a testament to the success of Dutch cycling that the nation boasts a line-up with plenty of riders that may potentially figure in the finale. Bauke Mollema, Robert Gesink, Laurens Ten Dam, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Bauke Mollema, Pieter Weening and Johnny Hoogerland will be joined by Dumoulin to form a roster of solid climbers while classics specialist Sebastian Langeveld will provide crucial support.

With Mollema being a perennial top 10 finisher in the Ardennes classics and Gesink having recently won the GP de Quebec, Dumoulin expects the Belkin duo to lead the team.

"Normally, Bauke Mollema is our leading guy," he said. "Robert Gesink proved to be in really good shape in Canada. I think that will be our two main riders. We have 9 strong riders. That's our advantage. We can play with different cards in the finale but normally it suits Robert and Bauke the best."

Dumoulin has had an incredible second season as a professional. He came agonizingly close to winning the Eneco Tour when he lost the leader's jersey to Zdenek Stybar on the final day and he finished 5th in the Tour of Belgium. The Tour de France was his maiden grand tour and he did well by finishing 6th on the stage to Gap and making it into the top 10 on the first time trial.

As a good climber with a fabulous ability to time trial, Dumoulin has all the abilities to perform well in stage races. However, he rules himself out as a grand tour contender for the time being and has set his sights on shorter races and the Ardennes classics.

"[I'm not] not a grand tour rider, my climbing skills are not good enough but maybe in the future, I don't know," he said. "For now, it's not possible. But I want to go for stage races like Eneco, Tour Down Under and a lot of WorldTour races that suit me. And the classics like Amstel Gold Race, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Fleche Wallonne. They really suit me. With my good time trial I can do good GCs in smaller stage races and with my climbing skills I can do good classics in the future. It will be a question how good it's going to be but I would like to focus on the stage races and the classics."

Dumoulin's Argos team will roll down the ramp at 15.06.30 CEST in tomorrow's team time trial. Starting at 14.00 CEST you can follow the race in its entirety on CyclingQuotes.com/live.