Time now for the race against the clock. Coverage of this stage is truncated due to the tennis over-running this afternoon and us having to join the race later than planned.
We are in time to see Taaramäe go through the first checkpoint and it is a bit of a surprise but he is not one of the pace setters at this stage.
At the finish he’s certainly improved and and he joins Evans and Dempster at the top of the leaderboard – albeit in third just a second slower with a time of 18’59”.
Gustav Larsson is the big favourite for the day, but at the first check he is 13” down on the time Dempster set earlier. Evans made up 11” seconds on Dempster in the second half of the trail – can Larsson do the same and ride a quicker second half. Here he is powering up the home straight...
And he’s done it – a time of 18’56” means he is 2” faster and the new leader.
It seems the IKEA tactic of a faster second half has worked well. But, what’s this? Santander’s David Abal has started out hard on the first part of the course and is a shade faster than Dempster. He has a ten plus second lead to defend over the second half of the course.
Can he do it?
No! He cannot match Larsson’s power on the second part of the course. Still he’s in second and faster than Taaramäe, which will give him an excellent chance on the climb tomorrow.
It’s all about limiting his losses today for Ricco and staying as close as he can to Taaramäe and Abal.
At the finish he is 48” down on Larsson which means he will need a spectacular day in the mountains to win this race.
Has Larsson done enough today to take the leader’s jersey? Ryder Hesjedal is a decent rider against the clock and puts in a decent time but is ultimately 30 seconds slower than the Swede. Manuel Lloret puts in a very good time and gives himself a great chance tomorrow with a time that is a shade faster than Taaramäe. 5th on the stage for the Petronas man.
Yellow jersey Lobato gives his all to hang on. Here he is out of the saddle and searching for power as the finish line approaches....
Unfortunately yesterday’s efforts have really taken their toll and the Bimbo man is over a minute and a half down.
Larsson is the stage winner and the new race leader. Abal and Lloret will both start tomorrow ahead of Taaramäe on GC and must be in with a chance of taking this race. Ricco at 48” back will need to do something very special given the calibre of opposition he is up against.
