Welcome at a race with one of the most interesting concepts in the MGUCI: a cobbled ITT classic. The organizers seem to prefer the TTists over the cobblers here. We have three time splits today, but with the first of them after 3 km already we will ignore it. We will turn in on all the riders who do well at the second time split.
Van Keirsbulck is the first rider on the road.
But the first one at the finish line is David who sets the first bar with 58’58.
He’s not on the hot seat for long though as Monk beats him by 1’20, setting a time of 57’38.
Thill is the first rider to endanger the Australians time. He beats the time and finishes in 57’17.
The next faster rider is Basso who’s the first rider who adds some cobble skills to his TTing. He finishes even quicker in 57’00.
Wisniowski is right behind him, for once in his team jersey. His time is the new best by quite a margin: 56’08. So cobblers with good TT abilities should be able to do good here.
The Bulgarian NC Stoenchev was even faster than the road WC at the time splits. He’s 28’’ behind at the finish.
Vanthourenhout is rather fast at the splits, but finishes only 4th with a gap of 53’’.
Siddikov was the fastest after the third split and he beats the best time at the finish with 55’55.
Kmieliauskas is not only one of the biggest TT talents out there, he’s also fast on the road and finishes 3rd for now, 31’’ behind the lead.
Stavrakakis is the next one able to compete for the lead. He misses the best time by 6’’, but should be able to get a good result here.
Pokälä is the next one with a chance for a top result after the third split. He is 27’’ down at the finish and is now provisional 4th.
Kasperkiewicz is another one of those cobblers who also can ride a TT bike. He finishes in 6th for now, 39’’ behind, but escaped our cameras.
Marryatt is also fast at the splits, he finishes 4th with a gap of 22’’.
Gamper won the race last year and he’s the first one to beat Siddikovs time at the first split (though only by a second). He does so at the finish too, setting a new best time of 55’47.
Per is one of the world’s best cobblers and a decent TTer, but it’s not his day and he finishes 11th, 56’’ down.
Schäppi is one of the better hybrids, he finishes 5th for now with a gap of 21’’.
Cavagna is a similar type of rider and he does even better, finishing in a provisional 3rd with a gap of 12’’.
Van Hooydonck finishes in 15th, 54’’ down.
Debesay is 57’’ down, that’s good enough for 17th place for now.
Scotson ist still close at the third split, he finishes in a provisional 3rd place with a gap of 9’’.
Anderberg is a former winner, but he’s already lost quite some time on the way but was able to speed up and finihes in 3rd, only 7’’ down.
Van Baarle is another of the fast hybrids. He finishes in 55’41 and is now on the hot seat!
Only the pure TTers are on the road now. Sajnok finishes 3rd for now, only 11’’ down. It seems this is actually more of a TT classic this year.
Dillier sets a new best time with 55’37!
Yatsevich is even faster with 55’30.
But Ganna beats this time immediately: 55’23. With only two riders on the road he’s already secured a podium spot today.
Vlatos misses the Italian’s time by a mere second! It’s a podium spot for him, too. It’s a shame our director missed that …
Zmorka has been dominating the TTs this year. Today he’s also leading after the third split, constantly increasing his lead. Will he still fade?
He doesn’t! His time of 55’07 adds another big win to his palmares!
[PTHC] Chrono d‘Arenberg 
