The USAPCC ends with a flat timetrial that will decide the GC. Kashechkin took the lead yesterday with an impressive long range attack. On paper he should be the strongest timetrialist in the current GC top 10 but that doesn't mean he shouldn't worry. Keizer is one of the best timetrialists in the peloton and only 1'11 behind. He'll be the favourite for the stage together with world champion Rogers.
Gretsch is the first TT-specialist to start. It has been quite a succesfull race for his team so far and he could add up to that with a stage top 10. He sets the early benchmark with 24'19
Dempster is another pure timetrialist. On paper he should be better than Gretsch but when he approaches the finish it seems very close. The Australian champion finishes in the same time as Gretsch.. The jury looks at the hundreths and decides that Gretsch stays in first place.
We fastforward untill the last 50 riders. This is the current top 10, nobody got close to Gretsch and Dempster so far.
That is about to change though as Rogers is out on the course now. He crosses the line in 23'34 which is 44 seconds faster than Gretsch. Will be hard for anybody bar Keizer to even come close to that time for sure.
Karpets has had a quiet race so far. He sits only 27th in GC and it doesn't look possible for him to move up much. Getting a good result on the timetrial could still save his race a bit. He finishes as provisional 4th with 24'29.
Same can be said for Plaza. He does a bit better than Karpets today but still slower than Gretsch and Dempster with a time of 24'26.
And Bibby is another rider who is a bit lower in GC than expected. He can possibly still make the top 10 if he gains 1 minute on the current 10th. 34'29 puts him in provisional 5th.
After his early succes, Kristkiy slided down the GC sitting in 16th currently. He is definatly expected to move up and could also take the points jersey with a good timetrial. It's close but he just edges out Gretsch for 2nd place. 24'07 is his time.
Keizer is the only rider that can still challenge Rogers for the stage victory and challenge Kashechkin for the overal. He sits in 11th currently and will definatly move up. He looks up after he finishes and sees 23'48. That means Rogers was 13 seconds faster.
Pozzovivo was the only top favourite to show himself yesterday and now has a chance to get a good GC place. The small climber isn't a great timetrialist but should move up as there are a couple of bad timetrialists in front him. 24'51 is a good time for him.
Matty Lloyd is one of those riders who is expected to drop down today. He has to defend 25 seconds on Keizer and 7 seconds on Pozzovivo. A very hard task in which he doesn't succeed with 25'54. That time actually makes him slip down all the way to 13th.
Schreurs has been very consistent so far with 3 stage podium places. That means he is wearing the points jersey. He'd probably exchange that jersey for a stage win but didn't succeed in that. He can still salvaga a top 10 with a good timetrial but it will be hard. 25'40 isn't great either.
Shimizu is another rider who made the top 10 due to a succesfull break but will have to defend his position today. His average timetrial skill shows in his time. 25'49 means he'll drop out of the top 10.
Bosisio has done better than his teamleader Pozzovivo so far but that will probably change today as he's known to be a bad tt-er. 26'29 means he is 137th on the day and drops down all the way to 16th in GC.
Grygorenko is not only sitting 5th in GC but also wearing the light blue jersey for best young rider. He'll have a hard task to keep it with only 43 seconds advantage on Keizer. 25'37 means Keizer easily overtakes him but Grygorenko keeps his place in the overal top 10.
Izagirre has also done better as his team leader here so far but not today. 25'30 means not only Keizer but also Pozzovivo will overtake him. He'll need Ardila or Chavanel to do worse if he wants to keep top 5 in GC.
Ex-race leader Ardila already showed signs of weakness yesterday and could drop down even further today. 25'32 means he slots in right behind Izagirre in the provisional GC and will lose a top 5.
Chavanel has had a very good race so far with a stage win and a strong finish yesterday as he moved up to 2nd in GC. It will be hard for him to move up any further and he also has to look over his shoulder to Keizer. He sets a decent time with 25'12 but it's not good enough to hold off Keizer. Will be 3rd place overal for him unless Kashechkin cracks.
Kashechkin is ofcourse the last rider out on the course. It's very hard to predict if he will hold off Keizer or not. One thing is for sure, it's going to be very close.
Kashechkin has to defend 71 seconds to Keizer which means he'll need a time lower than 24'58.
He enters the final kilometre...24'...24'15...24'30...He's in the final straight now...24'45...And Kashechkin crosses the line, everybody looks up..24'48! Kashechkin just holds on with 10 seconds over Keizer! What a great finish to this race!
Kashechkin isn't the only rider to celebrate today:
Rogers add another to his huge timetrial trophy cast.
Big win for Kashechkin and lots of points for the Repsol team that has a goal in the America tour!
Keizer will have to be satisfied with 2nd place and the youth classification. Kritskiy overtook Schreurs for the points competition while Borges had already secured the King of the mountain trophy. The teams classification is won by Vespa.
(Note: the results file was messed up so I counted the points and U25 rankings myself, if you see any mistakes let me know. I'll make sure to double check before I do the points file!)Edited by Spilak23 on 20-08-2013 19:14
