This fascinating 60 kilometres TT is without a single doubt the deciding stage of Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha's first edition as a stage race. The best time trialists here shown their form in the 5 kms prologue they faced 2 days ago, but considering the length, this stage is basically a radically different time trial compared to the opening one.
Phinney did narrowly beat Coppel and Fiedler in the prologue, which is mostly what people expected considering how a large portion of the season went, but today should be a lot more indicative.
The likes of Zmorka, Vlatos, Durbridge and Keizer, who definitely massively disappointed, have a chance to redeem themselves while, on the other hand, Ford, Kittel and Viennet are looking to confirm their good start.
Dal Col is the first rider to set a time that has the potential to stand on top for long. He covers today's 60 kms in 1h24'04", 20 seconds better than the previous best time set by Verona. The Italian is leading in all 3 checkpoints at the moment, so we'll probably have to wait for some time to see someone beating his time.
Andersen gets close, however, as he recuperates 20 seconds in the last 20-km section of the TT, after he was 38" off his time after 40 kms, but can't dethrone Dal Col eventually.
Later on, when Ford takes off, it's immediately clear who will be the first rider to take over the first place from Dal Col. The Australian has a margin of 50 seconds after 20 kms, and increases that to 1'30" in the second checkpoint.
...and Ford takes the lead with absolute ease! It takes him 1h22'02" to complete today's TT, which is 2 minutes and 2 seconds less than how much it took to Dal Col, who slips in 2nd for the moment.
Kangert crosses the line as it starts raining lightly. His time is good enough to grant him a provisional 2nd place, 26 seconds ahead of Dal Col and 1'36" behind a still very relaxed Ford.
Hacecký is also finished with a good time after him, as he stops the clock in 1h22'06", only 2 seconds slower than Dal Col, who remains on the podium for now.
Porte really didn't manage his energies correctly, since he kept losing time from Kangert after he was 10" ahead of him after 20 kms. The Australian ends up in 3rd place, which is not bad at all, except for the fact that he's just 1 second behind Kangert, which will definitely make him more bitter.
Later on, Kreuziger closes in 1h24'03", which means 4th place for him as he narrowly beats Dal Col by 1 second.
Vorobev sets a good time, closing in 2nd place 1'32" slower than Ford. His time is 4 seconds better than Kangert's, who is now 3rd.
Jungels' time is 8 seconds slower than the one set by the Russian that came before him, but that's enough to let him slip to 5th. It's interesting to note that 4 riders, after 60 kms, are so close to each other: Vorobev, Kangert, Porte and Jungels are all divided by 8 seconds.
Frison is also done for the day, and he's 9th for the moment, 2'07" behind Ford, who hasn't really been threatened by anyone yet.
Olman's time trial is one of the best we've seen so far, and yet even he is more than 1 minute behind his teammate. The Aussie champion stops the clock in 1h23'15", and momentarily sits in 2nd.
Several riders follow with performances around the top 10: Bouet and Barth finish their time trials with good performances, but not good enough to get them in the top 10. The French is 2'17" behind Ford, while the German is 2'08" off the leading time.
Hussein then crosses the line in 7th place, 1'58" behind, but soon his time gets improved by Cataford, 7th in 1h23'49", and Irish champion Downey, 7 seconds faster than the Kenyan champion in 1h23'53".
It has almost stopped raining when Koren's time trial is also over: the Slovenian champion only just beats Olman and takes over the 2nd place, with a time of 1h23'14".
After him, Li also ends his performance in the top 10, but in the lower half in his case. The Chinese rider is 9th, 1'49" behind Ford, 2 seconds better than the 10th place Downey and 2 seconds worse than 8th place Cataford.
Bobridge stops the clock with exactly the same time as Jungels, and therefore settles in a provisional 8th place, when 29 more riders need to get past the finish line.
Danish champion Christensen is 20th for the moment, with the same time as Andersen in 1h24'23".
It's Vlatos' time that leaves me surprised though: the Greek champion could have hoped for more, but considering how his race was progressing, his 2nd place with 34" off Ford's time is more than he could have hoped.
And that is especially considering how Vlatos was 50" behind after 40 kms, which means he's the first to actually recuperate some time on the Australian between the 2nd time check and the finish line.
Meanwhile, all riders have reached the 1st intermediate point after 20 kms. As you can see, the top 5 is the same as the one we had in the prologue, with Kittel and Ford switched for the moment.
We'll have to wait for the second time check results for a better/clearer overview, though.
Mottin doesn't lose a second from Ford in the last 20 kilometres and finishes in 5th place, 1'31" behind the Australian, only 1 second faster than Vorobev.
Same goes for Boom, who on the other hand actually recuperates 2 seconds between the 2nd checkpoint and the finish line and finishes in 1h23'30", which means 5th place for him, too, as he is 3 seconds faster than Mottin who came before him.
Durbridge takes the 2nd position over from Vlatos by just 3 seconds: the Australian finishes with a time of 1h22'33", but just like Vlatos, he won't keep his position for long...
...and in fact it's Keizer who immediately overtakes him, finishing in 1h22'27". It looks like the moment Ford has to leave the leader's seat is approaching, with some of the best time trialists following each other.
Balloni finishes in 20th place, stopping the clock with a time 2 minutes and 3 seconds worse than Ford's, while Bernaudeau is 22th, 2'07" behind Ford.
Martin is not too lucky as he finishes in a provisional 7th place: the German, with a time of 1h23'16", is in fact only 2 seconds off the 5th place held by Koren, and 1 second behind Olman.
The first position finally changes, 105 riders later! It's Zmorka who dethrones Ford after such a long time, and it took a perfect time trial to do so, which just goes to show how good Ford was today.
The Ukrainian champion, with a time of 1h21'59", is the first to sweep these 60 kms in less than 82 minutes, and he therefore beats Ford's time by 3 seconds. The fact he was 27 seconds behind before the last 20 kms makes it all the more impressive.
Howson closes in 6th place, 47" behind Zmorka.
He is also 10 seconds behind Vlatos and 28 ahead of Koren, so well clear of both the 5th and 7th place...
...a 7th place that is now occupied by his teammate Dempster, who beats Koren's time by not more than 1 second, finishing in 1h23'13".
All the riders have now also reached the 2nd intermediate point after 40 kms. Phinney's advantage on Coppel increases from 2 to 3 seconds, which is not a lot more than their gap in the 5 kms prologue, interestingly. It looks like it will be something between these 2, as also Fiedler can't seem to be able to oppose them.
Meanwhile, Hansen crosses the line in 21th place, in a time of 1h23'57" - which means he was less than 2 minutes slower than Zmorka.
Fraile stops the clock in 1h22'43", which rewards him with a 6th place as he finishes between Vlatos and Howson, 44" behind Zmorka...
...however, he won't last very long in that position, as immediately after it's Bookwalter that steals his teammate's 6th, finishing 40" behind the leading time set by Zmorka, and only 3 seconds behind Vlatos.
Hepburn is next on the line and he is 9th for the moment, as he ends his time trial with a gap of 58 seconds from Zmorka.
Malori quickly follows, and the Italian champion is 2 seconds faster than the rider we saw arriving right before him, and therefore takes a provisional 9th place.
Sütterlin finishes off with exactly the same time as Keizer, and takes over his 3rd place, with a time of 1h22'27".
The Russian champion Ignatiev makes up for his mildly disappointing prologue with a much better time trial - which, after all, is what counts most. Ignatiev rounds off his time trial with a 3rd place when 7 more riders are to come.
The Russian is only 18 seconds behind his teammate Zmorka.
Sergent is only 1 second slower than Bookwalter and will have to settle for a 9th place, 41" behind Zmorka.
Mildly underwhelming performance by Viennet, who is no better than 11th with the same time as Howson, in 1h22'46".
This way, the white jersey holder loses his lead to Zmorka, 47 seconds in front of him today.
Kittel is off the podium today, finishing with the same time as Sütterlin and Keizer, 28" behind Zmorka.
The last 3 riders are close to the line now: Fiedler absolutely rips apart Zmorka's time, beating it by 33 seconds - though it has to be said he lost 6 seconds in the last 20 kms - and thus takes over the lead.
The German champion will have to hope something happens to Coppel and Phinney to hope in a win, though, since both were comfortably ahead of him in the 2nd checkpoint.
But, unsurprisingly, that doesn't happen. Coppel once again beats Fiedler, doing so by 17 seconds in this case.
Let's await Phinney's finish, though, as it's sure that they will be very close to each other.
No plot twists! With a time of 1h21'05", Phinney takes the win in style, even if by just 4 seconds. The yellow jersey wearer strengthens his race lead with only a sprint stage left!
And so, this is the new situation, that doesn't see any changes on the podium, but rather some big movements in the rest of the top 10, with Zmorka and Ignatiev from Metinvest jumping to 4th and 5th, for instance.
