Welcome to the Celtic Chrono. PCT’s premier time trialists will duke it out over two legs. It’s all pretty straightforward, so let’s not mince any more words and get right into it.
After the first handful of riders have passed through the first time check, Giorgi Nareklishvili leaves the best impression. He’s 6 seconds ahead of Dempster, 11 ahead of Laizer and Sebright, and and 12 ahead of Haga.
Due to Repsol - Netflix’s depth, one of the top favorites Kittel is on the road pretty early. Unsurprisingly, he sets a new best time at the first checkpoint, 17 seconds ahead of Nareklishvili, 12 ahead of Mullen, who came through a couple of riders earlier.
At the second intermediate checkpoint, Nareklishvili continues to look well. Dempster, who had a deficit of just 6 seconds at the first checkpoint, is now a full 18 seconds behind.
If the slight uphill slope has any impact, we would expect Haga, a stage racer by trade, to do pretty well there. An while he does gain some 10 seconds on Sebright and Laizer, who are terrible climbers/puncheurs, he also loses an additional 15 to Nareklishvili. The Georgian is a decent climber, so that may actually mitigate some stuff, but time trialing skills still obviously far outweigh any of that.
Laizer is the first rider at the finish line, his time stands at 1h00’40. We should see riders breaking the one hour mark pretty soon.
With half of all riders through the first checkpoint, here’s a quick overview. Mottin has done well to get to the provisional podium, but the biggest names are obviously still coming up.
Nareklishvili continues his impressive ride and is indeed the first rider to finish under an hour at 59’38. That’s a minute on Laizer and Sebright, but he only added another 4 seconds to his lead over Haga, who’s currently in second place at + 31.
Meanwhile, Balloni does pretty well for himself. He moves ahead of Nareklishvili into third place at the second checkpoint, a gain of 7 seconds. Kittel and Mullen are still at 1 and 2, although the German has already brought half a minute between the two of them. He’s looking pretty strong, as far as we can tell at this point.
Dempster ends up in third place for now at the finish. He lost 16 seconds to Haga on the final third and falls behind him. Maybe that’s an indication that the slope can indeed tire out some of the weaker climbers.
Another indication for this comes in the battle of Mullen v Kittel. The Polar rider, who overtakes Barbadian champ Vanderpool close to the finish line, is the better climber/puncheur. Can he gain some time? He takes the lead for now, as was expected, with a time of 59’21.
Then comes Kittel, who almost overtakes not one but two riders. He led the Irish by 29 seconds at the second checkpoint and increases his lead to “only” 35. New best time at 58’46. Balloni follows shortly afterwards, he falls behind Nareklishvili again by a single second as is 4th at the moment.
Mottin on the other hand is one second ahead of Nareklishvili, a new 3rd place.
Meanwhile, the first serious challenger for Kittel arises and it’s his teammate Gonzalez Salas. He was 12 seconds behind him at the first but only 9 at the second checkpoint. If he can keep this up, maybe he has a chance.
Janse van Rensburg does not seem to have great legs today, he’s just 19th at the first checkpoint with many of the top riders still to come.
However, quite a few of those top riders don’t seem to be in the best shape either. Howson is 11th right now, 25 seconds behind Kittel already. Paillot has the exact same time, as does Cataford.
Defending champion Viennet does much, much worse! He’s even outside the Top 20, 42 seconds behind Kittel. Schädlich also has a deficit of 31 seconds already.
Gonzalez Salas lost a bit of steam in the final sector and finishes 23 seconds behind his teammate, but still comfortably ahead of Mullen.
His other teammate Zmorka doesn’t do great so far, just 9th at the first checkpoint.
The last rider there is Fiedler. He’s 4th at + 16.
Which leaves us with these final standings at the first checkpoint. Kittel leads pretty comfortably, but some riders will be very disappointed and have to step up their game.
Paillot does just that! He even gains 6 seconds on Kittel in the second sector. Howson ahead of him gains 2. But both are still around 20 seconds behind.
Sergent even gains 12 to come within 4 seconds of the German!
Fiedler gains a few seconds as well, but not as much. However, we have a much closer picture now as both of the two are now serious contenders to take the lead from Kittel at the finish line. Janse van Rensburg has been better lately and is back in the Top 20.
Howson moved up from 14th to 8th and now to provisional 3rd at + 32. Gonzalez Salas is still second.
But not for long. Paillot beats him by 5 seconds, he finishes 18 behind Kittel.
Schädlich isn’t doing great, he loses almost a minute …
While Cataford rides the final sector at the exact same pace as the current leader and finishes just 21 seconds behind him, 3 behind Paillot. Behind him, Viennet’s desaster day continues, he stays outside of the Top 20 at + 1’39.
And then we actually have a new lead! Sergent beats Kittel by less than a second. Repsol teammate Zmorka does not manage to gain back the lead for Repsol, he’ll end up in 7th for this leg.
Fiedler is the last rider of the leg, he actually loses a bit on the final sector and finishes 3rd at + 11.
Which leaves us with these rankings at the end of day 1:
1
Jesse Sergent
GCN Racing
58'46
2
Marcel Kittel
Repsol - Netflix
s.t.
3
Jacob Fiedler
Mapei
+ 12
4
Yoann Paillot
Farfetch Pro Cycling
+ 18
5
Alexandor Cataford
Podium Ambition
+ 21
6
Mario Gonzalez Salas
Repsol - Netflix
+ 23
7
Marlen Zmorka
Repsol - Netflix
+ 29
8
Damien Howson
Duolingo
+ 32
9
Ryan Mullen
Polar
+ 35
10
Hugues Mottin
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 51
Spoiler
11
Giorgi Nareklishvili
DK - SVA Zalgiris
+ 52
12
Alfredo Balloni
Mapei
+ 54
13
Lucas Schädlich
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 58
14
Josh Atkins
Mapei
+ 1'06
15
Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg
Minions
+ 1'16
16
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 1'17
17
Sean Downey
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 1'19
18
Chad Haga
Minions
+ 1'24
19
Zakkari Dempster
Duolingo
+ 1'30
20
Andreas Hofer
DK - SVA Zalgiris
s.t.
21
Metkel Kiflay
Project: Africa
+ 1'37
22
Emilien Viennet
Polar
+ 1'40
23
John Archibald
GCN Racing
+ 1'42
24
Michael Ford
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 1'49
25
Stefan De Bod
Farfetch Pro Cycling
+ 1'50
26
Aggrey Sebright
Glanbia Foods Cycling Project
+ 1'52
27
Steven Burke
GCN Racing
s.t.
28
Richard Laningo Laizer
Project: Africa
+ 1'54
29
Manuel Betilson
Project: Africa
+ 1'59
30
Chris Barton
Minions
+ 2'01
31
Josue Gonzalez Cortes
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 2'07
32
Dominique Cornu
Duolingo
+ 2'11
33
Gert Joeaar
Eddie Stobart
+ 2'26
34
Egan Bernal
Polar
+ 2'34
35
Alexandre Geniez
Kraftwerk Man Machine
+ 2'37
36
Izidor Penko
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 2'39
37
Kristian Vanderpool
Podium Ambition
+ 2'41
38
Edoardo Affini
Farfetch Pro Cycling
+ 3'36
39
Davide Malacarne
Eddie Stobart
+ 3'44
40
Travis Meyer
Eddie Stobart
+ 4'52
41
Darren Matthews
Podium Ambition
s.t.
42
Beka Nareklishvili
DK - SVA Zalgiris
+ 5'28
Onto Leg 2 we go! As riders cross the finish line, I will indicate their current GC position. That is, the position they would finish in if every other rider left remains ahead of them. As riders move up, that position will be adjusted accordingly. I hope, that’s comprehensible.
Beka Nareklishvili is the first rider home. He was last by a comfortable margin in leg 1 and judging by the results at the checkpoint, that’s not going to change today. He does improve his time a little bit, though, despite the heavy rain that has started to fall.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
42.
-
Nareklishvili
1h04’14
1h03’54
2h’08’08
Vanderpool is the first rider with a notable time after that. She takes the lead pretty comfortably.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
37.
-
Vanderpool
1h01’27
1h01’52
2h’03’19
38.
-
Affini
+ 55
+ 1’08
+ 2’03
39.
+1
Meyer
+ 2’11
+ 1’28
+ 3’39
Meanwhile, looking at the first time check, Viennet has recovered a bit. He has gained time on many riders coming after him, including Hofer, who’s currently 2nd at + 8 and Dempster (+ 13). So if he continues like this, he’ll certainly gain a few spots.
Eddie Stobart did not come to this race with high ambitions. Malacarne and Meyer are currently 2nd and 3rd to last respectively, but Joeaar is at least a bit stronger. He loses one place in the GC and will likely finish 34th.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
33.
+1
Geniez
1h01’23
1h01’38
2h’03’01
34.
-1
Joeaar
- 11
+ 21
+ 10
35.
+2
Vanderpool
+ 4
+ 13
+ 17
Cornu had a very disappointing first leg, but he does much better here. Should allow him to gain a few spots.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
32.
-
Cornu
1h00’57
1h00’53
2h01’50
33.
+1
Geniez
+ 26
+ 45
+ 1’11
34.
-1
Joeaar
+ 15
+ 1’07
+ 1’22
Similar to Viennet, this is a bit of a redemption stage for Schädlich. Having started from 13th, he is 2 seconds faster than the French, provisionally moves past Balloni and Nareklishvili and is only 5 seconds behind Mottin, who still holds the virtual 10th place.
Ford wasn’t great in leg 1, he finished 24th, but he looks decent today. He’s 2nd at the moment at the second intermediate time check, behind Viennet but ahead of a few other riders that were ahead of him.
Actually, let’s have a look at the standings at the second intermediate check as they currently stand, with only the Top 18 left. Dempster, who started the day in 19th place, is currently the big loser, set to fall behind all the riders behind him up until and including Ford. Hofer and Sebright look well today.
Speaking of Sebright, he’s actually the first rider to dethrone Cornu, both in this leg and in the GC.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
26.
-
Sebright
1h00’38
1h00’51
2h01’29
27.
+5
Cornu
+ 19
+ 1
+ 20
28.
+1
Betilson
+ 7
+ 30
+ 37
We also have a new lead at the first time check. Once again, Gonzalez Salas looks very well, he’s tied with his teammate Zmorka, one second ahead of Howson and Cataford. No changes in the virtual GC between them yet.
Ford is now at the finish line. He has De Bod in sight, who will lose a couple of places today but arguably overperformed yesterday. The Glanbia rider takes the lead, hoping to make some progress in the GC, especially since his teammate Downey does not look great through the first two time checks at all.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
24.
-
Ford
1h00’35
1h00’46
2h01’21
25.
+1
Sebright
+ 3
+ 5
+ 8
26.
+6
Cornu
+ 22
+ 6
+ 28
New lead alert! Fiedler beats Gonzalez Salas by a good 12 seconds. That looks like a very good time that could bring him back into contention for the win. Paillot ahead of him is 23 seconds slower and virtually drops from 4th to 7th.
Then Viennet comes to the line. He almost overtakes Archibald, who drops a few spots similar to De Bod, and takes the lead easily. Having started the second leg in 22nd place, he’s sure to gain quite a bit.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
22.
-
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
23.
+1
Ford
+ 9
+31
+ 40
24.
+2
Sebright
+ 12
+ 36
+ 48
Kittel comes through the first checkpoint 3 seconds slower than Fiedler, which gives him a 9 second cushion. But he looked stronger in the first half yesterday, so we’ll have to wait and see if that’s enough.
Sergent on the other hand loses 7 seconds, which leaves him in virtual 2nd place, just 5 seconds ahead of Fiedler.
With that, here’s a look at the final results at the first checkpoint. The Top 3 remain the same, they seem to have the podium secured between them, but in which order? Among the Top 10, Paillot is obviously the worst so far, while Viennet and Hofer could move up into the Top 15, at least the Top 20.
Meanwhile, Schädlich continues his good run. He takes the lead at the second intermediate sprint as well, again 2 seconds ahead of Viennet.
Kiflay is Project: Africa’s best rider here and a 21st place was a really strong result in leg 1. He can’t keep that up, but still remains in the Top 25 at least.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
21.
+1
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
22.
+2
Ford
+ 9
+31
+ 40
23.
+3
Sebright
+ 12
+ 36
+ 48
24.
- 3
Kiflay
- 3
+ 54
+ 51
Hofer then makes his Top 20 bid. He can’t keep up with Viennet, but looking at the times at the intermediate sprints, he should still move past a few others that are yet to come.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
20.
+2
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
21.
-1
Hofer
- 10
+ 23
+ 13
22.
+2
Ford
+ 9
+ 31
+ 40
Dempster is the first and a few moments later, Haga is the second. The American falls out of the Top 20 for the moment.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
18.
+4
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
19.
+1
Hofer
- 10
+ 23
+ 13
20.
-1
Dempster
- 10
+ 48
+ 38
21.
+3
Ford
+ 9
+ 31
+ 40
22.
-4
Haga
- 16
+ 59
+ 43
Ford has done well today, but Glanbia have one more string on their bow. As mentioned earlier though, Downey isn’t looking well at all here, he drops a lot, even behind Kiflay. Then, however, Nepomnyachsniy does even worse! Swisslion now has to hope for a decent result by Mottin, who started the day in 10th place, but who has indeed been pretty solid so far.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
16.
+6
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
17.
+3
Hofer
- 10
+ 23
+ 13
18.
+1
Dempster
- 10
+ 48
+ 38
…
23.
-6
Downey
- 21
+ 1’15
+ 54
24.
-8
Nepomnyachsniy
- 23
+ 1’21
+ 58
Not quite as good as Zmorka, though. After Howson had bested Schädlich by 9 seconds just moments earlier, the Ukranian champ in turn is 1 second faster.
But that lead, too, only holds for a little bit. Cataford is another second faster. Gonzalez Salas has the same time as Howson, so we have 4 riders within 2 seconds at the moment.
A quick look back to the finish line: After a terrible start, Janse van Rensburg rebounded pretty well in the first leg to finish 15th. He can’t stop either Viennet’s or Hofer’s meteoric rise, but he does overtake Atkins, the first of the 3 Mapei riders to come to the line, a rather disappointing result for the latter.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
14.
+8
Viennet
1h00’26
1h00’15
2h00’41
15.
+5
Hofer
- 10
+ 23
+ 13
16.
-1
Janse van Rensburg
- 24
+ 45
+ 21
17.
-3
Atkins
- 34
+ 1’01
+ 27
At the second time check, Fiedler has absolutely demolished Cataford’s time by almost half a minute. That’s going to be a tough nut to crack for the remaining two riders.
Kittel hangs on, he’s 7 seconds slower, still 5 seconds left of his advantage on his compatriot. Sergent on the other hand is already at + 16, now in third place virtually.
Not much has changed since the first checkpoint. Not much has changed, but Paillot’s bad day continues and he’s now in danger of falling as far as 9th!
Schädlich is at the line next and he finally manages to best Viennet, not just in the GC but also in leg 2. Remarkably consistent, he sits on the hotseat with 3 seconds of a lead on the stage. He’s also the first to complete the entire race in under 2 hours. Balloni can’t quite keep up with that, he loses 2 spots.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
12.
+1
Schädlich
59’44
1h00’12
1h59’56
13.
+9
Viennet
+ 42
+ 3
+ 45
14.
-2
Balloni
- 4
+ 53
+ 49
Then comes Nareklishvili. He did pretty much what you’d expect on the course so far today and he confirms that with a solid ride into provisional third place at the line, second in the virtual GC. He can’t keep Schädlich behind him, but secures a Top 12 spot.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
11.
+2
Schädlich
59’44
1h00’12
1h59’56
12.
-1
Nareklishvili
- 6
+ 23
+ 17
13.
+9
Viennet
+ 42
+ 3
+ 45
We’re in the Top 10 now. Mottin had a lead of 7 seconds on Schädlich after the first leg, but was 9 seconds slower at the second checkpoint here … and it stays at that exact same margin. Mottin is 11th for the moment and with a 16 second gap to 9th place after the first leg, it would be a surprise if that changes.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
10.
+3
Schädlich
59’44
1h00’12
1h59’56
11.
-1
Mottin
- 7
+ 9
+ 2
12.
-1
Nareklishvili
- 6
+ 23
+ 17
Indeed, eventhough it’s only third at the moment at the finish line, Mullen defends that 9th place. Looking at the intermediate times, it will likely stay that way unless Paillot continues to fall.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
9.
-
Mullen
59’21
1h00’16
1h59’37
10.
+3
Schädlich
+ 23
- 3
+ 19
11.
-1
Mottin
+ 16
+ 5
+ 21
Howson sets the new best time at the finish line and easily takes the lead of the virtual GC. But can he gain one or two spots overall as well? That depends on the next riders.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
8.
-
Howson
59’18
59’59
1h59’17
9.
-
Mullen
+ 3
+ 18
+ 21
10.
+3
Schädlich
+ 26
+ 13
+ 39
Zmorka for instance had a 3 second lead over the Australian. Either way, this race will be a pretty big disappointment for him, but can he at least hold Howson at bay? Yes he can, new best time!
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
7.
-
Zmorka
59’15
59’58
1h59’13
8.
-
Howson
+ 3
+ 1
+ 4
9.
-
Mullen
+ 6
+ 19
+ 25
Despite how Zmorka might feel about his individual result, it’s a pretty impressive team performance by Repsol - Netflix. Gonzalez Salas stays ahead of his teammate to give them 3 riders in the Top 7, possibly even Top 6.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
6.
-
Gonzalez Salas
59’09
59’59
1h59’08
7.
-
Zmorka
+ 6
- 1
+ 5
8.
-
Howson
+ 9
+1
+ 10
Cataford has looked fantastic over both legs, starting the second one in 5th place. And he will be at least just as good in said second leg, as he takes the best time and not by a small margin: 12 seconds.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
5.
-
Cataford
59’07
59’46
1h58’53
6.
-
Gonzalez Salas
+ 2
+ 14
+ 16
7.
-
Zmorka
+ 8
+ 12
+ 20
Then comes Paillot, who has been struggling, looking at the time checks. He will fall quite a bit, from 4th to 8th, but stays ahead of Mullen.
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
4.
+1
Cataford
59’07
59’46
1h58’53
5.
+1
Gonzalez Salas
+ 2
+ 14
+ 16
6.
+1
Zmorka
+ 8
+ 12
+ 20
…
8.
-4
Paillot
- 3
+ 39
+ 36
And now, we’re right in the middle of the fight for the win. Fiedler can already see the Frenchman ahead of him as he turns the final corner. He takes the lead with an impressive 29 seconds ahead of Cataford, although that’s just 2 seconds more than at the second checkpoint. But the latter has been fantastic on the final stretch, indeed. Now, Fiedler has to wait …
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
3.
-
Fiedler
58’58
59’17
1h58’15
4.
+1
Cataford
+ 9
+ 29
+ 38
5.
+1
Gonzalez Salas
+ 11
+ 43
+ 54
Kittel had a 12 second lead on Fiedler at the start of the second leg, only 5 of which remained at the second checkpoint and now the seconds are ticking. 8 … 9 … 10 … 11 … 12! The clock actually stops at 12, putting both riders at the same time, but the milliseconds tip the scales in favor of the Repsol rider - Kittel takes the overall lead!
First Leg
Second Leg
Total
2.
-
Kittel
58’46
59’28
1h58’14
3.
-
Fiedler
+ 12
- 12
s.t.
4.
+1
Cataford
+ 21
+ 18
+ 39
Sergent is the final rider to cross the line. The intermediate times indicated that he would lose the overall lead, and indeed he does. But he finishes 3rd on the day and 3rd overall, which is a really solid result for him.
Celtic Chrono 
