45km time trial on hilly ground already is hard enough. Riding it on day 19 of a GT is painful.
So many close GC gaps and hence so much potential today to change a lot.
On paper this is a duel won by Schelling, Kiserlovski, Garby and easily Fraile, who is also top favourite for the stage with the potential to gain mroe than 1-2 spots.
Other riders to mention today are the pure TT riders Dillier, Van Winden though the hilly terrain likely is something for Martin, Goncalves or Bookwalter.
Nice to have one of the stage favourites being in the Lanterne Rouge and hence starting first. Actually a surprise Dillier is still in the race seeing his early drop on any mountain stage and then basically fighting alone against the clock.
Hence good training for today I guess. Obviously going first on the first two sections for now beating the likes of Rasmussen or Flens by ~20-30s.
Verona is another early TT starter. Though coming in 4th after the early uphill sector shows that the hill has some impact.
Being 1s behind Vandewalle and another 6 to Dillier.
Dall'Antonia the early surprise. Surely having climbed a lot better and hence going into the lead early by 28s! And only losing 4s on the downhill sector to be still in the lead with only the flat part left.
Van Winden neither able to beat him. 26s in the first and hence 2nd while Dall'Antonia just coming in and remaining 17s of his lead to take the hot seat.
Prologue winner Hamza also in but just 8th for him 1'19 behind while Van Winden later on comes the closest. 6s are missing but it`s just the 2nd for him ahead of Dillier and Verona.
It took a while but then Kiflay able to get a new best in sector 1. Actually Hussein just before him already came close but it`s Kiflay going 7s faster than at the top.
Offredo just 1s slower, Krigbaum also in 5th and then Julien Simon taking the lead by 22s early on. Slowly the stronger "puncheurs" take over from the pure TT riders, who clearly are too tired.
This remains until the finish where Hussein then takes the hot seat as neither Irvine nor Kiflay had a good run on the flat part and also Simon only was able to go fast on the uphill as he lost more than a minute afterwards.
Martin next and he surely is a big favourite for today combining uphill and TT skills.
2nd and +1s on Simon early on. Then using his TT engine to gain 51s on him and also on others and hence taking over the lead on the next section 18s ahead of Hussein.
It`s 37s in the finish and hence a change of the hot seat.
But is this enough for the stage win?
Reguigui with a great ride a bit later. He has less TT skills as Martin but is the better climber and hence seems to be less exhausted. 9s behind Martin early on but then goes into the lead after the descent! 10s in front.
We obviously come closer to the GC riders. Warbasse as 17th with a strong first part. 1st and 3s ahead of De Clercq, who also did beat Reguigui who is 10s behind now.
In the finish some chaos then. Reguigui taking same time as Martin! And celebrating as judges give him the no.1 only to change this afterwards and hence Martin remains in the lead!
Also Warbasse can`t beat him despite a fantastic ride. 9s behind the duo! And a bit hidden also De Clercq with a brilliant ride. 25s behind the US rider but this means 4th at the moment.
Jumping into the top10 and starting with Fraile. He surely will improve today with his skills but how far?
He is 1st at the first two splits where he already gained 1min on each sector on De Marchi, who was already passed by him.
Atapuma lost even more. 2min and then 3'27 in total at #2. Awful TT by the Colombian while Campero is doing a bit better at least. 1'35 early on but also would drop behind Fraile.
Berhane next up and 12th at the opening sector with +52 seems okay.
Even more as Garby isn`t having his best day here. +1'29 and hence dropping behind Berhane already in the GC.
Also Chamorro in huge danger. 1'16 is a good time for him but it might be too less to remain in front of Berhane.
At least he is faster than Garby, which is a good sign for him. Though the hill was to his favour. From now on Garby has the advantage on his side.
Easy to tell here. Kiserlovski has gained a lot more than the needed 2s!
In fact he is going 2nd with just +1s to Fraile early on while Pinot already lost 1'37 and is being passed now at half time.
Barguil next and going 10th 45s behind. But the more interesting question? How good in comparison to Schelling?
It clearly remains close. Schelling over the top and being 9th! 44s behind. Hence just gaining 1s on his biggest rival.
Short overview at #1. Fraile looking to take it home but Kiserlovski is close and could steal it.
Schelling and Barguil very close while Berhane could be the winner of the mid top10.
Not a lot of changes on the descent then. Fraile remains in the lead and has extended it as Kiserlovski is down to 19s, still 2nd though but just 2s ahead of Warbasse!
Berhane at 1'46 winning the fight clearly as Chamorro 2'19 and Garby 2'25 are behind him. The Carlsberg rider at least gained a bit on that section.
Barguil lost a bit more here. From 10th to 15th and 1'24 behind Fraile. Could Kiserlovski even become dangerous today with a mountain stage to go?
Schelling at least seems to defend the lead today. 4s faster than Barguil now but also losing 1min to Kiserlovski already.
#2 shows Fraile in the lead but a strong Eritel line up in the top10 with 3 of their riders. None of them Berhane though, who still is doing okay today! If only he were doing okay on the mountain stages though.
The Eritrean coming over the line as 30th and 2'43 down. Surely gaining big on the riders behind BUT Fraile. In fact the Spaniard moves past him in the GC and climbs up the ranking!
Garby next up and 3'22 for him. He drops behind Berhane. 14s only and hence tomorrows stage could change it again.
Biggest news though that Chamorro successfully stays in front of both. 9s advantage for the Ticos rider even though losing today. 3'25 in the end and even behind Garby but not that bad really for a pure climber.
All three though drop behind Fraile!
Kiserlovski made it a nice fight but he lost a bit towards the end. 36s to Fraile is still stunning even if he couldn`t stay ahead of Martin and Reguigui for a stage podium.
He will easily go past Pinot (by far) and probably securing the GC podium but as he also gained on the 1-2 he might even be able to attack them tomorrow?
Never good when a rider starts earlier but finishes later. Pinot with a bad day here and losing 3'53 in total, which is more than 3min behind his biggest rival. Remaining in 4th of the GC but with a big gap now. Though behind him it seems safe as well actually.
Barguil losing 2'04 in the end. Not too bad but seeing in especially Kiserlovski today, it was a loss clearly.
And as Schelling comes in 7s faster the GC gap is up to 22s and tomorrows stage will be the decider and it couldn`t be more exciting really.
Today though Fraile is the big winner. Both stage and GC wise. Also Hadi a winner as he extended his U25 lead quite a bit.
Regarding the later GC positions it was obvious early on that they lose a lot. Position wise though Campero remains in front of them. De Marchi though passed Atapuma for the final top10 spot while the Colombian even has the pressure from De Clercq now, who sits behind him followed by Pomoshnikov and Pozzovivo with Warbasse entering the top15.
