I bring you greetings from the African nation of Burkino Faso, the 10 stage tour will begin with a showpiece team time trial which gives us a chance to examine the teams. It is only a short test of 3.5km, the real battle in this race will be time bonuses and the tricky roads on stage seven.
The team we have opening off in the team test, is Eric Mohs and his team green...its Pokerstars!
Roger Kluge leads out the Pokerstars team
This team are well known for their ability to deal with difficult roads, they were very useful in the cobbled races and riders like Kluge, Van Impe and Geslin will be favoured to do well on stage 7. Meanwhile Eric Mohs tore the house down with three stage wins in the High Category Tour of Britain and has a Pro Tour win to his credit. They also have outside protour hopes for next year, they do a pretty solid job today setting a time of 5.18.
Next we have another team chasing promotion... Bacardi Colt.
Gajek leads out the Bacardi boys
They are missing their three ‘stars’ here, but will be looking for something from Kroupis, Kuchenski, Bagdonas or the sprinters (Nazon probably the best). It could be a tricky race for them though as they are not much cop in cobbles (Kuchenski is the best there) and Nazon needs to be on his best form to beat the likes of Mohs, Davis and Van Heerden. This stage highlights the weaknesses as they come in at 5.33, 15 seconds down already on the Pokerstars team.
Third out are Intesa, led by Lorenzatto.
Lorenzatto, best sprinter in the Intesa line up
It has been a fairly non descript season for the Intesa sponsored outfit, however this race may suit their skills. A number of riders Sentjens, Traksal and Vansummeren are skilled at dealing with rough roads and Mirko Lorenzatto or Claudio Cucinotta will be looking to get involved in the sprints. They slightly disappoint against the clock here though coming in at 5.26, eight seconds down on their Pokerstars rivals.
Next up we have an all Israeli squad in EL-AL! The young Israelis are give us a rare all the same nationality team
There are rumours that the El Al project may be reforming next year, how many of the young Israelis will be kept? This race is a last big chance to show themselves, it will be difficult to make an impact in anything other than a breakaway. It is a minor victory in itself they do not finish plum last today recording 5.33, slightly better on milliseconds than Bacardi.
Next we have the Italian based Pirelli squad.
The boys in blue and black
It is two Italians here who lead this team - Luca Paolini and Alberto Loddoleads them here. Paolini is a pretty strong rider for than nasty cobbled section at the end of stage 7, he is leading them in this shot but later drops off the pace. Much will be placed in Loddo, who has had a pretty low key season and will be hoping to nab a stage from somewhere. The Pirelli squad are faster than El Al and Bacardi - but not by much and finish in 5.31, some 13 seconds slower than current leaders Pokerstars
Behind them we have the American Mercedes squad.
Bol leads out the red and white colours
The season has faded for Mercedes can they get a pick me up here - the leader will be JJ Haedo - who has been good here in the past. But the past is the past and Haedo has really been disappointing this season - the season start in which African races were good to them seems a very long time ago. On papar though Haedo is pretty good on cobbles and should be able to be competitive in sprints. The time here though was relatively poor coming in 5.31, marginally quicker than Pirelli. They are followed by another American squad.
Quiksilver really power out of the blocks
Staf Scheirlinckx and Allan Davis lead a strong squad here, the outfit have been very active in the late season - but rather like Mercedes before them will be looking for a late pick-me-up after some fairly meagre performances. Davis is a strong sprinter - no mug on cobbles either, Schierlinckx is someone who could make a gap on that sort of terrian. Some good TTers in the team ensure a quick trial here but not as quick as the Pokerstars powerhouses finishing in a time of 5.24, six seconds shy of the Pokerstars time.
Time for a quick snooze now as Cillit Bang take to the course!
Cillit Bang have sent one of their 'developmental sqauds'!
This team's best hopes here are through their sprinters Kip and Manan. It's been an up and down season for this interesting squad of many nationalities - they have really supported the African races this year - so may be seen as home favourites! They do reasonably well on this day too - setting of 5.30, that is a ahead of four teams already. It is still 12 seconds behind current leaders Pokerstars - the Pokerstars dignitaries wake up now though as Stannards 100% Me crew come through.
Interesting approach from 100% Me - Stannard is at the back!
100% Me have the outstanding cobbler Adam Blythe here - failling to win one of the big cobbled races this year was a blow to him. He would be well favoured to do well here - as Adam is a decent sprinter as well. Thomas is here for that big stage 7, but the strange Stannard at back tactic does not really pay off as 100% Me can only match Quiksilvers 5.24. Pokerstars do the high fives in the finish area as out pops Vespa.
Ascani, a good chrono man leads the Vespa squad
Vespa have Verbist and Quinzato here for that cobbled section and Oscar Gatto gives them hope in the sprints. They really apply themselves here today and the Pokerstars team suddenly looked white faced as their seemingly unbeatable time is somehow beaten it is 5.17 for Vespa!
They all turn around to see what tha last team in the course can do, its the Pendletons mob!
Can Wiggo and co get inside Vespas time?
This should suit pursuiter Wiggins and he is at the front with Millar in the middle. Juan Van Heerden will be the big leader for sprints and the cobbles - he is probably the big challenger to Blythe really. The Pendletons team as they have done before this season excel here and finish in the time of the day with 5.14 - Wiggins led the whole way round!
