Some people love this discipline, and some people hate it, but fact is, they exist, and today we have one: A Team TimeTrial. It’s just 14km long, so it won’t inflict massive differences between the GC , but the earned seconds might be decisive in the end.
What will be really interesting is to see how Saxo does. They only have 6 riders, but 5 of them are good or decent TTists.

Favourites

Astana


Cofidis
Katusha


Cannondale
AG2R
Saxo

The race
We will present this team-by-team.
Champion System –
This Asian focussed team is the first to start. They do not stand out TT-wise at all, and won’t stand a big chance on a Top 10 here.
Provisional time: 11’45(#1)

Rusvelo –
Rusvelo isn’t that bad, having Zakarin & Firsanov on the team.
Provisional time:11’34 (#1)
They’re faster than Champion System, which isn’t exactly surprising.

Caja Rujal-
Not much to be expected from them.
Provisional time: 11’46(#3)
Not surprising at all. They even did worse than Champion System.

Lampre -
Not great either, but Al Mohney & Ulissi aren’t bad, and both are potential Top 10 riders in the GC.
Provisional time: 11’41(#2)

Cannondale -
Cannondale is the first team out with a serious chance on the win. With Pennarossa, Bodnar & GC outsider Basso on the team, their TT squad isn’t weak.
Provisional time: 11’32(#1)
Quite disappointing, just a second ahead of RusVelo. Let’s see what they will do in the final part.

Cofidis -
Next up is Cofidis. They’re having a strong TT team, including De la Montagne, Schwabe, Arblaster & Taaramäe. Definitely a contender for the win.
Provisional time: 11’31(#1)
Just 1 second faster than Cannondale, and just 2 faster than Rusvelo. Rusvelo seems to have ridden a very strong time.

MTN -
MTN has a GC outsider in Hintermuller, but their TTT team is just weak.
Provisional time: 11’45(#5)

Androni -
Then, there’s Androni. Now, if this was a mountain TT, this team would be the favourite. It isn’t though, so they won’t do well.
Provisional time: 11’38(#5)
Not bad actually.

Netapp -
Netapp, led by KoM wearer Barta on this pic, is next.
A strong TT squad here, with mainly Barta & König being strong.
Provisional time: 11’32(#2)
A good provisional time, will it be enough?

Colombia
Not a TT team at all. Ever heard of a good Colombian TTist? Indeed.
Provisional time: 11’43(#7)

Argos -
Gretsch & Ludvigsson are the motors of this team, that normally co-operates well in sprint trains. They’ve never showed huge results in TTTs though.
Provisional time: 11’39(#6)

Movistar
Having a good TT squad here, it will be nice to see what they can do.
Provisional time: 11’31(#2)
On the same time as Cannondale was here. Quite surprising, they might have a chance of the win here.

Vini Fantini
This 6-man squad doesn’t really have a chance.
Provisional time: 11’40((#9)

AG2R
These guys have a decent chance on the win today. Their GC leader, Peraud, is a powerhouse on the TT bike, and Pozzovivo & Montaguti aren’t that bad either.
Provisional time: 11’31(#2)
The third team with 11’31. But Cannondale had a great second part, can Ag2r put in a good last stint as well?

BMC
Can they do well? Only Evans & Nerz are good TTists, but there’s not really a weak link in the team.
Provisional time: 11’31(#2)
Yes, I’m serious. Another team with 11’31. I’m not having too much fate in this one, but who knows?

Saxo
The first one of the 3 GC favourites is in here, Alberto Contador. A 6-men team, will this be a disadvantage? With Rogers, Contador & Boaro, the team at least has enough good TTists.
Provisional time: 11’19(#1)
Shock! They did it, and are leading now with a comfortable gap. Unbelievable! Question is: did they blew themselves up in the first part, or can they continue this pace?

Astana
Here comes the second GC contender. Nibali is looking to do well, and is a good TTist. Kessiakoff & Brajkovic are class time-trialists as well, in fact, Kessiakoff is the strongest one of the field.Question is, can they beat the strong provisional time set by Saxo?
Provisional time: 11’25(#2)
Nope, but they are close! They do have 2 more men than Saxo, that might be an advantage in the last part. Is it?

Katusha
And there’s the last serious GC contender, it’s Purito. He got a lot of decent TTists with him, like Chernetskiy, Isaychev, Smukulis & Vorobyev. It seems like they’re lacking a big name, but they have only got 1 weak link(Caruso) among them at all.
Provisional time: 11’29 (#3)
Just 10 seconds off the time of Saxo.

Euskaltel
Euskaltel is next. Not a favourite, but they do have the GC leader: Izagirre. He’s the only really good TTist in the team, but the TT team looks stronger than Bardiani’s, so they will most likely keep the leaders jersry, unless they lose a minute on one of the GC contenders.
Provisional time: 11’38(#12)
That’s bad, but should be enough to hold Bardiani off.

Bardiani
Bardiani isn’t a team to look at normally, but they are the only one with a serious chance of grabbing the leaders jersey. Not any decent TTist though, so I wouldn’t hope for much.
Provisional time: 11’52(#20)
Bad indeed. That’s a shame, the leaders jersey would’ve been a dream for Mucelli. It’s theoretically still possible, but chances are slim.


So, one thing is clear: Saxo surprised us today. I wonder how much better they would have done if they sent 2 additional decent TTists, but Saxo’s manager will certainly be pleased here.
Interesting is that a few big guys lost some seconds on the rest of their team here: Rogers lost 2 seconds, Aru lost 2 seconds, Dmitrou 3 seconds, Nocentini lost 4 seconds, Llanet 5 seconds, Izagirre 5 as well, and Arblaster lost 7 seconds.
Contador now has 10 seconds on Purito and 12 on Nibali. The GC differences are therefore quite slim, but who knows, these 10 seconds might be decisive in the end?

Results

1	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	18'14
2	Katusha Team	+ 10
3	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 11
4	Astana Pro Team	+ 12
5	Cannondale Pro Cycling	s.t.
6	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
7	Movistar Team	+ 16
8	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 20
9	Team NetApp - Endura	+ 25
10	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 28
11	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
12	RusVelo	+ 38
13	Vini Fantini - Selle Italia	s.t.
14	Lampre - Merida	+ 41
15	MTN - Qhubeka	s.t.
16	Team Argos - Shimano	s.t.
17	Champion System Pro Cycling Team	+ 43
18	Colombia	+ 46
19	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 51
20	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	+ 58
21	Rabobank Development Team	+ 2'35

GC

1	Ion Izagirre	Euskaltel - Euskadi	3h13'12
2	Davide Mucelli	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	+ 37
3	Manuele Boaro	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 52
4	Jay McCarthy	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
5	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
6	Mads Christensen	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
7	Timothy Duggan	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
8	Michael Rogers	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 54
9	Sergey Chernetskiy	Katusha Team	+ 1'02
10	Giampaolo Caruso	Katusha Team	s.t.

The points & KoM classifications still haven’t changed, Mucelli(BAR) leads both of them.
U25: Izagirre(EUS)
Team: Euskaltel