If yesterday was the queen stage of this race then today will be the stage that sorts out the lower GC places. Though it only measures 6 kilometres they are 6 tough kilometres of climbing. To start there are 1.5kms that average 8.5%, which then increases to 10% just before the time check that will also be giving 16 mountain points. Following this is a false flat that lasts about 2.5kms and then the final 1.5kms of the stage averages around 5%. The winner of the stage will get 20 mountain points.
The first man out on today’s stage is Serafin Blanco. He is an absolutely useless puncheur, but will one day turn into a decent climber.
He sets a time of 7’26” through the intermediate checkpoint, and comes through the finish in 13’14”. This tells us that the favourites are probably aiming for a time closer to 12 minutes.
Some of the time trialists who are leaving earlier are doing well. The first one to set a strong time that lasts for a while is Javier Aramendia. He goes through the first checkpoint in 7’10” and holds his pace to the end with a time of 12’35”.
The first one who can really take him on is Sergio Ortega. He goes through half a second ahead of Aramendia and takes the top time.
Another 20 riders go through and none can challenge Ortega’s time. Then one of the pre-race favourites comes out of the starting block. Samuel Sanchez pretty much took yesterday off and at a post race press conference he just shrugged his shoulders and walked off. It is clear that he was just saving himself for today as he goes through the intermediate point in a time of 6’51”.
He blazes up the finishing climb and sets the best time of the day easily – his time is 12’13”.
None of the riders that are out for some time after him are able to challenge his time. Tyler Brandt and Julien Rodas are the best of the with times of 12’21” and 12’23” respectively.
The next rider out expected to challenge this time is John Gadret. His team have been riding magnificently these last few days but after yesterday’s poor showing Gadret is out of overall contention. As such today is his last real chance for glory. His time through the first check is 6’49”, 2 seconds faster than the time of Sanchez.
Larsson is the man behind him on the road. He has to be a big favourite here. He goes through the first time check with the exact same time as Gadret.
Gadret reaches the top of the climb with a time of 12’14”, just shy of Sanchez’s time. Right behind him is Larsson, who sets a blazing time of 12’05”, taking the position at the top of the day’s leaderboard.
The next rider with a real chance of taking the win today is Juan Jose Cobo. He currently sits in 25th but can’t realistically get any higher than 24th, ahead of his own teammate Monfort. He goes through the first check in a time of 6’51”, 2 seconds slower than Larsson.
He comes through at the summit of the climb with a final time of 12’15”, putting him in a provisional 4th place on the day.
At this point we reach the top 20 on the day. 11th to 20th place are all sitting on the exact same time and this stage is, realistically, the only definite chance they have to separate themselves. Roux and Gautier are the first two out of the gate.
Roux sets a disappointing time of 12’58” and Gautier manages 12’55”. It is worth noting that both of these riders were, at the start of the day, in a three way tie for second place in the young rider classification. The other rider is Bellis. This moves Gautier ahead of Roux in that competition, as well as guaranteeing him better than 20th place.
The next few riders out of the gate are all very similar, each of them being decent at climbing mountains. The three riders are Weening, Veloso and Costa.
Weening goes through the first check in 7 minutes, Veloso in 7’02” and Costa in 7’04”. At the top of the climb Weening gets a very respectable time of 12’33”. Veloso goes better with 12’28”, however and Costa too beats Weening, but only by 1 second. The riders going for 11th place look like this so far:
Veloso
12’28”
Costa
12’29”
Weening
12’33”
Gautier
12’55”
Roux
12’58”
The next out of the gate is South Africa’s big hope, John-Lee Augustyn. He rode immensely well yesterday but was unable to hold the pace of the better puncheurs. He clearly isn’t out of energy, however, as he sets a new best through the first check of 6’44”. That’s 5 seconds better than Larsson managed!
And he holds his pace magnificently, setting a new best time at the top of the leaderboard of 12’04”, 1 second faster than Larsson! What a great day for the South African, who may now even be threatening Vanendert and Pineau who sit in 9th and 10th on GC.
After Augustyn come a handful of less impressive riders, who sit in 14th to 11th place. Bellis is next, aiming for second in the young rider jersey, and he is followed by Bauer, Gerrans and Bono.
Bellis is one second slower than Gautier, managing 12’56”, putting Gautier second in the young rider classification. Bauer is a better time trialist than these others, though usually over the flat, and he shows it with a time of 12’39”. Gerrans is a fraction of a second slower than Bellis, which he will be disappointed by. Finally, Bono gets 12’55” and is ruled to be slightly behind Gautier’s time. Both of them will not be too unhappy though, as they are ruled to be ahead of their respective opponents on a count back at the end of the day. All up, the times of all the riders between 11th and 20th are as follows:
Augustyn
12’04”
Veloso
12’28”
Costa
12’29”
Weening
12’33”
Bauer
12’39”
Gautier
12’55”
Bono
12’55”
Bellis
12’56”
Gerrans
12’56”
Roux
12’58”
There was only a 41” get between these riders and both Pineau and Vanendert, who started the day in 9th and 10th. That means that both of them need to come in with a time better than 12’45” in order to fend off Augustyn’s late surge up the rankings.
Vanendert is the first of these two out, and he sets a time of 7’02” at the first checkpoint, which looks good enough to ensure his position.
Indeed Vanendert sets a solid time of 12’31”, which keeps him well clear of Augustyn. Pineau, on the other hand appears to be struggling somewhat. His time through the intermediate point is 7’11”, which is already 27” slower than Augustyn. Can he pick it up?
No he can’t. Pineau sets a time of 12’50”, and Augustyn moves into the top 10 overall.
Next up is the duel for 7th place between Roche and LL Sanchez. Both of these came into today’s stage and indeed the whole race, as favourites. As such they will both be expecting to move up the table. Roche is the first out of the starting house.
His time through the first check is really strong, clocking at 6’48”. Indeed, he manages to keep strong form right to the top of the mountain and records a time of 12’11”, which is provisionally 3rd. Just behind him is Sanchez. Sanchez too sets a great time through the first point, clocking 6’46”, just 2 seconds slower than Augustyn.
Sanchez keeps his pace high, but just falls short of overtaking Augustyn with a time of 12’06”. This will almost certainly be enough to move him into the top 6, possibly even the top 5.
The first man standing in his way will be Cesare Di Maggio. Di Maggio started today 24” ahead of Sanchez and Roche, so he needs a time of 12’30” to stay ahead of both of them. Given that his time through the first check registers outside the top 60 this is clearly not going to happen.
His time at the end is 12’55”, dropping him to 8th place. The next man to try to defend his position is Francesco Ginanni. Ginanni starts the day 32” ahead of Roche and Sanchez. This means he needs a time of 12’38” to stay ahead of Sanchez and 12’43” to stay ahead of Roche. His time through the first check is 7’06”, so things could be fairly close.
At the end he clocks in at 12’42”, leaving him a precious second ahead of Roche, but still behind the time of Sanchez, who now is guaranteed a top 5 on GC after today. Massimo Iannetti has been overperforming during this tour and currently sits in fourth place. He is expected to struggle today, however. He needs a time of 12’47” to hold off Sanchez. His time is also outside of the top 60 at the first check.
At the very end he gets a terrible time of 13’04”, and this indeed drops him below both Ginanni and his teammate Roche, into 7th place.
Rovira is the next rider on the road, and he is under no illusions as to his ability on this sort of course. He is too far back to catch the two leaders and too far ahead to lose his third place. As such he just cruises up the mountain as best he can and just gets a time of 13’03”, but holds onto his podium spot.
Now it comes to the final two riders. Matthew Busche is now just 1 second behind David De la Fuente, and it would be a huge surprise if he were to beat him in a mountain time trial. Indeed, Busche’s time through the first check is outside the top 60.
De la Fuente, meanwhile, goes through in 6’57”, provisionally 11th.
Busche can’t increase his speed to make up much ground, but by the same token he is safe from Rovira. He gets a time of 12’54”, and contents himself with being on the podium. Meanwhile, De la Fuente finishes us off by crossing the line with a fine display. He comes through in 12’29”, which is the 14th best for the day.
Looking at the jerseys, the GC was completely shaken up with LL Sanchez and Augustyn being the two big movers of the day. Roche moves into the points jersey thanks to his great time on this stage. Breschel will have to hope that he can make some points up on the fairly flat stage tomorrow, unless a break stays away yet again. As an added reward for win today, Augustyn gets maximum mountain points at both the intermediate and the finish line, putting him in the lead of the mountain classification, 2 points ahead of Txurruka. Pirelli remain on top of the team classification, rather unsurprisingly and the young rider jersey stays with Di maggio, though the three places behind him are now sorted out.
