Welcome to Bilbao, for what will be the 2nd and longest time trail of the tour.
The time trail starts in the center of Bilbao, from there we will go east to the town of Amorebieta-Etxano and back to Bilbao via a hill climb in the district of Uribarri.
The hill up to Uribarri will favor tempo riders with some uphill ability’s, but otherwise a day for the fast men.
Moving to the Atlantic coast we have got a change in the weather conditions, today only 21°C and pouring rain.
The Race
The first riders on the ramp is Puccio, the 30 years old Italian cobble stone expert not a rider expected to have any impact on today’s result.
Puccio will not be the first to cross the finish line, he was passed by Gonzalez Salas on the Uribarri climb with 13 km yet to go.
Gonzalez Salas a top tempo rider, but rather weak uphill will be the first rider in the hot seat with 1h07”37.
Puccio comes in almost 10 minutes later, showing how much time you can lose on a stage like this one.
About 20 riders later another good tempo rider Golovash, also he quite weak uphill 2nd best at +22
With the 24th rider on the ramp today Ioannidis, we see the first “allrounder”, a 2nd tier tempo rider but with more punch and climbing skills, and he sets new best with 1h07’25, that is 11” faster than Gonzalez Salas.
There will be no change in top 3 for a while, but then we got Walsleben starting as the 48th rider, a pretty good tempo rider but without much climbing skills. To many spectators surprise he set new best with 1h07’03, 22” faster than Ioannidis, must have brilliant legs today or maybe he just loves bad weather.
Four riders later Würtz, amongst the strongest tempo riders, not the best climber though, but he got a fine kick maybe he can punch the climb.
He sure did, the Dane comes in with 1h05’56 that was 1’06 faster than Walsleben.
Starting as the 66th rider we got Nareklishvili, another good tempo rider, maybe not as strong as Würtz on the flat, but a slightly better climber.
It was close, but Nareklishvili picked the longest straw besting Würtz with 2”, new best 1h05’53
The 87th rider on the ramp is Canty, a 2nd tire tempo rider, but with a nice mix of punch and climbing ability.
A very strong ride from him, cutting 42” of the best time with 1h05’10”
With first Danacik making it 4th and a little later Geoghegan Hart 5th we are half way through the race day and it is a good time to get an overview of the leaderboard.
With a good mix of abilities for this stage Bevin starting as the 107th rider, 4th at +54”, a bit disappointing I would say.
The same goes for Andriafenomananiaina 6th at +1’24”, the 121th rider starting today.
As oppose to those tempo rider Vangstad with a great ride, 2nd at +12”, he was the 137th rider on the ramp. sorry the cameras missed a picture of him
The 144th rider on the ramp is Brändle, a top tempo rider and also strong uphill, he comes in 3nd at +13”.
This must also be a sign that Vangstad time was very good, not to mention Brendan Canty.
Starting right behind Brändle Wirtgen also with a fine time 4th at +17”
Starting as the 149th rider Lunke, a strong climber with a fine tempo ride, 8th at +1’00”
The 155th rider on the ramp Dyball, 9th at +1’02”
Iturria not the best tempo rider but with a good day, 10th at 1’04”
Galta on the ramp, GC 25th at 11’22”, he is not amongst the best tempo riders but not too bad either and he is a top climber with some punch. Guess 5th is a fine result from him +34”
On the ramp 21th in GC Kruijswijk just able to break top 10 with a +1’01” time, a fine result from him.
Entering GC top 20 time to take another look at the leaderboard
GC 20th (8’22”) Bongiorno, 3nd tier climber with a fine punch but not a tempo rider
63th at 3’58”
CG 19th (8’20”) Lopez slightly weaker climber but much better puncher than Bongiorno, and also a slightly better tempo rider.
42th at 2’46”
At GC 18th (7’10”) 3rd tier climber Nesset, as Bongiorno not a tempo rider and must expect some GC damage, but he was not too bad everything considered.
51st at 3’12”
GC 17th (6’52”) 2rd tier climber Olivier, as the rider above not a tempo rider, but a slightly better climber with a very fine punch, he should on paper do better, and he does.
25th at 2’01” that is a great result from him.
16th in GC (6’37”) Kirsch, a 3rd tier climber, with a slightly better time trail than Olivier, he would have broken top 20, if he was not passed by the next rider before he finished.
21th at 2’57” also a fine result from him.
As we can see out of the times above we will get a new best now, and not just a new best but a truly supreme time, starting as GC 15th (5’59”) 2nd tier climber and top tempo rider Cattaneo will no doubt improve in the general classification with new best 1h03’49” that is 1’20 better than Canty.
Starting as GC 14th (5’39”) Velits will be glad to know from the tour radio that next rider Keizer have set the best time on both intermediate time checks, as he gets caught on the downhill with almost 7 km left.
Keizer as mentioned GC 13th (5’37) is a strong 2nd tier climber but also one of the best tempo riders starting today. With a brilliant race he sets new best 1h03’35, cutting 14” of the best time.
Although he was caught on the route we should not rule out Velits from a good result, he is a top 2nd tier climber with a reasonable time trail and actually he was able to stay quite close after he was passed and comes as 10th at 2’23”, that is not at all bad from him.
Presently 12th in GC 3rd tier Ukrainian climber Karnulin has been one of the positive surprises of the tour, but being one of the weaker at the time trails he may expect to take some damage today.
Coming in 57th he lost 4’47”
GC 11th (5’02”) the top 2nd tier climber Quintana, a slightly better tempo rider than Karnulin but also likely to lose some time here.
Being overtaken be Jack Haig on the downhill, do not seem to bother him too much, he comes in as 19th losing 2’59”, which is really not bad from him.
GC 10th (4’28) 2nd tire climber Haig have also been quite strong in the race so far, and with a great combination of climbing and time trail ability he should also do good today. Not only did he pass Quintana on the route but he was also inches from beating Karnulin at the finish line
3rd at 43”, a great race from him.
We are now inside the GC top 10, so would be a good time to take a last look at the leaderboard.
At the ramp GC 9th (3’56), 3nd tire climber Keinath, who is amongst those with a very strong time trail just beneath the very best, combined with a good punch expected to do well today.
13th at 2’31, maybe just a little bit beneath expectation but not too bad really.
Next GC 8th (2’14”) Barguil, a 2nd tire climber but he hasn’t got a good time trail and he could lose some time today.
Not as bad as it could have been, 30th at 3’23”.
Next out on the route GC 7th (1’56”) Brambilla, a rider who has performed very well in the race so far, but also a rider that could lose some time today, being a 3rd tier climber on paper not as strong uphill as Barguil but otherwise a quite similar rider with a fine punch but a lack of time trail skill.
44th at 4’09”, that was a bit too much and he will fall back a few positions.
On the ramp GC 6th (1’47”) and U25 leader, top 2nd tier climber Kudus. He do not have to worry to much about the closest rivals behind him, as we have already seen them lose time and he is on paper a better tempo rider and at least as good uphill.
25th at 3’11”, maybe not as good as expected but his 6th place is safe.
We are inside GC top 5 with Denifl (1’29”), a top climber but not amongst the best tempo riders. He is likely to lost some time to the very best today, seen by the fact that he was overtaken by Kritskiy on the route.
18th at 2’50 is not bad compared to his lack to time trail ability and shows how much a great climber/puncher can gain on that hill.
GC 4th Kritskiy (1’02), a rider expected to be at least a podium candidate today. Not exactly as strong a tempo rider as Keizer sitting in the hot seat, but a much stronger climber, so this one may be very close. Kritskiy deliver with new best 1h03’22” 13 seconds faster than Keizer
GC 3rd (42”) Pluchkin on the route, an absolute top climber with a slightly weaker time trail ability than the other top favorites that surrounds him in the GC. Still he might be a possible podium candidate today.
3rd, 19” behind Kritskiy.
At the ramp GC 2rd (42”) top climber Tenorio, his climbing slightly weaker than Pluchkin, but as good as the rider in the hot seat. To compensate slightly stronger tempo rider than Pluchkin again on par with the riders in the hot seat. The only difference between Tenorio and Kritskiy is that Tenorio got that little bit faster punch. Clearly a podium candidate if not a winner today.
He passes the line as 5th, 32” seconds behind Kritskiy, that was a disappointment.
Now only one rider left, soaked as everyone else today GC leader Taaramäe now on the route, top climber top puncher and a brilliant tempo rider he is the stand out top favorite today.
3” down at the first time-check seems as if he is in problems, but slightly grinding his way to the finish line, just able to cut a little more than a second of the best time with 1h03’21”
This was the fourth stage win by Rein Taaramäe in the tour and the 2nd podium from Timofey Kritskiy
A fast overview of the current GC compared to yesterdays:
Vuelta a Espana 
