And Chris Froome is off. Can he add a world title to an already incredible career?

He avoids any first-corner mishap after Poland's Maciej Bodnar crashed minutes earlier.

Poland's Maciej Bodnar has just started and it is not exactly the start he was dreaming of.

At the very first corner he crashes to the ground. He is able to dust himself down and get back in the action but it's a painful and costly start for him.

Ireland's Nicolas Roche has just finished and is currently third in the standings, 19.21 seconds off the lead, which is held by Dutchman Wilco Kelderman's time of 46 minutes 15.33 seconds.

Roy Leonard Finch: Chris Froome, smart, intelligent, polite and modest! His sport achievements superb since 2011! Four GT wins v the World's best. More!

Simon Feasey: Number 1. Froome is at the top of a sport dictated by fine margins, where supreme fitness, skill + bravery is critical.

Anton Elloway: Don't know if it's helpful to talk about someone being the greatest but Froome has achieved wonders & comes across as really nice!

The riders go off at 90-second intervals and we have ten riders doing their last-minute preparations eagerly waiting to get going.

The last 10 to set off are

• Tejay van Garderen (United States)
• Ilnur Zakarin (Russia)
• Bob Jungels (Netherlands)
• Maciej Bodnar (Poland)
• Primoz Roglic (Slovenia)
• Rohan Dennis (Australia)
• Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain)
• Chris Froome (Great Britain)
• Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)
• Tony Martin (Germany)

Chris Froome's achievement of becoming the first British winner of the Vuelta a Espana makes him "without a doubt" one of the all-time greats of cycling, according to Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford.

B.Alert: Yes. Drug free and doesn't seek the limelight. Top professional.

Stephen Brien: Impossible to say. How do you compare the different sports? Is he better than Mo Farah? What about Jessica Ennis-Hill?

Mick Massey DCFC: Not only Britain's! One of the best athletes in the world... accomplishing achievements that nobody had done before...

Here are the standings after the full 31km. Of those that have finished, 26-year-old Dutchman Wilco Kelderman currently leads the way with a time of 46 minutes 15.33 seconds.

We want you to send us your thoughts on the action from Bergen.

Chris Froome, a four-time Tour de France winner, is in action later on and we want you to tell us:

Is Froome Britain's greatest current athlete? If so, tell us why. If not, tell us who is instead.

Tweet us using the hashtag #bbccycling and we will post your thoughts on this page throughout the afternoon.

Chris Froome admits any positive result at this event will be a 'bonus' after his success of becoming the first British winner of the Vuelta a Espana earlier this month and winning theTour de France for the fourth time in July.

These are the standings at the 27.6km mark.

Some riders have already finished, including Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart.

He was not happy after his ride of 48min 28sec, which is more than two minutes off the current top time.

He told BBC Sport: "You would have to use a beep noise to describe that ride. I couldn't get on top of it. I couldn't get my breathing right. Not a great ride.

"I came off on one of the corners. I overcooked it a little bit. Too ambitious, trying to go too fast."

Here is the map for the time trial. As you can see from the red, the final climb up Mount Floyen is a swine! Sort the men from the boys.

The blurb for the event on the official Bergen 2017 website, concludes: "After completing the climb to Mount Fløyen the riders are awarded the scenic view from the finish line with the city of Bergen at their feet. This will truly be a memorable race!"

You can say that again.

Image source, UCI

We are in Bergen, Norway and the race is over a 31km distance.

This competition features 64 men, it was meant to be 65 but Guyana's Jermaine Burrowes was a non-starter. We still have another 20 men to get going, with Chris Froome the third last to head out at just after 4pm.

You can watch live coverage of the Road World Championships, via BBC Two, by pressing the play button at the top of the page.

This is how they stand at the 11.5km so far. Belgium's Yves Lampaert, who won one of the individual stages during the 2017 Vuelta a Espana, currently leads the way although the big names are still to start.

Image source, .

Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko has problems with the bike change - swapping a heavier time trial machine for a regular road bike for the final climb - that could decide the winner of the men's time trial at the World Championships in Bergen, Norway.

Cycling is booming - many people are getting on a bike for the first time, and those who already cycle are cycling more and more. It's a revolution.

There are so many variations from road races to BMX, to mountain biking and those just cycling to work.

Regardless of how and where you cycle you'll be increasing your cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength, while also decreasing your body-fat levels.

Head over to the Get Inspired website here to find out more about how to get into cycling.

Image source, AFP