The TTT from Whales Rock to Knysna is surely another key stage here. A rather long parcours, flat rated, but with at least one difficulty prior to the first check. The GC contenders definitely need to limit the losses here.
As some other TTTs in this season had shown, it's not simply about the strongest TTT setups though (which is Generali, by far): Ulissi may struggle to keep his team's pace. If he stays with the team, he's surely a big threat for GC leader Caruso (who has one of the weakest TTT setups behind him today).
Generali opens the stage with an early start and we should expect their split times to be the indicator of which times are to beat today. Coming at the first check at 9.8km, the team looks good so far:
15'23" at the first split.
Fablok and Froome amongst those teams, who have one of the big GC favorites in their rows. Behind Generali, there's no other outstanding TTT lineup, so it's maybe more about a good daily form than pure TT power:
+ 12" at split #1
Team UBS and Reichenbach maybe as one of those potential threats for an upsetting stage victory? It would be a tough challenge, but of course it's mainly about getting Reichenbach in GC contention:
+ 9" at split #1
Eritel as the most unlucky team so far in the race and it's good news, that we won't see further crashes or punctures in today's timetrial. And the team looks strong in the first sector then:
+ 3" at split #1 for provisional second!
Newton with also one of the promising TTT setups and of course the pressure to put Van Garderen into a great position for the remaining two stages. The US boy surely would love to get back in yellow already today and there's definitely a chance that this may happen, if Caruso struggles:
+ 12" at split #1, so just as fast as Fablok..
Generali the strongest team at split one, but Eritel and also Isostar (Mohoric) had a good run through the first 10kms as well. UBS, MOL (Di Maggio) ahead of Fablok and Newton.
Euskaltel 16" slower, so not much worse than Van Garderen and Froome at this point. Kraftwerk Man Machine (Kreder) already 40" down, so Kreder will definitely drop down the GC today.
Isostar keeps going strong in the second sector and with Euskaltel (Le Gac) struggling in the first sector, there's a clear opportunity for Mohoric to take the lead in the U25 competition:
+ 57" at split #2, with Generali growing their lead by quite a margin!
Euskaltel keeps tumbling towards the finish, but they still have a long way to go. This was always going to be a tough day for their riders and the only question is, how far Caruso will drop in the GC:
+ 1'42" at split #2, where only Kraftwerk (1.49) and Ferrero (1.52) are worse..
MOL-OMV had a respectable time at the first split and with Di Maggio aiming for a high GC position, there's surely a motivation to keep things going:
+ 1'09" at split #2, ten seconds slower than Haute Route and Isostar (twelve seconds)..
Fablok a strong 2nd at the second split (at 22.4kms), where UBS and Eritel are a few seconds slower. Newton within striking distance for at least a podium result. Berg and Euskaltel so far as the big losers for the GC battles.
The bad news for Generali come soon after the second split though:
Ulissi is dropped from his team's pace with still 7km to go! This happened before and it was always a risk to be happen today. His team would keep pacing towards the best time at the finish, but for Ulissi it's now all about limitting the damage, no matter how. This will be some tough final 7km for the GC contender..
Levarlet and his Haute Route team with a provisonal 2nd at the finish:
+ 1'29" on a dominating Generali squad. Levarlet finishes safely together with his team.
The same goes for Froome, who's still doing his shifts and who's a strong member of a team, that should be a podium contender for the stage today:
+ 49" as the new 2nd at the finish!
Reichenbach and Team UBS as the next podium contender and they finish clearly behind Fablok:
+ 1'07" as 3rd at the finish!
Eritel next and the team finishes with the same time as UBS. A strong effort after some tough days so far:
+ 1'07" as tied 3rd (with Teklit and Hategeka looking fine)
+ 1'56" for Venter, who got dropped
Isostar and Mohoric not as fast as the previous teams, but they finish narrowly ahead of Haute Route:
+ 1'26"
Van Garderen and his Newton team have a rather strong final sector, as they almost beat UBS/Eritel eventually:
+ 1'09" to finish just two seconds slower than those teams as provisional 5th at the finish..
Costa and Berg Cycles amongst the worst teams:
+ 1'41" at the finish
+ 1'36" for Di Maggio and MOL
+ 1'48" for Zaini and Meiji
+ 2'10" for Palini and Ferrero
Caruso can't follow his team's pace and that's definitely shocking news, as Euskaltel and Le Gac do not exactly put a strong finish time on the course:
+ 2'14" for Le Gac and his team
+ 3'19" for Caruso
..and now for Ulissi:
+ 2'21" for Ulissi, who indeed lost big minutes on his team
Generali - EDF with the expected stage win and they finished the course 49 seconds ahead of a strong Fablok team and 1'07" faster than UBS and Eritel. Newton and Van Garderen 5th with 1'09" lost and given Ulissi's losses, that's a good stage for Van Garderen (and of course Froome) in particular.
And now close this battle for yellow has been today! Van Garderen slips back into yellow, but Froome came as close as you can get. The two GC favorites enter tomorrow's fifth stage with the same time! With two hilly stages to come, the race is set for a thrilling GC battle.
Reichenbach just 10 seconds off as new 3rd and Teklit just 18 seconds off as 4th in the GC. Di Maggio down to 5th (35 seconds), Costa/Paulinho (0.52), Zaini (0.59) and Kreder (1.19) on the further positions. Ulissi dropping to 10th (1.20), Caruso to 20th (1.41)! Le Gac narrowly defends the U25 lead against Mohoric.
