Stefan Küng smiled when asked that question. After all, his stance was already clear. Chris Froome recently suggested that time trial bikes could be outlawed from professional cycling competition, but as the leading authority on time trial competition in the peloton, he would not support that.

"Time trial has a long tradition and has been part of the sport since its inception," Kühn told Cycling News at the Volta Ao Algarve. 'For the development of the material, it's good to have time trials. For me, it's the F1 of the sport. The innovations in time trials are also the innovations in regular road racing."

Froom's comments came in a video posted on his YouTube channel, in which Egan Bernal, who crashed while training on a time trial bike in Colombia last month was seriously injured.

Küng, a time trial specialist since his junior days, has been accumulating training time on the open road in the aerodynamic position for over a decade and acknowledges the risks such work poses.

"When I train for TTs, I choose really quiet roads, but I still keep my head up a little bit, just like in a race, so I can always see what's ahead.

"You always have to be aware that you are in traffic. Even if you're trying and you're hunched over a little bit, you always have to remember that you're training on the open road. Otherwise, as you can see, it can be very dangerous, unfortunately."

Kühn won four time trial races in 2021, winning his second consecutive European title, but was disappointed at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing fourth, just four tenths of a second behind Rohan Dennis' bronze medal.

The Swiss rider became a model of forgiveness, admitting in the mixed zone immediately after the race that he could not have gone a second faster.

However, although his subsequent gold medal at the European Championships eased his frustration, he said that Tokyo occasionally came back to haunt him. For example, as a fan of winter sports, it was impossible not to think about Olympic medals during the past two weeks.

"It means I managed to get over it," he said. But the Winter Olympics are going on right now, and I'm keeping a close eye on that, so it's definitely on my mind from time to time," Kühn said.

"When it gets really tough to win a medal, that memory comes back to me. But in the end, we gave it our all and did our best. That's part of our sport and that's the beauty of it. Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference."

Like all elite time triallists, Kyun spent a good portion of this winter searching for the little pieces that make a big difference in this season's lone effort. Now in his fourth season with Groupama-FDJ, the equipment for Kyun is familiar, but his position still needed some fine-tuning before the new campaign.

"I have to keep evolving to stay competitive, so I work on that every winter," Kyun said.

"This year I've made some other adjustments and I feel really comfortable, so I'm looking forward to the races."

Cung will get his first opportunity to test his new position at the Volta ao Algarve on Saturday. Stage 4 time trial winner Remco Evenpole (Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl) will also go into the race with considerable ambition, but he will roll down the start ramp at Vila Real de Santo Antonio.

The time trial is 32.2 km long, and Cung is one of the few riders in the Algarve peloton who relishes this early season distance.

"I arrived here on Monday, so I had a look on Tuesday. It has some tricky downhills, but it suits me. During the season I'll concentrate on time trials." I've also been training for the TT this winter."

The Volta ao Algarve is Kyung's first race of the season, and he has already shown off his form by making a notable cameo appearance in the summit finish of the second stage, Alto da Foia, replacing David Gaudo. Kyung set the tempo at the front of a dwindling lead group in the finale, assisting Gaudou to a stage win before finishing 19th, just 18 seconds behind his teammate.

"I tried to hold on, but my preparation this season has been pretty good, so I just went for it. It felt good to get up there. Unfortunately, I cramped up at the end. "Unfortunately I cramped up at the end, but it was good to go deep. It will be a challenge for the future."