No surprises on the favorites list, Wirtgen will be the expected winner today and he holds the yellow jersey now after a great stage one. The cameras will focus on the top 10 riders on the day with a few top performances from throughout the startlist.
Hofer is one of the first riders off who could really set a good time today. Hofer, representing the Austrian champion’s jersey sets a new 1st checkpoint time of 15:49. The new standard at the finish is 29:57. We shall see how long and how well that holds up.
Tanfield is just 2 riders behind him and a much better time trialist. Tanfield will be the first rider to report back rainy conditions to Wirtgen at the finish. Tanfield is crushing this course and sets a new first check time of 15:18. Before the finish, Tanfield had already passed the rider between himself and Hofer so he’s next to cross the line. 29:32 is new best time! That could hold the lead for a while.
Sajnok also gets out on course shortly after Tanfield with an outside shot at a top ten. It might be a bad day for the Polish rider who comes in 33 seconds back just at the checkpoint. Sajnok doesn’t quite have it today and goes 16 back at the finish for 29:48. Affini finished outside of photos in a new second – 29:43. We’re seeing that the second half gives good time to make up gains.
Bjerg one of those disappointed with the first two stages as well, more than 11 minutes down. He could set new best times though and set the standard for a while. At half-way, he has set a great time, 15:11 to overtake Tanfield. No surprises at the finish as Bjerg sets best time. 29:19. Just how fast an the favorites go with this standard now set.
Christapopoulos now in the top 3 as well tied with Affini.
Lammertink is the next top 10 favorite on the day, but again he is 9:53 back so this is just for the stage. Lammertink sets a new best at the intermediate to represent his national jersey well – 15:08. The Dutchman edges Bjerg by 4 seconds at the finish line – holding the gap from mid-way. A new first place at 29:15!
Mullen is immediately next behind Lammertink and has already pulled a major surprise this season in a final time trial. Mullen reminds Lammertink immediately why he’s higher on the favorite list and resets the intermediate at 15:06 – 2 seconds better. But still, pacing will make all the difference. At the finish, the gap doubles! 29:10 is the new standard to beat.
Analyzing the route so far, good pacing is extremely important and strong downhill capabilities are crucial as riders can really recover on this undulating terrain and push the hills.
Paillot sits 6:44 back in 73rd place so still not enough to do anything on GC, but they really hung in their on stage 2 longer than expected. 3rd at the intermediate and the first person to step in front of Bjerg for a long time. Paillot finished 29:22 – 4th place!
Ganna is right behind Paillot and wants to show the Italian colors better than the French. Pailot’s 3rd quickly becomes 4th as Ganna sets a new best time at the midway point and is 15:05. Ganna is now aiming for the Irishman at the finish and he’s able to overcome him as well. 29:09 is just 1 second ahead, but that means Ganna is in the GC lead so far (sure to be gone soon by pure GC positions) and in the stage lead. Ganna will always wonder what could have been had he been able to have full leadership.
There’s some good performances between Ganna and Mano (now pictured), but none close enough to challenge the Italian. Mano has always enjoyed showing off the Thai colors – as he should – and sets a new best time at the midway. 15:04. That’s only one second in front of Ganna and the second half has shown shuffling before. Mano entered the day 2:58 back in 52nd place and his time trial could bring him as high as a top 35 we’d guess on GC.
At the finish… Mano is same time as Ganna! They say Mano has the top for now – but we all know the organizers like to double-check those after all competitors cross the line.
In 25th entering the day, Darbellay is 1:06 back currently but starts our real close look on the GC standings. He goes 44 seconds back at the finish and will not take the current GC lead. From quick view, that is Ioannidis who is 10th on the stage so far at 16 seconds back of the day and 1:17 starting the day. We’ll continue to watch the GC standings as the major favorites arrive.
Cattaneo crosses the line and now it is clear who the current GC leader is. Cattaneo finishes 27 seconds back of Ganna/Mano (29:36). Starting 59 seconds back on the day, Cattaneo now has the clear lead. He should move up in to the top 20 from 23rd.
Herregodts started 21st on the day at 57 seconds back and will try to hold up Mano’s dreams from King Power. Herregodts finishes 24 seconds back of Mano at 29:33, and that makes him the new leader! A great ride by him as he looks to storm up the standings. A top 15 looks certain for him.
Teammate Gidich is the next person to even potentially challenge Herregodts for the GC lead as he had 20 seconds lead on him before the day but it’s been a tough time trial for the Kazakh. 1:00 minute at the finish is the gap to the leader on the day so 30:09. Not enough to pop into first, but at least management can be happy it is still within the team.
Aleotti (13th 0:36 – up at the top of the hill) and Senii (12th 0:35) are next on the road both for Gazelle. Aleotti takes 30:07 to slot in ahead of Gidich, but behind Herregodts. Senni looks on a much better day though after a strong result at the midway. At the finish however, they lose much more to be right at 30:00. With only 22 seconds lead on Herregodts to start the day, the 27 seconds Herregodts gained keep the Belgian on King Power at the front.
Oomen started the day in 11th at (0:32). It’s 30:04 for him at the finish, pushing him down a few spots. Still not enough for a new GC leader. Sad to see him have such a challenging day on the TT bike.
Now, to the top 10 remaining riders – Pogacar is in polka dots and starts the day 25 seconds back of Wirtgen. The intermediate time was strong and so is the finish. 29:39 is a great time compared to the GC men so far. That’s more than enough to take the GC lead and ensure a top 10.
Haig had 4 seconds buffer on Pogacar heading into the day and is also on a great ride. He had time over Pogacar at the midway point as well. A finishing time of 29:30 puts the Australian in the lead! There’s more great times to come as the organizers look at the midway standings. Wurtz and Dunbar are just passing through there 6 seconds ahead of Mano and the first to drop those times beneath 15:00.
Speaking of strong at the midway pint, Geoghegan Hart is 7th at the time check with only Wirtgen to pass through and of course 8th to start the day -0:20 back. After Haig just stole the lead from teammate Pogacar, Geoghegan Hart wants to take it back for Cedevita. Geoghegan Hart is 9th on the stage at the finish! 29:25 is the best time of a GC man so far!
Conci wants to take that title away quickly but it’ll be tough to beat Geoghegan Hart having started the day on the same time. Conci does everything possible and comes within 1 second – a beautiful ride by the Italian. It’s 29:26, but he’ll slide into 8th on GC assuming he can’t jump ahead of the remaining favorites.
White jersey Leknessund isn’t having the best day ever, also starting at 20seconds back of Wirtgen. It is still a good ride at 29:28, but those 3 seconds between him and Geoghegan Hart mean Leknessund falls behind two competitors. With teammate Aleotti his only major competition in the White jersey, Leknessund will be proud to come away with that though.
McNulty starts the top 5 as the worst TTer of the group, but he does have a bit of a gap on those behind him. Starting 0:13 seconds down, he only needs a 29:33 to take the GC lead away from Geoghegan Hart. McNulty already gave that time away in the first checkpoint but comes home strong. Sadly, his finishing time is 29:36 – meaning that at least Conci and Geoghegan Hart jump him. Leknessund may be a coin flip, if the reporters are mathing correctly.
Starting 4th to last is Bernal who begins the day 0:12 down. He knows how hard it will be to test Dunbar, Wurtz or Wirtgen, so defending fourth and putting a challenging time are the best goals. At the intermediate, Bernal is 5th and holding strong to that goal. At the finish, Bernal shows that he’s a great individual day time trialist as well, 29:09! That’s same time as the current lead. The timers place him 3rd for now – but we’ll check the final results for sure. Still, what a better way than to test the competition than to set best time.
Dunbar is a master on the TT bike and needs 7 seconds to take over Wirtgen’s spot atop the podium. The Irishman gave up an additional 7 seconds to Wirtgen at time-check but Wurtz is still there to contest 2nd as well. They set great times as the only 3 riders under 15 minutes at the intermediate and at the finish, Dunbar sets a new standard again. First rider to go under 29:00 with a final time of 28:55. That’s a 14 second demolition of Ganna/Mano/Bernal. Will it be enough for Dunbar to pull an upset is still to be seen?
The World Champion has 1 second to spare over Dunbar to start the day, but the Irishman set a beautiful time a moment ago. Wurtz has been holding his own at the intermediate check, but a single second is easy to lose. However… a single second is also easy to gain and he does even more than that. 28:53 is the time for Wurtz! Way to show off the rainbow bands and set the new best time. While he’ll be proud of today, stage 2 will be his best accomplishment to have kept himself in this position.
Wirtgen has held the yellow since stage 1 and all signs show him keeping that today. At the intermediate he set a time of 14:50, 7 seconds ahead of his two closest competitors and there was no looking back. The gap doubles again to the finish. Wirtgen will be your winner on the stage and the GC (and the points). Stage result: 28:39! A huge 14 second win over the world champion.
Wirtgen takes many a podium today – stage, GC, and points all back to back! Wurtz 2nd on all 3 as well. A quick look shows that Wirtgen’s time pushes Conci and Geoghegan Hart into the same second allowing Conci to overtake the Brit in the final GC standings.
Pogacar takes the Mountain jersey after a great day yesterday.
As stated, a 1-2 for Gazelle in the white jersey with Leknessund atop the standings.
King Power takes the podium of the Tour of Ukraine with a commanding win in the Team Classification.
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