Würtz, Zmorka and Phinney are among the top favorites for today’s stage. But only the latter is in a position to win the GC, and it would be a considerable surprise if he doesn’t. Wirtgen is perhaps the only one who can stop him on a good day. Other spots in the Top 10 and further down the board are still very much open, with riders who were stronger yesterday fighting to fend off better time trialists trying to make up lost ground.
A bunch of strong time trialists took it very easy yesterday to save energy for today and are thus starting very early. Haugard makes a good impression, beating the likes of Golovash, Verona and Schädlich by over 10 seconds.
23’41
Viennet - the second rider to overtake poor Lo Cicero - then comes in and somewhat surprisingly misses the best time.
23’44
Hepburn almost becomes the third rider to overtake Lo Cicero, but he doesn’t have the legs today. 3rd at the moment at + 8.
23’49
Next up is Sütterlin, who falls short of Haugard by less then a second.
23’41
We already have a podium contender for the stage at this early moment. And Vlatos at least for now delivers, beating Haugard by 8 seconds - the Norwegian’s time continues to look very impressive.
23’33
The next rider to enter the (provisional) podium ranks is Howson. He’s just 2 seconds slower than Vlatos!
23’35
In Tanfield, Atkins, Krul and Kukrle, a bunch of decent time trialists enter the Top 15. Then Razumov comes through and finishes 6th.
23’45
That 6th place does not hold for long though, Pelikan finishes one second faster.
23’44
And then we suddenly have a new leader! Tinkoff’s Zakarin is 3 seconds faster than Vlatos and takes the hot seat. A few minutes later, his teammate Yatsevich manages to finish 6th.
23’30
A couple of second tier riders deliver good performances, including Rosskopf, Barbio and Foss. But it’s another Tinkoff rider who makes a real splash: Vorobev sets a new best time by 10 seconds!
23’20
One of the top favorites for the day is Zmorka, but he loses his chances in the first half of the course. 19 seconds deficit at the checkpoint, 19 seconds at the finish line, good enough for only 5th place here.
23’39
Lammertink has a very similar pattern (though a bit slower), and there might be a reason for it: The wind has picked up just a little bit, and in the first half, there are parts where it’s a straight headwind. Unfortunate timing for these guys.
23’45
After a while, the wind slows down a bit again. But it’s not enough for Fraile to really make his mark, he ends up 10th for the moment.
23’42
Mullen was another name experts had high on their list for today and he delivers, at least somewhat. 9 seconds off the lead, but still good enough for 2nd place.
23’29
We’re now in the range of riders who were in the third chasing group on the road yesterday. At + 2’13, they’re 37 seconds behind 22nd place and 1’28 behind the main group. So, there are avenues to a good GC result for these guys. And we start of with a big surprise, because Galta’s is not the name we would have expected to be close to the front, but he somehow finishes tied with Mullen for second place! A bit later, Kiriakidis does well with a provisional 11th place.
23’29
Oliveira on the other was very much expected to aim for a higher GC rank. He, too, finishes with that exact time.
23’29
Keizer on the other hand doesn’t do super well. He’s just 40th, another big disappointment.
24’03
Back into the fight for the stage win here with Würtz - and he gets it done! Having trailed Vorobev by 2 seconds at the checkpoint, he beats him by 8 at the finish line!
23’12
We’re onto the riders in the second chasing group now, who are 51 seconds behind the Top 20 guys. Goos is someone who certainly hoped for a climb up the GC ranks, but his time does not inspire confidence.
24’07
Sepulveda does even worse, but then we have Ganna, who certainly has high ambitions for today. And while he can’t quite compete for the stage win, he handily takes the virtual yellow jersey, coming in third. Also, he’s the fifth (!) rider to finish with a time of
23’29
Similarly ambitious is Cataford, but he’s not quite as fast. Provisional 10th.
23’38
Starting with De Bie, we now have the riders from the main group of favorites on the road. He finishes just 62nd, but the gaps are small enough that he manages to keep Ganna behind him by 4 seconds. That is the benchmark for other riders ahead of him.
24’16
None of Turgis, Cort Nielsen or Brkic can hit that benchmark, moving De Bie and Ganna to 18th and 19th in the virtual GC. But then comes Geoghegan Hart, who manages to best them.
24’08
The conditions seem to have worsened a bit compared to earlier, as times aren’t as competitive anymore. But even compared to the riders immediately around him, Bobridge does poorly. He finishes 70th for the moment, though that is still enough to be third in the virtual GC, just ahead of Ganna.
24’19
Izagirre does better, even if he still finishes outside of the Top 30 on the day. But at least he stays under the 24 minute mark to take the virtual lead.
23’54
Meanwhile, the top GC favorites are coming through the checkpoint. Wirtgen (please ignore the white jersey) shows that top times are still possible, he’s 5th there, 6 seconds behind Vorobev, 4 behind stage leader Würtz.
But then we have a new best time there! Phinney is faster than the Tinkoff rider by a second.
Back to the finish line where Chiarello has a subpar day, finishing just 81st.
24’31
Tenorio on the other hand underlines his podium ambitions! He’s third at the finish, by far the best of this group. Izagirre and Geoghegan Hart are still 2nd and 3rd in the virtual GC with now 10 riders left on the road.
23’26
Mano (please picture him in white instead) trailed Tenorio by just a single second at the checkpoint. But his second half wasn’t great, he loses another 4 seconds and drops to 9th for now on the stage. Still second in the GC, of course.
23’31
Almost overtaking Quita (who, as expected, loses a lot of places here today), Lecuisinier comes to the line. But it’s not a great race by any stretch of the imagination. 44 seconds behind Würtz, he also drops behind Izagirre in the GC.
23’56
Then comes Wirtgen. He was 4 seconds ahead of Tenorio, who had a terrific second half. Can he keep up? He can! He even adds another second, provisional third place and likely second in the GC. Unless, of course, Phinney somehow implodes. EA Vesuvio teammate Valter, who had a stellar stage yesterday and comes to the line next, expectedly loses a lot of places.
23’21
So let’s see, has Phinney cracked? Of course he hasn’t. Quite the opposite: He takes the stage win convincingly by 6 seconds.
23’06
Of the three riders who stayed ahead yesterday, Sagan is the best here. And he really makes the most of it with the small-ish gaps we have, ultimately ending up in 9th overall. Lutsenko saves 15th overall, only Skujins suffers a bit more, falling all the way to 29th.
25’03
And so, we end the race mostly as expected. It’s the same three guys on the podium as last year, with Phinney at the top, but Wirtgen moves up a step past Tenorio. Mano announces himself with a strong 4th place ahead of Izagirre and a maybe slightly miffed Lecuisinier.
Phinney also wins the points classification ahead of EA Vesuvio duo Moser and Wirtgen. As expected, Mano takes white by a considerable margin, while King Power wins the team classification.
Tour of Tasmania 
