The team time trial will give us a much clearer picture of the GC. Which rider will be boosted by his team, who may drop too far to ultimately have an impact? The teams start in reverse order of the team rankings, and since those are determined exclusively by the opening time trial so far, we can expect better and better times as we go through the day. Here’s a quick reminder of the top favorites:
Top 3
Top 5
Top 7
cycleYorkshire
80
79
75
Team UBS
78
77
77
Duolingo
78
77
76
Valio - Viking Genetic
77
76
74
VIP Mobile
76
73
70
On a side note: The pre-race media coverage is at an all time high, giving us frustrated two-time stage winner Matti Manninen and time-trial fearing time-trial specialist Luke Durbridge:
Europcar are the first team of note as they try not to butcher (non-sprint) team leader and sixth overall Sterobo’s GC chances too much.
It doesn’t look great for them as they lose 17 seconds already at the checkpoint to Berg Cycles, who aren’t known for being terrific time trialists. Here’s the leaderboard after the first seven teams have completed the first half of the race, where Desigual looks like they're in deep trouble:
KazMunayGas is the first to finish. We don’t expect their time at the top of the standings to last very long, but here it is:
21‘05
It does last for at least one more team though as Europcar fall short by five seconds.
21‘10
When Sauber crosses the line, we get an impression of the kind of gaps we can expect here today. Not a super strong time trialing squad, they still beat KazMunayGas by 25 seconds.
20‘39
Berg Cycles lose Coutinho in the final kilometers but the rest of the team was pretty quick: another new best time.
20‘29
Coutinho almost get caught by Philips. Their TT leader Ligthart disappointed with a 21st place on stage one, but it’s questionable if this time gives him any boosts. Provisional third.
20‘39
The amateur teams continue to do well at this race. With only the Top 4 teams left, Kofola lead VIP Mobile by one second at the intermediate time check.
Desigual’s leader Carlos Verona is the best-placed GC rider so far (with the exception of Sterobo), he had finished 16th in the opening TT. With a last push, he leads his squad, the smallest in this race, over the line. Be it their weakness in numbers or simply in time trialing quality, their time is nothing to write home about, but not as desastrous as it could have been expected after the intermediate checkpoint.
21‘04
CYBEX had Van Baarle only one place behind Verona before this stage, but he will jump past the Spaniard in the GC as they finish provisional second.
20‘36
Kofola blows up in the final few hundred meters as Kreuziger and Rashid leave their teammates behind. Not the smartest strategy, and it may have cost them. They finish fractions of a second behind Berg Cycles, who they still led by 8 seconds at the time check.
20‘29
Delveaux have had Ignatiev in the Top 10 before today. Their time isn’t bad, but it remains to be seen how much they will lose compared to the stronger squads.
20‘32
cycleYorkshire are the final team through the checkpoint. They were maybe the top favorite for today, but they trail Duolingo by five seconds. This would put Cornu in the yellow jersey right now! The final standings after the first half of the race confirm the Top 4 we expected to be in a class of their own.
VIP Mobile had two riders in the Top 20 so far, Christensen and Kovalev. And they show their team strength as they take the lead by a good six seconds.
20‘23
We’re in the fight for the stage win and the overall podium positions now. Valio come to the line, giving it everything they got for 3rd overall Kittel. They take the lead by a large margin, as was expected, but the important teams for them are the ones that are still on the road.
19‘57
The first is Duolingo. As I’ve mentioned, they got a real chance to get the yellow jersey for Cornu. Their time is a good start, they beat Valio by two seconds, the same margin they had at the time check.
19‘55
Next up is UBS. Dillier is fourth overall, but he has a 10 second gap to the GC lead, neading a good time from his team that comes armed with four national TT champions. But that is only enough for third right now.
20‘01
To conclude the stage, cycleYorkshire makes a final push to the line. They gain two seconds on Duolingo in the second part of the stage, which leaves them in third place.
19‘58
Duolingo wins the stage, but the three seconds between the two teams were the exact margin between Durbridge and Cornu. Who takes yellow?
It’s Durbridge, but under curious circumstances! The race officials decided to only count the first five riders of each team with the same time, while the sixth rider and onwards were measured against the first rider of their team and hence given small time gaps of two to four seconds, even if they finished with the team. And as Cornu crossed the line sixth for Duolingo, he is timed two seconds behind the team, leaving him one second behind Durbridge in the GC! Other prominent riders hit are Viennet and Ivars, who lose two seconds to their teammates, and Tennant, who loses four. Oliveira lost five seconds to his Duolingo teammates which leaves him only a second ahead of Thomas for the white jersey.
Still, the race for the overall win is now closer than before. The top three (with Kittel still in third place) are seperated by just two seconds total. Meanwhile, Dempster makes the biggest jump among the first few positions, going from 14 to 8. Manninen is 13th now, another stage win tomorrow would put him in the Top 10.
Among the biggest losers is Ignatiev, who drops from 8 to 19 but is still the best-placed rider from outside of the Top 4 teams. Ligthart is 34th now, Sterobo loses a devestating 30 places and drops to 36th, which is still four places better than Verona.
Olympia’s Tour 
