The first stage of the Delta Tour Zeeland is a 2.7km prologue that is absolutely pan-flat with not a single challenge in it. Thus the favourites are the absolute specialists, who are capable of shaving off a couple of seconds where it matters most. At the top of the list are: Shaun Higgerson Thom Van Dulmen Juri Krivtsov
As well as a host of other time trialists such as Bespalov, Rossetto, Hutchings, Lemoine and Clancy. Team Dyson have three of these men in their team and will be really hoping they can pull out a win for their team.
The man starting us off today is Juri Yuda, whose ENRC team have sent a team that is really going to struggle to achieve any results. Yuda will be looking for a place in the sprint on tomorrow’s stage. He comes through in 3’42” so it looks like the target for the day will be to get through in under 3’30”.
The first contender for the day’s result is Matic Strgar. His time should give an indication of what the favourites should be aiming at.
He comes through in a time of 3’35”, taking the lead, however few people notice him because out on course is Shaun Higgerson, the big favourite for the day. As he crosses the finish line it looks good and indeed he comes through in 3’32”, taking the lead by 3 seconds.
Several riders come out after this but then the crowd starts going wild as the Dutch hope for today, Thom Van Dulmen leaves the starting block. Straight away he is up out of his saddle and pumping away at the peddles. He comes into the final straight and people hold their breath.
He passes the line in 3’34”, just 2 seconds shy of Higgerson but putting him in a strong second place for the moment. The leader breathes a sigh of relief as one of his big main rivals is out of the way.
Next up are a trio of decent time trialists. First Urtasun
Then Rincón
Then Healion
All three of these men come through in 3’36”, with Healion slotting into 6th place.
The next challenger for today is Stéphane Rossetto who will likely spend the next couple of days looking after his teammate Colins, who has GC aspirations. First though, he gets his own chance at glory. Unfortunately, he falls short of the mark and manages 3’36”, putting him in a provisional 3rd.
The ranks of the challengers are starting to thin and the next one of the gate is Ed Clancy, and as a teammate of Higgerson’s, he will be looking to have some bragging rights by getting ahead of him. Dyson are truly determined to take today by storm as Clancy comes through in 2nd place, on the same time as his compatriot!
Lithuanian Algirdas Mockus is on great form today as he comes through in 5th place, on 3’34”. The top of the leaderboard is becoming cluttered with people on the same time.
Of the pre-race favourites another one comes through the starting house. It is Aleksandr Bespalov. He is 8th place on the individual rankings and will be looking to improve on that today by challenging the domination of Dyson. He looks very fast out on course.
And he comes through in 3’32”! That’s the same time as the Dyson pair. The judges consult their time sheet and find that he has come in between the time of the pair, putting him in second place behind Higgerson. The top of the leaderboard couldn’t get more clogged!
Next out is another favourite hoping to pull something out of the bag. Logan Hutchings will be looking to learn from the information given to him by his teammate Mockus and use that to his advantage. He also starts strong and looks good the whole way around.
The crowd absolutely roar as they see him come through. The clock reads 3 minutes and 32 seconds: the same time as the top 3 riders. The crowd stand with bated breath, barely able to contain their excitement, as once again the time keepers check their sheet. The result: We have a new leader! Logan Hutchings comes through a bare fraction of a second faster than Shaun Higgerson did and takes the lead.
The strong results start coming thick and fast as Dieter Cappelle, the leader of the individual standings
Dean Podgornik
And Brad Huff
All come through in 3’34”, with Cappelle in 9th and the other two in 10th and 11th respectively.
Only two men remain who can challenge: Cyril Lemoine and Juri Krivtsov.
Dyson’s Lemoine will be feeling the pressure on his shoulders. Higgerson and Clancy are sitting 2nd and 4th at the moment and the only chance that Dyson have of rescuing the day is Lemoine putting in a killer time trial. Can he do it?
His speed is high and he has clearly spoken to his teammates as he picks the perfect line around every corner on this highly technical course. Is it enough...?
He crosses the line and the clock reads 3’33”, just 1 second short of taking the stage, but good enough for a provisional 5th.
Krivtsov is the only man who can possibly take the day now but even he falls short of the task. He comes through in the same time as Lemoine, slotting into 6th place for the day.
Finally, Hutchings can celebrate his narrow win. Dyson will have to be ruing today as a real missed opportunity, with 3 riders in the top 5. They will have to console themselves with a decent points haul, but that missed win will probably haunt them.
