Today there will be the time trial from Lucca to Pisa and it will be very different from the one in Tirana, because the kilometers to cover will be 28.6. "Certainly it's a different time trial from the one in Albania and comes after a rest day and after a week where we've been quite relaxed – explained Edoardo Affini, European champion of the specialty - so it will also be a matter of seeing how the body has recovered and how everyone else has reacted to the rest day. Anyway, I'll definitely go all out and try to do my best to try to bring it home".

The Italian riding for Visma-Lease a Bike is a time trial specialist and in the race he and Van Aert will use the new Prologo saddle, built specifically for time trials. "There will definitely be the Prologo saddle again. We worked together with the manufacturers to better adapt it to our needs. We developed our saddles together and I can say they work very well".

In a technical test like a time trial, every detail is important and nothing can be left to chance if you want to achieve significant results.

"If we want to talk about gears, today we'll go with a 68 in front and a 10-28 at the back. It will be a time trial where we'll need to push, so we'll try to go as fast as possible".

Visma – Lease a Bike works closely with all partner companies to try to obtain the best materials, capable of delivering maximum performance in the race both in terms of technique and comfort.

"We always work in synergy with various brands, with the various sponsors who support us, to obviously try to improve more and more, especially because in recent years we've been working a lot on details. There's always a continuous search to improve even just that 0.5% that might save you something at 60 kilometers per hour".

A time trial after a rest day can always be a surprise, because not all riders recover in the same way. However, Affini is calm and knows he has prepared himself in the best possible way for this appointment.

"I think we'll have a time trial with not exaggerated but still important gaps. It will be important to have recovered well. The rest day can always be a bit of a double-edged sword in certain situations, but I believe the various classification riders know how to manage themselves, know what to do, so there will certainly be a great challenge. I think there will also be some significant gaps".

Affini will be one of the favorites for victory, but there will be other riders who can certainly do well, such as Tarling, Roglic, Vine, and van Aert.

"Regarding victory and the podium, I believe Tarling is the number one favorite, he had a great time trial in Tirana, he's anyway one of the best specialists around, and the course will certainly be very suitable for him. The course will also be suitable for me and I like it more compared to the one in Tirana. So I'll try to do my best as always".