Just as a picture paints a thousand words, in the sporting world the numbers often say it all. In snooker, 147; in cricket, a century; in golf, one. Time trialling, more than most branches of cycle sport, is predicated on figures – the key distances are 10, 25; the key times are 50, 20 minutes; and when it comes to pinning on a number, 120 are the coveted digits. If you have that printed on the square piece of flapping plastic safetypinned to your skinsuit, it means you are the fastest rider in a full field – the one to beat.
Most riders will never get to wear it, and for the time being at least, the opportunities to do so are dwindling. The current trend for low entries means…
