Possible the last chance to change any GC positions. The top4 seems safe as gaps are rather big there. Lecuisinier at 4th with 1'29 having the smallest gap there to Velits in 5th.
Though the Becherovka leader is under pressure a lot more as Guldhammer is just 21s behind. One of the biggest rivalries today.
Others are the Van Garderen vs Nibali battle. 4s in between but as it`s a mountain TT, Nibali should pass the US rider easily under normal circumstances.
Then Uran and Tenorio fight for the late top10 spots. 52s are needed for the Spaniard to climb one spot. Surely not impossible. Behind them Van den Broeck could make it even a trio there as it`s the final chance for the veteran to get into the top10. Just 13s off Tenorio right now. Lutsenko while in reach should struggle more than all those 3.
Other duels are Kolesnikov-Brambilla with 55s in between for the last top15 spot.
Olivier-Alarcon with 33s.
In the Giro Pluchkin won the 20th stage, which also was a TT. Though it was flat or hilly only there. And he was extra motivated as he didn`t won a stage back then in the Giro. He already won a stage this Vuelta, so it might be more open. Favourites are obviously all the top GC riders and climbers.
We quickly jump into the top20 area as so far the times will easily be passed. Morton in the lead right now with Koch, Choi, Kudus, Nesset and Bennett all up there as well.
But now Alarcon wants to get something big out of this race and is aiming the stage win here after not getting the KoM jersey and dropping in the GC a lot. He goes 4s faster than Morton at the first split.
A bit behind him Olivier comes 10s down there. So only 23s needed to gain a spot for Alarcon.
Keinath doing well being just 1s off while Lutsenko is 22s already and should continue to struggle.
Van den Broeck is doing well early on being 3rd and just +2. Meanwhile Kolesnikov wins the first split against Brambilla by 2s and Alarcon also takes teh 2nd split 9s ahead of Morton and 25s to Olivier!
Tenorio had some kind of shit Vuelta. He would have been around 5th but lost some spots due to a crash. His 10th is still not that bad but after a bad Giro for Pokerstars they could have needed any points here. So a stage win and 9th in the GC would help surely! He goes into the lead at the first point 4s faster than Alarcon!
Pressure is on Úran, who had some kind of inconsistent Vuelta being in 1-2 bad splits losing any chance of a better position this way. The team Coldeportes still doing fantastic here with a almost secure top10 and the KoM win.
And also today seems solid as Uran handles the pressure well going 1s faster than the Spaniard into the provisional 1st split lead.
Nibali is not as high as in the Giro, where he finished 4th. Though being 8th right now and most likely up to 7th, this is a great performance nevertheless, in especially after some weaker years. Similar to the Giro he is not riding very spectacular but always consistent. Same today. 5th at the time check 6s down.
No surprise Van Garderen is slower today. He performed far too well for too long already. The top10 is more or less secured, which alone is a huge result for him in addition to 3? stage wins! 29s off which is already the sealed position swap with Nibali.
Guldhammer rides similar to Nibali and also very similar as in the Giro. Between 5th and 10th most of the time not as strong as the very best and still a solid performer. As 6th right now, he is 7th at the split which shows his strength. Only 8s off but also 2s behind Keinath, who is rated weaker.
Just like Nibali also Velits had some weaker seasons behind him. But with todays ride he seems to seal his top5 as he goes into the lead. Same time as Uran!
What a Vuelta for Lecuisinier at the age of just 23! The I-Gen leader in this race showing his pure class here and looks promising in years to come when training comes into play as well!
The best of the rest just outside the podium in 4th also at the split just in range to the top riders.
Machado though quickly goes into the lead next as he goes 1s faster. So far very small gaps as teh full top10 is within 10s at this early point.
Well, it was within 10s before Pluchkin smashed it. 9s faster than Machado! Easy lead for him.
Gesink though is the first rider in 3 consecutive GTs, that is most likely beating Pluchkin in the GC. Surely the amount of hills and the perfect startlist with some puncheur teams helped him. Though also in the mountains he always was up with the best and deserves the win. Today he goes a bit more relaxed into 7th and +16 early on.
So as the first riders of the top20 come to the finish, let`s see, what the result looks like. Alarcon in the lead right now with Morton at +17 and Bennett +33s. Then Choi, Koch, Quintana, Kudus.
And Olivier just finishing being just behind in 8th only. 47s behind Alarcon which means, they will swap their GC positions. The young Aegon rider not as strong as in the Giro missing the consistency on some stages.
Meanwhile Keinath is slowly coming to the finish and was always up there around Alarcon`s time. Though the final kilometer was Alarcon`s and he keeps the lead by just 2s!
Also Kolesnikov wins the duel against Brambilla as later surely lost a lot of energy while working for Gesink. 6s for the Russian, who keeps the 15th spot as he is missing 14s in the end to pass Sagan! Keinath in 13th as Lutsenko keeps the 12th spot. Kudus 19th ahead of Bongiorno and Morton for the late top20 area.
Van den Broeck with a decent time here just 6s off Alarcon in provisional 3rd but this will be tough to get into the top10.
Tenorio as expected being faster than the Belgium as already shown on the other splits. It`s also the provisional lead by 30s! He was 5th at first two splits but improved but improved to 2nd at the 3rd as the area 2-5 or even 8 is pretty close while Pluchkin is clearly ahead!
Úran though had a faster last part being 1s faster again and keeping the 9th spot!
No. Van Garderen this time isn`t the faster one. Guldhammer is passing him under the Flamme Rouge. Though once being behind another rider as on other stages, Van Garderen is a pure fighter and hanging on. So they pass the line at the same time with Guldhammer coming in 7th 46s down while later is losing more than 2min today.
GC wise this means the 6th for Guldhammer and Van Garderen to 8th as the gap to Uran was big enough. Though Nibali was easily faster. Almost 2min in the end behind in 4th at the moment.
Velits was 3rd at all splits so far just behind Pluchkin and Machado or Keinath once.
In the finish he also shows strength by taking the lead. Same time as Uran though! 1s ahead of Tenorio. So every second counts today.
Lecuisinier consistent 6th today and being 4th in the finish right now seems to make it another 6th in the final stage result. 11s off the best time for now. Easily defending his 4th here as expected.
Machado beats that time though by 6s. Good performance by him for wildcard team Porto.
Not the best of the day though. Pluchkin easily in his own class today. 44s ahead of the Portuguese and surely winning the TT as Gesink was too far off in all splits. Well done to another GT stage.
Gesink not with his full energy today it seems. Only 7th for him. 1'14 down. Easily enough to defend the GC of course as it never was close there.
So todays podium is Pluchkin-Machado-Velits while Gesink also defends the point jersey, which was only loaned by Pluchkin today.
