Judgment day in Sheffield, not in Yorkshire but in Tasmania. The time trial is rather short at 17.4 kilometer and not entirely flat either. The pure time trialists will start first as they lost loads of time yesterday, with the time trialists who are better adapted to hills starting at the end of the day, as they are also in an important GC fight.
Even though Predatsch as first starter is a decent time trialist, our eyes will be focused on Vlatos as second starter. The benchmark is set at 21 minutes and 41 seconds, 33 seconds faster than Predatsch.
Yatsevich is the fourth starter, easily passing Olei. The Russian was one second faster than Vlatos at the split, but loses that second at the finish line. Milliseconds decide he is behind the Greek.
Atkins is third from the really early starters at fifteen seconds, three seconds ahead of O'Shea and four seconds ahead of Quaade.
Kwok reaches the split, where he posts the same time as Yatsevich. He continues to copy the Russian by posting the same time in seconds at the finish, though picking the shortest straw in the three-way tie between Vlatos, Yatsevich and himself.
Van Winden is likely to break the tie as he set the fastest time at the halfway point. Following him to the finish, he indeed takes the lead by ten seconds.
Goldstein can only muster seventh place out of twenty starters, with many more quality riders coming in the next 172.
Ukrainian champion Zmorka checking the earpieces at the start. They worked properly, as he beats Van Winden by 17 second to occupy the hot seat.
Sütterlin places himself on the virtual podium with the third time, + 20.
The best Tinkoff rider so far is Malori, who takes second place thirteen seconds behind Zmorka and four ahead of Van Winden. He has beaten Yatsevich by fourteen, Dal Col by nineteen and Vorobev by twenty-four seconds.
Golovash overtakes Ewan after the checkpoint, where the Ukrainian has the fifth time at fourteen seconds. Ever consistent, he also takes fifth place at the finish at twenty-eight seconds.
Hepburn will post the third-best time at the checkpoint, though already eleven seconds down on Zmorka. He cannot keep up the pace, dropping down to provisional fifth at 23 seconds.
A disappointing ride for teammate Sergent, who only just makes it to the current top ten.
Fiedler with the same time as Zmorka at the split, this can be interesting! Approaching the finish line he is three seconds... faster! New leader!
Someone who is not as fast is Nareklishvili, as he cannot make the top twenty out of the finishers.
Lammertink is ten seconds slower than the German over the course of the day, but it still brings him to third at the moment.
Boom might not be the best time trialists in the race, but he can use the slight climbing to his advantage. He takes the seventh time, + 24.
Würtz pushes Vlatos out of the top ten, but he only gets to tenth place at 29 seconds.
Cataford leaves Sheffield on his way to return here in 17.4 kilometer. Halfway he is the third-best rider at one second from Fiedler and Zmorka. In the second part he has to concede a bit, placing behind Lammertink in fourth at twelve seconds
Rosskopf is a similar-typed rider to Boom and confirms the hypothesis that you don't have to be a world-class time trialist to score high. Seventh place, one second ahead of pure time trialist Sütterlin.
The same goes for Brown, who posts the fourth time at the checkpoint. He started too fast though, as he drops all the way down to ninth where it matters: the finish line.
Back to a favorite: Paillot has the fastest time after eight and a half kilometer: 11'01, which is three seconds faster than Fiedler. On the final nine kilometer the Frenchman loses nine seconds however, and takes only third place.
Kung is a second slower than teammate Brown, the difference between a place inside the top ten and outside it.
Oliveira is 30th in the GC at 1'29. His performance today is enough for virtual seventh place, at seventeen seconds. It makes him virtual GC leader as well with 29 riders left to finish.
He beats Lutsenko and Olivier, but both are not known as top time trialists.
Dyball, Canty and Prado are all in the same time as Oliveira in the GC, but lose 14, 21 and 28 seconds today. They therefore occupy second, third and fourth in the GC.
Teuns is the first rider at 1'10, but will drop out of the top thirty with a horrific performance. Wisniowski will take his place inside it.
Vasyliv is not as bad as Teuns and manages to avoid embarrassment. He drops between the Australian Bennelong duo of Dyball and Canty in third.
The leader in the youth classification, Wirtgen, has a margin of 19 seconds over Schlegel and 1'38 over Gidich. He comfortably beats both men to take 20th on the stage so far, only two seconds behind Würtz as best young rider of the day. The Luxembourgian is guaranteed to take the white jersey home with him, and also beats Oliveira by five seconds in the virtual GC.
Brändle is on a mission to gain places and his first section indicates his determination, fourth time there but only one second behind the leader. It appears Fiedler had a monster final section as everyone seems to lose time to him. Brändle also falls victim to this, dropping to seventh, sixteen seconds down on the German. He takes over the virtual lead from Wirtgen as he was fourteen seconds faster.
All riders who are more than a minute behind Ponzi in the GC are now done with their time trial, time to give an overview of the stage and GC before we head to the final twenty starters:
Stage
Rider
Time
GC
Rider
Time
1
Fiedler
21'11
1
Brändle
9h31'54
2
Zmorka
+ 3
2
Wirtgen
+ 15
3
Paillot
+ 8
3
Oliveira
+ 20
4
Lammertink
+ 10
4
Dyball
+ 34
5
Cataford
+ 12
5
Vasyliv
+ 38
6
Malori
+ 16
6
Canty
+ 41
7
Brändle
s.t.
7
Prado
+ 48
8
Oliveira
+ 17
8
Olivier
+ 1'08
9
Van Winden
+ 20
9
Lutsenko
+ 1'45
10
Rosskopf
+ 22
10
Wisniowski
+ 1'49
As all twenty riders safely make it off the start ramp, time to familiarize ourselves with the contenders. Here is the current GC top twenty, with their estimated time trial ability:
GC
Rider
TT
Time
GC
Rider
TT
Time
1
Ponzi
68
9h09'17
11
Bobridge
77
s.t.
2
Taaramäe
81
+ 8
12
Novak
76
s.t.
3
Spilak
76
+ 12
13
Lecuisinier
77
s.t.
4
Hagen
72
+ 20
14
Van Garderen
69
s.t.
5
Pluchkin
79
s.t.
15
Buchmann
67
s.t.
6
Kritskiy
80
s.t.
16
Cattaneo
79
+ 37
7
Goos
76
s.t.
17
Dennis
78
s.t.
8
Kangert
77
s.t.
18
Laengen
76
s.t.
9
Bibby
76
s.t.
19
Lane
63
s.t.
10
Keinath
75
s.t.
20
Keizer
81
+ 48
Ponzi has an advantage in time but is in the bottom three when it comes to time trialing. The prime favorite for the GC should be Taaramäe, as best time trialists and also with a few extra bonus seconds. Kritskiy and Keizer are the closest contenders on the stage, with the former probably being his biggest rival in the GC. Outsiders are Spilak, Pluchkin and Cattaneo.
Keizer (20th, + 48) lost a bit of extra time yesterday, which means he has to have a mega time trial to win. He starts off well by beating Paillot by five seconds for the fastest split time: 10'56.
Laengen (18th, + 37) has Lane (19th, + 37) in his sights already. It says more about the Australian than the Norwegian though, as Laengen takes the tenth time at fourteen seconds from Keizer, with Lane not even in the top hundred.
Dennis (17th, + 37) with the same time as Laengen. It means Keizer has already moved ahead of the both of them.
Cattaneo (16th, + 37) does not fall behind the Dutchman, as he manages to match his time at the checkpoint, and with the eleven-second advantage going into the stage he can now dream of the title.
The T-Mobile duo of Buchmann (15th, + 20) and Van Garderen (14th, + 20) are amongst the worst time trialists in the top thirty. This is shown at the checkpoint as the American has lost 30 seconds and the German 47 seconds. They are lucky they have a slight time advantage over the previous starters, but they should look down rather than up.
Lecuisinier (13th, + 20) splits third at two seconds, which makes him the new virtual leader at the halfway point.
At the same time, Keizer is the first of the top twenty to finish. He loses ten seconds to Fiedler on this part and only had a lead of nine, so he won't win the stage. He is virtual GC leader but knows the likes of Lecuisinier and Cattaneo are matching his times while being higher up in the GC.
Novak (12th, + 20) loses thirteen seconds to Cattaneo. This is tenth place at the split, so not a bad ride from the Czech so far, and keeps him in contention for a top ten with some riders ahead of him being less qualified on paper.
Bobridge (11th, + 20) with a very disappointing time, 27th at 22 seconds. A podium will be out of reach, even a top ten will be difficult if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Laengen has overtaken Lane, and finishes in a respectable 16th place (+ 25). It is not enough to keep Keizer at bay, but as he moves ahead of Lane he will at worst keep his GC position.
Lane will finish 130th at more than two minutes, which barely keeps him in the GC top thirty. He will finish in 28th.
Arriving at the checkpoint is Keinath (10th, + 20), posting the thirteenth time at + 14. On the virtual GC leaderboard he is third behind Lecuisinier and Novak, but only a few seconds ahead of the much faster Cattaneo.
Dennis reaches the finish line in 21'37, tied with Hepburn as best Australian of the day. It is eighteenth place out of all finishers, but with Laengen one second ahead of him he drops two places behind Keizer and Laengen. However, given the split times, he is set to gain places as well.
Bibby (9th, + 20) can climb and ride against the clock, but with + 16 the best he can do is consolidate his position.
Cattaneo beats Keizer by four seconds at the finish to take the stage lead and the virtual GC lead, and with most of the riders crossing the split already behind him or only a few seconds ahead, he might end up in the top five if not better.
Gazelle is the only team with two riders in the top ten, though Kangert (8th + 20) is eight seconds slower than his teammate. If they don't pick up the pace, they will both end up outside the top ten.
Goos (7th, + 20) is tenth at the checkpoint at twelve seconds from Lecuisinier. It means he is tied with Novak.
Buchmann and Van Garderen finish almost together, the latter had eyes on the former but couldn't catch him in the end. Buchmann will finish 94th at 1'34, Van Garderen 66th at 1'01. They are currently ninth and fifth in the GC, but with thirteen finishers to go it will likely somewhere around twentieth for both.
We have a new best time at the intermediate, set by Kritskiy (6th, + 20)! He is three seconds faster than Cattaneo.
We also have a new virtual GC leader amongst the finishers in Lecuisinier. He finishes seven seconds down on Cattaneo in fifth, but with his seventeen-second advantage he leads him in the GC by ten seconds.
Pluchkin (5th, + 20) is a PCT rider but that is not a problem for him here. Second time at the split, three seconds down on Kritskiy, and fully within a shot of the podium or even the win.
Novak finish in sixteenth place for now, meaning he lost six places compared to the checkpoint. It shows the pure time trialists gain back time in the flatter second section. Lecuisinier and Cattaneo are better than him, but he manages to hold off Keizer by three seconds in the GC to stand on the virtual podium, though that likely won't last until the end.
For defending champion Hagen, retaining the crown will be difficult. He is 45 seconds down in 72nd at only the halfway point, meaning he is already out of the top ten.
Another rider who won't win is Bobridge, as he finishes in what is now 36th place (+ 42). Four riders who started ahead of him have passed him in the GC, and he has to gain back five from the riders who started after him to enter the top ten.
Spilak (3rd, + 12) has a few seconds advantage over the previous riders to cross the timing point. He loses more than allowed to Kritskiy, Pluchkin and Lecuisinier at the split though, twelfth time at fourteen seconds, and his chaser is already appearing in the background.
But first we switch to the finish line to watch Keinath. 22nd time of the day, fourth in the virtual GC, between Novak and Keizer.
Quickly going back to the split where rocketship Taaramäe (2nd, + 8) has passed. He has not set the fastest time, two seconds behind Kritskiy, but with the bonus seconds from yesterday the GC is looking very good to him.
Bibby sprinting to the finish line to defend his top ten. + 33 to Cattaneo means he is tied with Keizer, but the Dutchman gets the edge in the GC. It means Bibby is now sixth which will likely become eleventh.
Ponzi (1st, 9h09'17) has to enjoy the yellow jersey while he can, as it quickly became clear he cannot keep it. Even a top ten will be difficult with a split time 48 seconds slower than Kritskiy.
Now that every rider has at least half the stage done, time for an overview for the stage and GC up to then:
Stage
Rider
Time
GC
Rider
Time
1
Kritskiy
10'52
1
Taaramäe
9h20'11
2
Taaramäe
+ 2
2
Kritskiy
+ 10
3
Pluchkin
+ 3
3
Pluchkin
+ 13
4
Cattaneo
s.t.
4
Lecuisinier
+ 15
5
Keizer
s.t.
5
Spilak
+ 16
6
Lecuisinier
+ 5
6
Goos
+ 26
7
Paillot
+ 9
7
Novak
s.t.
8
Fiedler
+ 12
8
Keinath
+ 28
9
Zmorka
s.t.
9
Cattaneo
+ 30
10
Brändle
+ 13
10
Bibby
s.t.
11
Oliveira
s.t.
11
Bobridge
+ 36
12
Cataford
s.t.
12
Kangert
+ 38
13
Novak
+14
13
Ponzi
s.t.
14
Goos
+16
14
Keizer
+ 41
15
Spilak
s.t.
15
Dennis
+ 45
Eight riders left to finish, Kangert with a time just inside the top fifty which is a disappointment for the Estonian. Keizer, Dennis and Laengen pass him compared to the GC at the intermediate, so he will become fifteenth assuming Ponzi and Hagen don't find a magic gear.
Goos was fourteenth at the split and finishes in thirteenth, though Kritskiy, Taaramäe and Pluchkin will beat him. He was in a battle with Novak for sixth place, which settles in his favor as he finished two seconds faster than the Czech. However, Cattaneo has them both, so it will become seventh and eighth for the two.
Kritskiy needs to gain ten seconds to Taaramäe in the second section to win the GC. He does what he can by posting the best stage time, 21'03, which also makes him virtual leader. A nervous few minutes for the Russian will follow.
Pluchkin was three seconds behind the Russian halfway and loses five more to take the third time of the day. His three-second advantage over Lecuisinier means he is now second, which would most likely mean he will step on the podium at the end of the race.
As we see Hagen finish (80th, + 1'18), Spilak has already entered the final 500 meters. The Norwegian will just hang on to the GC top twenty, eighteenth or nineteenth depending on Ponzi.
The delta between Spilak and Cattaneo for fifth place in the GC is very close, it was one in the Slovenian's favor heading into the final kilometer. His stage time is 21'32, 25 seconds slower than Cattaneo, which means they are tied! Spilak just scraping through for fifth on the hidden milliseconds.
All Taaramäe had to do is stay on his bike to win the GC. That he drops to third on the stage, one second behind Cattaneo, is not a problem, he only lost three more seconds to Kritskiy and thus wins the Tour of Tasmania...
...unless Ponzi had taken a shortcut through the fields, but this is the moment he had to finish to salvage his jersey. 85th on the stage, 1'27 behind stage winner Kritskiy, and down to seventeenth in the GC at 1'13 from Taaramäe.
The first rider called to the podium is Timofey Kritskiy, the winner of the stage. Averaging just over 50 km/h, the Russian rode four seconds faster than Cattaneo and five seconds faster than Taaramäe. Pluchkin is fourth at eight seconds with Fiedler best of the non-GC riders in the same time as the Moldovan. The top ten is completed by Keizer, Zmorka, Lecuisinier, Paillot and Lammertink.
The race victory goes to Estonia and Rein Taaramäe, with the twelve bonus seconds on yesterday's stage being the decisive factor over Kritskiy, who finishes second at seven seconds despite being five seconds faster than him today. The final spot on the podium goes to Pluchkin at fifteen seconds, whose team Popo4Ever have maximized their wildcard. Lecuisinier falls three seconds short of the podium, with Spilak dropping from third to fifth on the final stage. Despite his second place today, Cattaneo only goes to sixth, without the time loss yesterday he would have been on the podium. Goos, Novak and Keinath can be happy with seventh, eighth and ninth place respectively. Keizer completes the top ten in the same time as Bibby, then Bobridge with his first non-podium since 2014, when he did not participate. Laengen in thirteenth, one second ahead of Dennis and Kangert. The top twenty is completed by Van Garderen, Ponzi, Brändle, Hagen and Wirtgen.
Aside from the yellow jersey, Rein Taaramäe also takes green home with him, leaving stage winners Ponzi, Kritskiy and Coquard behind. The mountains classification was already decided yesterday, but for the sake of completion: Georg Preidler wins ahead of Eiking, and a tie for third between Augustyn and Van Avermaet. Tom Wirtgen is the best young rider of the race, with Gidich beating Schlegel by two seconds for second place. Bennelong - Mitchelton went into the stage as leaders of the teams classification and emerges out of it as well, two minuted ahead of Gazelle and three minutes ahead of Isostar.
