We begin the 2020 Tour of Northern Europe with a cobbled TTT. Who will be our first race leader? And will any big favourites lose time today?
Volvo acc. by Spotify start us off today. They set markers of 18’17 at the first split, 36’07 at the second and 50’34 at the finish. It’s not an ideal start for them though as Jensen loses an additional 10 seconds, and even more worryingly for their GC chances Stallaert loses 1’21!
Next up are Isostar - Specialized, who improve on Volvo acc. by Spotify’s time at every split. They finish in a time of 49’48, with Per losing an additional 2 seconds.
Team Puma - SAP are the next team off the ramp, and you’d expect them to fancy their chances today. They too lower the bar, coming through 40 seconds quicker than Isostar - Specialized and setting a real time to beat – as well as not losing any of their key riders.
But their lead is short-lived, as Team UBS come flying around the course! They have a 19 second advantage by the first checkpoint, and while that narrows to 3 seconds by the finish they take the provisional lead. Spengler does however lose an additional 5 seconds though.
Gazelle follow them through and can’t even come close, losing 50 seconds to Team UBS, with Kruijswijk coming home 5 seconds after his teammates.
The first of the wildcard teams on the course today is Xero Racing, and they pretty much consistently match Gazelle throughout. 52 seconds lost to Team UBS, but far from the worst performance we’ve seen today.
Evonik - ELKO hate TTTs but love cobbles, so will likely have undergone a significant existential crisis during this stage. They lose 55 seconds in the first sector alone but limit their losses to 1’31 by the finish – although Blythe comes home a further 8 seconds down.
Yet the next finisher guarantees they won’t be in last place today, as King Power lose 1’47. The splits so far suggest the main losses for a lot of teams comes in the first sector, before time is gained back on the more cobbled latter stages – something to watch as we go on.
Festina - OAKA then go even slower yet, last at every sector. A 1’02 gap becomes a 1’43 gap and finally a time loss of 2’08 on the day, not the start they would have wished for.
Finally, ISA - Hexacta stop the run of disappointing performances. They lose 35 seconds in the first sector but only 51 seconds at the finish, suggesting there are gains to be had on the cobbles compared to the benchmark set by Team UBS, particularly if a team gets the first sector right.
Aegon - Peroni won’t be that team however, as they effectively match ISA - Hexacta sector for sector. 52 seconds time loss on the day isn’t that bad, until you realise that De Bie managed to get dropped in the closing metres and lose an additional 5 seconds.
But Grieg-Maersk are next through, and they manage to take the fight to UBS quite effectively. A 9 second deficit at the first time check is overturned by the second to leave them with a 6 second lead, but can they hold on? The answer is no, as a poor final sector costs them and they finish 3 seconds slower than the Swiss team.
Next through are Moser - Sygic, and they also create a little concern for Team UBS. A 6 second deficit at checkpoint 1 is the closest any challenger has come so far, but they fade over the remainder of the ride to eventually lose 28 seconds.
After that burst of excitement, things start to calm down with the next few teams. Aker - MOT put in a solid ride but end up losing 49 seconds, having never seriously looked like challenging Team UBS at any point.
Similarly Rakuten Pro Cycling lose 1’01, having already lost over half of that in the first sector. Yet we still have some strong teams to come, so Team UBS aren’t safe yet…
eBuddy start off with a head of steam and are only 16 seconds behind at the first time check. But then the wheels start to come off a little, with the gap ballooning to 59 seconds by the second – and by the finish they lose 1’21.
Our worst time of the day comes next courtesy of Air France - KLM. By the end of the first sector they lose more than most teams will lose on the whole course, and at the finish they lose 3’26.
Following them through the course is another team that puts in a poor performance, as Indosat Ooredoo lose 1’56. It’s not the utter disaster Air France - KLM’s ride was, but still less than ideal for them.
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam are our second wildcard team, but can they beat their PCT rivals Xero Racing? After matching them almost exactly until the final sector they begin to struggle, and end up slightly slower, losing 1’01 to Team UBS.
Now to Team Tinkoff - La Datcha, one of today’s big favourites. The first two sectors go well for them, with gaps of 2 and 5 seconds to Team UBS respectively, but they too fade towards the end to lose 20 seconds. Kamyshev loses an additional 9 seconds as well, making this a worse day than they would have hoped.
Bennelong - Mitchelton are less impressive, losing 1’13 on the day – a far cry from their past as a TTT powerhouse.
The next team through are EA Vesuvio, and they also put in a fairly weak ride. 19 seconds down after the first sector, that gap balloons to 48 seconds in the second, and ultimately they lose 1’13.
Two teams to go, and they’re two of the top favourites in Generali and cycleYorkshire. Generali are up first, and they look strong! At the first split they’re 1 second down, and at the second they’re 2 seconds down. But they put in an incredible final sector to improve the best time to 48’57, 7 seconds quicker than Team UBS! The only blemish on their performance is Gaday losing an additional 12 seconds.
But will their joy be short-lived? cycleYorkshire are flying, 10 seconds up in the first sector. The cobbles start to bite and it’s a tie between them and Generali after the second sector, so all eyes are on the clock as they finish… and they come in 4 seconds slower!
So Generali win today’s stage and Oliveira takes the GC lead. cycleYorkshire have to settle for second but get compensation in the form of Crncevic taking the U25 jersey.
