The opening stage of this years Volta Catalunya is a 17,5km team time trial. So most teams added the strongest time trialists next to their GC leaders. Experienced showed that Festina and Project 1t4i always were performing good in those. Also today they belong to the stage favourites.
Project 1t4i is the first team on the road today. Their GC leader Velits is supported by Rosseler and Posthuma mainly. Their TT power is not as strong as in previous seasons but it`s still impressive. The time is a first indicator of who will do good here.
Puma - SAP is the first team to compare the times. Van den Broeck is their new leader but the TT support is average only. +7s, +12s and +19s are their gaps to Project 1t4i. So it`s only the 2nd at the moment already with a bigger gap. Surely Van den Broeck will need to attack in the mountains to improve his positon.
Pokerstars is the next promoted team around Rujano. The times at the intermediates are a bit better than Puma`s but in the end they lose 1s to them being on the virtual 3rd.
Pendleton`s around Austrian Kohl is fighting hard and even beating the best time at the 2nd intermediate. In the end they lost some energy and finish +11s as 2nd at the moment.
Heineken participate with the US wonder boy Ryan Eastman. They set the new best time at both intermediates. But Project 1t4i were pretty strong in the end, so they lose 8s to them. 2nd right now. A good result.
Team
Finish
Project 1t4i
23'27
Heineken
8
Pendletons
12
Puma
20
Pokerstars
21
Santander. The Spanish team is mainly known for their superb climbers, not really for the time trialists. Even more surprising when they had teh best time on the 1st by 12s! Until the 2nd they already lost 15s just to finish with +44s in the end. Awful lose of energy towards the end. Tenorio really needs to attack now.
Team Bacardi around Spanish climber Intxausti with a mediocre performance today. +17s in the end to Project 1t4i, who are still leading the race.
Venchi might be the weakest squad in this race. Their GC hope Brambilla needs to overperform by looking at all the elite stage racers. After being last at the first two spots they gain a bit time in the end to finish with -6s to Santander. Still a tough start to this race.
Pearl Adidas has the disadvantage of having only 7 riders at the start. Half of the TTT done it looked pretty solid as they seem to be able to compensate it with their strength. But then the difficulties begun and they often had to wait for the weakest team mate. They finish last with +48s. Sicard has to shine now.
Milka started very well into this time trial, lost a bit on the 2nd part but recovered obviously to start a final run. In the end it`s the 2nd at the moment with only +5.
Lotto - Cervelo with another outside favourite for a top15. Lloret will need a lot of the National bonus to reach more. They were always in the last third today and finish with +22 just behind Puma and Pokerstars.
Wiggle has an interesting GC rider in Costagli. He is a solid climber but first has to prove his stage racer qualities this season. Top 15 would be a success for him. After a good start as 3rd at the intermediate they fell a bit but still finish with +12 only.
Wikipedia is riding for Denifl. It`s the 2nd Austrian GC rider here and at least today he is losing this duel. +17s in the end somewhere in the middle of the rankings.
ING Cycling Project is the wildcard team around Gomez Marchante, Castano and Roche. After an average start they improve by setting the new best at the 2nd and also in the finish. We have a new leader by 3s over Project 1t4i.
With 7 more teams to come we have the following ranking:
Team
Finish
ING Cycling Project
23'24
Project 1t4i
3
Milka - AVG
8
Heineken
11
Pendletons
14
Wiggle
15
Team Bacardi
20
Wikipedia
20
Puma
22
Pokerstars
23
Lotto Cervelo
25
Pro Team Venchi
41
Santander
47
Pearl Adidas
51
Festina is 2nd at the 1st behind the surprising Santander and keep strong until the finish. Contador`s team on a solid 4th so far with only +9s to ING.
Vesuvio. The return of Andy Schleck. The top class climber surely belongs to the biggest favourites here and has some nice support with him. Only mediocre performances at the first half but an improvement towards the finish. +12s just behind Heineken and Festina.
Aker MOT with Spilak wants a great result in the overall here. They come closest to Santander at the start as 2nd but lose their fast pace. Luckily for them not as much as the Spaniards so it`s a decent result with +16s in the end.
Koenigsegg with former race winner Valverde had a good start. 1st at the 2nd intermediate but losing a few seconds on the last part. So it`s the actual 3rd with +8 in the end.
Simply Red Bull as last promotion team around Italian climber Sella. Mediocre start, mediocre middle part and weak final part. In the end 4th last with +25s which is still much better than the last three teams.
UBS around Amador is having quite a similar ride than Simply Red Bull. Their times are almost equal. In the end they are better by 1s. Still Amador needs to attack to gain this time back.
Team B&O with Pluchkin starts as last team. 11th on the 1st, 2nd with the same time on the 2nd and the same result with +3s to todays TTT winner ING in the finish. Great start for Pluchkin today.
David Zabriskie was the biggest impact for ING to win todays race and will wear the leader jersey tomorrow.
Santander at the first and Koenigsegg on the 2nd take the intermediate wins. In especially the first are a big surprise.
Also interesting to see that quite a few leaders lost contact in the end by finishing a few seconds behind their teams. Not the best start for these.
Result
1
ING Cycling - Project
23'24
2
Project 1t4i
+ 3
3
Team B&O
s.t.
4
Koenigsegg
+ 9
5
Milka - AVG
s.t.
6
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
7
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
