The Mount Fuji timetrial! 11.1 km at 10.6%. That is comparable to climbs like the Mortirolo and the Zoncolan. There are countless hairpin turns on this climb. No doubt the best climbers will come to the front here.
Favourites are Marquez, Bibby and Ardila. Race leader Castano should do a good timetrial aswell while some other, more punchy riders might lose time here.
Shaun Lewis lost a lot of time yesterday and is far down in GC. He should do much better today as he prefers longer climbs. He does so and his time of 38'26 puts him in provisional first place.
Saldarriaga is also someone who lost time yesterday but will be much higher today. He was actually mentioned as a two star favourite before the start. He is 7 seconds slower as Lewis which gives him the provisional second place.
Sergio Ortega was seen as a threat for a top 10 overal here but lost time yesterday so that looks out of the order. He combines good timetrial and climbing skills so will definatly ride a good time aswell. 38'28 which means he is only 2 seconds slower as Lewis.
Just as his teammate Ortega, Jairo Agudelo lost all chance for a good GC yesterday. He is one of the favourites today and could try to move past some of the weaker climbers that were in the first group yesterday. He doesn't dissapoint here and betters Lewis' time with 5 seconds. 38'21.
29 riders still have to finish. All these riders finished in the front group yesterday and are within half a minute from race leader Castano. Here is the current top 10 on the stage.
1
Jairo Agudelo
Repsol-Cativen
38'21
2
Shaun Lewis
Oz Cycling Project
5"
3
Sergio Ortega
Repsol-Cativen
7"
4
Julien Berard
HTC Nieuwsblad
11"
5
Andres Saldarriaga
ING Cycling - Project
12"
6
Wim Van Huffel
ING Cycling - Project
17"
7
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
8
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
PFG-Armavia
20"
9
Fredy Montaña
ING Cycling - Project
25"
10
Roman Kilun
Oz Cycling Project
26"
Schurter finished inside the top 10 on the two road stages but rode a weak prologue so will have to make up some time today if he wants to move up. His time of 39'38 is quite dissapointing.
Japanese rider Doi has probaly already climbed this mythical mountain before. He should be very motivated but that doesn't really show in his time. 39'05 which means provisional 11th for him.
Masuda is another Japanese rider but he rides for the other Japanese team. He is their leader for the overal and they are aiming at a top 10 overal so a good time is necessary. 39'06 is not enough to enter the top 10 so he will need to attack and gain time tomorrow.
Shimizu is going strong aswell. He passes Wang only halfway on the course. It's no surprise his time is very good but 38'29 is still 8 seconds slower as Agudelo.
His Chinese team leader does the same to best U25 rider Teklahaimanot. Ji needs a strong ride to get a good GC placing. Wow! What a ride by Ji! 37'33 is clearly on another level then anybody who has ridden so far.
The crowd goes mad as Japanese timetrial champion Sano passes. Meji really have a lot of cards to play here. 38'45 is not good but can't be called bad either.
Alex Ardila Cano is the only of Repsol's climbers who didn't lose time yesterday so he will have to salvage their GC ambitions together with Acevedo. He rides 8 seconds faster as Agudelo which puts him provisional 2nd 38 seconds behind Ji.
With only 10 riders left, let's take another look at the top 10 so far. You can see that Ji's time is really impressive.
1
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
37'33
2
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
39"
3
Jairo Agudelo
Repsol-Cativen
48"
4
Shaun Lewis
Oz Cycling Project
53"
5
Sergio Ortega
Repsol-Cativen
55"
6
Miyataka Shimizu
Meiji - Cannondale
57"
7
Julien Berard
HTC Nieuwsblad
59"
8
Andres Saldarriaga
ING Cycling - Project
1'00
9
Wim Van Huffel
ING Cycling - Project
1'05
10
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
Dyachenko is a domestique to Efimkin but could command leadership today as he is normally a better climber as his teammate. He passes Olsson who started in front of him on his way to a time of 38'39. I think he had hoped for more here.
This is the stage where Marquez, a pre race favourite, should excel. He is currently 21 seconds behind the leader, something he can make up here. He gives everything but his time is 9 seconds slower as Ji's. He probably did not expect this.
His teammanager feared this day. Rui Costa will be all about limiting losses here. He prefers shorter climbs but his timetrial skills might help him here a bit. Really bad time from him. With 40"05 he will fall down a fair bit of places in the overal.
Due to taking bonus seconds on the first road stage, Ardila has quite a nice position in GC only 14" behind the leader. He could potentially take the race lead here with a strong ride. He finishes with a time of 37'43 which is 10 seconds slower as Ji.
That means with only 5 riders left to finish Ji is currently holding the GC lead with 1 second over Ardila.
It's no secret Rogers prefers flat timetrials. He could just limit his losses yesterday so still has a good position. He will lose that top position though as a time of 39'14 is not enough to keep an overal top 10.
Efimkin couldn't create, well wasn't given a gap yesterday so will have to limit his losses aswell today. If he doesn't lose too much time, he could take back a fair bit on tomorrow's hilly stage. He really suffers though and almost gets passed by Bibby. 39'38 means he almost has to gain 2 minutes tomorrow if he still wants to win the overal.
Ian Bibby is both a top climber and strong timetrialer so no doubt he will do good today. He finishes as good as next Efimkin but that only results in a time of 38'20. That is 47 seconds slower as Ji, don't think he had calculated to lose so much time.
Janier Acevedo has already had his moment de gloire winning the second stage. He will probably lose his good overal position here as he isn't known as a climber, more of a punchy type. No surprise as he finishes with 40'10 which seems him tumble down the standings.
Carlos Castano is here to defend his leaders jersey. He has to stay within 23 seconds of Ji, preferably even closer with the bonus seconds tomorrow. He gives everything he has but seems a bit tired from his effort yesterday. His time: 38'01.
Ji takes the win for Meji! He also becomes the new leader but Ardila, Castano and Marquez are within 8 seconds so this race will remain exciting untill the end!
