Last day in the Basque country with a hilly ITT. 28km length might not be the most but with the GC riders going from top time trialist to average and weaker ones it could surely mix the GC a lot.
Taking the close top5 in the GC it`s clearly Trofimov having best chances to win the race as all others are average at most and might just fight each other for the better position.
But the real danger for the top positions comes from further behind. Taaramae 7th and Gesink 9th want and probably will move up a lot as they belong to the very best.
Also the fight for the 10th is a nice one. Schumacher and Sanchez Gil are pretty similar time trialists and while the Spaniard is a bit stronger he needs to gain almost 1min.
And to talk about the stage itself we have more favourites than the GC riders of course. Dave Zabriskie is one of the very best and one big favourite today. Also Tony Martin must be watched.
It`s not Zabriskie yet. But the ING team is full of top time trialists. So also Rolland has chances to perform well today. Being first at both intermediates as also in the finish so far shows his qualities.
Next on the road is Ivars. While being slower at the first, he is able to gain time back after this point to take the lead at the 2nd and also in the finish.
Here comes Zabriskie with a very strong time! ~20s faster on each section and in the end 1'02 faster than Ivars in the finish. Was this already the winner time?
Martin next. Not the best times at the intermediates but in the end he is 2nd in the finish but 53s slower than the US rider.
You probably had expected Costa to enter the top10 with his combination of good hill and time trial skills. But he is already a bit too far off. So his goal must be a good stage result and eventually a few spots up in the GC. 2nd at the 2nd intermediate looks good. In the finish though he is behind Martin again to take provisional 3rd. Should still be a top10 stage result in the end though.
Now the fight for the 10th! Sanchez Gil needs 55s on Schumacher. And with top 5 times at both intermediates he is on a good way. But the gap to Schumacher is not big enough it seems. Only 9s on the first and 17s on the 2nd. Coming into the finish area, Sanchez Gil beats Martin`s time to take a good 2nd 40s behind Zabriskie.
Also Schumacher is coming and the time gap shows 24s. So the German keeps his 10th in the GC.
Gesink needs a big time today. He wanted the GC win and was one of the very top favourites but disappointed a bit. His time was good on the course and in the end became excellent as he takes the lead beating Zabriskie by 5s only! But how much can he improve in the GC?
Van Garderen next and he of course knows Gesink`s time. As one of the weaker TT riders in the top10 it`s hard for him to defend the 8th. And even though his gap to Schumacher is normally big enough he mustn`t relax today. In the end he drops one spot to 9th as expected and only needs to let pass Gesink.
Taaramae is a very similar rider to Gesink. A bit stronger climbing but weaker hill skills. In time trials he does not need to hide himself. 3rd at both intermediates and this is also his result in the finish behind Gesink and Zabriskie. But more important: Gesink beats him GC wise by 3s and passes him!
Both pass Valverde as well. The Spaniard keeps being the only Spaniard in the top10 though as he only loses those two spots.
Now Frank Schleck. Can he defend his position or will Gesink/Taaramae also pass those in the top group? No! It`s not much but he stays ahead of them and secures a top5 for him.
Roche lost the yellow jersey yesterday but still hopes to improve again. His TT skills are better than Ponzi/Schleck and equal to Hagen while far worse than Trofimov. But it`s all about the podium for him and his time really looks promising. Beating Schleck means that he is at least 4th.
Trofimov just has to win this. Only 8s behind race leader Ponzi but with a huge time trial advantage. And so it`s no surprise to see him in 4th stage wise only beaten by the 3 stage favourites with Gesink taking the win it seems.
Hagen next and pressure is high as Schleck and Roche have finished pretty quick.
And his time is far from his possibilities. Losing ground on both riders.
At the 2nd intermediate it shows that it`s very close. All 3 within a few seconds.
In the finish area his time is just enough to stay ahead of Schleck by 3s! But he is 5s behind Roche, who takes provisional 2nd already.
Quite a surprise that Schleck was the strongest of those three today.
Ponzi as last and while a GC win is probably not possible with Trofimov`s time, he needs a similar time as Frank Schleck to keep a podium spot.
But his ride is not very good today and so he drops past the others and actually just ahead of Gesink/Taaramae to keep at least the 5th. So one of the biggest losers GC wise in the top positions.
The stage goes to Gesink while the GC is won by Trofimov. Congrats to both of them.
