It was the day to be afraid of for Aker Solutions. 26km of flat time trialing. But after being a class of his own on the Grossglockner, Jose Alarcon looks safe in the leader jersey. But still some stronger time trialists are behind him and will try everything.
Also the fight for the stage win is exciting as the biggest names against the clock are missing here.
3 early starters, who probably focused this stage to shine. None of these plays a role in the overall.
Damrow
Van Ooijen
Ma
Damrow comes in first and sets the first best time. But although Van Ooijen can`t match his time it`s not looking unbeatable.
This also shows Ma`s time. 1'11 faster than Damrow and so obviously the new best time and a first time, where it will be very hard to be faster.
More riders without GC ambitions:
Sutherland
Aramendia
Mazur
Another WWE rider in Sutherland and the Bianchi duo. Especially Aramendia was counted to the big favourites for the stage win. The Spaniard already showed his skills this season and won a time trial. So he surely must be on everybody`s list.
Sutherland with a decent time. More than 40s slower than Ma but still 2nd.
Then Aramendia comes to the finish line. He is faster than the Australian but still 26s slower than Ma. This already shows how good Ma`s time really is.
Also the second Bianchi rider is not able to beat it. He comes in 4th at the moment.
And still some more pure time trialists:
D2: Wilman
Vandborg
Wilman was maybe one of the biggest hope for a good result for the D2 team. But although the Norwegian counts to the best in their division, he is not even close to the better riders in this division or even this race. This will be hard to get into the top20 today.
Vandborg on the other side with a good ride. Officials called him THE top favourite for todays stage. This he won`t be able to justify but at least the 3rd at the moment behind Ma and Aramendia.
Now some of the biggest disappointments:
Lövkvist
Ratiy
The Swede showed some good racing in the last days but ruined his race already on the first 2-3 stages. Today he once again shows what would have been possible otherwise. Solid race, not far slower than the specialists so far.
Also Ratiy ruined his race due to bad positioning. Instead of fighting for the top5 he is not even inside the top10. At least today he shows good racing as 4th even 2s faster than Lövkvist.
Kolesnikov
Duarte
Txurruka
The Russian showed a solid race so far. He was an pretty aggressive rider always in the right positions. He can`t beat the pure time trialists but is faster than all other GC rider at the moment. His goal must be the top 10 overall.
Duarte also belongs to the disappointing riders. The Columbian was expected to fight for the top3-5 and must fear to be outside the top10 in the end. Same time as Lövkvist today.
Txurruka had a pretty invisible race without big attacks. But on the other side he was always on the right side of the splits and avoided big time gaps then. So he came closer and closer to the top10. But the Basque is a very weak time trialist and so he loses almost 3min on Ma. More than most other riders so far.
Now coming to the late top10`s:
De La Fuente
Ruijgh
Lloret
Team Bianchi can`t be that pleased. At least one of their riders underperformed on every stage. So none of them was in the top5 before this time trial. Lloret still has the chance to finish there and so he puts everything in his ride and finishes on a great 2nd so far just 14s behind Ma. Good chance for improving now.
De La Fuente and Ruijgh both entered the top10 with their breakaway yesterday. None of them is a well known time trialist. So they lose some time to the riders directly behind. In the end Ruijgh just defends his 8th a few seconds ahead of Duarte. De La Fuente loses his top10 right now as also Kolesnikov passes him.
Caruso
The Italian was one of the strongest in the mountains but had some bad luck and couldn`t join the fight for the overall win. He is in between most GC riders today.
Van Den Broeck
The Pirelli rider was maybe the strongest this Tour. But also the most unlucky rider. Crashing and puncturing before the climbs gave him some minutes on the other riders. Still he never gave up and was one of the most attacking riders.
Today he can at least reward himself a bit. The first time after a longer term we see another best time. Van Den Broeck leads the race by just 4s to Ma, who had the race of his life obviously.
Rujano
Up and Down for Rujano this Tour. Disappointing first stage when find himself behind. Then amazing come back on the Kitzbüheler Horn just to disappoint again on the Grossglockner, where he couldn`t repeat his performance. In the end he might be not too unhappy with the 4th when looking at the names before and after him.
He loses a bit more than minute on Van Den Broeck but defends his 4th overall.
Pozzovivo
The Italian was always looking strong but probably made to less here. No real attacks by the Vespa leader. Still he finds himself on the podium and with Alarcon and Valverde being ahead of him he might feel well there.
8th so far today but this won`t be enough to improve.
Valverde
The Spaniard was always in the right groups but missed to show his real skills and wasn`t as aggressive as some others. Still he was always showing his skills and this way winning one stage.
Today he beats Pozzovivo in the direct duel and will finish 7th of the day. But will this be enough to beat Alarcon? Looking at similar riders this won`t be enough.
Alarcon
Here he comes. He was one of the most spectacular signings in the transfer season signing for a brand new team. Still he got a great climbing support there, which was also shown in this race. His ride onto the Grossglockner was pretty amazing and so he won once again a mountain stage this season.
Todays ride is enough to keep the lead. Just one more stage to come before he can celebrate the overall win.
