Welcome to the Isle of Man TT. The riders will tackle the 46k course between Douglas and Ramsey twice.
The top TT’ers dominate the favorites list, the organizer’s don’t think Sterobo climbing skills give him an advantage.
Leg 1 - The First 34 Riders
Overview
There are 3 riders per team so assuming most teams hold their best rider for last, the first 2/3rds of the riders represent outsiders. Jura, Oktal Pharma and Glanbia all feature multiple contenders though, so look for one of their riders to seize the lead.
Recap
Joeaar took the hot seat first but only because he started first. He was immediately beaten by Vanderpool, as Podium Ambition sent their best rider out early, which seems questionable given heavy rain on the course. Vanderpool’s time didn’t prove significant as the she was almost immediately beaten by the first of the 3 Glanbia contenders - Oram, who’s time of 57’39 gave him a 15 second lead.
But his time on the hot seat proved short-lived as he was beaten by first Pruus (a surprise) and then Mottin (not a surprise).
But those times proved unimpressive as Jura sent their big gun out early as well, and Rekita blasted round the course in 56’38, 32 seconds better than Mottin. Rekita perhaps aided by the rain coming to a stop.
Caja followed suit with Jura, Podium Ambition and Bordeaux in sending their leader early but the lack of rain didn’t help him as Balloni lost 2’23 (22nd).
The remaining significant times came from the 2nd Glanbia rider, Cruz (+45, 4th) and an excellent ride from Roe (+31, 2nd). But with 17 riders to finish, Rekita retained a significant lead.
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Barbadian National Champion Vanderpool shows the jersey on the first leg. The rainy conditions probably didn’t remind her of home.
Hot Seat
Starting Slot
Name
Time
Improvement
51
Joeaar
1'01'08
-
50
Vanderpool
57'55
3'12
48
Oram
57'39
0'15
42
Pruus
57'35
0'04
39
Mottin
57'11
0'24
26
Rekita
56'38
0'32
Standings with 34 Riders Finished
Spoiler
Leg 1 – Last 17 Riders
Overview
With many of the favorites going early, the big names left to go in the last 17 were Sterobo and Erdenebat.
Recap
Downey put in the first top 10 time in this group finishing on the same time as his teammate Cruz (+45). But while Downey was finishing Sterobo came through the time check just 4 seconds off the best time.
But he couldn’t hold it and faded to 23 seconds back at the finish, still good for 2nd on the leg. Predatsch also put in a good time, 38 seconds behind (new 5th).
Then Marchewka made it a great day for Jura as he took over 2nd, 20 seconds behind his teammate. Spanish Champion Castrillo also broke into the top 10, losing 33 seconds, 6th place.
That left only Erdenebat on the course among the contenders. But the Mongolian lost 39 seconds at the time check (26th) so his race looked to be collapsing in the first 20k. He was able to improve to 17th, 1’29 down, at the finish, leaving him needing a great second leg to score a top 10. So Rekita with a big lead going into the second leg.
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Downey comes to the finish with the rain falling again, although that should be more familiar to the Irishman.
Hot Seat
Starting Slot
Name
Time
Improvement
26
Rekita
56'38
0'32
Standings after Leg 1
Spoiler
1
Szymon Rekita
Jura GIANTS
56'38
2
Krzysztof Marchewka
Jura GIANTS
+ 21
3
Rasmus Sterobo
Oktal Pharma - TotalTV
+ 24
4
Timothy Roe
BNZ-Superhero Racing
+ 32
5
Hugues Mottin
Bordeaux Metropole - Euskotren
+ 33
6
Jaime Castrillo
Zara - Irizar
+ 34
7
Kevin Predatsch
Staffbase - BHP
+ 39
8
Freddy Cruz
Glanbia
+ 45
9
Sean Downey
Glanbia
+ 46
10
Peter Pruus
Tafjord Kraft
+ 57
11
James Oram
Glanbia
+ 1'01
12
Trond Larsen
Bianchi - Panerai
s.t.
13
Julian Cardona
Zara - Irizar
+ 1'02
14
Kristian Vanderpool
Podium Ambition
+ 1'17
15
Shane Archbold
Air New Zealand
+ 1'20
16
Valentin Stoenchev
BWT Hyundai N Cycling
+ 1'26
17
Bilguunjargal Erdenebat
BNZ-Superhero Racing
+ 1'30
18
Flavio De Luna
BWT Hyundai N Cycling
+ 1'31
19
Zeke Mostov
McCormick Pro Cycling
+ 1'32
20
John Archibald
Oktal Pharma - TotalTV
+ 1'35
21
Tom Thill
Binance
+ 1'38
22
Csaba Palyi
Binance
+ 1'39
23
Erick Rowsell
Jura GIANTS
+ 1'46
24
Bruno Armirail
Bordeaux Metropole - Euskotren
+ 1'51
25
Michael Valgren Andersen
Oktal Pharma - TotalTV
s.t.
26
Yuriy Vasyliv
BNZ-Superhero Racing
+ 1'55
27
Fikri Azka Mohammad
McCormick Pro Cycling
+ 2'00
28
Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri
BWT Hyundai N Cycling
+ 2'12
29
Welle Jallays
McCormick Pro Cycling
+ 2'16
30
Jakub Kaczmarek
Binance
+ 2'18
31
Aberlardo Ablenado
Caja Rural Cycling Team
+ 2'19
32
Mikel Iturria
Bordeaux Metropole - Euskotren
+ 2'20
33
Alfredo Balloni
Caja Rural Cycling Team
+ 2'24
34
Tyler Cole
Podium Ambition
+ 2'41
35
Juri Hollmann
Staffbase - BHP
+ 3'12
36
Ramunas Navardauskas
Bianchi - Panerai
+ 3'21
37
Daniel Savini
Eddie Stobart
s.t.
38
Vegard Breen
Tafjord Kraft
+ 3'24
39
Adam Phelan
Air New Zealand
+ 3'51
40
Fredrik Ludvigsson
Tafjord Kraft
+ 3'58
41
Viktor Manakov
Bianchi - Panerai
+ 4'01
42
Cristian Perez
Podium Ambition
s.t.
43
Yentl Vandevelde
Zara - Irizar
+ 4'03
44
Luke Plapp
Staffbase - BHP
+ 4'07
45
Gert Joeaar
Eddie Stobart
+ 4'30
46
Nick Reddish
Air New Zealand
+ 4'40
47
Christoph Taubel
Pas Normal Studios - Mikkeller
+ 6'45
48
Gonzalo Serrano
Caja Rural Cycling Team
+ 7'02
49
Alexander Kristoff
Pas Normal Studios - Mikkeller
+ 7'21
50
Felix Emilio Besada
Pas Normal Studios - Mikkeller
+ 11'04
51
Linus Dahlberg
Eddie Stobart
+ 13'42
Leg 2 - The First 38 Riders
Overview
After the first leg 13 riders sat within 1’02 of the race lead. With another 15 seconds to Vanderpool in 14th. So riders 14th and later will need a strong ride to crack the top 10. The most notable name in this group was pre-race favorite Erdenebat, in 17th.
Recap
Multiple riders held the hot seat early in the race before Balloni put in the first serious time, 1’54 better than the prior best, which had been set by Navardauskas. Balloni’s time of 57’32 would have been good enough for 9th in the first stage, although there is no rain today to complicate things
Balloni’s time held up well but was eventually beaten by 6 seconds by De Luna. But immediately afterwards Erdenebat redeemed himself with a time of 56’52, good enough for a 34-second lead. A lead which none of the remaining riders in this group came close to, meaning Erdenebat had the virtual GC lead.
2nd Leg Hot Seat
Starting Slot
Name
Time
Improvement
49
Kristoff
1'04'45
-
48
Serrano
1'04'36
0'08
45
Joeaar
1'01'40
2'56
44
Plapp
1'00'13
1'26
42
Perez
59'29
0'43
36
Navardauskas
59'26
0'03
33
Balloni
57'32
1'54
18
De Luna
57'26
0'06
17
Erdenebat
56'52
0'34
2nd Leg Standings with 38 Riders Finished
Spoiler
Leg 2 - The Top 13
Overview
Going into the 2nd leg the top 13 formed 3 rough groups. 8th through 13th were between 45 seconds and 1’02 down. That group included all 3 of the Glanbia contenders. Second through seventh had deficits ranging from 20 to 39 seconds while the top group contained just one rider, Rekita. His 20 second lead over 2nd was the biggest gap between any two riders in the top 30 after the first leg.
Recap
None of the first 6 could put up a great time. Cardona, Larsen, and Pruus all lost significant time dropping well back. The Glanbia trio were better but not great. Oram was the best at 1’08 (7th), Cruz +1’11 (8th) and Downey +1’34 (13th). All three dropped behind Erdenebat in the GC and Downey and Oram also fell behind De Luna.
Predatsch finished on +1’11 as well. Good enough to hold off De Luna and all the Glanbia trio but dropping him behind Erdenebat into 2nd on the virtual GC.
Castrillo lost 1’43, 16th on the leg, He also drop to 11th on GC at the end. Not a great 2nd leg by either Zara rider.
Mottin 5th at the start of the day put in the 4th best 2nd leg so far, 43 seconds behind Erdenebat. Good enough to take over the virtual GC lead.
In the first leg Roe made up for Erdenebat’s poor first leg with a great one of his own. He wasn’t as strong in the 2nd leg but limited his losses to 1’25. Nevertheless he drops behind Mottin, Erdenebat, Predatsch and Cruz in the GC (8th at the end of the day).
Sterobo couldn’t match his first leg performance either. He lost 1’03 (8th best on the leg), slotting him into 2nd on the virtual GC behind Mottin and ahead of Erdenebat.
To hold onto his top two finish, Marchewka could only lose 12 second to Mottin. He was already 11 seconds down at the time check. At the finish he lost 1’17 dropping him behind not just Mottin but also Sterobo and Erdenebat. Still it will be two in the top 5 for Jura.
There was little drama left as Rekita clocked in at the time check just 9 seconds down on Erdenebat. He confirmed that at the finish, losing 24 seconds, good enough for 2nd on the leg and securing the race win by 52 seconds.
Mottin and Sterobo complete the podium, Erdenebat salvages a terrible 1st leg with a great 2nd one to finish 4th.
Isle of Man Individual Time Trial 
