Alex Dowsett (open in new tab) believes that this year's elite men's time trial at the Road World Championships (open in new tab) will be the most open in years, with stars competing on the 54km course in Yorkshire on Wednesday.

Katusha-Alpecin's rider has been training on the course for the past few days and previewed it for the first time in the spring.

He is targeting at least a top 10 finish, but defending champion Rohan Dennis (AUS) will be joined by world time record holder Victor Kampenaerts, European champion Remco Evenpole, Luke Durbridge, Chad Haga, Kasper Asgreen, Tony Martin, Primosz Roglic, and Bob Jungels will be competing against a strong field of time trialists.

Dowsett praised the organizers for creating a parkour with elements for all types of riders.

"It's got everything," he said. It's a really well-designed course." There are a few climbs, but nothing that separates riders like Roglic from the rest." [There are] some long straights and some corners. I really like the course to Harrogate, even though it gets tiresome at times. Point-to-point is interesting and I just hope the conditions don't change. This is good for me."

Dowsett has finished in the top five in the European Championships and has been riding consistently since the Tour de France in July.

"I'm feeling good. We've moved to higher altitudes, but I'm always bad at altitude. So I'm coming into the race with terrible numbers in training and good numbers in the race.

"I've been good in every race since the Tour. The first two days of the Tour of Germany were very good, and the first two days of the Tour of Britain were very good. Hopefully that bodes well for Wednesday."

At the European Championships, Dowsett finished less than a second off the podium. He continued his good form from the Tour de France and rode with confidence. At the same time, Dowsett recognized that Evenpoel's victory put the others in the shade.

"It was very good," he said. 'He may still be a student, but he's amazing, he was 0.48 seconds off third and two seconds off second. It was good to be in the mix so completely in a competitive event."

Evenpoel enters the time trial with increasingly high expectations. This is his first time competing in a time trial of this length, but his versatility and the number of victories he has had over the past few months means that he will start as a podium contender.

"No one really knows," he said. That's what makes Lemko so special this year. That's what makes Lemko so special this year. It will be very interesting to see how he does; 54km is not 24km, but he won in San Sebastian. He also won the Tour of Belgium.

"Even if you subtract his age, what professional cyclist has won a race like he has won in the last two months? What is most incredible to me is the diversity of his victories."

Asked if Even Paul is a strong contender for the rainbow jersey, Dowsett replied: "But it's one of the most open worlds in years. But this is the most open Worlds in years. There are strong players like Stéphane Kühn, and there are also smaller players. There are smaller players like Lemko Evenpole and Primoš Roglic, and in the middle there are us.

"Who knows what will happen with Rohan [Dennis]. The same goes for Viktor [Campenaerts]. We know they are well prepared, but without the race, we don't know where they are at. It is very open. Some of them are like Vasil Kiryienka, who won in Richmond, which nobody expected. It will be an exciting race. 0]

Dowsett is aware that a top-10 finish would give the British athletes more options in Tokyo, but his personal goal is to get the most out of his run and not get hung up on predicted placings.

"Where do you want to finish?" At the start, everyone wants to win. If you don't, you shouldn't be at the starting line; a top 10 finish is a good result, but focus on the difference between 9th, 3rd, and 1st place. Then you analyze it [4] [5] "I want to have a good run. We want to give it everything and we know we will. Everything needs to come together on the day."