42 mostly flat kilometres from Grosseto to Orbetello provide the first of three Individual time trials in the race. Today offers a prime opportunity for former TT World Champion Taylor Phinney to really gain some time on his rivals. He is is the standout rider against the clock in this field.
Marcel Kittel and Lucas Schädlich are both specialists in the field too, and have a good opportunity for a high GT stage result today.
Many other team leaders will expect a strong ride today too, including Markus Fothen, Yuri Trofimov, Simon Spilak, Angel Madrazo and Vincenzo Nibali.
It's a sunny start to the day, and one of the early top time triallists out on course is Luxembourg champion Nick Clesen, with a time of 58'52.
A better ride came from the Italian Adrian Malori, at 58'38.
With 58'13, Jesse Sergent further lowered the mark of the best time.
But two of the leading stage favourites were also fairly early starters, and they had a battle of their own for the top of the standings.
Marcel Kittel opened things up, with a first checkpoint time of 19'43. Already 17 seconds ahead of Sergent at this point.
In comparison, Lucas Schädlich came through the first split in 19'45. How has he recovered from his day in the breakaway yesterday?
Kittel doubled his advantage to 4 seconds at the second split, and then 8 seconds as the finish - coming out on top of the German TT specialist battle.
1
Marcel Kittel
57'31
2
Lucas Schädlich
+ 8
3
Jesse Sergent
+ 42
4
Adrian Malori
+ 1'07
5
Elia Viviani
+ 1'13
6
Philipp Walsleben
+ 1'19
7
Nick Clesen
+ 1'21
8
Pim Ligthart
+ 1'22
9
Dmitriy Gruzdev
+ 1'22
10
Jos Van Emden
+ 1'32
But as you can see, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and darkened. Rain was in the air by the time Fabio Duarte finished his ride. Having already lost 20 minutes, this has not been a good race for him - but he has gone well today to take 4th, 1'05 down.
A couple more good times were posted by Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg and Brian Vandborg.
1
Marcel Kittel
57'31
2
Lucas Schädlich
+ 8
3
Jesse Sergent
+ 42
4
Fabio Duarte
+ 1'05
5
Adrian Malori
+ 1'07
6
Brian Vandborg
+ 1'09
7
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
+ 1'11
8
Elia Viviani
+ 1'13
9
Ion Izagirre
+ 1'16
10
Thomas De Gendt
+ 1'18
We've soon reached, the Top 40 and a group of riders who start the day already 3'45 behind Trofimov. The best of these is Markus Fothen who can make amends for a poor race to date - and it is a promising start as he equals the same of Kittel at the first checkpoint!
He slips to 15 seconds down at the second checkpoint though, and will have to settle for that provisional 3rd place at the finish despite improving slightly - 13 seconds behind Kittel with 57'44.
He caught Sergio Luis Henao Montoya and Alexandre Shushemoin on the line. This means the Colombian finished exactly 2 minute behind Fothen, 2'13 behind Kittel. More time lost for last year's best young rider!
Robert Kiserlovski only fared slightly better than Henao, 2'02 behind Kittel, while Gianpaolo Caruso finished in between the two of them - at 2'11.
Tim Dees and Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy finished with provisional Top 20 times, as we looked to see what damage limitations Emanuele Sella could find. An uncomfortable ride for him sees him lose 2'52 on Kittel.
Bernhard Kohl can only manage a loss of 2'36, and is just caught at the finish by Vincenzo Nibali.
Fothen provided a nice target for Nibali, but not one that the Italian could beat. He goes a provisional 4th at the finish.
1
Marcel Kittel
57'31
2
Lucas Schädlich
+ 8
3
Markus Fothen
+ 13
4
Vincenzo Nibali
+ 37
5
Jesse Sergent
+ 42
Resplendent in his Slovakian national champion jersey, Peter Velits rides to 15th at 1'20 behind as we move into the last 20 riders.
Ryan Eastman finished 5 positions lower than Velits - but only 3 seconds - at 1'23.
Lotto-Cervelo team leader Manuel Lloret was much more impressive as he became just the 5th rider to finish within a minute of Kittel. It gives him 6th place, 56 seconds down.
A strong ride from Kristjan Koren has seen him overtake both Diego Ulissi and Jay McCarthy. He has also taken 3rd at the 2nd checkpoint - with a faster time than Fothen.
He maintained that pace at the finish, to end 12 seconds off the lead.
And with just 10 riders left to finish, the Top 10 stands as follows:
1
Marcel Kittel
57'31
2
Lucas Schädlich
+ 8
3
Kristjan Koren
+ 12
4
Markus Fothen
+ 13
5
Vincenzo Nibali
+ 37
6
Jesse Sergent
+ 42
7
Manuel Lloret
+ 56
8
Fabio Duarte
+ 1'05
9
Adrian Malori
+ 1'07
10
Brian Vandborg
+ 1'09
Angel Madrazo started the day 8th overall - a position he has achieved despite a fairly quiet start to the race. Now is the first time he hits the spotlight, and he overtook teammate David López Garcia
and latterly John-Lee Augustyn on route.
His time were just a bit slower than Koren all race, but he turned that around in the closing stages to take 3rd place.
1
Marcel Kittel
57'31
2
Lucas Schädlich
+ 8
3
Angel Madrazo
+ 10
4
Kristjan Koren
+ 12
5
Markus Fothen
+ 13
Nico Keinath's hopes of a Top 10 finish here have been served well by this opening week, and that continues today as he takes 8th at 45 seconds.
Marcel Kittel has been sat in the hot seat for a long time now, but he can prepare to vacate it as Taylor Phinney approaches.
17 seconds up at the first check, and 45 at the second. The American started the day 1'09 behind Trofimov and would dearly like to take the Maglia Rosa off him ahead of the first Mountains of the race.
The strong ride continues to the finish, as he beats Kittel by 1'07!
Defending champion Riccardo Ricco suffered a demoralising day as he was caught and comfortably dropped by the American. His time saw him lose 3'11 Phinney, which is comparable to the ride of Kiserlovski.
Romain Sicard has been dubbed as a future Tour de France winner, but what he can he do this year? He looks set to punch above his weight today by equalling Nibali's time at the 2nd checkpoint.
He ultimately finishes 1 second shy of Nibali as he takes a provisional 8th, 1'46 behind Phinney.
Simon Spilak set off today targeting a decent ride, but perhaps not expecting to be fighting for a podium spot on the stage. But that is where he is heading, after trailling Marcel Kittel by only 3 seconds at both the first and second splits.
And a powerful finish gives him 2nd place! 1'06 behind Phinney, 1 second ahead of Kittel.
This sets us up for a very interesting finish to the stage. Yuri Trofimov needs to finish no more than 1'09 behind Taylor Phinney to retain the race lead - so in other words, no more than 3 seconds behind Spilak.
And at the 2nd checkpoint, he was just 5 seconds behind Spilak!
2nd overall Jelle Wallays has been caught and passed - the Pokerstars rider will certainly lose his best Young rider jersey to Phinney - as Trofimov closes in on the line.
A fast finish could keep him in the lead...
He is slower than Spilak...
Slower than Kittel...
And over the line: 1'15 down. It's enough to beat Schadlich on the stage, but not enough to keep the race lead!
So the Maglia Rosa will have a 4th wearer, as it transfers to Phinney. How important will it be to hold the jersey as the first Mountain stage arrives?
Duarte gained 24 GC positions today, the most of anyone, but more significant is the 22 gains of Fothen as he climbs to 15th. Koren, Lloret and Nibali all climb into the Top 10.
The likes of Sella, Kiserlovski, Caruso and Henao Montoya are all now 5 minutes away from the race lead. They will need to take full advantage of the forthcoming climbs.
1
Taylor Phinney
Wikipedia
56'23
2
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
+1'06
3
Marcel Kittel
Vesuvio - Accumalux
+1'08
4
Yuri Trofimov
Koenigsegg
+1'15
5
Lucas Schädlich
Team Bacardi
+1'17
6
Angel Madrazo
Santander
+1'18
7
Kristjan Koren
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+1'20
8
Markus Fothen
Festina-Canal+
+1'21
9
Vincenzo Nibali
UBS - BMC
+1'45
10
Romain Sicard
Pearl Adidas
+1'46
11
Jesse Sergent
Milka - AVG
+1'50
12
Nico Keinath
Team B&O
+1'53
13
Manuel Lloret
Lotto - Cervelo
+2'04
14
Fabio Duarte
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+2'14
15
Adrian Malori
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
+2'15
16
Brian Vandborg
Team B&O
+2'18
17
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Wikipedia
+2'20
18
Elia Viviani
Simply Red Bull
+2'21
19
Ion Izagirre
Hollister Pro Cycling
+2'25
20
Thomas De Gendt
Vesuvio - Accumalux
+2'27
21
Philipp Walsleben
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
22
Gustavo Veloso
Santander
+2'28
23
Peter Velits
Project 1t4i
s.t.
24
Nick Clesen
Cisco Cycling Team
+2'29
25
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Milka - AVG
+2'30
26
Pim Ligthart
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
27
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
28
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+2'31
29
Tim Dees
Festina-Canal+
+2'34
30
Jos Van Emden
Project 1t4i
+2'40
31
Morgan Kneisky
Pearl Adidas
+2'44
32
Kiril Yatsevich
Team Bacardi
+2'49
33
Matthieu Sprick
Wikipedia
+2'52
34
Tyler Brandt
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+2'56
35
Gediminas Bagdonas
Team Bacardi
+2'58
36
Mattia Cattaneo
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
+3'03
37
Robert Kiserlovski
Hollister Pro Cycling
+3'10
38
Riccardo Ricco
Team Bacardi
+3'11
39
Thomas Faiers
Pendleton's
+3'14
40
Thomas Peterson
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
