7.9km course awaits the riders, it’s a flat course hence shouldn't cause any problems. Martijn Keizer, Rein Taaramäe come as the big GC contenders here with a big chance of winning this stage and getting some important time on others. Non-GC candidates for today include Ian Stannard, Kai Reus or Patrick Grestch. However there are many out there that could surprise today.
The British ITT Champion; Ian Stannard is the first big name on the course today. He has some pressure upon him to deliver here with good result here as his team is unlikely to score much more. And he looks to have done just that with a time of 10’46”, however it’s hard to compare as he’s the only big name so far.
Countless riders after are yet to come close to Stannard’s time and in Nick Clesen we have a contender. The Luxembourgian champion however can’t come close to so Stannard’s time, 7 seconds short of it placing him provisionally 3rd on the stage.
Shortly after that we see another big name coming off the ramp looking for a good time here. Michiel Elijzen is his team 2nd best ITTer today and will look to tell Reus about any unexpected difficulties on the course. Meanwhile his time is quite disappointing, he might have been expecting more than 11 seconds back on the leading time of Stannard.
The provisional rankings show clear margin between Ian Stannard and the 2nd best time today so far from the American, Aggrey Sebright. There's another clear gap to Nick Clesen on 3rd so far. Many more names to come though.
Patrick Gretsch may not be the complete all rounder rider, but you can’t say he doesn’t specialize well. When it comes to prologues there’s not many as good as him and with a time of 10’38”, 8 seconds clear of previous best time by Ian Stannard he sets a staggering time that will be a new benchmark for all riders to come.
Another Jaguar Eritel rider in form of Andrew Tennat. He’s not as good as his compatriot against the clock, but sets a very solid time of 10’50”, 4 seconds behind Stannard and 12 seconds behind leading time of Gretsch.
Kai Reus is arguably the best rider so far on the course. He’ll be looking for a very solid time with a chance of gaining some points with a good GC as well. The times at the interval show his times are almost the same with Grestsch best time and coming to the finish it’s clear this will be decided by tiniest of margins.
Reus crosses the time and agonizingly looses to Gretsch by less than a second, he’s awarded time of 10’38”, same as Gretsch.
Wilmer Vasquez is not going be one to challenge Gretsch’s time, with an eye on tomorrow’s stage more likely already set. However he doesn’t want to lose much time here as well to keep his chances of high GC place alive. He doesn’t set a great time as expected, but I guess it could be worse - 11’28”. 50 seconds behind the leading time of Gretsch.
The Ukrainian rider everyone want to see how he does today. It’s time for the the first big GC contender to power it through today’s course. And that rider is no other than Jaroslav Popovych. He’s a very solid rider against the clock and he proves his great form with a time of 10’48”. 10 seconds behind Grestsch’s amazing time, however this time should be much better compared to other GC riders to come.
Cano Ardila is Repsol’s second option here, slightly weaker climber compared to Vasquez, but much better rounded rider and he shows it in the TT with a time of 11’12”, 16 seconds faster than Vasquez which will most likely mean it will be him leading the Repsol team tomorrow.
The Russian superstar, Vladimir Karpets has a great ability against the clock, additionally to being a great climber. He looks to be going pretty fast through the course and clocks a time of 10’38”!
This is the exact same time as the leader Gretsch and Reus. However he was just than one second to slow to top this time and is provisionally now in 3rd place, however his time is a terrific one. He’ll gain many useful seconds here on many other GC contenders.
Evian’s jewel in the squad, one of best climbers in the world in form of José Serpa. He’s not going to set the wolrd alight with his TT skills, however he’s not poor either, and with his strong climbing skills he’ll be hoping for a strong finish tomorrow. He produced a very strong time of 10’59” boding very well for tomorrow, just 21 seconds behind leading time of Gretsch.
Stij Devolder, shouldn't be a climber that will challenge for a win, however his skills mean he will be fighting for Top 10 with bit of luck. He’s a strong flat rider and TT’er and this helps him to produce a time of 10’52”. Not a bad ride from the Belgian.
Martijn Keizer is the big favoruite for today’s stage, he’ll be hoping to put his abilities to maximum today. He’s looking great on his stylish retro bike and produces an outstanding time of 10’32!
That’s by far the best time today, 6 seconds ahead of Patrick Gretsch’s best time up until this point. Is this the winning time? Rein Taarame might be the only one left that can truly challenge the Belgian.
John Gadret leads the Alstom team and with the French bonus on his side he may well prove to the a dark horse on tomorrow’s stage. However his time trialing abilities are somehow limited, producing a time of 11’17” meaning he is 44 seconds behind Keizer, clear difference meaning Gadret will have to be in attackive mode tomorrow.
Tony Martin may not be a climber, but I think we know where he excels at. He should provide useful feedback about the course for Rein as well. Martin produces a very strong, but not earth shattering ride with a time of 10’49” That places him 8th overall at this point so far.
If is not to be drawn into relegation battle, David Abal needs to perform. An what an excellent opportunity he finds here. Short TT and a mountain stage suit him to a tee. He has some pressure to perform, but he certainly does. 10’42” is the time he sets and that places him 5th best provisional. 4 seconds behind Karpets, however ahead of other GC contenders , with nearest being Popovych, who Abal has 6 seconds advantage.
Jose Alarcon. The legend of PCT. The dominator of last year. However this year is different.
With a much tougher competition in 2013 Alarcon will have to show what he is really worth. Being Colombian is not a sign of being good rider against a clock and this stereotypical view is correct for Jose. He is trying to limit his looses today and ends with a time of 11’20”. Not great at all, 48 seconds behind Keizer. However tomorrow’s stage is tough as it can be and he can really take heaps of time on most contenders here. The battle has just began.
Sébastien Ivars is another dark horse from Alstom. He’s not as good of a climber compared to Gadret, but much better against the lock as he shows here with a time of 10’53”. A solid time giving Ivars 23 seconds of advantage over Gadret. Will that influence team’s choice of leader for tomorrow?
Thomas Lofvkist leads the Swedbank team here. I am not sure of the expectations they want to achieve, but I know that he delivers a pretty decent time of 10’56”. That’s not that far from biggest names here, he also gains time on others. We’ll see how this time fares at the end of the day.
Mauricio Ardila is another strong climber lacking a bit in his time trialing abilities. His time of 11’15” is not mind blowing, but not worst I guess. However it means to achieve success tomorrow and some big GC points, he might have to try early attacks.
Ivano Lo Cicero has been pretty disappointing for Armavia yesterday and is their best prologue rider for today’s stage. Not much is expected of the sprinter however and he delivers a mediocore time. 34 seconds behind the leading time of Keizer.
Domenico Pozzovivo is one of more accomplished climbers in the race and will be looking to more success after his win in Trentino. He doesn’t have a great time trialing position on the bike as you can see, however manages very respectable time of 10’56”. That puts him 24 seconds behind Keizer’s bet time, not bad.
The big favourite Rein Taaramäe will look to consolidate a good position before tomorrow’s stage in this TT. As one of best riders againt the clock the pressure is on him to perform. The crowd cheer him on trough the course and help him set time of 10’35”. 3 seconds Behind Keizer placing him 2nd in the stage so far. Great ride by the Estonian.
Here’s the provisional rankings with just few more names to come (those are just slightly off the final standings i.e. Taaramäe lost 3 seconds to Keizer, not 2 as show below)
Rubén Plaza is another good climber that faces well against the clock. He’s in great form after sprinting to Top 10 yesterday and is looking very well on the course. He’s looking to challenge Keizer’s time and when he crosses the line many can’t believe the time he sets!
10'29! 3 seconds faster than Keizer! What a stunning time and it looks like Prio Porto might have just snatched their 2nd win here. Timofey Kritskiy has 8 seconds advantage on Plaza, if he can’t come within 8 seconds, Plaza will be the leader after this stage.
Here comes the Russian Timofey Kritskiy. He needs to finish less than 8 seconds behind Plaza’s time to get the jersey. A possible feat considering he’s one of best riders against the clock there are, but Plaza’s time have rally surprised many here. He rides strong through and crosses the line at 10’37”.
Unbelievably, whole 8 seconds behind Plaza which means he will be the leader if nothing surprising happens due to overall better stage positioning on the two stages by just one spot. (Kritskiy – 7 ; Plaza – 8 )
The leader should be happy with the stage win yesterday. With the news of his teammate best time so far he seems to ease a bit and finishes far back. This means that Rubén Plaza is the winner of the stage and Timofey Kritskiy is the overall leader.
And here’s the list of major GC contenders ahead of tomorrow’s key stage:
Rubén Plaza
Martijn Keizer
Rein Taaramäe
Timofey Kritskiy
Patrick Gretsch
Ian Stannard
Jaroslav Popovych
Matthias Brändle
Christian Meier
Stijn Devolder
