It's a crucial day in Germany with the Stage 4 time trial that will decide the race. Some crucial gaps to note to the race leader Oscar Freire:
Van Impe
+ 1'36
Zirbel
+ 2'02
Astarloza
+ 2'19
Jacques-Maynes
+ 2'23
Petrov
+ 2'29
Kessler
+ 3'10
Ignatiev
+ 3'38
Konovalovas
+ 3'38
Boom
+ 3'38
Freire is no time triallist, but with these gaps, he may not need to be. Saying that though, he lost 53 seconds to Van Impe over just 9km at the De Panne Tour. He has more to ride for today, and will need to do better.
The first batch of strong time trial riders of interest is all those who have lost too much time so far in this race - through crashes, poor positioning or just bad riding. They are: Koren, Kluge, Morizot, Reus, Kiryenka, Rolland, Brutt and Sestili
Unsurprisingly, it is Kai Reus who sets the early marker to beat - and it wont be easy for anyone to beat as VolksWagen-Siemens hunt for at least some consolation out of this race. His gap over Rolland and Kiryenka is impressive, while Koren performs decently considering his injury.
1
Reus
35'15
2
Rolland
+ 34
3
Kiryenka
+ 38
4
Koren
+ 41
5
Sestili
+ 47
6
Brutt
+ 49
7
Kluge
+ 51
8
Morizot
+ 56
9
Brandle
+ 1'06
10
Criel
+ 1'07
11
Griffith
+ 1'14
12
Smukulis
+ 1'21
13
Perry
+ 1'22
14
Cruz
+ 1'27
15
Sagan
+ 1'27
16
Kwok
+ 1'29
17
Mercado
+ 1'29
18
Markov
+ 1'30
19
Li
+ 1'31
20
Pasamontes
+ 1'32
The next 6 time trialists of note are amongst the first of the peloton to ride, 3'38 down on Freire. What sort of GC position can they move into? Its Van Goolen, Elijzen, Bonnet, Ovechkin, Nicacio and Clement.
Bonnet and Nicacio can be pleased with their rides as they take the podium spots. Still not really challenging Reus, but for now at least, it makes the sprinter-timetriallist Bonnet the overall leader at the finish.
1
Reus
35'15
2
Bonnet
+ 18
3
Nicacio
+ 23
4
Rolland
+ 34
5
Elijzen
+ 35
6
Kiryenka
+ 38
7
Koren
+ 41
8
Ovechkin
+ 45
9
Clement
+ 45
10
Sestili
+ 47
11
Brutt
+ 49
12
Kluge
+ 51
13
Morizot
+ 56
14
Van Goolen
+ 59
15
Brandle
+ 1'06
16
Terpstra
+ 1'06
17
Criel
+ 1'07
18
Sousa
+ 1'10
19
Lowe
+ 1'13
20
Griffith
+ 1'14
The stage win is soon to be decided, with only 5 riders left to realistically challenge Reus: Bodnar, Vandborg, Boom, Konovalovas and of course, Ignatiev.
Its already interesting at the first check, as Ignatiev takes the lead, 1 second ahead of Reus, 2 seconds ahead of Boom. Its an early check though. Nicacio is just 3 seconds back here but ended up 18 seconds down on Reus.
Favourite Ignatiev has lost time trials to both Reus and Boom this season, but at the 2nd check it is clear that this is an Ignatiev vs Reus battle. They are level on time - with Boom now 9 seconds back.
Boom will take 3rd at the finish - but is Reus going to maintain his lead or drop to 2nd? The answer:
Spoiler
1
Reus
35'15
2
Ignatiev
+ 1
3
Boom
+ 16
4
Bonnet
+ 18
5
Nicacio
+ 23
6
Rolland
+ 34
7
Elijzen
+ 35
8
Konovalovas
+ 35
9
Vandborg
+ 36
10
Kiryenka
+ 38
11
Koren
+ 41
12
Ovechkin
+ 45
13
Clement
+ 45
14
Bodnar
+ 46
15
Sestili
+ 47
16
Brutt
+ 49
17
Kluge
+ 51
18
Morizot
+ 56
19
Van Goolen
+ 59
20
Wegmann
+ 1'05
So Kai Reus will take the stage, Ignatiev has failed to win again but still moves into the GC driving seat, ahead of Boom, Bonnet, and Nicacio
How will Kessler do then? He puts in a strong ride to go 11th - 40 seconds down. He slips below Ignatiev in GC, by 12 seconds, but that is all! He stays ahead of Boom, thus being rewarded for his aggressive ride on Stage 3.
Haavardsholm falls out of the scoring GC placings next, as Petrov rides to 39th. 1'29 down. This leaves him a net 5th in GC - behind Boom and Bonnet but ahead of Nicacio
Jacques-Maynes is next, and he along with Zirbel can rescue Cal Giant's Tour after Koren's injury. He goes 30th, 1'16 down - putting him just 1 second below Ignatiev in GC.
Skuijins is no good at time trials and slips away but Astarloza puts in a strong ride. 27th and 1'13 down, he keeps his place ahead of Ignatiev in the GC, by 6 seconds.
Scheirlinckx is out of the Top 60 on the stage 1'55 down, but goes 9th in the Net GC, ahead of Konovalovas, Elijzen and Vandborg. Travis Meyer also goes 1'55 down keeping him above Scheirlinckx in GC and also ahead of Nicacio. Meyer's main aim today was the Young Riders jersey and he needs Jocelyn Bar to finish 27 seconds or more slower than him.
Rick Zabel will be Volkswagen's best rider on GC, but that will be just outside the Top 30 at the end of the day. Another Z though, Tom Zirbel, does much better. A loss to Reus of 1'14 is just 1 second slower than Astarloza, so the American is now the comfortable leader in the Net GC.
A good ride for Capecchi sees him slot in between Boom and Bonnet in GC - 7th for now. Stallaert can only go a provisional 20th, but its better for Passeron who goes 6th - 1 second ahead of teammate Boom, 3 behind Kessler.
Fellow Frenchmen and Stage 1 winner Bar is next. Trying to limit his losses to Meyer to within 26 seconds, he fails, by just 4 seconds, placing him a provisional 13th - between Nicacio and Scheirlinckx
Its the moment of truth then for Kevin van Impe. Can he take the GC victory here?
Its either going to be Van Impe, Zirbel or the last man Freire.
Van Impe finishes 38th 1'29 down - keeping a 14 second gap ahead of Zirbel
Freire still has 1.6km to go, and he will finish the stage 131st out of 143. But incredibly, its so so close on the line.
Infact, only 1 SECOND separates. Van Impe and Freire.
Who is in the Yellow jersey? Click the Spoiler to find out!
