It`s the TT day here in Ukraine and with a length of 45km it`s a rather important one. 2 hill on the way but TT skills most likely should be more important as also recovery after the tough hill top finish yesterday.
Barth early on the fastest and ahead of Kovalev.
It took some time until this time was beaten but it`s actually his team mate Balloni to go 6s faster! Kovalev at +16s.
Dal Col a bit later comes into 2nd being 4s down only.
Dennis probably should have done a bit better on the hill stages to give himself a top10 chance. Now it`s only about the stage result for him and he shows that some kind of recovery is needed. He goes into the lead being 24s faster than previous time of Balloni.
Fiedler is the best time trialist on paper. But he is a pure chrono rider and hence might have lost some of his energy already on the two hill stages.
For now though it looks more than solid. 45s faster than Dennis and easily taking the lead. Atkins coming in moments later and in between as new 2nd with 23s only. So the time might be the winner time but it`s all but decided yet.
Bauer and Brändle couldn`t beat Fiedler but now it`s Nepomnyachsniy. Only 1s down at the 3rd split! This is going to be close! GC wise he surely will improve but he lost too much to get into the GC fight again.
In the finish 2nd fastest time 20s down! So apparently Fiedler had quite some pace left until the finish line.
Paillot next with a brilliant time though. As 21st he is just 2'49 behind and hence a huge chance for him to improve in the GC!
2nd best time trialist on paper, better puncheur as his GC shows. And he goes 34s faster at the 3rd! Bold move.
Haig a bit later also on a top10 stage and GC run while Konovalovas is doing okay but not extraordinarily well and Grivko must pay tribute to yesterday`s effort and clearly not having the legs today as he ruins his GC a bit with todays performance.
Bibby another stage and also GC hunter! He is 4th and just 50s down. So might attack the podium. Okay start for him but not as fast as probably hoped.
Dekker easily faster! He takes 2nd at the checkpoint about 50s faster than Bibby. Faster than Fiedler! 12s slower than Paillot who also has reached the finish now and being the new best!
Craven was strong yesterday and hence sitting in 2nd position in the GC just 11s down. But he has lost 44s on Dekker already at the 3rd and this is going to be close in between those two.
Sanchez Gil also lost on Dekker but gained on Craven! He is 5th at the 3rd check and 37s down. This is 25s on Dekker and exactly half of his advantage!
Bibby in hte finish now. 10th and 2min down. This is about 1min slower than Nepomnyachsniy, 16s slower than Haig. So he is going to lose the GC spot to Paillot!!! Huge step forward for the Frenchman and actually by just 1s!
Also Chaves is in the finish now and had a really good ride here being just behind Bibby but ahead of Haig. Then Konovalovas and his team mate Nepomnyachniy.
Both have passed Grivko as also Rabottini and others.
Dekker comes to the finish and he can`t beat Paillot! 30s down on him and 2nd of the stage. 15s ahead of Fiedler.
But more important his gap to Craven and LLS as for now he is the virtual leader.
Craven with the 10th and 1'48 down. This means he drops behind Dekker in the GC by 39s! But remains ahead of Paillot and Bibby.
Can Sanchez Gil defend his lead? He has a good time here as 6th of the day! He had 25s remaining after the 3rd check but Paillot and Fiedler both had big time gains on that last part and Dekker as 3rd best time trialist also took profit of the length and hence gained and gained with every kilometer.
In the end LLS is 1'23 on Paillot. This is 53s behind Dekker of his former 50s gap...and indeed the Dutch is passing him on the last meters by 3s in the GC! Huge ride by the Compal leader. Bad luck for Netia, who still have a nice GC here of course.
GC wise Paillot as 4th one of the big surprises but also Chaves as 6th despite the long TT.
Haig as 7th is a nice bonus as best PT rider while VisitUkraine follows as 8th and 9th, so not too bad but Nepomnyachsniy probably should have fought for the podium even but lacked the strength on the way up.
Grivko as 10th lost quite a bit today but then again this is a fantastic HC result for any CT team!
