After small time gaps so far, the next two stages will likely decide the 2020 Tour of Japan. Today a 12 km time-trial up Mt. Fuji. This has always been a stage for the diesel climbers, Denifl went back-to-bakck in 2017 and 2018. And last year Krasnoperov beat Bennett by 8 seconds to win the TT. But the more rounded Xero rider took the win on Stage 5 to take the GC. Bennett is back but this year he has some other well-rounded riders to deal with. The favorites are:
In addition there are 16 mountain points on offer to the win. Since the current KOM leader only has 12 points the stage winner today will take the mountain jersey.
And the first rider down the starting ramp with any mountain climbing skills is Rhim
The first serious climber is Aasvold, and he sets the benchmark at the first time check, 45 seconds ahead of the American.
Last place right now is Barbier already a massive 9’56 behind the current leader at the first check. There will be big time gaps today.
Another Norwegian, Sortveit beats Aasvold by 3 seconds to take the lead at the first check.
The next climber at the first check is Stetina but he falls 13 seconds short. There is a 30km headwind for the riders in one direction of all the hairpins.
Krasnoperov is 1 second behind at the first check. A repeat victory seems unlikely.
But Nazaret goes 2 seconds better and is the new leader by a second.
A great ride by Schleck as he takes the lead by 4 seconds at the check.
Sortveit has the lead at the finish by 10 seconds over Aasvold.
Panayotov struggling, he is 18 seconds off the pace at the first check.
A surprise new leader at the first check, Jones goes first by 5 seconds.
Schleck has taken the lead at the finish by 9 seconds. Times at the finish generally consistent with the first check. Krasnoperov is 15 seconds behind, definitely no repeat for him.
Bonnin sets the new best time at the first check by 5 seconds.
Hacecky slots into 2nd at the first check, 3 seconds behind.
Some favorites coming through the first check now and not able to match the best time: Ablenado +3 Suaza, +30 Diaz, +23 Jaramillo, +48
Jones keeps up his good ride taking the lead at the finish by 8 seconds.
But Bonnin takes first from him at the final check as well. This time by 12 seconds.
Just as Bonnin finishes he loses the intermediate lead to Grmay by milliseconds.
Abelnado and Hacecky reach the finish, they both lose a further 7 seconds to Bonnin and are 2nd and 3rd.
Grmay can’t quite keep the pace in the 2nd half and is 1 second behind the leader at the finish.
Guerreiro unable to break the top 10, he is +31 at the first check (17th).
Squire a little better at +10 (6th) Atapuma +6 (6th) Scarponi +44 (22nd) Areruya +43 (22nd)
We are in the top 20 in the GC now. Padun, 19th on the GC comes across the first check.
But he is 11 seconds off the pace of Bonnin, only good enough for 9th.
The leaderboards at this point look like this:
Next up is his Ukrainan teammate, Topchanyuk, he is also +11 seconds but takes over 9th.
Poljanski is the first rider to come close in a while, he is at +3 (3rd) at the first check.
The next rider sets a new standard though, Pomoshnikov is our new leader, beating the prior first check best by 15 seconds.
Next over Frankiny is 13 seconds slower.
The defending champion crosses and has both the riders ahead of him in his sites.
Bennett our new leader, he is 35 seconds ahead.
Konig takes second, 33 seconds behind Bennett.
Wellens takes the lead by 1 second.
At the finish Atapuma manages 3rd, 4 seconds off the pace. The only change near the to of the final standings recently
Faiers is only 40 seconds back at the first check (5th), a good ride for him.
Monsalve does only a little better, +36 (4th)
The White Jersey, Dunbar, is next.
He loses 1’22, he only had 6 seconds over Padun at the beginning of the day, and he has lost 18 seconds at the first check. Padun has finished the course 16 seconds behind Bonnin, which given more recent intermediate times, isn’t great. Maybe Dunbar can hold on.
Kudus is s 7 seconds behind at the first check.
Yates is cross 21 seconds off the lead, he is losing Yellow at this point.
Poljanski has finished 3 seconds behind Bonnin, the same as his deficit at the intermediate check.
The next rider to finish will be Pomoshnikov. He was the first rider to really stir things up at the first check.
Before he finishes let’s look at the virtual top 10 including the times at the first check.
Virtual Rank
Rider
Rank Change
Stage Time
New GC Time
Prior GC Time
1
Merhawi Kudus
+1
+7
-
+ 6
2
Tim Wellens
+5
-
+6
+ 19
3
Adam Yates
--2
+21
+8
-
4
George Bennett
+7
+1
+9
+ 21
5
Leopold Konig
+4
+34
+40
+ 19
6
Yonathan Monsalve
--1
+36
+41
+ 18
7
Sergei Pomoshnikov
+6
+36
+44
+ 21
8
Thomas Faiers
--2
+40
+45
+ 18
9
Kilian Frankiny
+3
+50
+58
+ 21
10
Pawel Poljanski
+4
+55
+63
+ 21
Riders dropping out of the top 10 include Ackermann, Dunbar, Andriafenomananiaina and Pavlic.
At the moment Kudus has 6 seconds on Wellens but he lost 7 seconds in the first half of the TT. If he repeats that he will lose the GC lead. Yates and Bennett are also in the battle at the top. The next group are all close together and positions 5 to 10 are up for grabs.
Pomoshnikov sets the new best time 30 seconds ahead of Bonnin. Doubling his advantage from the first check. Bonnin had got pretty comfortable in the hot seat.
Pomoshnikov does not get comfortable as Bennett beats his time by 1’05, also approximately doubling his advantage. Great ride by the defending champion, he should at least be on the podium at the end of the day.
Frankiny finishes right behind Bennett and loses 50 seconds. He will be in the top 10 tonight.
Konig will finish next, he is passing Pellaud who is on a pace to lose about 10 minutes on the day.
Konig finishes 1’06 behind.
Wellens finishes next.
And he can’t hold off Bennett, he finishes 5 seconds slower, which he means he also trails in the GC by 3 seconds
Faiers finishes 1’20 behind, enough to hold on to 8th. A good rider for Nordstrom.
The Venezuelan champion is next, he could gain or lose positions, his first half time didn’t match the other top GC riders.
He loses 1’11. He drops to 7th on the GC, behind Pomoshnikov.
Dunbar loses 2’36. He will lose white to Padun.
Kudus finishes, 18 seconds behind and which means he is 4 seconds behind Bennett in the GC. The defending champion is back in yellow by a few seconds and Wellens takes second.
Yates loses 46 seconds. He will slip to 4th.
Bennett takes the stage and the GC lead. But the margins are tiny, they have it all to play for tomorrow.
As noted earlier the stage winner also gets the mountain jersey. Yates gets the consolation of the Green jersey. Fablok takes the team jersey thanks to strong rides from Hacecky (15th), Wellens (2md), and Poljanski (12th).
Tour of Japan 
