Norwegian time trial champion Stenersen
is out early, setting the marker and taking the provisional lead in 7’40, which is two seconds better than Veloso Walsleben
Sestili
is the first threat to the Norwegian’s time, and he sprints for the line and finds himself judged provisional first, with the hundredths of a second! 7’40 for him as well.
The Polish guy Mazur
then storms home to the provisional lead here in the streets of Grenoble! 7’36 is our new best time.
The Danish team really is on fire! Reckweg
makes it two top 4 for them, 7’39 is three seconds slower than Mazur and a provisional second.
Mørkøv
makes it two Danes in the top eight, as he comes home in 7’44. That’s eight seconds off Mazur’s pace, proving that it’s possible to get some decent gaps on this prologue.
Rolland
gets the loudest cheer from the spectators so far, but he disappoints big times! He comes home for provisional second in 7’38.
The crowd silenced due to Rolland’s bad performance, and here’s another silencer in France Kreuziger
thunders home in 7’31. It’s a new best time!
102 riders have now finished this prologue, and it’s still Kreuziger
holding the lead four seconds ahead of Mazur
Above you see the 28 best times so far today, but the best time trialists are still to come!
And now it’s time for the biggest home favourite of them all Coppel!
He’s giving it his all, really motoring the 5800 meters on the time trial bike. It’s a superb effort, going a full 9 seconds faster than team mate Kreuziger. 7’21 is of course the provisional lead! Will it be enough for the stage win?
Another Frenchman Bonnet
follows right after Coppel. And he makes it a French 1-2! 7’28 is 7 seconds off Coppel.
Polish champion Bodnar
must be inspired by his countryman Mazur’s ride, as he blitzes the course in 7’32! That’s our fourth best time, 11 seconds slower than Coppel.
Bouet Aramendia
are similar speaking of time trial strength, and that shows today. Both clock 7’34, provisional fifth and sixth 13 seconds off Coppel’s pace. Aramendia is given fifth.
Bernaudeau
is another one of those French chrono men, and he looks determined to post a good time in his home country! And so he does. 7’27 is provisional second place 6 seconds slower than Coppel, meaning we have a French 1-2-3!
Lloret
is his Belgian team’s hope for the overall classification. He’s also a good rider against the clock, which he once again proves today. 7’33 is a provisional sixth, 12 seconds slower than Coppel.
Valls
has gotten a rear chance to lead his Spanish team. He’ll do everything to make the best of it as he clocks a decent 7’43 at the finishing line. That’s 22 seconds off Coppel’s pace, and it must be considered a decent start for the Spaniard.
Wild card team Bintang has brought Alarcon and Krasnoperov
to lead them in this Pro Tour stage race. Krasnoperov does best on the prologue today, 7’37 is a provisional 10th place, 16 seconds behind the leader.
Martin
follows him, and he’s worse, as he clocks 7’46. That’s not better than a provisional 35th.
Keinath
leads his Danish team here in France, and he stops the clock at 7’31 at the finishing line. That’s a provisional 10th, 16 seconds slower than the French leader.
Eastman
is the American wonderkid his American team has high ambitions for. He does a good prologue, coming home in provisional 16th, only 20 seconds behind Coppel at the time of 7’41.
Valverde
can only look to limit his losses on this opening prologue. Friendlier terrain awaits for the Spanish climber. He limits his losses to 22 seconds to Coppel. 7’43 is a provisional 29th.
Van Den Broeck
is looking to consolidate the German team’s position well clear of the relegation zone here in France, and it’s a decent opener. The clock stops at 7’37, 16 seconds slower than Coppel and a provisional 10th.
Spilak
leads his Norwegian team’s overall campaign here in France. It’s disappointing opener from the defending champion. 7’37 edges Van Den Broeck for the provisional 10th place, 16 seconds behind Coppel.
Gesink
thunders for the line! The speaker counts him down, and the French crowd are quickly relieved. No danger there, as he can only manage 7’27- That’s good enough for provisional second place, six seconds slower than Coppel. That must be a good sign for the French leader thinking of Phinney.
Here he is! Phinney
sprints over the line, knowing this is down to seconds! But he can’t make it! 7’25 is four seconds behind the Frenchman and Coppel
is today’s stage winner!
Stage results
1
Jerome Coppel
Milka - AVG
7'21
2
Taylor Phinney
Wikipedia
+ 5
3
Mathieu Bernaudeau
Festina-Canal+
+ 7
4
Robert Gesink
Project 1t4i
s.t.
5
William Bonnet
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 8
6
Roman Kreuziger
Milka - AVG
+ 10
7
Maciej Bodnar
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 12
8
Manuel Lloret
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 13
9
Maxime Bouet
Milka - AVG
+ 14
10
Javier AramendÃa
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
11
Piotr Mazur
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 15
12
Pierre Rolland
Festina-Canal+
+ 17
13
Mikayil Krasnoperov
Team Bintang
s.t.
14
Nico Keinath
Team B&O
s.t.
15
Jurgen Van den Broeck
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
16
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
s.t.
17
Morten Reckweg
Team B&O
+ 18
18
Luigi Sestili
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 19
19
Alberto Contador
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
20
Sten Stenersen
Team B&O
s.t.
21
Romain Sicard
Pearl Adidas
+ 20
22
Westley Gough
Milka - AVG
+ 21
23
Jure Kocjan
Team Bacardi
s.t.
24
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
25
Philipp Walsleben
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
26
Gustavo Veloso
Santander
s.t.
27
Cornelius Van Ooijen
Team Bintang
+ 22
28
Vegard Stake Laengen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
29
Sean Downey
Pendleton's
s.t.
30
David Claerebout
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
31
Gediminas Bagdonas
Team Bacardi
s.t.
32
Jon Aberasturi
Project 1t4i
s.t.
33
Leopold König
Milka - AVG
+ 23
34
Michael Mørkøv
Team B&O
s.t.
35
Bauke Mollema
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
36
Mario Gonzalez Salas
Santander
s.t.
37
Rafael Valls
Santander
s.t.
38
Alejandro Valverde
Koenigsegg
s.t.
39
Christophe Riblon
UBS - BMC
+ 24
40
David Boucher
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
41
Jonathan Castroviejo
Project 1t4i
+ 25
42
John-Lee Augustyn
Aker - MOT
s.t.
43
William Walker
Pearl Adidas
+ 26
44
Moises Dueñas
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
45
Dominique Nerz
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
46
Daniel Martin
Pendleton's
s.t.
47
Welle Jallays
Pokerstars.com
+ 27
48
Kiel Reijnen
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 28
49
Wout Poels
Project 1t4i
s.t.
50
Martin Mortensen
Koenigsegg
s.t.
51
Cameron Meyer
Koenigsegg
s.t.
52
Evan Huffman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
53
Martin Hacecký
Team B&O
+ 29
54
Tom Copeland
Pendleton's
s.t.
55
Juan Pablo Forero
Milka - AVG
s.t.
56
Konstantin Siutsou
Pendleton's
s.t.
57
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Team Bintang
+ 30
58
Vegard Robinson Bugge
Aker - MOT
s.t.
59
Sergio Ghisalberti
Team Bintang
s.t.
60
Aberlardo Ablenado
Santander
s.t.
61
Cadel Evans
Control Team
s.t.
62
Mathieu Perget
Team Bacardi
s.t.
63
Thomas Ziegler
Team Bintang
s.t.
64
Sebastian Langeveld
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 31
65
Gianluca Brambilla
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
66
Marco Brus
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
67
Artemio Moschella
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
68
David De la Fuente
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 32
69
Jetse Bol
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
70
Petar Panayotov
Pearl Adidas
+ 33
71
Jelle Wallays
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
72
Laurens Ten Dam
Project 1t4i
s.t.
73
Andrew Talansky
Wikipedia
s.t.
74
Frantisek Rabon
Milka - AVG
s.t.
75
Romain Vanderbiest
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
76
Sebastien Reichenbach
UBS - BMC
s.t.
77
Alex Howes
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
78
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
