Stage 1 in Portugal is a 5,1 km prologue even though as usual questionable if not already too long for pure prologue specialists.
Though while the competition on the later and longer ITT on stage 7 is really weak here, due to 3 prologue specialists, it`s still a lot more open today.
Anyway, top favourite in both cases is Phinney anyway, simply the best.
Andersen is equally strong on paper or maybe even with an advantage with a big engine on the short flat sections. Same could be said about sprinter Kemboi, who just like Schomber though is missing a bit against the clock.
Christodoulos and Sajnok as best of the rest are outsiders as their skill gap to the top1-4 is too big.
Rodrigues surely will be one of the few home favourites. The Binance leader is a good climber and decent time trialist. Today is about gaining time on direct rivals for the top10. He comes in with 11s off from the best time, which at the moment is coming from Wohler.
Schomber a bit later attacks that time. But surprisingly is not able to do so. He is off just 1s and sitting in 2nd now. Only just 1-2 seconds ahead of the next, such as Penko, Crncevic, Christodoulos or Van Niekerk. Some of the earlier performances might point towards a bit of uphill impact here due to the final meters as you can see behind the German here.
Sajnok is the first to beat Wohler`s time. He goes 3 seconds faster and takes the expected lead for now. Well, expected against most, not so much against Schomber.
Campenaerts a bit later also struggling. Just 7th and 6s slower than the Pole.
Foliforov, who?
Yes, rather unexpected the Russian is getting some TV time. The Tinkoff rider is on a very fast ride by a look of it. He is more the alrounder/helper guy but seems to be on a huge day. Despite being quite a bit down in the expected leaderboard for today, he goes into attack mode for the top positions today. He is not only beating Schomber or Wohler, but also the latest best time by Sajnok by 1s with Van Poppel being another 2s behind then most recently.
This is quite a shocker as probably not even any single bookie had him on his list for today.
Well, to be fair, the best riders are yet to come, still he did beat some top3-5 riders here, while not even being expected top50 himself.
He surely had some great breakfast this morning.
Oomen is a similar but stronger version of Rodrigues earlier on. A great climber, decent puncheur and time trialist and even more so a prologue rider. Clearly one of the top favourites behind maybe Phinney and Madrazo for the GC.
And he starts well. 7th so far is really a strong performance by him, same time as the two ahead of him, which moves him into a good position early on.
Galta as well wants a high GC here. A bit weaker than Oomen on paper but still a good skillset for this race, even though less strong on the hills.
14s down for him, which is okay but not very good.
Andersen is the joined best prologue rider here, maybe even best as pure specialist.
And, making it short, fails. 3rd for now, 1s behind Sajnok, another behind Foliforov, who still leads with most riders in.
Madrazo at age 34 still the top2 favourite here due to his climbing. He lost a bit of his energy, acceleration though lately. And different to e.g. Oomen can`t really convince today. Similar area as Galta in the middle of top climbers. He surely will prefer the long ITT a lot more.
Barguil is another of the many very similar climbers here, which divide a bit in TT or hill skills. He usually is a solid performer, which is needed for Team UBS surely.
Today though not the best TT being 24s down, which is a bit more than expected.
Kemboi next and just like Kragh Andersen a specialist for todays stage. Though with the difference that the upcoming flat days might bring him more chances for the leader jersey.
He comes close but also can`t beat Foliforov. Actualyl also not beating Sajnok and Kragh Andersen but then coming just next.
Last but not least Phinney, the final rider to beat Foliforov. Well anything else would be a huge shocker here. He is fast, definitely gaining time on all his GC opponents, which comes expected though, he will under normal circumstances do so even more in the long TT and on paper as well on the mountain stage and maybe even on the hill stages? Who knows, as said earlier, simply the best in many races and here in Portugal with that startlist even more though.
Well, today not so much. He only comes over the line in 7th. 5s down to Alexander "Who" Foliforov. But also behind Sajnok, Kragh Andersen, Kemboi, Van Poppel and Wohler in this order.
Who had expected such winner today? Probably not even the own manager.
