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
+ 11
8
Vesuvio - Accumalux
+ 12
9
Pendleton's
+ 15
10
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Aker - MOT
+ 17
12
Wikipedia
+ 20
13
Team Bacardi
s.t.
14
Team Puma - SAP
+ 23
15
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
16
UBS - BMC
s.t.
17
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 26
18
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
19
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 42
20
Santander
+ 48
21
Pearl Adidas
+ 51
22
Control Team
+ 2'56
Overall
1
David Zabriskie
ING Cycling - Project
23'24
2
Dennis Van Winden
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
3
José Angel Gomez Marchante
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
4
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
5
Nicolas Roche
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
6
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
+ 1
7
Joost Posthuma
Project 1t4i
+ 3
8
Sébastien Rosseler
Project 1t4i
s.t.
9
Aleksandr Pluchkin
Team B&O
s.t.
10
Kristof Vandewalle
Project 1t4i
s.t.
11
Michael Faerk Christensen
Team B&O
s.t.
12
Peter Velits
Project 1t4i
s.t.
13
André Steensen
Team B&O
s.t.
14
Paul Martens
Project 1t4i
s.t.
15
Martin Hacecký
Team B&O
s.t.
16
Michael Mørkøv
Team B&O
s.t.
17
Benoît Vaugrenard
Project 1t4i
+ 5
18
Sten Stenersen
Team B&O
s.t.
19
Andrei Grivko
Team B&O
+ 7
20
Jos Van Emden
Project 1t4i
s.t.
21
Koen De Kort
Project 1t4i
+ 8
22
Freddy Johansson
Koenigsegg
+ 9
23
Viktor Renäng
Koenigsegg
s.t.
24
Jacob Fiedler
Koenigsegg
s.t.
25
Walter Pedraza
Koenigsegg
s.t.
26
Serge Pauwels
Koenigsegg
s.t.
27
Roman Kreuziger
Milka - AVG
s.t.
28
Jesse Sergent
Milka - AVG
s.t.
29
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Milka - AVG
s.t.
30
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Milka - AVG
s.t.
31
Westley Gough
Milka - AVG
s.t.
32
Ivan Kovalev
Festina-Canal+
+ 10
33
Tim Dees
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
34
Panagiotis Vlatos
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
35
Alberto Contador
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
36
Pierre Rolland
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
37
Alejandro Valverde
Koenigsegg
s.t.
38
Wim Van Huffel
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
39
Brian Vandborg
Team B&O
s.t.
40
Tyler Brandt
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 11
41
Jack Bauer
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
42
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
43
Pim Ligthart
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
44
Kristjan Koren
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
45
Ramunas Navardauskas
Festina-Canal+
+ 12
46
Juan Pablo Forero
Milka - AVG
s.t.
47
Matea Kvasina
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
48
Marcel Barth
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
49
Thomas De Gendt
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
50
Marcel Kittel
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
51
Andy Schleck
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
52
Cameron Meyer
Koenigsegg
+ 13
53
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
54
Jason Donald
Festina-Canal+
+ 14
55
Jaroslav Kulhavy
Milka - AVG
s.t.
56
Carlos Oyarzun
Pendleton's
+ 15
57
Vladimir Gusev
Pendleton's
s.t.
58
Thomas Faiers
Pendleton's
s.t.
59
Ivan Mauricio Casas
Pendleton's
s.t.
60
Bradley Wiggins
Pendleton's
s.t.
61
Michael Schär
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
62
Teodoro Costagli
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
63
Mattia Cattaneo
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
64
Steven Cozza
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
65
Steven Burke
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
66
Jan Ghyselinck
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
67
Richie Porte
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
68
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
+ 17
69
Vegard Stake Laengen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
70
David Livramento
Aker - MOT
s.t.
71
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Aker - MOT
s.t.
72
John-Lee Augustyn
Aker - MOT
s.t.
73
José Antonio Redondo
Koenigsegg
s.t.
74
Steven Cummings
Pendleton's
s.t.
75
Riccardo Zoidl
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
76
Thomas Peterson
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
77
Adrian Malori
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
+ 18
78
Paolo Scarponi
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Jure Zrimsek
Aker - MOT
+ 19
80
Tim Kennaugh
Pendleton's
s.t.
81
Adam Blythe
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
82
Bernhard Kohl
Pendleton's
+ 20
83
Blake Caldwell
Wikipedia
s.t.
84
Aidis Kruopis
Team Bacardi
s.t.
85
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Wikipedia
s.t.
86
Jure Kocjan
Team Bacardi
s.t.
87
Beñat Intxausti
Team Bacardi
s.t.
88
Lucas Schädlich
Team Bacardi
s.t.
89
Dion Beukeboom
Wikipedia
s.t.
90
Christoph Mai
Wikipedia
s.t.
91
Andrew Talansky
Wikipedia
s.t.
92
Sergio Pardilla
Team Bacardi
s.t.
93
José Joaquin Rojas Gil
Aker - MOT
+ 21
94
Stefan Denifl
Wikipedia
+ 22
95
Johannes Heider
Team Puma - SAP
+ 23
96
Jasha Sütterlin
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
97
Tom Dumoulin
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
98
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
99
Hubert Schwab
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
100
Kiril Yatsevich
Team Bacardi
s.t.
101
Jurgen Van Goolen
Pokerstars.com
+ 24
102
Stef Clement
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
103
Dan Holloway
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
104
Niki Terpstra
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
105
Martijn Maaskant
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
106
Wilco Kelderman
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
107
Andrei Amador
UBS - BMC
s.t.
108
Florian Stalder
UBS - BMC
s.t.
109
Brent Bookwalter
Wikipedia
s.t.
110
Dimitri Champion
UBS - BMC
s.t.
111
Silvan Dillier
UBS - BMC
s.t.
112
Thomas Frei
UBS - BMC
s.t.
113
Tyler Butterfield
Team Bacardi
+ 25
114
Manuel Lloret
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 26
115
Javier Aramendía
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
116
Moises Dueñas
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
117
Coen Vermeltfoort
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
118
Piotr Mazur
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
119
Piet Rooijakkers
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
120
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
121
Elia Viviani
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
122
Luke Durbridge
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
123
Michael Van Stayen
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
124
Emanuele Sella
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
125
Fabio Felline
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
126
Dominique Nerz
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
127
Matthias Frank
UBS - BMC
s.t.
128
Stelly Robert
Wikipedia
s.t.
129
Lars Croket
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 27
130
José Rujano
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
131
Tom Stubbe
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
132
Fabio Aru
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
133
Dmitri Grabovski
Team Bacardi
s.t.
134
Rafaâ Chtioui
UBS - BMC
+ 28
135
Roger Kluge
Pokerstars.com
+ 29
136
Dmitri Medvedev
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
137
Adil Jelloul
Simply Red Bull
+ 30
138
Christophe Kern
Pokerstars.com
+ 31
139
Joseph Cooper
Simply Red Bull
+ 32
140
Johann Tschopp
UBS - BMC
+ 33
141
Kobe Vanoverschelde
Aker - MOT
+ 36
142
Gianluca Brambilla
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 41
143
Maciej Bodnar
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
144
Greg Van Avermaet
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
145
Valerio Agnoli
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
146
Gert Dockx
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
147
Luigi Sestili
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
148
Maciej Ulanowski
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 42
149
Sep Vanmarcke
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 45
150
Imanol Erviti
Santander
+ 48
151
Didac Ortega
Santander
s.t.
152
Mario Gonzalez Salas
Santander
s.t.
153
Justo Tenorio
Santander
s.t.
154
Arkaitz Durán
Santander
s.t.
155
Óscar Guerao
Festina-Canal+
+ 49
156
Marco Corti
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
157
Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin
Santander
+ 50
158
Jose Goncalves
Pearl Adidas
+ 51
159
Romain Sicard
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
160
Olivier Le Gac
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
161
William Walker
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
162
Petar Panayotov
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
163
Aitor Hernández Gutierrez
Santander
+ 52
164
Juan Carlos Rienda Segura
Santander
+ 54
165
Jocelin Maillet
Pearl Adidas
+ 55
166
Manuel Antonio Cardoso
Pearl Adidas
+ 59
167
Iban Mayo
Control Team
+ 2'56
168
Haimar Zubeldia
Control Team
s.t.
169
Óscar Pereiro Sio
Control Team
s.t.
170
Francisco Mancebo
Control Team
s.t.
171
Oscar Freire
Control Team
s.t.
172
Angel Vicioso
Control Team
+ 2'57
U25
1
Martin Hacecký
Team B&O
23'27
2
Sten Stenersen
Team B&O
+ 2
3
Jesse Sergent
Milka - AVG
+ 6
4
Westley Gough
Milka - AVG
s.t.
5
Tim Dees
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
6
Panagiotis Vlatos
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
7
Tyler Brandt
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 8
8
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
9
Pim Ligthart
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
