The final stage of this magnificent race is a 24.6km time trial in West Vancouver. The course isn’t completely flat. There are a couple of short climbs out on course, including one that reaches 7% just before the first time check. That time check occurs at 11km along the course, roughly half way. In addition to the race to win the stage there are numerous GC battles right along the top 20 in order today, but we will cover them as we get to them. Also, it is worth noting that there is quite a lot of wind today which is gusting occasionally and is pushing right-to-left along most of the course. Let’s see how that affects things.
We don’t have to wait long at all until one of the stage favourites is out on course. Sitting in 149th overall is Ford. The big Australian was clearly brought here solely to try to get a result in this stage and thus bring in some nice points. His time through the first check is easily the fastest of the first few riders – 16’40”.
And he finishes in a time of 33’48”. Obviously we don’t really have anyone to compare it to but it is clearly faster than anyone else thus far.
Second favourite out on course is Olman. He is often in the shadow of his teammates Ford and Rogers, who is setting off later, but he is a solid chrono man himself. This is shown by his time of 16’49” through the first check, just 9” down on Ford’s time.
He can’t hold quite this close, however, and he sets the second best time of 34’06”. That seems like a solid is a gap of 18” sitting there waiting for someone to slot into it.
Looking to slip into that gap to take second is Dempster. He is the third favourite out on course and also the third. Australians seem adept at training up these great flat TT riders. In fact, Dempster is the national TT champion. The wind has picked up though given it is a side-wind it is hard to say what effect this will have on him. It clearly doesn’t slow him, however, as he goes through the first check in 16’42”, just 2” slower than Ford.
And what a result! He sets a new best time of 33’25”, meaning that he went 25” faster in the second half of the course than Ford. Perhaps the wind helped him here as he turned away from the sea?
Martin is the next favourite out, sitting in 73rd overall. He can climb somewhat better than those who have already gone which might mean that he has more energy and it might help him on these little rises. The wind also picks up again, faster than it was with Dempster out on course. It doesn’t help him in the first part of the course as he can only set a time through the first check of 16’58”
But what a recovery! Using this slight tailwind and perhaps his extra energy he goes through in 33’45”, good enough to edge Ford out by 3” and sit him in a strong second place.
With Ford down to third it is up to his teammate Rogers to retake the top step of the podium. He goes into this stage as the big favourite. The wind has subsided a bit, back to the same levels as it was with Dempster. This has been hindering people on the first part of the course all day, but that doesn’t seem to be the case and he blitzes through with a time of 16’29”.
He holds his speed and gets a new best time of 33’03”, showing that even if he couldn’t bring it in the mountain TT the world champion still has a trick up his sleeves.
Once again looking fancy in his national champion’s kit, Canadian Meier sets off. This course will probably be more to his liking than the mountain. Certainly some locals have been whispering his name, daring to dream that he could do this. The wind has subsided somewhat, back to the levels seen at the start of the day. Certainly his first check is impressive with a time of 16’59”, just 1” slower than Martin managed.
As if proving that the wind was helping in the final part of the course, Meier finishes the course in 34’13”. That isn’t a bad time, just 7” slower than Olman, but he dropped a lot of time in the final part of the course.
Sitting in 35th, Ivars was probably capable of better but with the lack of tough racing in previous days he might be in decent condition. Certainly his first time is a strong 16’49”, the same time as Olman at the first check.
And he goes even better in the second half, beating Olman by 3” with a time of 34’03”. He is the last of the pre-race favourites before the top 20 start and so let’s have a look at the provisional top ten at the intermediate check and the finish line.
Check 1
Rogers
16'29"
Ford
16'40"
Dempster
16'42"
Olman
16'49"
Ivars
16'49"
Martin
16'58"
Meier
16'59"
Bontenackels
17'00"
Vorobev
17'01"
Raisin
17'04"
Finish
Rogers
33'03"
Dempster
33'25"
Martin
33'45"
Ford
33'48"
Ivars
34'03"
Olman
34'06"
Meier
34'13"
Bontenackels
34'18"
Vorobev
34'25"
Ortega
34'33"
First up in 20th place is Agudelo. His team is currently leading the team classification by several minutes but they will still have to ride well to avoid losing it today. Certainly they have really lit up this race in the road stages. Ortega sitting in 10th provisionally will certainly help them. Agudelo sits 3” behind 19th place, but since that is his teammate Vasquez he isn’t really riding for much beyond defending the team classification. His first check is 17’07”.
And he goes through the finish line in 34’27”, provisionally tenth. That is going to make it hard for anyone to really assail their team classification position.
Vasquez, as stated, is the rider in 19th. He will undoubtedly be exhausted both physically and emotionally after his long ride up Mt Seymour yesterday. He can’t time trial particularly well and given that he is a minute behind 18th place he is just looking to finish today. His first time is 17’51”, showing his exhaustion.
And his finishing time is 35’53”, 77th provisionally. He has done enough to hold off Ghisalberti, who was in 21st place, but he slips behind his teammate Agudelo.
Another representative of the home country is 18th place Hesjedal. He has been performing admirably well here and most would have said that a top 20 was beyond him before this race. He is comfortably ahead of the two riders who just finished and given that he is almost 2 minutes behind the next rider out on course, this is just going to be a cruise for him. His first check is 17’18”.
And he finishes with a solid 34’45”, provisionally 17th, showing that he still had some energy left.
Now we start to get to some more interesting GC battles. Briceno is the rider in 17th and he is within a minute of the next three riders. Unfortunately for him, two of them are Keizer and Plaza and he isn’t a good enough TT rider to make up a minute on Lovkvist. That said he can be pleased at being the third rider from Repsol in the top 20 on GC. His first check is a lacklustre 17’49”.
And he finishes in a time of 35’46”, currently 70th place. He won’t drop on GC but he certainly won’t gain any ground.
One man looking for some decent gains today is Keizer. He is one of the best time trialists in this race and could even challenge for the stage win. He has a whole raft of riders he could plausibly overtake ahead of him and, with a bit of luck, he could well move into the top ten. Just a reminder of the GC placings:
9
John Gadret
Alstom-RBC
+ 3'43
10
Peter Stetina
Meiji - Cannondale
+ 4'10
11
Gianpaolo Caruso
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 4'12
12
Pedro Nicácio
Prio - Porto
+ 4'18
13
Theo Eltink
Swedbank-PEAB
+ 4'28
14
Thomas Lövkvist
Swedbank-PEAB
+ 4'32
15
Rubén Plaza
Prio - Porto
+ 4'47
16
Martijn Keizer
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 5'05
His first check comes through as 16’40”, which is a provisional 3rd place for the Dutchman so far.
And in the final metres he overhauls Briceno, and his time is 33’26”, which is good enough for a provisional third at the end too. We will have to see how that plays out.
The next man up will also be hoping to move up the rankings - Plaza. He has a great time trial capability and will be hoping to use it. Remember that in addition to trying to move up the ladder he needs to avoid losing 18” to Keizer. His first time check puts a bit of a dampener on his hopes, however, as he only manages 16’50”, meaning that he has already dropped 10” to Keizer. Still, it is a strong time.
And finally he finishes in 33’46”, provisionally 5th on the stage, but enough to ensures that Keizer overtakes him.
Lovkvist is the next rider up and while he is certainly a decent time trialist and could make some small gains today on some riders, he will be at serious risk of losing his spot to the two riders just gone. His first time is 17’03”, dropping 13” to Plaza and 23” to Keizer, meaning that both are almost already ahead of him.
And his final time is 34’13”, which is provisional 9th on the stage - a tremendous effort! However, both Keizer and Plaza overtake him. He may well move up himself though.
Someone who he is certain to overtake is 13th overall Eltink. The Dutch rider has been having a great race, but he is certainly not a noteworthy TT rider. His first time of 17’50” just proves that.
His finishing time is 35’44”, dropping more than 2 minutes to Keizer. He only drops from 13th to 16th, however, and that is certainly a result that he can be pleased with.
There is one rider in this current bunch who might be capable of defending his lead and moving up the rankings. That is Nicacio. He starts the day 47” ahead of Keizer and 29” ahead of his teammate Plaza but with his TT ability that could well be defendable. His first time of 17’02” is disappointing though, as it is almost the same time as Lovkvist managed. He has already dropped 22” to Keizer. Can he lift himself?
A strong second half ensures that his final time is 34’09”, meaning that he loses 43” to Keizer and defends his lead. Plaza only gained 23” on him and thus his lead is defended too. This could be a great opportunity to move up the ranks!
Sitting in 11th is Caruso. He is note a terrible time trialist and he has a solid gap over Keizer and Plaza (53” and 35” respectively) but Nicacio could pose a problem, as they started the day only 6” apart. His first time of 17’13” must be crushing for him, as it means that the Brazilian is already ahead of him on the road and more than half his gap to the other too is gone.
And his final time is 34’32”, dropping him below all three of those who were chasing him and putting him ahead of Lovkvist by only 1”.
In a race that has seen some tremendous unexpected efforts, Stetina can say he has made himself noticeable. He sits in 10th at the moment. His problem is that he is arguably the worst TT rider in the top 20. So anything could happen here. He has to defend a lead of 55” over Keizer and indeed even Lovkvist and Caruso could catch him. His first time check of 17’52” tells the sad story – every rider who was chasing him has now overtaken him on provisional GC – only Eltink hasn’t done so.
And his finishing time of 25’48” will see him drop well outside the top 10, all the way down to 15th. That is still a very strong effort from him.
Gadret is up next, the last rider who can perhaps be caught by Keizer and Plaza here. He has to finish is under 34’48” to beat the Dutch rider and 34’50” to beat the Spaniard. His first check is 17’31”, which makes this quite close.
And his final time is... 35’09”, meaning that he doesn’t just drop below those two but he is also caught by Lovkvist and Caruso. So Gadret will finish 14th, Lovkvist 13th, Caruso 12th, Plaza 11th, Keizer 10th and Nicacio 9th. That’s a fabulous result for Prio-Porto compared to how the day started.
Though Devolder started the day only 1” ahead of Gadret he is a much better time trialist so he was always going to defend his lead from everyone behind. In fact he is a minute behind Kiserlovski, definitely a tough gap to beat. So today will just be about a solid ride without much pressure at all to secure a great top ten finish. His first time is 17’05”, confirming that he is in no trouble.
And his final time is 34’17”, a solid 12th place so far. He will be pleased with this result and indeed his quiet performance throughout the whole race. He never made a splash, but he was always just where he needed to be. 8th is a good reward.
Now it is time for the battle for fifth place overall:
5
Jose Alarcon
Team Bintang
+ 2'17
6
David Abal
Team CSC-Orbea
+ 2'23
7
Robert Kiserlovski
Hollister Pro Cycling
+ 2'46
Kiserlovski is the first up. He is a better TTist than Alarcon, but so is your average postman so that doesn’t say much. He may not be able to beat Abal but he could perhaps try to relegate Alarcon to seventh overall. His first time check is 17’24”, which is hardly brilliant.
And his final check is 34’55”, which is okay but may not quite be enough to put the pressure on Alarcon.
Abal will be really hoping to use his strong ability against the clock to move into the top 5 today. He only needs 6” on Alarcon. His first check is 16’56”, and given how few riders have been capable of going under 17 minutes there it is looking like a solid time.
And his final time check is 34 minutes flat. That will almost certainly be enough and it is provisional 7th today.
Now is the time for Alarcon. He needs a time of 34’06” to defend his lead from Abal, but that isn’t going to happen. He may be able to pull out a time under 35’24”, which will give him 6th ahead of Kiserlovski. His first time check is 17’38”, meaning that he has lost 14” of his 29” lead to Kiserlovski. This is going to go right to the wire.
And his final time ticks closer and closer... 35’22”! He stays 2” ahead of Kiserlovski on GC and keeps his 6th place. He will certainly be pleased, while Kiserlovski will be kicking himself.
Now we enter the final four:
1
Timofey Kritskiy
Tinkoff Bank - Rosneft OJSC
22h27'53
2
Rein Taaramäe
Bouygues Telecom
+ 13
3
Jaroslav Popovych
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 25
4
Domenico Pozzovivo
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
+ 32
A podium place is looking unlikely for Pozzovivo, who is the weakest time trialist in the group. He is the first one out of the gate and his time at the first check is 17’01”, which is tremendous. Clearly he has some energy left over after yesterday’s effort. Remember that he didn’t put in any major attacks yesterday, but just decided to grind away. That is much less fatiguing.
Popovych, on the other hand, was one of the major instigators yesterday. That said, he is certainly a strong TT rider, about the same as Nicacio. And indeed he gets the same time as Nicacio through the first check – 17’02”. But wait! That’s 1” slower than Pozzovivo, who sits only 7” away from him on GC. Suddenly the podium race just became more interesting!
Taaramae is a great TT rider and was one of the favourites going into this stage. He attacked yesterday and has consistently looked like the strongest rider on the climbs. He needs to make up 13” today and his best hope is that Kritsky is worn out. His time through the first check is 16’42” – securing him second place and giving him provisional 5th at that time check.
And finally, our race leader hits the road. Kritskiy is closely matched with Taaramae in terms of time trialing ability. He hasn’t really attacked away but has instead followed wheels or worked solo to bring people back. This may work in his favour, just as it appears to be doing for Pozzovivo. And certainly it appears to be doing the job as he goes through the first check in 33’18”, extending his lead by 17”. Remember what happened to the earlier TT specialists who went hard too early, however. They dropped a lot of time.
So Pozzovivo approaches the line. He was brilliant through the first check, but has he held his speed? His time? 34’11”! That’s provisional 11th place, which is probably his best ever flat TT result! What a ride from the diminutive Italian, but is it good enough for a podium place?
Remember that Popovych had a 7” lead this morning, and was already 1” down at the intermediate check. So this needs to be a good time because otherwise he will lose his valuable podium place. He comes in and the audience hold their breath. What will it be?
34’14”
Just 3” down on Pozzovivo. Popovych will finish today in third place.
Taaramae was a long way down at the intermediate checkpoint, but he was also riding himself into a top 5 on the stage. So he puts his head down and rides his hardest – what else is there to do? His time is a provisional 4th place – 33’35”.
And now comes the man who has held the yellow jersey since before the first mountain stage - Kritskiy was second at the first intermediate sprint and if he keeps this up he could well fight for the leading time of 33’03”. Alternatively, he could fail miserably in this part of the course.
And his time is 33’18”, a provisional second place, meaning that Rogers takes the win today! But more importantly, Kritskiy takes the HC stage race and the mountain of points that goes with that, making his Tinkoff team one of the favourites for the divisional title this year.
