Guten tag, and welcome to Germany for this, the 6 day stage race, Deutschland Tour. The six days ahead will see a field of 124 riders tackle some tough and arduous racing, culminating atop the Kleiner Knollen on day six. The climbs, however, will be far from our riders' minds today, as they instead face a pan-flat 5km prologue.
For those looking to contend the overall competition, today is a chance to test the legs and ensure that they don't lose too much time, though it is unlikely on such a small course. Instead, specialists such as Lars Boom Rick Flens and Pierre Rolland will hope to capitalise on a stage suited to their skills, and grab a stage win, and the first yellow jersey of the competition.
First off the ramp toady is Koppert's Westra. Indeed, Westra could perform well on a course such as this, and as the first man out, it's him who'll set the benchmark time.
He comes across the line with a time of 7' 28". Time will tell if that's the time to beat.
Many more riders come, but none are able to get close. The next best is Traficante, at 7 seconds back from Westra. It seems the Dutchman's time may hold for awhile.
The next rider to potentially challenge for the time is Sousa of Trilux. The portugese rider could well perform very strongly in overall classification of this race, so he'll help to be on good form here.
He goes third, 12 seconds down.
The finnish national TT champion, Jussi Veikkanen is the next nearest challenger, swiftly replacing Sousa in third, 10 seconds down still on Westra.
Pirelli, despite being a team with many strong leaders in their roster, have turned up here without a clear leader. Kazakh, Bazajev wears the team's number 1, suggesting they are not aiming for GC. Best suited for GC, however, is perhaps Santaromita, along with Dupont. The swiss rider loses 23 seconds already.
BPost's Tom Stubbe is another rider who could do will overall, but will perhaps instead be looking to support designated team leader, Francis De Greef. He does well, claiming a provisional 5th, 12 seconds down.
Nikki Terpstra, riding for Pokerstars.com stands a good chance of dethroning his compatriot. He does well, but doesn't come quite close enough, claiming provisional 3rd at 9 seconds back.
After 25 riders, the top 5 stands as follows:
Westra
(KOP)
7'28
Traficante
(VES)
+7"
Terpstra
(POK)
+9"
Veikkanen
(VWS)
+10"
Sousa
(TRI)
+12"
All of the German continental teams have, as you would expect, turned up to this, their home tour. One of these team's is Rothaus. Their designated leader is Boom, however, it may seem that Ruijgh may be more suited to the races finale. Whether he'll work for Boom or go it alone, is yet to be seen. Today though, is all about the seconds, and he loses just 17, to go provisional 10th place.
Bianchi start the race as overall favourites in Lloret. Former polish TT champion Mazur looks to perform well today, though. He guns it to the line, giving it everything - but it's a little too short. He goes 2nd, a mere 2 seconds back on Westra.
Pokerstars' rider, Christoph Kern will look to perform well in the later stages when the hill starts to rise, with today being about limitation. He loses a respectable 18 seconds.
Cyclevox and their manager haven't had the best of seasons, but one must admit that one of their star riders is Estonian, Rene Mandri, who's lit up many of the races he's participated in. It seems today that he got dressed in a hurry, however, as he's mistakingly wearing his Road champions kit on the TT bike. However, he performs admirably and goes just 11 seconds down, in a provisional 8th place.
Meanwhile, there's a loud roar from the crowd at the start line. Matthias Kessler launches himself off the start ramp.He'll be looking to the hiller stages to come, but will want to perform well here. And, indeed he does perform! Provisional 6th place, at 9 seconds down!
Tinkoff have brought with them a number of riders who could perform well in any number of stages. Amongst them, Ovechkin. He goes through incredibly strongly, merely 3 seconds back! Provisional third for the Russian!
After 50 riders, the top 5 is as follows:
Westra
(KOP)
7'28
Mazur
(TBA)
+2"
Ovechkin
(TCS)
+3"
Sestili
(TVP)
+6"
Traficante
(VES)
+7"
The next big name to gun it from the start ramp is German, Tony Martin. Spurred on by the home crowd, he performs fantastically, slotting into 4th place, just 5 seconds back!
Muller of Volkswagen - Siemens is another home rider who could perform well.
He looks confident all the way around the course, and rounding the final corner, he sprints for the line and- oh, it's so close! Just a second behind the leader Westra. Second place is still respectable, but he may be a little disappointed.
Already with the provisional lead, Koppert will now doubt be happy so far. However, their happiness may just double in the coming few minutes as Rick Flens has just begun his run. He's going for it, sprinting through the risky right hand bends to keep his speed up, but can he unseat his team mate and countryman?
Yes, he can! Flens goes two seconds faster, taking first place from his own team mate. You can just imagine the elation in the Koppert team bus at the moment, as they hope they can hold on.
Vladmir Effimkin is another rider from Tinkoff who you feel will show strongly throughout the race. Perhaps not as orientated to the Prologue as Ovechkin who proceeded him, but definitely one to look at in the later stages, perhaps. He goes 17 seconds down.
WWE have been somewhat quiet so far this race, or at least the cameras haven't given them much attention. However, German Damrow gets their attention, as he storms on to the circuit. It's not a super astounding performance, but at only 11 seconds back it's certainly respectable.
Tom Criel of Trilux - Falke is one of the next big names to launch himself off the start ramp. He'll likely be looking to support his team leader Wegmann later on in the race. However, looking like a disco ball got stuck to his back wheel, he flies round the course, only 11 seconds off the leader in provisional 14th.
William Bonnet of UniCredit is the team's number 2. However, he could certainly go well on this stage. And certainly, he does not disappoint. Merely 1 second separates him from the victory! A great performance, but it must be bitter to come quite so close. Nonetheless, he finds himself as the filling in a Koppert-sandwich, in second place.
Bodnar, riding for Venchi Pro Cycling will certainly hope to perform well here today, before he performs his role to assist team leader Duarte. He goes 7th, just 5 seconds down.
Belkov is yet another rider from Tinkoff who you can't rule out of the overall. He goes 18th place, 12 seconds back.
Right behind him is Bianchi's number 2, Aramendia. The spaniard will need to be on form to support team leader Lloret in the days to come, and indeed it seems he is! He flies round, to go provisional 3rd, just 2 seconds back!
The remaining riders are all the team's number 1 rider, so before the leaders hit the road, let's review the top 5 so far!
R. Flens
(KOP)
7'26"
W. Bonnet
(UNI)
+1"
J. Aramendia
(TBA)
+2"
L. Westra
(KOP)
+2"
C. Muller
(VWS)
+3"
The first team leader off is Jay McCarthy, but you can't help think he'll be some way behind his team mate's who have performed so well so far, at least today. His chance will come in the hills later on. He goes quite some way behind today at 44 seconds down.
Jeremy Roy is Focus' team leader, and indeed looks good for a strong position overall. Today, he loses just 11 seconds in 18th place.
Pires leads Cerne, and he, too, will be looking towards the days when the road begins to rise for his chance to shine. He loses 33 seconds today.
Similarly is WWE's leader, Sorensen. He loses 39 seconds
Bosisio lead's Vespa, a team who have performed well all season long. He'll no doubt be one of the men to watch come the hills and mountain stages, but today he goes 33 seconds down.
Francis De Greef leads BPost. A better Time-Trialist than many of the team leader's we've seen, he'll be looking to put some time into them all today. He loses just 12 seconds to the leader, in 21st place.
Van Goolen leads Pokerstars, and finishes right behind countryman De Greef. Van Goolen performed fantastically over the 5km course, taking provisional 9th, merely 5 seconds back. Clearly, he's in good form!
Pierre Rolland was one of the pre-stage favourites, and as Puma's designated leader, he'll be looking to deliver overall, too. He performs well today, and puts in a few valuable seconds between himself and much of the competition, as he grabs provisional third! It's a matter of tenths of a second between him and compatriot Bonnet.
Trent Lowe leads Cyclevox, and the aussie will certainly be looking towards the later days. Today, however, he goes 13th, just 8 seconds back.
The crowd have, once again, gone wild! Fabian Wegmann has hit the road, and the Trilux leader is looking fired up. But, he loses 15 seconds today.
Unicredit will already be somewhat happy with Bonnet's second, but leader Weening will hope to not lose too many seconds. In 41st place when he crosses the line, the dutchman loses 17 seconds.
Here we go, THE pre-stage favourite, and carrying the hopes of the German team Rothaus - Aegon on his shoulders, it's Lars Boom. He's looking to upset the applecart very late on here, and unseat Rick Flens from first place.
And what a time! Boom blows everyone else out of the water, taking the leader by 5 seconds! It's hard to see how any of the few left to follow him can top such a strong performance.
Indeed, next to follow is Ukrainian sensation Vadim Ratiy. A definite strong hopeful for the final stage and the overall, Ratiy goes fairly well round today's course. 15th place, 14 seconds down.
Venchi's leader, Fabio Duarte hits the course. Looking superb in his national TT champion's kit, he gives it all as he races around the course. And, he goes 12th, 11 seconds behind a dominant looking Boom.
Next, and one before last, is Tinkoff's 'official' leader, Kolesnikov. It's 33rd for the Russian, at 20 seconds.
Finally, we have race favourite Lloret. Bianchi are looking guaranteed to promote to the ProTour, but that certainly hasn't slowed their ambitions down, as they look set to possibly add another race win to their palmares. And what a way to start it off, as Lloret goes 6th place, just 7 seconds back.
But, overall honours go to Rothaus and Lars Boom, who will wear the yellow jersey come tomorrow morning.
