Hello and welcome for the first stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt. The 140 riders have to conquer 41.6 km, so we should immediately see some interesting gaps between the favourites. The terrain is not pan flat as you can see, but it would also not be correct to call this a climbing time trial.
The first not too terrible time trialist on the road is Reckweg. He sets a time of 52’41” at the finish line.
Verona clearly improving that time a bit later, as the Spaniard finishes in 51’28”, which is 1’13” faster than the Berg Cycles rider.
Nareklishvili takes over the lead with a time of 51’16”, eleven seconds faster than the Desigual rider. Nepomnyachsniy then comes in third, at 29” of the Zalgiris rider.
Viennet should be aiming for a top-5 today, but the uphill parts in the first sector are not to his liking. He is three seconds behind Nareklishvili at the first chrono, and at the finish line … he made those three seconds up, but is still milliseconds behind the Zalgiris rider!
Paillot also not with a superb time at the first chrono, as he is seven seconds behind Nareklishvili there. That time loss gets doubled at the finish line, the Frenchman currently in fourth behind Verona!
Another Frenchman is flying though! Mottin leads at the first intermediate and holds that lead until the finish line! He is the first rider to dive under 51 minutes with a time of 50’53”!
Janse van Rensburg has the third time at the first chrono now, but it seems he has conserved his energy well as he comes in second at the finish line! 22 seconds slower than the best time, but one second ahead of Nareklishvili.
Another decent Zalgiris time trialist on the road now, as Hofer is only four seconds behind the best time at the first chrono. At the finish line, the Austrian has gained a second on Mottin, which is not enough. The second rider to dive under 51 minutes, currently in second place.
The first Repsol rocket on the road now, as Kittel is two seconds slower than the best time of Mottin at the first chrono, which shows just how fast the Swisslion rider was going. The German is unable to take any more time in the second part, so it’s still Mottin in the lead!
Dumoulin is Philips’ hope to score some points today. He currently has a seventh time at the finish line, at 27” of Mottin. This probably won’t be enough to finish inside the top-8.
Disappointing effort by Spanish time trial champion Gonzalez Salas, his time of 51’27” is only enough for a twelfth place at the moment.
The bib 1’s on the road already, as the team leaders are now trying to have a good start in the Bayern Rundfahrt. Ignatiev and Ghyselinck are both in the top-20 at the first chrono, but shouldn’t be a threat for the stage win. These are the thirty best times so far, with only +-25 riders to come in.
Izagirre with a strong fourth time at the first chrono, 10 seconds behind Mottin. The Spaniard doing even better than teammate Viennet!
And we finally have a new best time at the first chrono! No surprise that it comes from stage favourite and Ukrainian TT champion Zmorka, who is four seconds faster than the Swisslion rider there! Can he keep this up?
Disappointing time for Uran! 17th at the first chrono, losing 29” against the best time. Not a lot of climbers ahead of him, sure, but Eastman did just get the sixth time at this first chrono, losing only 16”!
Another GC rider at the first chrono now, as Cattaneo is fifth there, at nine seconds of Zmorka!
Defending champion Tenorio sending a strong message, as he takes the lead at the first chrono, being exactly one second faster than Zmorka! Over to the finish line now!
Izagirre did a good job today, currently fourth at 11” of leader Mottin.
Here comes the new leader, Zmorka! It was close at the first chrono, but at the finish line his lead over Mottin is 17”!
Eastman doing well, with a sixth time so far, losing a bit more than half a minute against Zmorka.
Uran had a slightly better second part of the time trial. The Colombian comes in twelfth, losing 54” to the best time.
Cattaneo coming in as well now, he also had a good second part! He’s only 1” slower than Mottin as he is currently third and best of the GC favourites! One more important man to come in now, is Tenorio able to take yellow in the first stage already?
Yes! The Spaniard led by one second at the first chrono, and he holds that one second lead over Zmorka at the finish line! Perfect start for Desigual in their last stage race of the season!
