26 seconds. That's all that separates race leader Rohregger and second placed Martinez as we head into this decisive final time trial. None of the two were able to make enough of an effort to alter the situation yesterday, but today's almost 50 kilometers offers a much better chance of doing so.
They've been evenly matched all race, so this is expected to be a really close call. Another interesting fight to follow will be the battle for the last spot on the podium. Sauber will decide that within the team, as Alizadeh and Jiriakov are within just four seconds of each other.
Ahmed Ahmed is the first man off the starting blocks this morning. He is currently occupying the lantern rouge, but has been holding back and saving himself with today in mind in the last couple of days, after being released from working on the flat when his team's lead sprinter Chicchi dropped out.
He goes through the first check with a time of 21'02" and reaches the second one half an hour later, 52'30", before completing the course on a time of 1h10'46".
The strength of Ahmed's performance is evaluated quickly thereafter, as his team mate and other strong timetriallist Valentin Stoenchev is next out on the parcours.
His clock shows six seconds slower than Ahmed at the first check, which grows to 17s at the second one and finally 22s by the finish, giving him a total time of 1h11'08".
We have to wait for a third Boeing rider for someone to match the two early best times: Nikolay Mihaylov
Just like his team mates, he has been fairly invisible since Chicchi fell out of the race, but at least featured alone in the long breakaway on the queen stage a few days ago.
He seems to have recovered from that effort by now, as he lives up to the pressure of being one of the pre-race favourites - reaching the first intermediate with 20'39", which is the new best time by 23 seconds.
He powers on throughout the whole course and leads by 1'02 at the next check and storms to the lead also at the finish with 1h09'26" and knocks down Ahmed by a remarkable 1'20!
Another TT specialist is next: Israeli champion Dor Dviri
He is unlucky to start when he does, as his exquisite performance gets a little overshadowed by Mihaylov's complete berserk. Nevertheless, he opens the race very hard and posts a time of 20'48" at the first check, almost matching the leader.
His pace is slightly too high to maintain throughout the whole race however, and the 9s he was behind Mihaylov at the first check increases to 47s at the next one. Another 12s are added to the deficit in the final part, and the finishes with a time of 1h10'25".
Young French prospect Yoann Paillot has done a great job for team leader Martinez in this race, and apparently still feels fresh enough to go for a result today. He's behind Dviri and the Boeing boys after the first part of the stage, but not very far back.
The youngster shows impressive experience through the rest of the race, and ups his effort towards the end. Stoenchev gets overtaken, but the other three are a little too good for Paillot - who takes a provisional fourth place at the finish with 1h11'06".
Perhaps the biggest positive surprise today comes from Daniel Diaz. The promising climber shows versatility as he passes through the portal for check one with a time of 21'06", which is quite comparable to Ahmed's time.
Clearly not just a matter of a (too) hard start either, as he remains steady in basically the same position all the way to the finish. 1h10'51" isn't quite enough to match Ahmed, but still faster than Paillot for example.
Craig Lewis was considered a bit of an outsider for today, but the work he did for team mate and former race leader Lutsenko earlier in the race seems to have left him a little short of energy, as he can't really compete for the provisional lead.
A finish time of 1h10'09" is enough to put him in second place behind Mihaylov, 43 seconds short of the lead.
23rd in the overall is a man who really broke through in the beginning of this race: Alexey Lutsenko. And to top of an incredible race, he seems to be on fire today as he goes through check one with a time that's just 8s slower than Lewis'.
He loses the momentum slightly in the end of this very long race, but doesn't lose anything on for example Dviri in the finale. The clock eventually stops at 1h10'36" is very respectable from the youngster, who we'll surely hear more about in the future.
It's been far too long since we last saw a Boeing rider, so here is Edwin Parra Bustamante, who is currently in 21st overall. That may be lightyears beneath what the team's DS was hoping for from him, but in all fairness he did have his chances ruined by that crash on stage 3.
It's clearly time for revenge today, as he goes by the first intermediate just 9 seconds down on Mihaylov. That increases to 23s at the finish, but still provisional second place and an impressive performance from the non-timetriallist.
Two spots and 4'30 further up the GC we have super domestique Iker Camaño. The heavy work done by him for Martinez earlier in the race might actually have affected his performance today, but nevertheless he goes through the first portal with 20'54", which is a provisional fourth best.
He climbs past Dviri in the remainder of the race, but is a little too slow to compete with Parra Bustamante for provisional second place behind the still dominant Mihaylov.
Two more decent rides comes up soon afterwards, but the camera misses both Carl Naibo (1h10'30") and Julian Rodas (1h10'52"), so we move straight to the overall top 10 with this provisional top three:
Check 1
Check 2
Finish
1
Nikolay Mihaylov
20'39"
51'28"
1h09'26"
2
Edwin Parra Bustamante
20'48"
51'49"
1h09'49"
3
Iker Camaño
20'54"
51'57"
1h10'00"
First out the start is Kononenko, who could possibly be looking at a 7th place overall if he can profit from his timetrialling strength to the maximum.
Ihlenfeldt is the next to roll out, probably feeling the exact opposite compared to Kononenko - as his 9th place is severely dangered by his weakness in this discipline.
Another man who has most likely been dreading this day is 8th overall: Ndbri
He really hasn't lived up to the high pre-race expectations at all, and never really got into contention for a place on the overall podium. I guess he decided to sacrifice his own chances to help Martinez after seeing how strong the Cuban was in the opening stages.
Landa is currently in a bit of a no man's land, and doesn't really have to worry that much about today. He has several minutes up to the places right above him, and a good buffer over the closest following riders.
In sixth place we have Mestre, who has proved himself as perhaps the second best climber after Rohregger over the past few days. If it wasn't for that bad day on the first top finish on stage four, he would probably have been in the fight for the podium.
Now his goal is to gain six seconds on Colorado and move into the top 5.
Speaking of Colorado: he's next!
Full focus on Mestre for him today, as there's almost two minutes up to fourth place. Will be interesting to see if the work he did for Chicchi on the flat stages might cost him now.
Fourth is Jiriakov, perhaps the most impressive rider in this race. Day after day, he has matched and dropped better climbers, and now has the chance to finish on the podium!
His team mate and third overall...
... Alizadeh wont give up without a fight though!
Four seconds is all he has in his advantage at the moment, which is most likely far less than he'd like to - as this is the timetrials are his big achilles heel.
And finally, the battle for the overall crown! Here goes Martinez...
... and soon also Rohregger!
While the last guys head out from the starting area, Kononenko has reached the first intermediate check, and goes through in fourth place with 20'51" - 12 seconds short of the long time leader Mihaylov.
Ihlenfeldt reaches the same place a long time later, clearly feeling very uncomfortable on the TT bike. 21'58" is registered, which means that he has already been passed by Kononenko in the overall and now sits in 10th.
Ndbri also posts a very weak time: 21'30", which means that his advantage over Kononenko in the GC is down to just one single second!
Landa is a little bit better, clocking 21'12".
Mestre is even quicker: 21'04"
His battle with Colorado is clearly destined to stay incredibly close, as the Colombian is just one second slower!
20'59" comes from Jiriakov, who thus continues to astonish the public.
Alizadeh on the other hand, is in a world of pain and trouble today and can't do better than 21'37", which basically demolishes his chances to hold on to the final podium spot over his team mate.
He is in fact so slow that Martinez catches him within sight already here. It's admittedly the new leader he is chased by, but not a good sign for the Iranian nevertheless.
Hard to complain about Martinez, even though his time is "just" two seconds better than Mihaylov's.
His moment of glory is short however, as Rohregger goes one better with 20'31"!
That gives us this provisional GC top 15, with 1/3 of the stage done:
1
Rohregger
2
Martinez
+ 31
3
Jiriakov
+ 2'56
4
Alizadeh
+ 3'30
5
Colorado
+ 4'47
6
Mestre
+ 4'52
7
Landa
+ 8'07
8
Ndbri
+ 9'21
9
Kononenko
+ 9'22
10
Ihlenfeldt
+ 10'09
11
Masuda
+ 10'17
12
Rodas
+ 10'51
13
Suryadi
+ 12'16
14
Naibo
+ 13'14
15
Rusli
+ 13'33
Looks more and more like Rohregger is a little too strong for Martinez, but the gap is still very small with a long way to go. And as mentioned, it looks like Jiriakov will be the one joining them on the podium as Alizadeh has already lost a huge chunk of time. Also interesting is the fact that the riders just outside the top 10 are starting to really close in on a slow Ihlenfeldt.
Kononenko soon reaches the second check, which shows that he continues to ride well - 20'51". One place better this time, in third, as he has passed Dviri. Parra Bustamante has also lost ground and now only goes a second faster.
Ihlenfeldt's horrible day also stays consistent, as he even starts to get run up by a slow Ndbri. The timer registers a time of shocking 54'39", while Ndbri is around a minute better with 53'27".
Ihlenfeldt has thus dropped down to 12th overall, now also behind Masuda and Rodas. Kononenko has meanwhile advanced to 8th, overhauling Ndbri.
Landa continues his solid but not great ride in the meantime, posting a time of 52'36".
52'12" from Mestre, which looks promising for his chances of entering the top 5.
Colorado is still ahead in the GC thanks to a time of 52'16", which means that they are separated by just two seconds!
Jiriakov is even faster, clocking a time of 52'03". What is up with this guy in this race?!
He is followed by his team ma.... wait a second! Martinez has gone past Alizadeh!
Not surprising as he once again registers the new best time: 51'04", which is 24 seconds better than Mihaylov! Alizadeh is an insane 2'35 slower, which means that he now has to start worrying about Colorado and Mestre coming from behind!
Rohregger is not going to collapse today however, regardless of Martinez' strength. He pulls the longer straw once again, and takes the lead by 16s with 50'48!
New provisional GC:
1
Rohregger
2
Martinez
+ 42
3
Jiriakov
+ 3'43
4
Alizadeh
+ 5'15
5
Colorado
+ 5'41
6
Mestre
+ 5'43
7
Landa
+ 9'14
8
Kononenko
+ 10'04
9
Ndbri
+ 11'01
10
Masuda
+ 11'46
11
Rodas
+ 12'05
12
Ihlenfeldt
+ 12'33
13
Suryadi
+ 13'55
14
Naibo
+ 14'16
15
Rusli
+ 15'23
Rohregger seems to have decided this race in his favour, barring a disaster or complete breakthrough. Alizadeh is as mentioned now very far back and less than a minute ahead of Colorado and Mestre. Can they wrestle him down? Kononenko is now 8th, while Masuda enters the top 10.
A little way further up the road, it's time to finish for Kononenko. Masuda almost gets passed as the Ukranian stops the clock at 1h09'44", which puts him in provisional second place behind Mihaylov.
It also means that Landa needs to do better than 1h11'47" to defend 7th place in the GC.
Ihlenfeldt keeps Ndbri back in the distance, but still posts a really weak time as he finishes a couple of minutes after Kononenko. He is unable to turn the tables against Masuda and Rodas, and therefore drops to 12th in the GC with a total time of 1h13'19".
Not a great day for Ndbri either, and he also goes down a spot in the overall. Ninth place after today is surely far below expectations, but luckily Martinez makes up for that. The time the Kenyan posts is 1h11'47".
Time to see who ends up in seventh overall now. It's not even a close call, as Landa does far better than required. With 1h10'45" he cements his position after the impressive comeback on stage 9.
Now let's move focus to one of the most interesting battles today: Mestre vs. Colorado. Mestre maintains the solid pace all the way through and completes the course in 1h10'12".
A time of 1h10'18 or better is thus needed from Colorado.
Here he comes... The clock stops at... 1h10'18"!
They're tied on GC! In other words, this could all come down to how far apart they finish on tomorrow's flat stage!
Jiriakov is a bit quicker than both, with 1h10'03". That means that unless Alizadeh can perform a miracle in the final few kilometers, we have a man from Liechtenstein on the final overall podium.
But first: Martinez. After looking like he might've been fading a little in the recent days, he strikes back with full power today and takes the lead with a good 37 seconds over Mihaylov.
Rohregger has his work cut out then. If his time ticks past 1h09'15", the race goes to Martinez...
Alizadeh just about avoids the embarassment of getting caught by two riders as he finishes a few meters in front of a storming yellow jersey. Unfortunately for him, his time of 1h12'08" isn't quite enough.
To be more precise: he is two mere seconds too slow, and gets overtaken by both Mestre and Colorado! Talk about bad luck with the margins!
Rohregger on the other hand, doesn't need any luck. He realises that he is going do it already far down on the home stretch and puts on a big smile as he pushes the last few hundred meters to reach the finish.
1h08'30" and a 18 second victory over Martinez on today's stage!
We have a clear overall winner, then. 45 seconds might not sound like much in a stage race of this length, but considering that he did it basically all in one stage, it's pretty impressive. Jiriakov is a distinct third at four minutes.
It has meanwhile been calculated that Mestre has the lower number of stage positions between him and Colorado and has thus been awarded fourth place on GC. A disappointed Alizadeh is now all the way down in 6th, while Kononenko made good progress today to travel up to 8th. Masuda is the only new name among the top 10, now in 10th.
