According to the bookies, Hunter Valley, Zalgiris and Gjensidige are teams to follow for today's victory.
Podium Ambition are the first team to start today and with 4 good time - trialists in the team with Hennis, Campbell, Cole and Croes. They set up a good reference time of 48 minutes and 32 seconds
Glanbia are next. They have two better time - trialists in O'Loughlin and Oram, but their team is not very well balanced. They are just 4 seconds behind at the intermediate check point, but their lack of depth is reflected in the second half of the race as they end up 27 seconds behind at the finish
No Lammertink for JEWA TIROL here, which really leaves them exposed. They are more than 1 minute behind the leaders at the finish line
Everyone in this DK Zalgiris team can time - trial and they have two absolute beasts in Kmieliauskas and Beniusis. Still, they are only 5 seconds faster than Podium Ambition at the intermediate checkpoint. They win 3 more seconds in the second half to take the lead by a total of 8 seconds
Complete opposite situation at Tafjord Kraft, where only Belevics and Kaczmarek can time - trial. And they are almost 2 minutes off the pace at the finish line! Candidates for last place today
Teams dropped off their weaker riders quite early, but none did it as early as Euskadi-Murias. Sütterlin, Eaton, Sterbini and Canty rode most of the race only between themselves and this was shown at the finish line: 1 minute and 32 seconds slower than the leaders
We have another team with 8 riders who can time - trial after DK Zalgiris are Gjensidige. Van Moer and Knotten lead their team to first place at the intermediate check point, a whooping 9 seconds faster than Zalgiris! But they cannot held that pace in the second part of the race and where they lose 36 seconds, finishing 17 seconds behind the Lithuanian leaders. A time good enough only for the last spot of the provisional podium. The Norwegian team could very well lose the podium today!
Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh also have a strong setup here. Bissegger and co are just 1 second behind Gjensidige and 8 seconds in front of DK Zalgiris at the intermediate checkpoint. Just like Gjensidige they slow down in the second half, but not quite as much. They will not take over the provisional lead, but they will take second place, just 1 second behind the leaders at the finish line!
Hunter Valley might not have 8 green stats in their time - trial column and no individual star, but they do have a very well balanced set up here. Cosnefroy, Conci and Vandevelde lead their team into first place at the intermediate check point, 1 second in front of the leaders at that point, and 10 seconds in front of DK Zalgiris. The Lithuanians beat everyone on the second half of the race, but that is not the case this time. Hunter Valley add 2 more seconds to their advantage over the second half of the race to take over the lead at the finish line by 12 seconds! We are probably looking at our winners of the day
IESE are another team who threw all their time - trialists in this race. They were just 4 seconds off the pace at the intermediate checkpoint and they looked to be battling for a podium spot today. But, they were incredibly slowed in the second half as they end up more than 2 minutes behind the leaders! From podium candidates at the intermediate checkpoint to probably missing out on the top 10 at the end of the day. They avoid provisional last place for only 2 seconds! What a massive let down from Cataford and co.
With a bit of luck Kraftwerk Man Machine could have fought even for a podium spot today, but they were off to a very slow start, 21 seconds slower at the intermediate check point. But, somehow the German team led by the Greek Christodoulos managed to have the same time as Hunter Valley in the second half to take provisional 5th place at the finish line
SEE Turtles were incredibly fast in the first half, losing just 1 second to Hunter Valley. But just like Gjensidige, they lose big time in the second half. It's even worse for the team lead by the trio of Nyoni and Cardona and Hepburn, who end up 32 seconds behind at the finish
Euskotren - Pays Basque are the last team to start today, but no major ambitions for Politt's team. They were outside the top 10 at the intermediate checkpoint, but they did manage to improve compared to the other teams in the lower half of the rankings in the second half of the race enough to take 7th place today, 30 seconds behind the winners.
The big winners of the day are Hunter Valley Cycling. DK Zalgiris and Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh complete the podium. Down in 6th place, we have Gjensidige and missing out on the first page completely IESE, with the biggest underperformances of the day.
