Stage 1: La Vallée de Joux – Juraparc 18.3 km (TTT)
The opening team time trail will follow the shore of Lac de Joux on a flat route, only the last km uphill at about 4%.
It is 15°C, clouded and almost no wind.
The Race
La Vie Claire opens, setting a 6’09 time at the first check.
Next is Duolingo with new best first sector 5’56
Centovalli – Fiat 6’11
Swisslion Cycling Team 6’12, already 15 seconds lost after less than 1/3 of the race.
Xero Racing 6’05 2nd best at this point
Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling 6’10
Valio - Viking Genetics with new 2nd best first sector 6’00
ENI – MOL 6’03 currently 3rd at first sector.
La Vie Claire now passing the 2nd time check in 14’43
Team Europcar reach the first check in 6’17, the first team to lose more than 20” at first sector.
Duolingo with a very fast time at 2nd sector 14’20, 23” faster than La Vie Claire
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff passing first sector in 6’03 sharing 3rd with ENI – MOL
Centovalli – Fiat passning 2nd check in 14’56 they have lost 36” over the first two sectors
Desigual with new 2nd best at first sector check 5’59, only 3” behind Duolingo
Swisslion Cycling Team at 2nd time check in 14’54”
Rakuten Pro Cycling 6’02 at the first check, fourth best first sector.
Xero Racing 2nd best at 2nd sector, 19” behind Duolingo
Sauber Petronas Racing 6’08 at first sector.
Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling at the 2nd time check in 14’49
Berg Cycles at first sector 6’05
Valio - Viking Genetics new 2nd best at 2nd check 14’30, 10” behind Duolingo
Kulczyk – Alitalia shared 2rd with Desigual at first sector with 5’59, getting close in the top.
ENI – MOL passing 2nd sector in 14’37, 3nd best 17” behind Duolingo
La Vie Claire setting the first full time with 21’19
Fox News - Flat Earth Society passes the first sector check in 6’15, 19” slower that Duolingo.
Team Europcar at the 2nd time check in 14’58 not the best day for them.
Duolingo as we could expect setting a new best final time 20’39, 40” faster than La Vie Claire
Team UBS 6’00, now four teams with 4” at the first time check.
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff 2nd sector in 14’38, 18” behind Duolingo, and lost a single 1” to ENI – MOL.
Centovalli – Fiat full time 21’38, 59” behind Duolingo
Volvo acc. by Spotify at the first sector in 6’07
Desigual have found the 3” needed and is now passing 2nd sector in the same time as Duolingo, 14’20 to share 1st.
Swisslion Cycling Team full time 21’34, losing 55”
Carlsberg - Danske Bank first sector in 6’12”, 16” behind Duolingo at this point. So far not as strong as I would have expected.
Rakuten Pro Cycling 2nd sector in 14’35” a good time landing somewhere in the better end of the leaderboard it seems.
Xero Racing full time 21’10, 2nd right now 31” behind Duolingo
DK Zalgiris first sector in 6’07 just outside top 10.
Sauber Petronas Racing 2nd sector in 14’45” losing 25” at this point
Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling full time 21’23, 44” behind Duolingo and 4th of the 6 teams we have seen passing the finish
cycleYorkshire last team at the first intermediate time check, 5’59 shared 2nd with Kulczyk – Alitalia and Desigual the 6th team within 6’00, to indicate a close race at the top.
Full Leaderboard after 1st sector
1
Duolingo
00:05:56
2
cycleYorkshire
00:05:59
3
Desigual
00:05:59
4
Kulczyk - Alitalia
00:05:59
5
Team UBS
00:06:00
6
Valio - Viking Genetics
00:06:00
7
Rakuten Pro Cycling
00:06:02
8
ENI - MOL
00:06:03
9
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
00:06:03
10
Berg Cycles
00:06:05
11
Xero Racing
00:06:05
12
DK Zalgiris
00:06:07
13
Volvo acc. by Spotify
00:06:07
14
Sauber Petronas Racing
00:06:08
15
La Vie Claire
00:06:09
16
Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling
00:06:10
17
Centovalli - Fiat
00:06:11
18
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
00:06:12
19
Swisslion Cycling Team
00:06:12
20
Fox News - Flat Earth Society
00:06:15
21
Team Europcar
00:06:17
Berg Cycles passing the 2nd time check in 14’39, same time as Xero Racing just as after 1st sector, 19” behind Duolingo
Valio - Viking Genetics 20’58, 2nd best full time 19” behind Duolingo
Kulczyk – Alitalia passing 2nd sector in 14’24 2nd best 4” behind Duolingo/Desigual
ENI – MOL 21’08” 3rd best full time 29” lost to Duolingo
Fox News - Flat Earth Society with 15’04 having a bad sector they are last at the 2nd time check.
We just saw that Team Europcar had a better time than Fox News at the 2nd time check, now with 21’34 have also passed Centovalli – Fiat at full time and are on par with Swisslion Cycling Team, good finish from them after a bad start.
Team UBS 2nd sector 14’28 currently 4th, 8” behind Duolingo/Desigual
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff full time 21’13, 5th of the first 10 teams passing the finish, losing 34”
Volvo acc. by Spotify at the 2nd time check in 14’39, the 3rd team with this time, sharing 7th with Berg Cycles and Xero Racing
Desigual, loses 2” to Duolingo at the last sector, coming in 2nd with 20’41”, guess only Kulczyk – Alitalia, Team UBS and cycleYorkshire within reach of doing better.
Carlsberg - Danske Bank at the 2nd time check in 14’48, currently 14th at this sector.
Rakuten Pro Cycling full time 21’06, currently 4th losing 27”, but likely to fall back another 3 - 5 positions depending on other team last sector times.
DK Zalgiris 2nd sector in 14’39, now four teams with this time at the 2nd time check, making for an interesting fight for positions in the middle of the leaderboard.
Sauber Petronas Racing full time 21’19, shared 8th with La Vie Claire after 14 teams have finished. 40” behind Duolingo
cycleYorkshire passes the 2nd time check in 14’21, the 3th best team after two sectors. Just 1” behind Duolingo/Desigual, making for a completely open podium.
Full Leaderboard after the first two sectors
1
Desigual
00:14:20
2
Duolingo
00:14:20
3
cycleYorkshire
00:14:21
4
Kulczyk - Alitalia
00:14:24
5
Team UBS
00:14:28
6
Valio - Viking Genetics
00:14:30
7
Rakuten Pro Cycling
00:14:35
8
ENI - MOL
00:14:37
9
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
00:14:38
10
Berg Cycles
00:14:39
11
DK Zalgiris
00:14:39
12
Volvo acc. by Spotify
00:14:39
13
Xero Racing
00:14:39
14
La Vie Claire
00:14:43
15
Sauber Petronas Racing
00:14:45
16
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
00:14:48
17
Adastra - Hell Energy Cycling
00:14:49
18
Swisslion Cycling Team
00:14:54
19
Centovalli - Fiat
00:14:56
20
Team Europcar
00:14:58
21
Fox News - Flat Earth Society
00:15:04
Berg Cycles full time 21’10, shared 6th with Xero Racing, have to wait for official result to see the exact position between them. 31” lost to Duolingo.
Kulczyk – Alitalia full time 20’55, that is currently 3rd, still out on the route should only be Team UBS and cycleYorkshire having a realist shot at a better result.
Fox News - Flat Earth Society coming in at 21’57, on the last sector alone lost 17” to what was their closest rival, there is no way they won’t finish last, currently 1’18 behind Duolingo
Team UBS full time 20’55, 16” behind Duolingo and sharing 3rd with Kulczyk – Alitalia, again we have to wait for exact position between them.
Volvo acc. by Spotify full time 21’21 seemingly losing the battle between those many mid-teams having almost same times after two sectors. Only left to see how DK Zalgiris will do.
Anyway, Volvo is currently 13th after 18 teams has finished, lost 42” to Duolingo
Carlsberg - Danske Bank, full time 21’24
DK Zalgiris 21’15, better than rival Volvo, but losing time to Berg Cycles and Xero Racing on the last sector. lost 36” to Duolingo
CycleYorkshire the last team today, finish in 20’44 securing the last podium behind winner Duolingo and runner up Desigual, they lost 5”
All mentioned times may be adjusted slightly in final result.
A list of all sector times and final result:
Tour of Romandie 
