The first stage is a 33.6-kilometres TTT from Dunboyne to Dundalk at the Eastern coast of Ireland. Big favourites today is Team Gazelle as they will be looking to put Lieuwe Westra in a great position right from the start.
Kappa - ENI starts us off. Here they are at the climb coming out of Dunboyne. It's not that they are particular bad tempo riders compared to the rest of the pack but they will lose time today because they have only fielded four riders here. Remember it's the fifth rider from each team to cross the line that stops the clock.
And here comes the home-favourites, at lease team wise. ANC-Halford is the only British team here and they could put down a good performance today with big engines like David Millar and Tom Danielson in the team. Also young talent Mannion will be interesting to watch this week.
African team Jaguar - Eritel will also be rooted for amongst the British fans here. For them it's about going as fast as they can and hopefully cause a surprise as they seem to be in it for their sprinter Sam Bennett.
The first team are going through the first time check now. ANC-Halford clocks in at 18'01, while Jaguar is 20 seconds slower. Third team out on road Mobil - Castrol Cycling, however, has taken the lead. They are 8 seconds faster than ANC.
Next team through the first check is Adira-Isq Project who might be hoping for Soto Pereira in the GC here, although they must have hung their boots on Van Loocke being up there in the sprints as their main thing here. They are 17 seconds down and in provisional third place.
Oh that was close. Kenya Airways almost goes fastest at the first check, but they are 4 seconds back right now. They could still turn that upside down though.
ANC-Halford is now closing in on Check 2 and unsurprisingly they take the fastest time since only Kappa has gone through. Their time is 37'41.
For some reason we haven't got the times of the other teams at Check 1, so we are going to have to wait until the 2nd Checkpoint to see if someone is going quicker than Mobil - Castrol Cycling.
Jaguar - Eritel is next team through the second check, but they are not going strong today as they trail by 39 seconds now.
Here comes Mobil - Castrol though. Have they kept up their high initial pace?
They have not! It seems like they are fading, they must have come out too heavy! 17 seconds back is only good enough for provisional 2nd.
Adira looks to be going fast now though as they are just a fraction faster than Halford at the 2nd checkpoint and a new provisional leader!
Here is Team Gazelle. Looks like they are in tune with all seven riders still there. No doubt it's looking well-oiled, but we are still going to have to wait until they cross the second check to find out just how fast.
Also we haven't seen Team Credexbank at the first check, but here they are storming towards Check 2. It looks a wee bit disorganized though, at least compared to Gazelle.
Magna-Ryanair is also on a mission today as they have a strong card in Perikles Ilias for the overall.
And finally we get a glimpse of Team Privatbank as we will be waiting to see how they have done so far at Check 2. They are working for Eduard Vorganov and Cesar Andres Fonte here.
Team Gazelle has gone through Check 2 now. We are awaiting confirmation on their time. First though here comes ANC through the finish! 50'26 is their time. Good performance by Millar and Co.
We are having some problems now with the time checks at the second checkpoint, but we do now that Team Credexbank has also gone through.
Here comes Jaguar across the finish line. They didn't look strong out there at the intermediates, so what is their time at the line?
They have gained 6 seconds on ANC compared to Check 2. A sign of the British team fading towards the finish maybe? They are still 33 seconds slower though so they are not going to mix it with the top today.
Mobil - Castrol did fade it seems as they cross the line in 2nd place, 15 seconds off the time of ANC, who holds on to the lead.
Info on the teams behind Adira who is coming to the finish now, apparently we are having some tecnical difficulties and cannot get you the times at check 2 on those teams. This is going to be exciting at the finish!
And here comes Adira!
Fastest time for the Portuguese team! 50'04 is their time as they beat ANC-Halford by 21 seconds today. Good start for them indeed. But can they hold on? We have no clue about the other teams here!
Here comes Kenya Airways! Finally get some clearance. They are lead in by their captain for the overall Chaoufi.
Third fastest time for them! 22 seconds back.
Meanwhile we have managed to get pictures of the last team en route, Team Privatbank. Still no times though. Gazelle should be coming any minute now though!
And here they come scorching through the last left-hand bend. Still looking good with all seven riders there!
49'32 is their time! Incredible! 31 seconds improvement on Adira's time as they take a commanding lead with Minnard leading them across the line. Looks like the tecnicals we have had today has made this more exciting than it really was!
Next team is Credexbank! Their best bid for a good GC should be Bazhkou, but can they keep him in contention here?
It's not an impressive time as they slot into provisional fifth, 59 seconds back.
What about Magna and Ilias?
Well it's a better position as they take third, but they are also quite a bit behind with 50 seconds loss for Perikles Ilias. Hopefully their sprinter and home-favourite Isaac Speirs can avenge this tomorrow?
Here comes the final team, Privatbank. Have they done enough for their captains Fonte and Vorganov?
Well Team Gazelle has obviously been superior here, so we must say it's a decent performance from Privatbank to take third place today, 46 seconds down.
So Minnard takes the yellow jersey but by the looks of it his team-mate Lieuwe Westra has really taken a leap towards overall glory today. Let's hope it makes for some aggresive riding in the hills from his opponents.
