It is a short prologue style time trial that involves a bit of a steep hill at the end. It should be a close battle between the TT specialists and the top punchaers in this race.
With only five squads in the race you may be forgiven for thinking the Tour of Luxembourg is going to be an easy one. But the class of the squads here are second to none, with two of the top squads of the season Pendletons and Wiggle sending strong riders here.
Also here are Tinkoff and as ever their riders are great against the clock, their leader here is Vasili Kirylenka.
Russian clocks 6.54 - the first rider under seven minutes
The Russian squad have the feel of a real class outfit - they showed at the recent Olympia tour that they have a real talent for hilly stages. They will have stages like that in abundance here in Luxembourg. Kirylenka's time looked difficult to beat however Pendleton's David Millar was fired up for this test.
Millar sets new fastest time of 6.52
This perhaps quashing the feelings that the last steep hill section will destroy a TT specialists hopes of taking today's stage, however it is certainly creating slightly bigger time gaps than usual. Wiggle's Paulo Locatelli, Marcello Pavarin and Chiaffredo Grippo setting times of 7.15, 7.18 and 7.20, which could be pretty decisive in a short stage race like this. On the other side of things, Luxembourg's Time Trial champ was proud to wear the colours in his home nation.
Kim Kirchen sets a new fastest time of 6.50
What a year Kirchen is having winning the Castille y Leon stage race and also taking the Subida al Naranca classic. Great up hills - he is a big favourite here. However one rider everyone feels is becoming a hilly danger man is Alex Efimkin...
Milka man sets a very good 6.56
It may not be a winning time for the Russian but that is a good time for a rider who is not particularly strong in time trials. Most of the other pure hilly men are the other side of seven minutes, with Ponzi on seven minutes dead and Bacardi's Bagdonas on 6.59. A couple of Tinkoffs other riders Ovechkin and Khatuntsev also break the 7 minutes barrier - but only one more rider can threaten Krichen. Straight talking Briton Brad Wiggins is out on course!
The Pendleton's TTer sets a time of 6.51, close but no cigar for Brad
So the Pendleton's TT duo just fail to usurp the hometown boy - who has four seconds on Kirylenka, six on Efimkin and 10 on Ponzi. With time bonuses on the end of every stage this can quickly be eradicated but Kirchen is not an easy man to beat!
