Tour De Romandie
Stage 1
18.3km -TTT
La Vallee de Joux - Juraparc
Here is the startlist for this trip around Switzerland
Jura sits atop the favorites list, but one never knows how things will play out.
Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo sets the opening times at the first check at 6:03 after just 5km. The second check will be at 13km and of course the finish at 18km is upcoming. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:18.
Genii Hyundai sets their opening times at the first check at 6:04 after just 5km. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:10. They’re up 8 seconds at the 2nd check over Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo
Bourdeaux Metropole sets their opening times at the first check at 6:24 after just 5km - 20 seconds down. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 15:07… it’ll be a tough day as expected.
Team UBS-Tissot sets their opening times at the first check at 6:02 after just 5km. This moves them into 1st place! Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:09 to maintain the lead at both checkpoints as they move through them.
Caja Rural sets their opening times at the first check at 6:27 after just 5km, the worst in the field so far. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:56. Again, they won’t see a competitive time.
Stela-Vita sets their opening times at the first check at 6:14 after just 5km. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:33. A solid 24 seconds off the pace with 5km to go, but it’ll be middle of the road for them. Somehow they manage to avoid all cameras between the time checks. Our camera crew guarantees to catch them toward the finish.
DK Zalgiris sets their opening times at the first check at 6:00 after just 5km - the new fastest time. Pronskiy is starting to fall off the back though. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:18, more than 9 seconds down of Team UBS-Tissot who still holds the 2nd checkpoint lead. We’ll see what they can manage in final section.
Lierse SK is now finishing to set the original time to beat. They set the mark at 20:06, but Oomen is their 5th man who drops off the rest in the final meters.
Genii Hyundai is under the red kite as Lierse finishes. However, Penasa is one of the riders dropped from this squad as well, so the GC race may be a challenging time. They set the time to beat at 19:49, a 17 second improvement.
Sauber Petronas sets their opening times at the first check at 6:04 after just 5km. Einhorn and Frankiny are the riders they’ve decided to drop. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:13 (4 seconds back)
Tryg-Gobyk sets their opening times at the first check at 6:10 after just 5km. All riders together for them at this point. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:15 - 4th place and 6 seconds back.
Meanwhile, Team UBS-Tissot is approaching the finish line while Bourdeaux Metropole almost being caught. The better of the two is of course UBS-Tissot who finishes in 19:50, 1 second down on Genii Hyundai who holds them off. The team from France, sits at 21:08.
Zwift has made it through the 1st checkpoint in 6:03. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:15 - 6 seconds back. They’re down to 6 after the 2nd checkpoint.
Adidas-Eurocash sets their opening times at the first check at 6:20 after just 5km. With only 6 to start, this is not their discipline Their 2nd checkpoint time is 15:07, tied for last so far.
The New Zealanders sets their opening times at the first check at 6:17 after just 5km, but everyone is still together at this point. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:47 - 38 seconds back.
Caja finishes up with the new worst time of the day. 21:19. They’ll hope someone else can take that crown.
Stela-Vita is also finishes right behind. They end up at 20:20, 31 seconds back of Genii Hyundai who holds the lead.
DK Zalgiris is close behind as they challenge the remaining riders from Stela-Vita. They made up some of the group they lost, but it’s 3rd place at 5 seconds back for the green and white stripes. 19:54.
Back to the intermediates, Xero Racing sets their opening times at the first check at 6:03 after just 5km. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:21 - 12 seconds back. They’re giving up time at this point, but holding it together.
Team Würth Modyf sets their opening times at the first check at 6:17 after just 5km. DK Zalgiris still leads at that first check. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:33. (Wurth Modyf is actually ahead of Xero on the road, so don’t be surprised when they arrive before Xero).
Ekoi - Le Creuset sets their opening times at the first check at 6:10 after just 5km. Al 8 are still together which is a good sign. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:48 - 38 seconds back.
Sauber is next at the finish line as they bring 5 up the small incline. They’re 11 seconds down - 20:00 on the nose. 8 teams through the finish at this point.
Tryg has split up in the final meters, but their back 3 are still close which helps as Schlegel is being pulled to the line in the 2nd group. The front group is 22 seconds back in 20:11.
Zwift held close to the leaders through the checkpoints and at the finish…7 seconds back, 19:56! It’s currently 5th place, but overall a great result so far.
Adidas is now losing their 5th man as they approach the line. A tough day out for the Germans. They end up 1:27 back in 21:16. They do manage to avoid last.
One of the pre-race favorites, Indosat Ooredoo is not in a great position after the first check. 29 seconds back in 6:29. They turn it around slightly at checkpoint 2 - 14:47 for 38 seconds back, where most teams were losing a lot more. It’s tough to know what exactly happened to this group.
Sony Force - India is another of the most important teams today. They sets their opening times at the first check at 6:04 after just 5km - 4 seconds down. Choi looks strong so far. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:10. Just 1 second back of Team UBS and Genii Hyundai, maybe they’ll finally give us a change at the end.
Tajford Kraft sets their opening times at the first check at 6:19 after just 5km, but they’re already split 4-2. Bardet and Kaislavuo will work together to salvage the team time, we assume. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 15:04.
Jura GIANTS are the official favorites and sets their opening times at the first check at 6:00 after just 5km. This equals the top time so far. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:08. It’s the new fastest time here by 1 second!
Bralirwa-Stevens sets their opening times at the first check at 6:00 after just 5km to join the group at the top of the checkpoint standings. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:11! 3 seconds off the lead of the GIANTS right ahead. This can easily be made up still.
Air New Zealand -Alfa Romeo cross, just 48 seconds back to end the day. 20:37 for them.
Würth Modyf is the next group to the line. 41 behind the lead for their first 5. 20:30 is the final time.
Xero is the first team capable of contesting for a while. It’s 14 seconds behind at the finish sadly, but Bennett was carried all the way to the line - maybe losing 3-4 seconds. 20:03 for Xero.
Trans Looney Tunes sets their opening times at the first check at 6:13 after just 5km. Only two teams remain behind them. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 14:23 for 12th at that checkpoint.
Kraftwerk Man Machine sets their opening times at the first check at 6:15 after just 5km. 15 seconds back Their 2nd checkpoint time is 15th for 37 seconds back.
Saeco is the last team on course. They set their opening times at the first check at 6:23 after just 5km. Not suspecting a lot from them today. Their 2nd checkpoint time is 15:20. That’s over a minute behind.
Back to the finish and to the finish we’ll stay. Ekoi - Le Creuset is here 51 seconds back. 20:40. That’s only good enough for 12th so far with more than a handful of teams to go.
Indosat Ooredoo falls apart in the final km with riders all over the place. They end up 1:02 back at 20:51. A rough day for a team that really should’ve been hoping to end up closer to 30 seconds off the lead.
You can tell Sony Force - India came to play with how close they are to their predecessors. Still, they struggle over the final meters too and end up 13 seconds back. 20:02. A very respectable time. Carboni will be sad to be 10-15 seconds slower than his teammates.
After falling apart earlier, Tafjord brought it back together. Still a very tough day. 1:44 behind the new leader…
The cameraman got distracted and then Jura flew up beside Tafjord at the finish. 1st place for Jura GIANTS at 19:42! A 7 second advantage over the field.
Bralirwa-Stevens is the only hope for anyone who upstage Jura. They come to the line with a great attempt. A new… 2nd place! 19:46 - just 4 seconds back. Meintjes may be a few seconds behind that, but not more than 3, we hypothesize.
Trans Looney Tunes is the next group to finish. It’s a respectable time for sure. 13th for 40 seconds back. 20:32
Kraftwerk Man Machine finalizes their day in 17th place, 1:10 back. That’s 20:52 for them.
Saeco will finish the day for us. 2:08 back… 21:50.
The win goes to JURA and the yellow jersey to Marchewka as the first rider across the line. Bisseger will get to be young rider also finishing on same time.
Tour De Romandie
