The race opens with a short 2,3km prologue. Surely we won`t see big time gaps today but being in a good position afterwards is always good for the confidence.
Favourites can be named a few such as Reus, Costa, Gretsch or Konovalovas. Also some GC riders must be named like Kritskiy, Plaza or Karpets.
Meier could have been named as well. He is a time trial specialist and sets the first real time.
But he is also just 3-10s faster than the previous, so this is about the time, that riders can lose obviously.
Reus is probably the biggest favourite here and even more in the longer time trial. And so it`s no surprise that he takes the provisional lead, but being just 3s faster than Meier is not a lot.
Mendes surely is no candidate for a top result today, but nevertheless worth a mention.
The Portuguese is one of a few home riders, who is having very good chances to take a stage win here.
Gretsch with a huge time here. He is a well known prologue specialist but that he comes in 1s faster than Reus is a small surprise. So we have a new leader.
Iglinski is the first of the two top stage racers in the LukOil squad. But due to his weaker time trial he might be option 2 only. 6s behind Gretsch he still has a decent time.
Costa won last years opener and is also hoping to take this stage today. And his time is not bad. He comes really fast around the last corner and through the finish but the clock says +2, which means only the 3rd for him.
Nazaret is a strong climber but lacks some TT skills. His 8s today might be okay but the long time trial will hurt him more.
Ivars can reach the top10 when having a perfect race and at least today he is showing great skills by beating Costa`s time being in 3rd at the moment.
Rohregger is definitely the strongest CT rider in this field and should do very well here. As decent time trialist he will also gain time on some better climbers later in the race. Today the top10 is not impossible as he takes the 8th so far.
Konovalovas is a good allrounder and always good for some results. Similar today as he starts just 1s off but moving into the 3rd, which obviously is the position that is changed a lot recently.
Caruso needs to perform well here and he actually should. He starts well at least getting a provisional top10 but he might be kicked out as some stronger time trialists are still on the road. Nevertheless a promising start.
Suaza can be happy with todays performance as he just moves ahead of Caruso. But he definitely can`t be happy with the team managers, who obviously try to isolate him here. Will he show a one man show in the upcoming stages or fail badly?
Plaza is another rider, who needs to deliver here to secure the team`s future in the PCT. And what a start. 2s faster than Gretsch! This will obviously be the new best time and just a few riders left. If he can continue like this, he could deliver the home team a 2nd win here in a row.
Karpets is a pretty similar rider but as 4th he is losing 3s already. Still a very good start by him as well beating most other GC riders.
Here comes the top favourite. For the race and eventually also for the stage. Kritskiy is having an awesome season and is one guarantee for his team, that their way will most likely go into the Pro Tour next season. With the race win here, they could also make a big step to win the PCT crown 2013.
His time is good, but not as good as Plaza`s. 2s off and 3rd of the day.
Last but not least Lo Cicero. His decent prologue next to his great sprint delivered him a huge win already this season like in Qatar. This race though is too hard for him and also today he can`t get into the top10 and ends the day as 11th. Will be interesting if he can deliver anything here.
So the prologue is finished and we have a surprising winner in Plaza ahead of Gretsch and Kritskiy. But in general the gaps are tiny and so the real race might start tomorrow.
