The first stage in Ukraine is a Prologue which starts off flat but rises gradually and considerably in the second half. It looks to be a battle between those good against the clock on the flats and on the ascents to see who comes out on top. The favourites for the GC will be looking to put themselves into a good position, while the pure punchers will be hoping to limit their losses so that they remain within touching distance tomorrow.
Favourites
FLA
MON
RES
PRL
Cattaneo
70
82
80
79
Gesink
71
81
77
78
Fraile
69
76
76
79
Cataford
74
72
75
79
Paillot
70
70
74
80
Sergent
79
65
74
80
Zmorka
74
61
75
82
Intxausti
68
80
75
75
Haga
70
75
70
77
Izagirre
71
74
72
77
Dees
71
75
76
76
Eastman
70
82
75
73
Matte is the first rider of note that we pick up. He sets a new time to beat of 13'2", bettering the previous best held by Rikunov.
Robert doesn't have a good day, losing 25 seconds. The incline made it hard for him.
Potocki on the other goes fastest and sets a best time of 12'56".
Howson gets close, down by 4 seconds, meaning that poor climbing ability is not the end of the world on this stage.
Hussein ties the best time!
Stimulak loses 5 seconds.
Panayotov is a further 7 seconds slower.
Omarsson is 8 seconds off.
Ignatenko loses 15 seconds.
Paillot smashes the best time to set the new marker at 12'41".
Janse Van Rensburg is just a second slower.
Durasek is quite a bit off at 23 seconds.
Gonzalez Cortes doesn't do too badly, losing just 9 seconds.
Hofer with a bad ride, down by 33 seconds.
Jones does much better, down by 14 seconds.
Kittel disappoints, losing 19 seconds to the best time.
Dempster has a horror ride, losing 52 seconds.
Domagalski goes fastest! His time is 12'38".
Kamna is 22 seconds slower.
Haga with the new best time - 12'36".
And it is immediately bettered by Dees, who improves it to 12'34".
Gonzalez Salas continues Repsol's bad day with a time 28 seconds down.
Figueiredo loses 15 seconds.
Bartl is a further second slower.
Conci is 7 seconds further slower still.
Eaton comes through next losing 27 seconds.
Bernal takes the lead with a time of 12'34". Could this be his breakout race?
Dunbar is 12 seconds down.
Barton loses just 6 seconds.
Andriafenomananiaina is 20 seconds off the pace.
Borisavljevic with a great ride to be just 2 seconds off the best time.
Ahmad Zamri is 13 second slower.
Benito is 20 seconds down.
Bazhkou doesn't having a great day and loses 39 seconds.
Konig is having a good day and is 7 seconds off the pace.
Schadlich is way off the pace, 48 seconds in arrears.
Paulinho posts the exact same time as Schadlich.
Martin loses 21 seconds.
Cataford posts the new best time of 12'33"!
Intxausti goes close. He's 3 seconds down.
Fraille with a stonking time! 12'18" is the new time to beat.
Izagirre is 17 seconds down. Not the worst ride, but not his best either.
Sergent cannot challenge and loses 21 seconds.
Zmorka does a terrible ride and finishes 45 seconds in arrears,
Eastman rides himself into a good position, losing just 6 seconds on the day.
Fiedler goes the other way, losing 32 seconds.
Gesink is just a second off the best time!
Cattaneo ties the best time set earlier by Fraille. We need to wait to find out who gets the stage win.
Today's winner - Omar Fraille.
The race officials award the stage win to Fraille by milliseconds, and he gets the GC leadership as well. Cattaneo is 2nd, with Gesink in 3rd, both giving their GC ambitions a big lift. The pure TT riders won't be very happy with how this stage played out in the end. Big time losses for most of the best punchers as well.
Bernal leads the U25 standings. MOL lead the Team's classification.
