Its Team Time Trial time! Festina are our favourites today, and we will soon see them - they are the 6th team to start. Next up theres Wikipedia, 10th starters, and B&O, who will be the penultimate team to ride. 5th to start Auber 93, and 13th starters Vesuvio are also mentioned by the bookmakers - but while Jack Wolfskin may not be fielding their elite Eindhoven team, they could still threaten being the last team to go.
Lipton Ice Tea are the first team through the first check, but the first indications come when Auber arrive, shortly followed by Festina. Both can be seen below, and they are inseparable at Check 1, Auber given the edge - but less than a second in it
Energie trail by 4 seconds, Cafe de Colombia 5 and La Gazzetta 18. More and more teams are starting and theres a change of lead at Check 1. Wikipedia the new leaders, 3 seconds ahead of Auber and Festina - although Philips have now equalled Wikipedia's time already
Vesuvio are through the first check in 3rd, 2 seconds down, but we also must look further down the course - Auber 93 are pressing on, and they lead Festina by 11 seconds at the 2nd check
Jack Wolfskin have now started, so all teams are out on course. Home favourite Markus Fothen has just led Pearl Adidas through the first check, and they go 2nd - 1 second down
And some bad news filters through for Wikipedia on two fronts here. They lead at Check 1, but theyve just gone through Check 2 and are 18 seconds down on Auber. And now Nespresso beat them at Check 1 by 5 seconds!
Nespresso have German time trialist Fiedler, and their GC hope Karpets, but they no longer have the lead at the first check! German time trial champion Lang had helped power Sony Ericsson into a 7 second lead - good news for Pedraza
Lipton are done for the day 57'51 is their time. Sella will need to be aggressive on the bumpier terrain, with time losses expected today - although Starbucks do go slower. All eyes on to Check 2 now though, Philips are approaching and ... oh dear. Defending champion Dekker may have high hopes, and they were level with Wikipedia at the Check 1, but theyve done even worse than the American squad in the middle section. Now 25 seconds behind Auber - theyve slipped below both Lafarge and Energie-Diesel aswell here.
Think again if the action is elsewhere though, the next team through Check 2 - and quickly - are Vesuvio-Accumalux. And into the lead they go! 8 seconds up on Auber
But to put that in persepctive, B&O have just passed through the first check and cut a further 7 seconds off the best time - making them 21 seconds ahead of Vesuvio at that point
And after Jack Wolfskin cross through the first check, we can give you the final Top 10 standings from the 1st check point:
Auber 93 have finished now, Reus leading them over - and theyve taken 21 seconds off Energie-Diesel to take the provisional lead. Pearl Adidas cross through Check 2 and seem to be maintaining their efforts fairly well. 10 seconds down in 3rd. But back to the finish and Festina! Nobody wants Schadlich's wheel but it doesnt matter! Theyve turned it around, and beat Auber by 4 seconds!
A quick check shows Nespresso should have passed Check 2 by now, and indeed they have. They led after passing Check 1 but now theyre way back! 38 seconds behind Vesuvio. Sony Ericsson then, they also beat all previous times at Check 1 but again theyve lost ground. They go 4th, 12 seconds back on Vesuvio.
Surely B&O will keep the lead through Check 2 then? No! Theyre 2 seconds down on Vesuvio. Theyve lost 23 seconds on the Luxembourg squad in the last 10 kilometres or so. Jack Wolfskin cross through the 2nd Check in 7th, and will at teams through, here is the Top 10:
Team of the Yellow Jersey Carmeuse are 11th to finish. Popovych needs a good time but ah. They go 11th. 1'33 down on Festina .. and over 30 seconds behind 10th placed Starbucks.
The finish line cameras seem to have failed to pick up two teams who finished before Carmeuse though. Lafarge currently lie in 3rd, 17 seconds behind Festina, while Wikipedia will be dissapointed to have lost 32 seconds in the end, a provisional 5th.
Philips are next in and it doesnt look pretty behind Dekker. Theyve really faded badly after a strong start .. ouch! 59 seconds behind Festina! And wait, is that Vesuvio already into the final kilometre?
Yes it is! Here come Vesuvio to the line then, local rider Kittel leading team leader Uran and the rest - and its 1st!
Its not the smoothest finish, but the position is all the matters. Festina evidently had a strong finish - but Vesuvio have taken a 7 second lead here. Next we have Pearl Adidas, who can probably be happy with 4th - 20 seconds down. Domina limit Nibali's losses to 43 seconds, while Nespresso performed better in the final section than the middle, coming in 8th at 41 seconds - just behind Wikipedia.
Sony Ericsson remain a threat though, and theyre finishing much better than Vesuvio did. And its .... 2nd!
Theyve lost 5 seconds here, and next in should be Warner Brothers. But it wont be! Team B&O are flying, Pluchkin leading the very streamlined formation, theyve passed Warner Brothers and wham! A massive lead, 31 seconds ahead of Vesuvio!
Last in are Jack Wolfskin and 8th place for them - but B&O have blown the field away here.
B&O gained 21 seconds on Vesuvio in the first section, lost 23 in the middle, only to then gain 33 in the final part. Impressive! Pluchkin led them over the line, but 3rd wheel was Hagen - and with his 4th place on the opening sprint, this means that the Norwegian takes over the race lead.
