The Celtic Chrono is made of two identical 48km circuits through the verdant British countryside. While the course is flat through the first time check the second time check occurs half way up the lone climb on the course. By then we should begin to see how the non-climbers fair.
The press favorites are:
As Van der Ploeg leads things off in the first leg, winds are 17km from the riders left. The course turns left shortly after the start and then loops around, so riders will face a headwind for much of the first half but will have the winds are their back for the climb.
The first of the top ten TT guys through the first check is Viennet and he takes the lead at 19’41, 6 seconds ahead of Goncalves. It is raining on course now.
First strong TT rider through the second check is Sebright. He has much better TT skills than Van der Ploeg but is a much weaker climber. The hill doesn’t seem to have much impact, he put 50 seconds into Van der Ploeg by the first check and has added another 57 seconds at the second check, the distances are roughly equal. But they are still climbing.
Ford, another favorite, is through the first time check but 12 seconds off the pace set by Viennet
Belgian champion Cornu is next through the first time check but he is 19 seconds off the pace. Not a good start for him. At the second check Viennet has expanded his lead to 8 seconds.
The first of the big climbers, Nepomnyachsniy comes through the first check 33 seconds down. He has time to make up. Next up is one of the big favorites - Durbridge. He is 5 seconds off what is looking like a great time by Viennet. Good enough for second.
Goncalves who’s times at the first two checks still look strong, finishes in 59’57 and takes the hotseat.
Between the second time check and the finish Sebright added only 26 seconds to his advantage over Van der Ploeg so the completion of the hill may have slowed him or maybe the downhill to the finish meant less advantage for the TT riders.
Neither Ford nor Cornu made much progress at the second time check losing 2 and 6 seconds respectively to Viennet.
But at the finish Viennet has dropped to second losing 10 seconds to Goncalves in the last section to be 2 seconds behind. Goncalves is the much stronger climber so maybe the hill is a difference maker. Either way the time differences are small.
Dempster passes the first check 12 seconds off the lead and 4 seconds behind Goncalves, only good enough for 7th.
Next Schädlich slots into 3rd at the first time check, 8 seconds off the lead.
Nepomnyachsniy is through the second check, and is down 55 seconds, so he slowed his losses but didn’t reverse them. Next over is Durbridge and he has taken his deficit back versus Viennet and has the new best time at the second check, a 2 second edge on Viennet. He has 11 seconds on Goncalves, can he hold it to the end? Goncalves is a much better climber.
Dillier crosses the first check 13 seconds behind. He is followed by Kittel who finally knocks Viennet off the top at the first time check by 2 seconds.
But soon after Coppel comes through and the World Champion beats Kittel , also by 2 seconds.
Last man through the first time check is Tenorio and he is 7 seconds down on Coppel
The top 5 at the first time check looks like this:
Coppel
19'36
Kittel
2''
Viennet
4''
Durbridge
7''
Tenorio
9''
Nepomnyachsniy completes the course 1 minute behind Goncalves, he didn’t lose much in the last 3rd but the strong TT guys seem to have the upper hand.
Two rider later Durbridge completes the course and knocks Goncalves off the hot seat by just 1 second. He lost 10 seconds to the superior climber in the last section. Goncalves is also one of the best in the race downhill so maybe that made a difference.
Schädlich has passed the second time check and is still 4 seconds off Durbridge. Kittel comes through next and he has gone 15 seconds clear of Durbridge at the second check, by far the biggest improvement we have seen.
But the World Champion still has the advantage as he comes through 1 second ahead of Kittel at the second time check.
Tenorio is next and he has lost a further 5 seconds to Coppel but moves up to 3rd place.
So now we can focus entirely on the finish where Schädlich is the first of the contenders. But the Kraftwerk man has a poor last section and slides to 7th losing 22 seconds to Durbridge in the last section. He will lose more places before the race is over.
But the last section doesn’t just hurt Schädlich, Kittel has a disaster. He drops 26 seconds on Durbridge in the last section going from 15 seconds up to 11 seconds back. He is now 4th. Maybe he went too hard earlier, the conditions haven’t really changed although the wind has dropped so perhaps that was helping the earlier riders.
Will Coppel have the same issue? And he does, he too loses 26 seconds to Durbridge and is 4th also behind Goncalves and Viennet.
Tenorio didn’t seem to go as hard in the 2nd section, maybe he can still win this. The Spanish National Champion is out of the saddle as he approaches the red kite and the sun is trying to shine.
But he can’t do it, he loses 20 seconds to Durbridge in the last section and drops to 7th.
So cycleYorkshire’s Durbridge takes the first leg. He has a 2 second cushion over Goncalves and 11 seconds over the defending champion. The later riders really struggled in the last third of the course.
Standings after the first leg:
1
Luke Durbridge
cycleYorkshire
59'55
2
Jose Goncalves
Team UBS
+ 2
3
Emilien Viennet
cycleYorkshire
+ 4
4
Jerome Coppel
Carrefour - ESPN
+ 11
5
Marcel Kittel
Valio - Viking Genetics
+ 12
6
Rodrigo Nascimento
Duolingo
+ 16
7
Justo Tenorio
Desigual
+ 17
8
Aggrey Sebright
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 18
9
Michael Ford
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 27
10
Lucas Schädlich
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 28
Spoiler
11
Dominique Cornu
Duolingo
+ 31
12
Zakkari Dempster
Duolingo
+ 35
13
Oleksandr Golovash
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
+ 37
14
Freddy Cruz
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 50
15
Silvan Dillier
Team UBS
+ 1'01
16
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Valio - Viking Genetics
+ 1'02
17
Carlos Verona
Desigual
+ 1'10
18
Andrew Tennant
cycleYorkshire
+ 1'12
19
Daniel Eaton
Desigual
+ 1'13
20
Dylan Van Baarle
CYBEX Platinum
+ 1'14
21
Samuel Pokälä
Valio - Viking Genetics
s.t.
22
Gert Joeaar
Eddie Stobart
+ 1'32
23
Wen Hao Li
Carrefour - ESPN
+ 1'34
24
Vadim Ratiy
CYBEX Platinum
+ 1'36
25
Yuma Koishi
Campari/Asahi development
+ 1'48
26
Daniil Fominykh
Team UBS
+ 1'49
27
Mark Christian
Campari/Asahi development
+ 2'01
28
Jose Fernandes
Berg Cycles
+ 2'29
29
Neil Van der Ploeg
Eddie Stobart
+ 2'32
30
Alexandre Geniez
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 2'33
31
Johann van Zyl
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 2'55
32
Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
+ 3'00
33
Ricardo Vilela
Berg Cycles
+ 3'07
34
Aleksa Crncevic
Carrefour - ESPN
+ 4'12
35
Davide Malacarne
Eddie Stobart
+ 4'13
36
Vitor Rodrigues
Berg Cycles
+ 6'07
37
Johannes Schinnagel
CYBEX Platinum
+ 7'15
38
Roman Lutsyshyn
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
+ 8'11
39
Vincenzo Albanese
Campari/Asahi development
+ 10'42
As the 2nd leg gets underway the weather has cleared and there is little wind. The conditions are different but the course will look familiar to the riders since it is the same course as the first leg.
We are going to pick up coverage as 14th place Cruz heads out, at 50 seconds behind, he is the first rider within a 1 minute of the overall lead.
Currently Fominykh has the 2nd leg lead at the first check and he was the most recent rider to reach it so yesterday’s rankings are generally holding. But Fominykh’s time of 19’01 was 35 seconds better than the best time in the first leg so the course is riding much easier in the better conditions.
But Cruz isn’t gaining time today, by the first check he has lost 10 seconds to Nepomnyachsniy who started ahead of him and 23 seconds to Dillier who started two ahead of him and finished the first leg 11 seconds behind him.
But soon after Dempster beats Dillier by 2 seconds to take the lead at the first time check. Schädlich also puts in a strong time only 1 second back. But Cornu is suffering he is 25 seconds down at the first check.
The best placed of the 3 Glanbia men in the top 15, Sebright, comes through the first check 19 seconds down. He may have benefitted from riding early in the first leg. Not a good day so far for Glanbia as their third man Ford is 11 seconds off the pace at the first check.
Next up at the first check is one of the big favorites Tenorio and he is 4 behind Dempster.
The next man through was neglected by the cameras in the first leg because he went off early and his time wasn’t expected to stand up. Nevertheless Duolingo’s Brazilian champion Nascimento finished the first leg in 6th place. But that is going to be his peak he has lost 30 seconds by the first time check.
Next up is Kittel and he matches Dempster’s time.
Meanwhile Dillier has established a new best time at the 2nd check 19 seconds clear of Nepomnyachsniy
Coppel comes through the first check and matches the best time.
Another rider who went early and rode well yesterday is Viennet. But he proves that his performance wasn’t a fluke, he has the new best time at the first check, 1 second ahead.
Dempster who’s time at the first check still looks good comes through the second check 6 seconds ahead of Dillier
Goncalves who had perhaps the best ride in the first leg has lost 18 seconds on Viennet at the first check. But he was at his best in the latter sections in the first leg so don’t count him out.
Last to arrive at the first check is the leader and Durbridge has lost 13 seconds. All his first leg advantage is gone.
So after the first time check our virtual overall standings look like this:
Rank
2nd Leg
Total Time
Rank Change
1
Viennet
38'55
1h'38'56
+1
2
Coppel
0''
7''
+2
3
Kittel
3''
11''
+2
4
Tenorio
6''
19''
+3
5
Durbridge
31''
27''
-4
6
Schädlich
8''
32''
+4
7
Dempster
3''
34''
+5
8
Goncalves
38''
36''
-6
9
Ford
34''
57''
0
10
Sebright
48''
1'03''
-2
Viennet takes over the virtual lead but there are 4 riders within 10 seconds.
The next of the virtual top 10 at the second time check is Schädlich. He is 4 seconds behind Dempster, so he is keeping pace.
Not as good for Ford and Sebright their 2nd leg losses have increased to 30 and 45 seconds, respectively Their top 10 slots are at risk.
But Tenorio is going better and he is has improved by 3 seconds versus Dempster and is only 2 seconds behind at the 2nd check
Dillier finishes the course in 59’39, 10 seconds ahead of Nepomnyachsniy. Both could be approaching the top 10.
Times are still faster then the first leg but the big difference was in the first section where there was a strong headwind yesterday. Kittel has passed the 2nd check and still nothing separates him from Dempster. Kittel has the best time the 2nd check but it is by fractions.
But Coppel goes better, he has 3 second lead at the second time check.
Viennet matches his time, losing only 1 second since the first time check.
Dempster finishes the race 13 seconds ahead of Dillier, he gained 7 seconds in the last 3rd of the course.
At the second check Goncalves’ losses have ballooned to 38 seconds, he will be fighting to stay in the top 5. And Durbridge’s deficit is up to 31 seconds, the race is probably gone and maybe a top 5 as well.
After the second time check this is the virtual overall top 10.
Rank
2nd Leg
Total Time
Rank Change
1
Viennet
38'55
1h'38'56
+1
2
Coppel
0''
7''
+2
3
Kittel
3''
11''
+2
4
Tenorio
6''
19''
+3
5
Durbridge
31''
27''
-4
6
Schädlich
8''
32''
+4
7
Dempster
3''
34''
+5
8
Goncalves
38''
36''
-6
9
Ford
34''
57''
0
10
Sebright
48''
1'03''
-2
Viennet still has it but the last section was his weakest yesterday and it isn’t easy to hold your concentration with the World Champion breathing down your neck. Top 10 still the same but Sebright only has 3 seconds on Dillier in 11th.
Schädlich is the next of top 10 to come home, he gains a little time and finishes only 1 second behind Dempster and will likely keep at least 6th place.
Ford and Sebright come home next, both have done just enough to preserve their top 10 finishes.
And Tenorio has saved his best for last – he puts 25 seconds into Dempster in the last section and is 22 seconds ahead on the leg. He is in the hot seat in both this leg and the overall. He still has a shot at the win.
As Kittel turns for home he has Nascimento in his sites. A torrid 2nd leg for the Brazilian as he will lose almost 2 minutes in the second leg after losing only 17 seconds in the first leg.
Kittel finishes 7 seconds behind Tenorio, losing 10 seconds to the Spaniard in the last segment, which isn’t good enough to pass him for the race lead. But where Kittel fails Coppel succeeds. He finishes 3 seconds ahead and takes the race lead from Tenorio by 9 seconds.
Viennet will be the next rider to finish and is probably the only one with a chance to deny the World Champion back-to-back victories in the Celtic Chrono. Viennet hold his concentration to the line.
And he does it, he almost matched Coppel in the final section losing only 1 second and his cushion from the first leg is enough to give him the victory. cycleYorkshire’s decision to send him out early in the first leg may have been the key although his second leg performance was also stellar. Favorites Coppel and Tenorio have to settle for 2nd and 3rd. Kittel is 4th.
Goncalves is again strong in the last section and is able to regain overall places he had lost at the second check to Schädlich, and Dempster.
Durbridge is not as strong and finishes the 2nd leg in 9th, 3 seconds behind Goncalves which means he drops behind him into 6th for the race. Still two in the top 6 for cycleYorkshire.
Celtic Chrono
