Welcome to the ITT of the World Championship categories here in Paarl! The past three days the event has been filled with action from the B Worlds, TTT and the U23 ITT! Todays time trial features 52,5 km's and there features a climb right from the start. You can expect riders to either pursue their strength in the first climb or preserve energy for the whole profile. Let the racing begin!
First thing to know is that the first climb do matter, A.Schleck beats the likes of Hao Li with 1'17 and Phan Haugaard with 1'24 at the first intermediate time at the top. So it seems the climbers with lower TT abillities does have a shot at the podium!
T. Kritskiy is 24 seconds faster than A. Schleck on the first intermediate time. M. Keizer misses Kritskiy with a few seconds here. Already plenty of pure TT riders struggling, this will be hard for most riders today.
L. Durbridge was struggling throughout the first half of the TT, but found better legs in the last half and comes to finish with a 1h14'59 time. Kritskiy and Keizer are still better in every intermediate time! Pluchkin has also started and sets an incredible time at the first intermediate time, with Spilak 5 seconds behind!
Timofey Kritskiy does beat Durbridge time by 22 seconds! Meanwhile Coppel pass the first intermediate sprint 1'20 behind Pluchkin's time! Robert Gesink is in comparison only 20 seconds behind Pluckin on the first climb.
As Emilien Viennet comes in really bad time, we can summarize the current standings, where Keizer misses the best time with 5 seconds!
Riders like Marcel Kittel, Janez Brajkovic and Benat Intxausti does stand out to be the big losers here with half the riders across the finish
D. Grabovski is one of the big surprises in todays stage as he enters at 8th best time! However the big news from the battlefield, is that Coppel is struggling today, as he is 1'25 after Pluchkin after two intermediate sprints
One of the more interesting times are set by A. Madrazo, which enters the Top 10 from the last intermediate time! This supports that the first climb surely does have it's influence.
Nelson Oliveira comes in 7th and 1'20 after Kritskiy, which means L. Durbridge is the last pure TT rider in the Top 10, so before the big favorites enters their final time.
Pluchkin has almost overtaken F. Cancellara, which seems to have a really bad day! At the last intermediate time, we can see that S. Spilak is 19 seconds behind Pluckin and looks to be his closest combatant.
Another rider that does well today is Vincenzo Nibali, but even though he had fantastic intermediate times, he runs out of energy in the final parts and finishes 7th. Angel Madrazo comes in 10th and another big name in trouble is M. Ignatiev, which finishes 2'39 after Pluchkin.
A. Pluchkin's final time is 1h13'57 beating Kritskiy with 39 seconds! Only challengers left to beat the Moldavian beast are :
Jack Bobridge Dominique Cornu Simon Spilak Mikhail Ignatiev Jacob Fiedler Rein Taaramae Robert Gesink Jerome Coppel
Jack Bobridge disappoints with 21th (2'25+)
Dominique Cornu comes in 13th (1'56+) and Simon Spilak follows with a 2nd place (0'31+)
Mikhail Ignatiev comes in 37th (3'25+)
Jacob Fiedler disappoints with a 21th place (2'22+)
Rein Taaramae finishes off a fantastic season with 6th (1'07+)
Robert Gesink was the only best bet to beat Pluckin, but it seems he was too careful and finishes in 3rd place (0'35+)
Now only J. Coppel left, can he take 1'12 on Pluchkin in the last 15 km's?
He can't! He actually losses 5 seconds on the last 15 km's and comes in 9th (1'17+)
Aleksandr Pluchkin wins the ITT category here at the World Championships! He does so in impressive style and maintains being unbeaten in every race he has participated in this year.
Simon Spilak takes second place ahead of Robert Gesink, both lost the TT in the final km's and we're not even gonna mention the big favorite failing direly.
A.Schleck beats the likes of 
Hao Li with 1'17 and 
Phan Haugaard with 1'24 at the first intermediate time at the top. So it seems the climbers with lower TT abillities does have a shot at the podium!
T. Kritskiy is 24 seconds faster than 
A. Schleck on the first intermediate time. 
Pluchkin has also started and sets an incredible time at the first intermediate time, with 
Spilak 5 seconds behind!
Durbridge time by 22 seconds! Meanwhile 
Coppel pass the first intermediate sprint 1'20 behind 
Marcel Kittel, 
Benat Intxausti does stand out to be the big losers here with half the riders across the finish
D. Grabovski is one of the big surprises in todays stage as he enters at 8th best time! However the big news from the battlefield, is that 
Nelson Oliveira comes in 7th and 1'20 after 
F. Cancellara, which seems to have a really bad day! At the last intermediate time, we can see that 
Vincenzo Nibali, but even though he had fantastic intermediate times, he runs out of energy in the final parts and finishes 7th. 
Dominique Cornu
Rein Taaramae
Riccardo Zoidl
Brent Bookwalter
