The first team to start is Aker. They don’t have any good TTer, so no hopes for anything today. Just maybe try to avoid being one of the last 5 teams. Their time in the intermediate point is 41’10
Aegon is next! And the Dutch team is one of the contenders for the win today. They are one or two levels behind Porto or Jayco, but they should get a Top5 without much troubles. They obviously destroy Aker’s time, being 1’19 faster after 31 kms
Puma have brought some decent TTers, but they lack the depth to compete for a great placing today. Their time is better than Aker’s, but still more than 1 minute behind Aegon at this point
Same case for Moser, who have some good TTers, but again doesn’t have any kind of TT depth. They have improved Puma’s time, setting a time exactly one minute behind Aegon’s
RBC is another team that won’t fight for anything today, mostly because they have left home some of their best TTers, knowing they didn’t stand a chance for a great result anyway. Fourth time now for RBC, tied with Puma, and just seven seconds behind Moser
The reigning winners of the race, Tinkoff, are on course! It’s hard to see them repeating their win, because despite having several great TTer, two of their riders are very weak compared to the rest.
They aren’t letting the title go that easy, and they beat Aegon’s time by 3 seconds!
Iberia won’t see their riders having a great race today, that’s guaranteed. They are already focusing on their next season in PCT. There’s a clear lack of motivation, as it’s shown by being over 20 seconds slower than anyone else in the intermediate point
Nemiroff is a team that could use his decent TT depth to achieve a good result today, despite their lack of top TTers in their squad. Third best time for the Ukranian squad, who are 19 seconds slower than Tinkoff
Spotify has a very similar TTT squad to Nemiroff, so they might battle today for a top10 place. They have set the fourth best time, but almost half a minute behind Nemiroff, so a bit behind expectations
Ayubowan’s team isn’t the most suited to this race, but they’ll have to give their best to help the team in the battle for surviving in PT. And they are! Fifth best time, barely ahead of the group of Moser, Puma and RBC!
Pendleton’s is again another team with some decent TTers, but with a lack of depth that won’t make them fight for anything big today. Although they are starting very decently, only 43 seconds behind Tinkoff, and sitting in fourth place right now
Evonik is clearly the worst TTT team and they only start with 6 riders. Surely a top favourite for the win. Ok, everyone should be surprised if they don’t come last today. They are obviously the worst team by a big margin, almost 2’30 behind Tinkoff after 31 kms
Strange decision of Hugo Boss management of only starting with 7 riders, because maybe with a 8th rider, they be a real podium contender. Now, they can only hope that having one rider less doesn’t harm them too much and they can fight for a Top5. Tight fight with Pendleton’s and Spotify that the Spanish squad seems to be winning right now, being just one second faster than the former and 5 than the latter
Vesuvio has two top TTers and then no one else than is good in this kind of efforts. They must hope that both Kittel and Jungels take all relays to take something good out of this race. They are losing less than 1 minute at the moment, after setting the 7th best time
The first of the two PCT teams in the home team Carlsberg. They have brought everything they have for the discipline, but it’s not too much, and they might fight for a Top10 at best. And they are in the fight with Hugo Boss, Pendleton’s and Spotify, as they have set the 6th best time at the moment, 46 seconds slower than Tinkoff
Gazelle is one of the teams aiming for a Top5 finish today, as they have the depth, although they lack a very top TTer. But they are absolutely flying now! New best time for them, 11 seconds better than Tinkoff!
Festina is battleling for the PT crown with Moser, but with their TTT setup not being really good, they’ll struggle to score big today. But look at the amazing effort that Vlatos must be doing, because they currently have the fifth best time, 50 seconds behing Gazelle!
Wiesenhof is just a one-rider team today, with Schadlich, and the rest of the squad really suck at TT. So probably a spot outside Top20 is waiting for them. They are only improving Iberia and Evonik, being 1’36 behind Gazelle and tied with Aker
The second PCT team is starting now. Valio has a decent TTT team, but it shouldn’t be worthy of anything higher than a low Top10. And they start by setting the 6th best time, joining a big group of teams who look to be fighting for the 7th place at the end
Jayco is one of the two big favourites for the win today. They have won the race previously in 2014 and 2015, and they are looking to tie the next team starting with 3 wins in this event. But they are really disappointing at the momemnt, as they can only manage to be fourth in the intermediate point, 17 seconds behind Gazelle
eBuddy isn’t any longer a top TTT team, but in the memory there are their 3 consecutive wins between 2011 and 2013 in the race. And they are beating all the teams that looked to be fighting for the 7th place, putting a time 48 seconds slower than Gazelle
And now is the turn for Porto! Together with Jayco, they are the big favourites for the win. They have 2 of the best 3 TTer of the world in Fiedler and Zmorka, and a huge depth. The only con is that with their top TT being that good, they might burn the rest of the team if they go full power. And neither them can beat Gazelle! 9 seconds is the gap that the Portuguese squad has to recover in the last 27 kms
And the last team to start is Strava. They TTT squad is so awful, that they might be even beaten by Evonik today. At least they have beaten Evonik in the intermediate point, as they are already 2 minutes behind Gazelle
The time in the intermediate point after 31 kms looks like this now
Aegon and Aker will be the two first teams to finish their race, with the Dutch squad almost catching the Norwegian one. Aegon puts a time of 1h12’19’’, while Aker is 2’31 slower, having being overtaken in the line by the other team
Puma sets the second best time, 1’55 behind Aegon
Moser narrowly beats Puma by only 5 seconds. Being in the title fight, you never know if the point that they are winning today by beating Puma can give them the title at the end
RBC’s time is 2’11 slower than Aegon, which is only enough for provisional fourth place
And there they come the reigning champions... And they crush Aegon’s time and improve it by 16 seconds!
Worst time for Iberia, who are 3 minutes slower than Tinkoff
Nemiroff sets the third best time, 47 seconds behind Tinkoff
Spotify places themselves in the current fourth place, but being 1’38 behind Tinkoff might mean that they won’t stay in the Top10 until the end
Ayubowan beats Moser by only 5 seconds to set the 5th best time in the finish of Malmo
Pendleton’s puts a time that might be good for a Top10, as they are 1’23 behind Tinkoff
Fourth best time for Hugo Boss, just one minute slower than Tinkoff. They would surely be ahead of Nemiroff with an extra rider. What a mistake by the management!
Almost 5 minutes! That the final time loss for Evonik, who are clearly going to finish 23rd and last
Vesuvio drops their fifth place with more than 1 km to go, so their time gets really affected by it, being only currently 12th, almost 3 minutes behind Tinkoff
Carlsberg with a really great performance, setting the fifth best time in the finish! 1’17 is their final loss
Gazelle is the next team to cross the line... and they beat Tinkoff by just 5 seconds! They have already secured a spot in the podium, but have Jayco or Porto enough power to take the win away from them?
Provisional eighth place for Festina, who looks set to recover a few points in the title battle to Moser. They have been 1’35 slower than Gazelle
16th best time for Wiesenhof, who have lost almost 3 minutes on Gazelle
And Valio wins the battle of the PCT teams, as they take the 6th best time beating Carlsberg by only 7 seconds!
Next one is Jayco... and they get the top spot in the finish line! What a comeback! Though they are only 6 seconds faster than Gazelle, so their top spot isn’t guaranteed yet, they have to wait for Porto to come
9th time for eBuddy, who have just secured a Top10 place in the event! They are 1’30 behind Jayco
Porto is already under the Flamme Rouge, will they beat Jayco’s time?
No! They don’t! Actually they finish even outside of the podium! Zmorka being dropped with several kms to the finish must be the reason for their loss
Strava arrives and sets the second-to-last time, only beating Evonik, and being over 3’30 slower than Jayco
So Jayco wins the Copenhague-Malmo TTT by the third time in the last four years! They looked really weak in the first part of the race, but in the last kms they used all their strenght to overcome a 20 seconds deficit to Gazelle.
