Welcome to the anual ITT show for the CT division in Namibia. This year the MGUCI is testing a new format for this kind of ITT events. Instead of just one stage that decides the winner, now it’ll be two stages in sucessive days, with the sum of times in both days deciding the winner of the race.
For this event we have two 40 kms TTs, with the first one being slightly bumpy towards the one, so it could benefit riders will better climbing skills than other pure timetrialists
The first stage wasn’t showed live, but here’s a recap of it before the second stage report.
Rasmus Sterobo set the fastest time, with a 54’32, so he’ll be the final rider to start later today
He wasn’t the fastest rider in all sectors, as the rider that finished in second, Dion Beukeboom, was first in the first intermediate point, but ended up losing 10 seconds to the Dane
In third place, 15 seconds behind Sterobo, we see one of the big favourites for the win, in Hughes Mottin
Mark Christian was fourth, with a time 17 seconds slower than the best time, in a great effort for the Campari rider
The rest of the Top10 was basically filled by Swisslion and Sauber riders, as each team had 3 riders in the Top10, with Sauber having Zoidl (5th +22), Olman (7th +35) and Ahmad Zamri (8th +37) while Swisslion had Kovalev (6th +26), Martin (9th +42) and Reus (10th +43). Surely disappointing performance from Swisslion three-headed line-up, but luckily for them they have another attempt today
So here we have the full results from yesterday, and now it’s time to move on with the final and decisive stage
1
Rasmus Sterobo
Compal-Merida
54'32
2
Dion Beukeboom
Adastra - Argon 18
+ 10
3
Hugues Mottin
Andorra Project - InGamba
+ 15
4
Mark Christian
Campari - Super Dry
+ 17
5
Riccardo Zoidl
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 22
6
Ivan Kovalev
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 26
7
Miles Olman
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 35
8
Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 37
9
Tony Martin
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 42
10
Vojtech Hacecký
Rothaus - Aegon
+ 43
Spoiler
11
Kai Reus
Swisslion Cycling Team
s.t.
12
Roger Kluge
Team Cerveceria Costa Rica
+ 47
13
Sean Downey
Rothaus - Aegon
+ 48
14
Samuel Pökälä
Valio - DeLaval
+ 49
15
Steven Burke
GCN ProTeam
+ 53
16
Lawson Craddock
Banco de Bogota
+ 55
17
Krzysztof Marchewka
Adastra - Argon 18
+ 56
18
Timothy Roe
BNZ Cycling Team
+ 1'09
19
Vadim Ratiy
Oberfranken
+ 1'12
20
Erick Rowsell
Eddie Stobart
+ 1'15
21
Brent Bookwalter
Equinor Pro Cycling
s.t.
22
Maxime Bouet
Telia-Brussels Airlines
+ 1'18
23
Kiel Reijnen
Telia-Brussels Airlines
+ 1'20
24
Jorge Abreu
Banco de Bogota
+ 1'23
25
Mujtaba Hussein
GCN ProTeam
s.t.
26
Freddy Johansson
Campari - Super Dry
+ 1'25
27
Jordan Cheyne
Banco de Bogota
+ 1'27
28
Kristof Vandewalle
Telia-Brussels Airlines
+ 1'29
29
Roman Kreuziger
DK Zalgiris
+ 1'30
30
Maciej Bodnar
Rothaus - Aegon
+ 1'32
31
Dmitri Grabovski
Adastra - Argon 18
+ 1'37
32
Karol Andrzej Domagalski
Compal-Merida
+ 1'39
33
Carlos Quintero
Oberfranken
+ 1'40
34
Lukas Talacka
DK Zalgiris
s.t.
35
Gert Joeaar
Eddie Stobart
+ 1'42
36
Neil Van der Ploeg
Eddie Stobart
+ 1'44
37
Tom Thill
Compal-Merida
+ 1'45
38
Geoffroy Ngandamba
GCN ProTeam
+ 1'50
39
Miles Scotson
BNZ Cycling Team
+ 1'57
40
Daniel Ricardo Diaz
Oberfranken
+ 2'03
41
Miguel Afonso
Andorra Project - InGamba
+ 2'04
42
Taylor Gunman
BNZ Cycling Team
+ 2'12
43
Masaki Yamamoto
Campari - Super Dry
+ 2'15
44
Raimondas Rumsas
DK Zalgiris
+ 2'17
45
Joonas Henttala
Valio - DeLaval
+ 2'25
46
Suleiman Kangangi
Equinor Pro Cycling
+ 3'15
47
Gasper Katrasnik
Equinor Pro Cycling
+ 3'17
48
Jonas Gregaard
ENI-MOL
+ 3'19
49
Omer Goldstein
Andorra Project - InGamba
+ 3'27
50
Sabelo Mngometulu
Control Team
+ 3'46
51
Husain Al Basri
Control Team
+ 4'07
52
Dragan Jasovic
Control Team
+ 4'08
53
Aleksi Hänninen
Valio - DeLaval
+ 4'19
54
Pedro Pablo Pereyra
ENI-MOL
+ 4'37
55
Daniel Ruiz
ENI-MOL
+ 4'49
The first rider to put a decent time was Raimondas Rumsas, with a time of 54’02. Not that he should be relevant to the GC battle, but he could have a shot at Top25
Grabovski would be 10 seconds slower than Rumsas, but that time would put in the provisional lead, which obviously he won’t stay long on it
Actually it only last for a few seconds, the time that was left until Maciej Bodnar set the fastest time of the today, with a time 30 seconds better than Rumsas’s. He would also take the “GC lead” with 45 seconds over Grabovski
Cheyne would do a time 9 seconds slower than Bodnar, losing a spot in GC to the Polish champion by just 4 seconds
Amazing time for Freddy Johansson! 52’41 for him, so that’s 51 seconds better than Bodnar. This time could make him rise a lot in the final results, after a bad day yesterday
Good time for Hussein, but that was 33 seconds slower than Johansson
Abreu’s time was decent, just 1 minute behind Johansson’s
Reijnen would be one second slower than Abreu, but it was enough to hold him behind in the final GC
His team-mate Bouet would be a few seconds faster, but nothing spectacular
Bookwalter’s time wouldn’t be much better, 58 seconds slower than Johansson, but probably good enough to secure a GC Top20
Bad time for Rowsell, or maybe it was a good time yesterday, because the two-minute loss with Johansson looks fair given his actual skil
Ratiy’s day wouldn’t be good either, as he would lose 1’29 to Johansson, which would send him to the 9th provisional place in GC, with 18 riders yet to finish
Not a good day for Roe, as the Aussie loses 1’44 to Johansson, which could see him out of the Top25 in GC at the end of the race
Marchewka with the White jersey as the best U25 rider, does a time that puts him only behind Johansson and Hussein in the provisional GC
Craddock loses 1’30 to Johansson
Third best time of the day for Burke, which puts him just 17 seconds behind Johansson in GC
Pökälä does a time 17 seconds slower than Johansson, but it’s good enough to put him in the provisional GC lead, 19 seconds ahead of Johansson
Downey is 46 seconds slower than Johansson, so 28 seconds behind Pokala in GC
Terrible time for Kluge, who will fall outside of the scoring places, after losing over 2 minutes to Johansson
That was really close for Hacecký! Only 3 seconds slower than Johansson today, but the important thing is that the Czech rider is taking the GC lead from Pokala now. Just 10 riders left to finish the race, so this is the provisional GC with those riders that have already finished
1
Samuel Pökälä
Leader
2
Freddy Johansson
+ 19
3
Sean Downey
+ 28
4
Steven Burke
+ 36
5
Mujtaba Hussein
+ 50
6
Krzysztof Marchewka
+ 1'04
7
Brent Bookwalter
+ 1'07
8
Kai Reus
+ 1'09
9
Maxime Bouet
+ 1'11
10
Kiel Reijnen
+ 1'16
11
Maciej Bodnar
+ 1'17
12
Jorge Abreu
+ 1'18
13
Lawson Craddock
+ 1'19
14
Jordan Cheyne
+ 1'20
15
Vadim Ratiy
+ 1'34
Very disappointing effort from Kai Reus, as he loses 1’32 to Johansson. Only 9th in GC with 9 riders to go
Decent time for Martin, but nothing outstanding to compensate the bad performance of his team-mate. It’s good enough to put him third in GC, 25 seconds behind Hacecky
Ahmad Zamri is a few seconds slower than Martin, which will cost him that spot in GC
Another top favourite with a bad performance, as Miles Olman loses over a minute to Johansson, and at best will finish 7th in the race
And neither Kovalev can bring Swisslion a great result out of this race, as he loses 1’20 to Johansson, and drops behind Burke in GC for a provisional ninth
Just five riders left, so this is the provisional GC
1
Vojtech Hacecký
Leader
2
Samuel Pökälä
+ 20
3
Tony Martin
+ 25
4
Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri
+ 32
5
Freddy Johansson
+ 39
6
Sean Downey
+ 48
7
Miles Olman
+ 53
8
Steven Burke
+ 56
9
Ivan Kovalev
+ 1'00
10
Mujtaba Hussein
+ 1'10
11
Krzysztof Marchewka
+ 1'24
12
Brent Bookwalter
+ 1'27
13
Kai Reus
+ 1'29
14
Maxime Bouet
+ 1'31
15
Kiel Reijnen
+ 1'36
Great time for Riccardo Zoidl, just 6 seconds slower than Johansson. He obviously takes the provisional lead, but will this time be enough for a surprise win?
Mark Christian isn’t beating that time, as he can’t match his team-mate pace, losing 1’21 to him and dropping to 8th place in GC with 3 riders to go
And Hughes Mottin delivers as the top favourite given how yesterday’s stage panned out. He didn’t st the best time, but his time was good enough to put him ahead of Zoidl in GC by just 2 seconds!
Beukeboom is back to a more normal level, losing 1’22 to Johansson, which sees him dropped to 8th place in GC
And Rasmus Sterobo chokes a golden chance to win the Windhoek ITT, making the same time as Beukeboom, so the “winner” of yesterday will only finish 7th in the overall result
So Hughes Mottin wins the 2018 Windhoek ITT for Andorra Project - InGamba! He was a top favourite, and actually it was his regularity what has given him the win.
Riccardo Zoidl falls short of a shocking win here by only 2 seconds, but nontheless it’s a fantastic result for him
And Vojtech Hacecky completes the podium of this race.
In the rest of Top10 we have Samuel Pokala, Tony Martin, Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri, Rasmus Sterobo, Freddy Johansson, Dion Beukeboom and Sean Downey
