The race starts with a bang, the overall favourites and their teams need to be focused from the very beginning. A 15 kilometers long team time trial is first on the menu, and some teams and favourites must fancy their chances to put some time into other favourites bags. Vespa
with their climbing ace Pozzovivo, are favourites for the stage. According to the bookmakers, Aker Solutions Pokerstars
will be their toughest opposition, meaning 3 of the overall favourites, Pozzovivo, Alarcon and Rujano, are all looking to win time on the other favourites, like Van Den Broeck Caruso
today.
And it’s the favourites that go first on today’s course. Vespa
are looking well organized, and they go through the only checkpoint on the course in 12’15.
Ferrari
are the next team to start, and it’s “now or never” for another big favourite for the overall win. Italian champion Caruso must be eager to grab the overall glory, and show off the jersey here in Brixia. They don’t start very well, after 9 kilometers of team time trialing, they’ve lost 18 seconds to Vespa and Pozzovivo, as they go through the checkpoint in 12’33.
It’s looking like most overall favourites think it will be a smart choice to go early today, as Pokerstars
and Rujano are the third team to start. Rujano must rely on Van Goolen and Terpstra for this team time trial though, if they’re going to challenge for the stage win. It looks like Vespa has really put the hammer down from the very beginning. Pokerstars can’t challenge their time, as they go through in 12’25, 10 seconds behind Vespa’s time.
Emu Export
knows this isn’t the day where they will do well, but they’re nonetheless determined to perform well for their overall leader Krasnoperov, who hopes to surprise everyone later in the race, on one of the tough mountain finishes. They’re last through the checkpoint, 21 seconds behind Vespa, at a time of 12’36, which is 3 seconds behind Ferrari.
Kovalev
leads CSC’s overall campaign for Anton on the opening team time trial, but he’s by far their best time trialist, meaning today will be all about damage limitation for Anton. But having Kovalev in the front clearly pays off! They’re putting in an impressive time of 12’26 at the checkpoint, which gives them provisional 3rd, only a second behind pre-stage favourites Pokerstars.
Vespa
storms to the finish line, they were first out on the course, and they hold a huge lead on the checkpoint. Is this the perfect start for Pozzovivo? Ascani leads them over the finish line in 20’25. That’s a rock solid time, which should give most, if not all, teams problems.
Caruso
desperately tries to limit his losses to Pozzovivo, but there’s no doubts today will hurt his overall ambitions. He crosses the line first for Ferrari, and they’ve done well from the checkpoint, as they’ve only lost 7 more seconds. They cross the line in 20’50.
Bianchi
and their overall leader Lloret is next out on the course. Lloret looked great for a long time in Austria, but he wasn’t able to follow the best climbers on the stage to Grossglockner, which made him fall outside the top 5 overall. They’re blasting through the checkpoint, and they look like the first serious threat for Vespa. Their time is 12’18, only 3 seconds behind Vespa, and 7 seconds ahead of Pokerstars.
Rujano
brings his team mates home, and they’ve been faster than Vespa from the checkpoint! Not fast enough though, as they cross the line 8 seconds behind, in 20’33. But that definitely shows that Vespa’s ride isn’t that good, and it should give hope to Bianchi, who went through the checkpoint only 3 seconds slower than Vespa.
Pirelli
and one of the biggest overall favourites, Van Den Broeck, are next through the checkpoint. They’re doing decent, going through in 12’29, a provisional 4th, 14 seconds slower than Vespa.
California
follows Pirelli through the checkpoint. They’ve brought their wonderkid, Stetina, to the race, hoping to see him produce something special in the coming days. At least they give it everything to give him the best possible start to the race, they go through the checkpoint 12 seconds slower than Vespa, in a provisional 5th, at 12’27.
Emu Export
are currently the slowest team through the checkpoint, but they’ve been able to gear up on the final kilometers. Actually, they’ve been doing great on final half of the stage, only loosing 3 seconds to Vespa, crossing the line in 20’49, 24 seconds behind Vespa, but 1 second clear of Ferrari.
Anton
is clearly inspired by CSC’s strong start to the team time trial, and he gives it one last push to the finish line. And they’ve kept the pace! They’re still 11 seconds behind Vespa, crossing the line in 20’36, which is good enough for a provisional 3rd.
Saab
has allowed their team leader Löfkvist to rest this week, meaning they’re probably hoping for a breakaway win from either Bjelkmark or Eltink, who both can climb well. They go through the checkpoint in 12’31, 16 seconds behind Vespa.
Behind them starts another Scandinavian team. Aker Solutions
needs to perform well, as Alarcon can’t afford to loose much time to Pozzovivo, Rujano or any other overall favourite. Nordhaug leads them through the checkpoint in a provisional 3rd, 12’22 is 7 seconds slower than Vespa.
Bianchi
is looking slightly disorganized over the finish line, and that’s probably what has costed them the stage win! They’re only 2 seconds slower than Vespa, 20’27 is good enough for a provisional 2nd.
Venchi
and Duarte are the penultimate team to start, and tipped as one of the outsiders for the stage win, they don’t disappoint! It’s a new best time, going through in 12’14, 1 second better than Vespa.
Cerne is the last team on the roads today, Nicacio is most likely their leader, and he has just finished a huge turn on the front. They go through the checkpoint in 4th place, only 5 seconds behind Venchi.
Van Den Broeck
leads Pirelli over the finish line. He knew today was going to be all about damage limitation, and it’s clear that they haven’t done brilliant at that. They cross the line in last place, 35 seconds behind Vespa, at a time of 21’00.
Colex
and California is next to arrive the finish line. They started good, only 12 seconds slower than Vespa through the checkpoint. They’ve been able to continue their good work, crossing the line 19 seconds slower than Vespa, in a provisional 5th, at 20’44.
Saab
is sprinting to avoid last place, but it isn’t meant to be. It looks like their relatively strong opening 9 kilometers took too much from the riders, as they cross the line in a shocking 21’24, which is dead last.
Aker Solutions
is looking good over the finish line, but they weren’t anywhere close to being fast enough. Provisional 4th, 10 seconds behind Vespa, in 20’35 must be a somewhat disappointing start for Alarcon.
But now everyone is waiting for the next team, which is Venchi
They were a full second ahead of Vespa at the checkpoint, and the Norwegian youngster, Haugård, is looking determined as he crosses the finish line first for Venchi. And it’s just enough! With less than a second, they take the lead! An outstanding team performance, and a great start for Duarte’s overall campaign.
Cerne
is the last team to cross the finish line, but that does definitely not mean they’re last on the scoreboard! They were only 5 seconds behind Venchi on the checkpoint, but they’ve lost a bit on the final 7 kilometers, as they cross the line in 7th, 13 seconds behind Venchi.
