Feathers were ruffled when this route was presented at the inclusion of this team time trial that greets us on stage nine. Two bones of contention - first is the length at 67.5km it is by far the longest team test we have seen in a Grand Tour for some time. The second and perhaps more important issue is having a team test on stage nine after two tough mountain stages.
It created some dilemma's for Protour teams who have packed their yearly rosters with excellent chrono men not brought up on a diet of mountainous climbs. Would they risk these riders for the perfect moment for them to help their more balanced team leaders knowing that it would be hit and miss whether they would make it through the dual mountain stages in the Sierra Nevada?
In a way we are fortunate to have only had one crash which took out three riders (though admittedly delayed others) meaning that team rosters have only been reduced down because of time limit eliminations.
The differences in team strength is pretty stark early on when we compare the first starters who have five riders....
Brent
Bookwalter
75
Reinhardt
Janse van Rensburg
74
Tyler
Farrar
70
Christoph
Mai
63
Ciaran
Kelly
63
... and the 8 rider team of Carmuese
Morgan
Kneisky
72
Tony
Gallopin
70
Jurgen
Roelandts
68
Ben
Curfs
66
Alexandre
Aulas
61
Wouter
Weylandt
60
Óscar
Solis
59
Steven
Caethoven
56
The numbers here indicate the TT rating for each rider, a team like Wikipedia who have historically done well against the clock are hampered by the lack of numbers.
We can check here on the opening two checks the first at 24km and the second at 43km.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
2
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
Under usual circumstances B and O and Sony Ericsson would be a threat in event like this.
But B & O have been decimated by the early climbs and have been left with a shell of a decent chrono team:
Michael Faerk
Christensen
77
Nico
Keinath
75
Andrei
Grivko
73
Steven
Kruijswijk
72
Juraj
Sagan
68
We can see the effect when they come through the second check, that they like Wikipedia despite having the pedigree are weakened by numbers so that they are also behind Carmuese.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
2
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
3
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
Next up is last year's protour champions Sony Ericsson. This team had a decent Vuelta last year through Trofimov. The Veleta could have been a lot harsher and they are left with a reasonable amount of TT men, though it may be that a few of them are running on empty.
Sebastian
Lang
79
Jakub
Danacik
76
Alexander
Wetterhall
75
Serge
Pauwels
74
Walter
Pedraza
72
Cameron
Meyer
70
Paride
Grillo
58
It's not particularly surprising that they were comfortably faster at the first check and as they go through the second check the gaps are really opening up.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
2
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
3
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
4
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
So it is fairly clear here that time gaps will be fairly sizable and that numbers in team will count, the next two teams on course have good numbers but probably don't have the personal to deliver a big result today.
It's turning in to a bit of an embarrassing day for the team of world champion TTer Tayler Phinney. At the top of the leaderboard Sony Ericsson have set the fastest time and it is not long before they will be at the finish in the meantime though Jack Wolfskin are out on course going towards the first check.
Sony's time is clearly the team to beat, though they will also be interested to see the team directly behind them in Milka who have an extra man:
Jerome
Coppel
83
Roman
Kreuziger
77
Maxime
Bouet
76
Thomas
De Gendt
76
Thomas
Rohregger
74
Leopold
König
70
Juan Pablo
Forero
69
Yauheni
Hutarovich
65
Michael
Vanderaerden
58
It looks like we are in for a bit of a battle at the top Jack Wolfskin and Milka are in sizzling form as they smash the best times at the first check.
Team
Riders
24km
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
2
Milka
9
34.46
3
Sony
7
35.25
4
Spyker
8
35.56
5
Bacardi
7
35.58
6
Wikipedia
5
36.05
7
Carmuese
8
36.11
8
B&O
5
36.14
Meanwhile Sony come across the finish to be clubhouse leaders after four teams have finished.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Final
1
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
98.03
2
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
100.01
3
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
100.07
4
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
100.11
More teams are out on course, it's probably a day off for the Warner Brothers men - well I could be cruel and say it is more like a year off. The recent ranking update has revealed that the team in yellow are still rooted to the bottom of the rankings. Their times at the checks here will be no source for comfort but TTing is not their forte.
It's probably not a big deal for them, but more concern is on the face of last year's Vuelta winner... this is going to be a really tough day for the five riders of Proximus Trek.
Alejandro
Valverde
73
Marc
De Maar
73
Mark
Cavendish
66
Yannick
Stoltz
63
Kevin
De Weert
60
By the time of the second check Valverde's men are plum last out of the ten teams. At the top of the standings Jack Wolfskin have pulled out a lead of 26 seconds on Milka and are more than a minute ahead of Sony. There are other challengers for the day who have full or nearly full teams, but Jack Wolfskin are going to take some beating as expected.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
3
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
4
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
5
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
6
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
7
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
8
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
9
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
10
Prox Trek
5
36.25
64.21
A few more runners and riders to go through now:
Stefan
Denifl
72
Yeison
Delgado
69
Danilo
Di Luca
68
Marconi
Durán
65
Nolan
Hoffman
64
Jocelin
Maillet
60
David
Loosli
58
Tough to see Nestle doing much but opening stage winner Michael Rogers could inspire his mob to do something.
Also one of just five full complements and a bit of a bigging up from the team manager for Pendletons.
Bradley
Wiggins
78
David
Millar
75
Matthieu
Ladagnous
74
Thomas
Faiers
73
Steven
Cummings
73
Denis
Menchov
72
Konstantin
Siutsou
70
Jianhua
Ji
67
Philip
Deignan
65
It's pretty solid stuff from both Pendleton's and Cafe de Colombia. The team of Rogers clearly trying to match their team leaders Rogers and Abal's pace whilst those two are trying to be realistic also. Pendleton's probably have a shout of a podium here. Meanwhile Jack Wolfskin have come home...
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Final
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
96.30
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
97.02
3
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
98.03
4
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
99.41
5
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
99.30
6
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
100.11
7
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
100.01
8
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
100.07
It's 32 seconds on Milka who finish a couple of minutes after them and 93 second on early leaders Sony. Is it job done for Jack Wolfskin? Perhaps there are a few more team's out on course though with big squads such as Wiggle:
and Pearl Adidas who probably lack the big chrono men but do have 9 riders:
Tanel
Kangert
76
Tiago
Machado
74
Branislav
Samoilev
73
William
Walker
71
Jackson
RodrÃguez
70
Jose
Mendes
69
Petar
Panayotov
68
Eric
Berthou
67
Tom
Leezer
66
The nine man teams are clearly with an advantage and Wiggle aided no doubt by the presence of two strong Russian loanee TT men manage to sneak inside Pendleton's times but are losing ground on the second check. Pearl Adidas are producing a solid run also looking to keep Machado nicely placed on GC.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
Wiggle
9
34.56
61.55
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
Pearl Adidas
9
35.12
62.11
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
UBS
8
35.33
62.48
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
Meanwhile Pendleton's come home indeed they are provisionally in 3rd place comfortably ahead of Sony.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Final
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
96.30
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
97.02
3
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
97.33
4
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
98.03
5
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
98.55
6
Webeffect
6
35.42
63.26
99.22
7
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
99.37
8
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
99.41
9
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
99.30
10
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
100.11
11
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
100.01
12
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
100.07
13
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
100.26
14
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
100.43
Meanwhile Valverde looks pretty pissed with things his team have lost over four minutes to PLaza's Jack Wolfskin. Plenty of tough climbing ahead but Valverde knows already he will be behind Abal and Plaza on GC, clubhouse GC standings are as follows:
Plaza
Abal
at 9 seconds
Valverde
at 16 seconds
Menchov
at 241 seconds
Denifl
at 275 seconds
Pedraza
at 287 seconds
Obviously Plaza is going to make huge gains here today, but for others like Valverde it was about damage limitation. Another with high GC ambitions would be Giro runner up (how he must hate that label) Sella. His team as other have pointed out are limited against the clock as is Sella.
Thomas
Bontenackels
76
Tom
Danielson
72
Iker
Camaño
71
Emanuele
Sella
68
Vitor
Rodrigues
67
Óscar
Avelino
57
It is going to be quite tough for Contador as well who is also left with just five teammates though of higher quality than Sella:
As hard as the two six man teams work it is proving hard to live with the teams with more personal, still both team are doing vastly better than Valverde's Proximus Trek team and should do enough to keep their leaders ahead of Plaza.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
3
Wiggle
9
34.56
61.55
4
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
5
Pearl Adidas
9
35.12
62.11
6
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
7
Festina
6
35.30
62.46
8
UBS
8
35.33
62.48
9
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
10
Webeffect
6
35.42
63.26
11
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
12
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
13
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
14
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
15
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
16
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
17
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
18
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
Meanwhile Wiggle have just made it home and yes they have edged Pendleton's out of the podium places. It was close and Pendletons certainly made ground late on but Popovich can feel that some of the damage from that earlier lost time on a crash has been repaired.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Final
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
96.30
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
97.02
3
Wiggle
9
34.56
61.55
97.29
4
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
97.33
5
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
98.03
6
UBS
8
35.33
62.48
98.45
7
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
98.55
8
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
99.37
9
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
99.41
10
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
99.30
11
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
100.11
12
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
100.01
13
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
100.07
14
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
100.26
15
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
100.43
The Clubhouse GC:
Plaza
leads
Abal
at 9 seconds
Valverde
at 16 seconds
Gomez M
at 89 seconds
Menchov
at 241 seconds
Popovich
at 251 seconds
Denifl
at 275 seconds
Pedraza
at 287 seconds
The two last teams out, Protour leaders Vesuvio
Marcel
Kittel
81
Beñat
Intxausti
77
Drasutis
Stundzia
74
Matea
Kvasina
72
Maxim
Iglinski
71
David
Claerebout
71
Mwangi
Samwel
60
Really was very useful for them that Kittel survived the Veleta time cut, still they have been cut down to just 7 riders so he and Intxausti have to work hard to keep them team going.
Finally, Santander have a full complement but this was the day they feared:
Justo
Tenorio
79
Angel
Madrazo
77
Imanol
Erviti
74
David
Arroyo
70
Rafael
Valls
70
Daniel
Allonca
68
Eduardo
Gonzalo
65
Jesus
Del Nero
60
David
López Garcia
54
The teams come through the second check and Jack Wolfskin are high fiving as Vesuvio and Santander are not going to threaten their stage win.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
3
Wiggle
9
34.56
61.55
4
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
5
Pearl Adidas
9
35.12
62.11
6
Santander
9
34.59
62.11
7
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
8
Vesuvio
7
35.15
62.22
9
Festina
6
35.30
62.46
10
UBS
8
35.33
62.48
11
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
12
Webeffect
6
35.42
63.26
13
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
14
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
15
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
16
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
17
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
18
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
19
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
20
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
Festina are doing pretty well to limit the losses for Contader to the likes of Intxausti, Madrazo and Machado. As they come to the finish they now that Machado and Sella are safe in the clubhouse knowing that they have maintained a tasty advantage over the Jack Wolfskin inspired Plaza.
Machado
leads
Sella
at 10 seconds
Plaza
at 119 seconds
Abal
at 128 seconds
Valverde
at 135 seconds
Gomez M
at 208 seconds
Festina come home in a time of 1 hour 38 minutes and twenty six seconds, they have taken two minutes out of Sella and a minute out of Valverde. 30 seconds has been lost on Machado and couple of minutes on Plaza it's probably the best they could have hoped for.
Team
Riders
24km
43km
Final
1
Jack Wolfskin
8
34.38
61.16
96.30
2
Milka
9
34.46
61.42
97.02
3
Wiggle
9
34.56
61.55
97.29
4
Pendletons
9
35.14
62.06
97.33
5
Pearl Adidas
9
35.12
62.11
97.53
6
Sony
7
35.25
62.22
98.03
7
Festina
6
35.30
62.46
98.26
8
UBS
8
35.33
62.48
98.45
9
Cafe de Colombia
7
35.40
63.01
98.55
10
Webeffect
6
35.42
63.26
99.22
11
Nestle
7
36.00
63.27
99.37
12
Bacardi
7
35.58
63.31
99.41
13
Spyker
8
35.56
63.33
99.30
14
Carmuese
8
36.11
63.46
100.11
15
B&O
5
36.14
63.51
100.01
16
Wikipedia
5
36.05
64.01
100.07
17
Warner Brothers
8
36.33
64.13
100.26
18
Poxy Trek
5
36.25
64.21
100.43
The final two teams are out and as they come home the calculations work in overdrive, after Festina came home it was Contador leading the GC provisionally.
Contador
Machado
at 48 seconds
Sella
at 58 seconds
Plaza
at 167 seconds
Abal
at 177 seconds
Valverde
at 183 seconds
Gomez M
at 256 seconds
With Intxausti showing on the Veleta that he can match Contador and Madrazo on the mountains his Vesuvio team work hard and having Kittel with them inspires them with a very decent last third of the TTT finishing with 1 hour 37 minutes and 46 seconds. Intxausti has taken 40 seconds off of Contador, over 90 seconds off of Sella and indeed gained time on the plucky Portuguese Machado after looking like they would lose time to the 9 man Pearl Adidas squad.
Santander also have a good last third, though not quite as good as Vesuvio they do hold them off finishing four seconds faster good enough for 5th on the day. The Santander team manager can relax now not too many flat stages to worry about!
Stage results (Individual)
Anybody notable 'dropped' by their teams? Certainly not in the doomsday scenerio of the Cafe de Colombia team boss! Vesuvio dropped Samwel, but Intxausti really needs every second to try and maintain a high GC position so probably no big deal there.
GC
Plaza of course made a big move forward. Santander now have three riders in the top seven, how will they play that out in the Pyrenees. Valverde, by 'selling out' to a weak CTour team was the big loser today it is going to take a Herculean effort for him to defend his title a podium looks a tall order.
Youth
A Santander 1-2 looks likely here, unless Tenorio blows up for his team leader. But what about a 1-2-3? Denifl's Nestle team are likely to try and support him, though further down Kritskiy, Panayotov and Marquez are here for team leaders. Keinath of course really sucks at climbing so no danger there!
Teams
It wasn't as damaging as perhaps some thought it could be, this test will have drained teams mentally as much as physically. The Pyrenees loom and squads will likely be reduced more who will survive Santander's onslaught!
