Welcome to the coverage of the penultimate stage of Tour de France 2017. Today we have a 42-km TT between Bordeaux and Saint-Emillion, and while the GC win is 99% secure for Simon Spilak, as he has a 2’50 gap to Taylor Phinney, the third place of the podium is still open, with 3 riders in 1’10.
There are two checkpoints in the route, in kms 15 and 32, and we hope to give you a much better coverage than in the previous TT, which was won by Taylor Phinney, who will start as the favourite to take his fourth stage win in the race.
The first to start is Polychronis Tzortzakis, who obviously is the “Lanterne Rouge” of the race, being more than 5 hours behind Spilak in GC
We are live from Bordeaux when there are only 20 riders left to start the TT. The 20th in GC is Alexey Lutsenko, who is going to end second in KoM after being leading that classification for most of the race. He’s only 29 seconds ahead of Koch, and with both riders being similar in their timetrial abilities, it’s going to be a nice fight for that final place in the top20
Tanel Kangert is the rider with the best time in this moment. The Estonian has been 7 seconds faster than Alexandor Cataford and 41 than Justo Tenorio, while Nathan Brown and Philip Walsleben are the only other riders to be within a minute of the current leader
1st checkpoint
Time
2nd checkpoint
Time
Finish
Time
Cataford
22'42
Kangert
45'16
Kangert
1'01'39
Kangert
1''
Cataford
8''
Cataford
7''
Tenorio
7''
Tenorio
27''
Tenorio
41''
Walsleben
12''
Walsleben
34''
Brown
56''
Brown
14''
Brown
38''
Walsleben
58''
Porte
28''
Porte
53''
Porte
1'20
Hussein
29''
Hussein
1'02
Hussein
1'30
Nerz
31''
Nerz
1'09
Nerz
1'30
Cort Nielsen
32''
Heymes
1'24
Heymes
1'49
Ivars
34''
Ivars
1'25
Izagirre
1'52
As most of the best timetrialist haven’t started yet their races, it had to pass some time until anyone made some good times. That rider was Jakub Novak. In the same way as Cataford and Brown did for Phinney, Novak is going full gas to give some references to Spilak later on. The Czech rider was first in the first checkpoint, and was only 5 seconds slower than Kangert at the second point.
In the finish line he couldn’t beat Kangert’s time, but his time was good enough to be second, only 7 seconds behind the Estonian
Meanwhile in the battle for the 20th place in GC, Koch took an early advantage over Lutsenko, being 13 seconds faster after 12 kms. Also, now everyone until Guldhammer has started, and only the top5 is left to start
Best time for Jack Haig in the first checkpoint! He has smashed everyone else time, as he has left Novak 15 seconds behind, and Kangert 18. He is already about to lap Nikias Arndt!
Astonished by the Aussie, we have missed Robert Gesink’s start, but we won’t miss Phinney’s. The American is fully focused, knowing his almost impossible task. Gain 2’50 on Spilak today to win the Tour
Dekker is 6 seconds short of Haig’s time in the first checkpoint. The Dutchman has secured a top10 finish, but the 9th place is still within reach if he has a very good day. He has to gain 1’39 on Nico Keinath, although after 12 kms he has only gained 17 seconds
And the last rider to start his course is Simon Spilak! The Slovenian has to defend a 2’50 gap to Taylor Phinney, and given his condition in the last week is safe to say that he won’t have any type of problems to do it.
Here we have the current best time at all checkpoints at the time of Spilak’s start
1st checkpoint
Time
2nd checkpoint
Time
Finish
Time
Haig
22'24
Kangert
45'16
Kangert
1'01'39
Dekker
6''
Novak
5''
Novak
7''
Novak
15''
Cataford
8''
Cataford
7''
Cataford
17''
Tenorio
27''
Tenorio
41''
Kangert
18''
Walsleben
34''
Brown
56''
Keinath
23''
Brown
38''
Walsleben
58''
Tenorio
25''
Brambilla
51''
Porte
1'20
Schelling
26''
Porte
53''
Cort Nielsen
1'22
Walsleben
30''
Hussein
1'02
Hussein
1'30
Brown
32''
Cort Nielsen
1'02
Nerz
1'30
OMG REIN TAARAMAE! The Estonian is one minute faster than Jack Haig after 12 kms! Unbelievable performance from the Estonian, although we have to wait until Amador and Gesink also pass through that checkpoint to confirm if the Estonian is on his way to finish in the podium of the race
Haig again beats Kangert’s time after 32 kms, this time he’s 28 seconds faster. Schelling has also done a great time in this point, being fifth and 52 seconds off Haig’s time
Amador goes second after 12 kms, but the Costa Rican is already 41 seconds slower than Taaramae, which obviously means that Taaramae has already passed him in GC
Gesink with a top performance so far to defend his podium place, losing only 15 seconds to Taaramae. He still has 55 seconds of margin against him for the third place of the podium
Next one to pass for that point will be Taylor Phinney. If he can’t beat Taaramae’s time, we’ll know for sure that Taaramae is having the day of his life. And he can’t! Phinney is 10 seconds slower than Taaramae after 12 kms, something that nobody could have expected
Reasonable placement for Spilak, as he’s the fifth best in the first checkpoint, only behind the rest of the top5, but he’s already losing 45 seconds to Phinney! We have a real battle for the GC! The Slovenian still has a margin over 2 minutes to Phinney, but if he keeps losing over 4 seconds/km, he will lose the race!
1st checkpoint
Time
2nd checkpoint
Time
Finish
Time
Taaramae
21'23
Haig
44'47
Kangert
1'01'39
Phinney
10''
Kangert
28''
Novak
7''
Gesink
15''
Novak
34''
Cataford
7''
Amador
41''
Cataford
37''
Tenorio
41''
Spilak
55''
Schelling
52''
Brown
56''
Haig
1'00
Tenorio
56''
Walsleben
58''
Dekker
1'07
Walsleben
1'03
Brambilla
1'05
Novak
1'16
Brown
1'07
Porte
1'20
Cataford
1'18
Brambilla
1'20
Cort Nielsen
1'22
Kangert
1'19
Porte
1'22
Hussein
1'30
Virtual GC
Gap
Spilak
Leader
Phinney
2'05
Gesink
4'58
Taaramae
5'44
Amador
6'31
We are shocked with what we have seen so far in the stage, and these riders still have 30 kms left to do!
Taaramäe is overtaking Guldhammer after only half of the course, with 20 km to the finish. The Estonian is absolutely flying today.
The battle for the 20th place in GC is very open, and Koch arrives now to the finish, losing 2’48 to Kangert. But Lutsenko is only 8 seconds slower than Koch and will save that 20th place. Right after Lutsenko, Nesset arrives, setting the ninth best time, but that time won’t be enough to fight for 18th against Schelling, as the Swiss is going much faster
Fourth best time for Schelling in the finish, losing only 26 seconds to Kangert, although he’s likely to disappear from those places when all riders have finished
Dekker is losing 18 seconds to Haig now in the second checkpoint, currently being second in that point, but he’s only gaining 35 seconds to Keinath, which isn’t enough to overtake the German for the 9th place in GC
Jack Haig finishes and takes the best time in Saint-Emillion by 45 seconds over Tanel Kangert. Awesome TT from the Aussie, but at the end it will only be enough for a 5th-6th place in the stage. He is also the first rider to go under 1h01’
1’49. That’s how much faster has been Taaramäe than Haig after 32 kms. Just spectacular!. And the Estonian is about to lap Adam Yates, who is doing an awful TT, and luckily for him, his 7th place is safe having a 3-minute gap to Wellens before the stage
Amador is 1’23 slower than Taaramae at the second checkpoint. He will finish 5th in GC
Jan Hirt is likely to lose his 13th place in GC to Slagter, but both could gain one place depending on Grmay’s final time
Robert Gesink is going to save his podium place unless he cracks in the final 10 kms, as he’s only losing 28 seconds to Taaramae in the second checkpoint
Off day for Phinney in which was probably the most important day of his life. He’s already 19 seconds behind Taaramae
Nibali, Grmay and Dekker arrive all at the same time. Dekker’s time put him second, after being 20 seconds slower than Haig, while Grmay looks to have save his place, at least against Hirt, he might lose it against Slagter
The time at this checkpoint for Spilak will tell us if he wins the Tour de France or not. Not a great time for the Slovenian, but given that he is losing 1’31 to Phinney at the moment, he would have to lose 1’20 in just 10 kms. If Phinney had a great day he would have lost the race for sure
1st checkpoint
Time
2nd checkpoint
Time
Finish
Time
Taaramae
21'23
Taaramae
42'57
Haig
1'00'52
Phinney
10''
Phinney
19''
Dekker
20''
Gesink
15''
Gesink
28''
Kangert
45''
Amador
41''
Amador
1'23
Novak
53''
Spilak
55''
Haig
1'49
Cataford
53''
Haig
1'00
Spilak
1'50
Schelling
1'12
Dekker
1'07
Dekker
2'08
Tenorio
1'27
Novak
1'16
Kangert
2'18
Brown
1'42
Cataford
1'18
Novak
2'24
Walsleben
1'44
Kangert
1'19
Cataford
2'27
Brambilla
1'51
Virtual GC
Gap
Spilak
Leader
Phinney
1'19
Gesink
4'16
Taaramae
4'49
Amador
6'20
Sixth best time for Keinath, who will keep his 9th place in GC
Wellens beats Keinath’s time for a few seconds, which gives the Belgian the sixth place in the stage
The next one to arrive will be Rein Taaramae. The Estonian suffers as everyone else in the final kms with the uphill finish, but obviously he’s setting the fastest time today.
2’32 to Haig! First rider to go under the hour, and he’s done a time of 58’20. Otherworldly
Yates time is awful, losing almost 5 minutes on Taaramae, while Guldhammer does exactly the same time as Wellens, which puts him in seventh place now, although there are four riders left to finish who will all overtake him
Amador ends up losing 1’48 to Taaramae. His timetrial wasn’t bad, but Taaramae was today in another level, showing that he would have won the race if it wasn’t for his crash in the first mountain stage. And Gesink is already appearing in the background...
Robert Gesink is 36 seconds slower than Taaramae today, which means that he will finish in the podium of Tour de France!
Now it’s the turn of Phinney. And he can’t beat Taaramae’s time, being 22 seconds slower. He is clearly angry about his performance, throwing his bike once he crosses the line, knowing that if he had been at his best level he would now be a Tour de France winner
Spilak can do a time of 1’01’31 to save his Yellow Jersey, but it looks that he will have a much better time. His time is 2’19 slower than Taaramae, losing less than 2 minutes to Phinney, which means....
Simon Spilak is the virtual Tour de France 2017 winner!
Rein Taaramae wins a fourth stage in this edition and with it jumps to the fourth place in GC
