After Gazvoda finshed the first contender crossed the line. Having already passed Hagen, David Millar sent a strong benchmark
After the likes of Mazur, Kashechkin, Pluchkin, Uran and Rolland, Markus Fothen became the first rider to finish under a minute down on Millar. He was 54 seconds back.
Benat Intxausti was only 4 seconds slower than Fothen
But a few riders later came Fabian Cancellara. Will the Swiss maestrodefend his title? NO! He is 10 seconds slower than Millar!
Michael Rogers? 3rd, 42 seconds down
Dave Zabriskie? Into the lead! The American beats Millar by 23 seconds
Thomas Dekker disappointed, only going a provisional 7th
Brajkovic meanwhile went 4th. 48 seconds behind Zabriskie
Ruben Plaza did beat Brajkovic but only by 3 seconds, no threat to the leading American
How about Nibali? Provisional 8th
Robert Gesink became the 5th person to be less than a minute slower than Zabriskie. But his time only got him 6th place
The last possible threat to Zabriskie was Vladimir Karpets, but the Russian could only manage 8th
