Todays TTT is flat and rather short. Nonetheless we have a time split after about half the distance.
The Favourites are no surprise at all as we have some really strong TTT lineups in the race.
The first team on the road is Sony - Force India. That also means the race leader is already on the road and we’ll quickly know if Vesely will stay in the yellow jersey. His pre-stage lead to most riders is 32’’.
ISA - Hexacta is the next team to start. With Ewan we have the wearer of the green jersey (for Vesely) and 3rd in the GC on the road. He’s 20’’ down.
Number three on the road is Rabobank. Grosu has been disappointing so far, but it’s highly unlikely todays stage will be better.
The Dutch are followed by Minions who’ll try to get Kinoshita and Cattaneo in a good position for the decisive final stage. They’re also among the outsiders for todays stage.
Lampre - Pinarello will neither be in the mix for today nor for tomorrow.
The same goes for Kraftwerk Man Machine.
Bralirwa - Stevens is among the outsiders for today. Additionally they will try to set up Izagirre for the GC.
Pretty much the same goes for ELCO - ABEA and Koretzky.
Tinkoff - La Datchas TTT setup could make them a surprise for today as they arrive with for great TT riders and for rather weak ones. We’ll see how that works out for them.
Glanbia has one of the strongest TTT lineups and is clearly hooping for a podium today. They won’t have to save anything for tomorrow too as they don’t have any serious GC contender.
No big surprises at the only intermediate split so far.
Colombini Cycling won’t play any role today (and probably tomorrow too). But Bdadou wears the polka dots jersey since day 1 and will try to defend it tomorrow.
Jura GIANTS will fight for the win today. Errazkin would surely approve of that to boost his GC chances.
The first 8 teams have reached the finish and it’s still close between the three better TTT squads, but for now ELCO - ABEA has taken over the lead from Minions after a strong second half.
Trans Looney Tunes is another of those teams that only race today because they have to.
The same goes for Fastned.
Aker - MOT was lucky that Mohoric didn’t lost time yesterday. They will be just as happy if he doesn’t lose too much today too.
16 of the 24 teams are through the checkpoint and Tinkoffs risky lineup pays out for now. Not much surprises, though Jura is pretty far down the rankings so far.
Xero Racing is another of those PCT teams that won’t play a big role in the remainder of the race.
Moser had already a stage win from Gaviria yesterday and it doesn’t look like they will add another one today.
And here we see the favourites for today with EA Vesuvio. Wirtgen was lucky yesterday but nonetheless won’t mind getting an advantage today.
16 teams have finished the race and ELCO - ABEA is still in the lead. Jura GIANTS weren’t able to gain time and are in a disappointing 5th place for now while Tinkoff - La Datcha has lost lots of time and is only 10th for now with some strong contenders still to come.
King Power will aim for a podium finish today, even the more to give Gidich a head start for tomorrows stage.
Grieg-Maersk is only here for this TTT and also among the stages favourites, so it’s no surprise they’ve done well so far and are only 4’’ back at the checkpoint.
McCormick Pro Cycling has a decent TTT squad and will aim for a stage Top 10 today.
Gazelles main goal for today will be to keep Lutsenko in touch with the other favourites.
Team UBS - Tissots best chance for a good result could be today as they’re amongst the outsiders for the stage podium.
Evonik - ELKO is the last team on the road, but they’re no contender for the stage win with a 17th place at the checkpoint.
Speaking of which this are the results at the checkpoint after all teams have passed:
Meanwhile EA Vesuvio sets up a new fastest time at the finish with a substantial gap of 14 ‘’.
We’re just in time to see Grieg-Maersk cross the finish line. They’re the only team that still could endanger EA Vesuvios time. And the Scandinavians really take the lead by a single second!
And this are the final results at the finish:
Korsaeth has taken over the GC lead in front of most of his teammates. Hulgaard adds the white jersey to his 4th place overall while Grieg-Maersk obviously also takes the lead in the teams classification. Vesely will change yellow for green tomorrow while Bdadou retains his lead in the KoM classification.
[PTHC] Tour of Lithuania 
