One more chance to attack the GC as tomorrows finisher is one more for the sprinters.
33km though is the shortest distance of the three time trials.
Favourites for the stage are the pure time trialists like Gretsch or the GC riders Peraud, Nicacio, Kashechkin or Kiserlovski.
Gretsch is one of the first riders on the road. The German time trial specialist might be Amex` last chance for a stage win as their two top sprinters were not able to beat the mountains.
So far so good. Best time in the finish at the moment.
Kaisen was faster than Gretsch at the intermediate. But this doesn`t say a lot as also Nascimento, Van Ooijen, Allonca and Reinhardt were faster there.
But Gretsch obviously had a fast 2nd sector.
In the end Kaisen though with a very good time beating Gretsch by 28s-
And also a bit later Nascimento is faster. 17s behind Kaisen though. A small surprise.
Sutherland is another strong time trialist and he proves this with the 3rd today behind Kaisen and Nascimento but ahead of Gretsch.
This was it for the moment before we enter the top10. Will Kaisen surprisingly win todays timetrial or can a less exhausted GC rider beat him?
Peraud as 10th has still chances to improve as he sits only a few seconds behind Lowe and ~1min behind Vrecer.
Only 15th at the intermediate. But obviously all the recent times couldn`t come very close to the early starters. It`s a bit more windy now but not too bad. So conditions aren`t too different.
40s in the end to Kaisen as 5th behind Gretsch.
Lowe as next. He already lost ~20s to Peraud at half time and so most likely will lose his 9th to him.
His time in the finish isn´t too bad. Somewhere in the 20th but this means he will swap positions with the French. Still finishing in the top10 though.
Vrecer with another strong PCT performance. He definitely will finish as best CT rider once again and even though he will miss the top5 team goal, he can be happy with the 8th in the GC as he stays ahead of Peraud by 24s.
Nicacio is one of todays stage favourites. But as 7th he is already a bit down to the next. So he will most likely stay there.
Strong 2nd half for him as well as he gains time but he can`t beat the best. 24s behind Kaisen and 7s to his team mate Nascimento. So 3rd for him.
Ratiy might have had hoped for more than 6th. Today he could improve to 5th when gaining enough time on Krasnoperov.
His time though isn`t the very best in the end of the provisional top10.
Krasnoperov had a strong last week and could end the race as 5th. He just lost a few seconds to Ratiy at half time and will keep his position.
Ardila isn`t a time trialist. But after his good performances over the 3 weeks he doesn`t need to. He sits pretty safe in 4th with enough room to each site. Solid race for him.
Anton in a similar situation. No danger from behind but also he won`t be able to improve. His last week deserves him the podium as he was one of the strongest.
Kiserlovski can`t win this race a 2nd time. Still he showed a good race. Today he once again seems to be slower than Kashechkin an takes the 13th best time. Obviously the early starters had a small advantage as otherwise you wouldn`t expect some of those names in the top10. At least the important fights weren`t influenced by it.
Kashechkin as last. He was the most consistent over those 3 weeks and fully deserves the leader jersey. Today he can`t beat the best but finishes on a strong 6th as 2nd best GC rider.
Tomorrows last stage will be some kind of Champs Elysees feeling for him.
GC wise the only change in the top10 is the Peraud/Lowe swap. I think both finish somewhere around their possibilities as the riders ahead are stronger climbers. And some riders were a bit below their possibilities and miss the top10 like Pellizotti or Stetina.
