Time for the first important day for the GC men: the TTT. 45km is a respectable difference so we could see some relevant differences already!
Vesuvio is the first to take off, which might complicate things for them. They have a very consistent squad around Shleck, so they should be expecting at least a decent result.
They set the bar at 1h04’17’’. Only time will tell how much their time is worth.
Next up is Bouygues Telecom, another team with GC aspirations. In fact, they have the defending leader here, but their strength in the TTT is only reasonable.
Taramaae’s squad loses 9’’ on the first checkpoint and 35’’ at the 2nd. Could they finish inside the stage’s top10?
We’ll see. With a total deficit of 53’’ it won’t be easy for them.
Third team on the road is Tinkoff. The Russians have brought a squad sensibly similar to Vesuvio, in terms of TT ability, so they also have expectations for today.
Being led by the current KoM leader, they register a time 44’ slower than Vesuvio already on the 1st checkpoint!
However, after being told this, Kritskiy takes to the front and leads them to a time of +29’’ (2nd check) and finally +33’’, which should save the day.
Also looking for a good result is Pendelton’s. With the Irish TT champ on their ranks, the Brits seem to be on a tremendous day, since they storm the lead on the 1st intermediate point, with 5’’ less than Vesuvio!
But that time doesn’t stand on the rest of the checkpoints. Bernard Kohl and his mates only look to stop the hemorrhage as they will record a loss of 28’’ and 50’’ at the end.
Time for Festina now to start their race against the clock (it’s funny since their job is to sell clocks, right?). They haven’t brought their absolute leaders to the Dauphiné, but Lecuisinier knows he can count on a pretty competent team to leave him in a reasonable position before the mountains.
And they start well only losing 20’’ to Pendelton’s at the 1st checkpoint. But things went really wrong after that with them losing a total of 2’06 at the end. SotD won’t be happy.
We continue with Bacardi. Having brought Rigo here, they do have a serious shot at some GC success. Their manager has sent a squad committed to help the Colombian TT champion in this quest, and they actually constitute a pretty good TTT contingent.
The Bermudans don’t start with the right foot by losing 30’’ on the 1st sector. The difference stabilizes after that though (36’’ – 2nd checkpoint), and they will finish even stronger, only 29’’ away from the leading time. It’s not a bad effort!
And finally we witness the start of the team we’ve all been waiting for. It’s no secret that everyone fears Oz Cycling in TTTs, and this one is no exception. They are favourites today, and will want to give their leader Pozzovivo as big of a margin as they possibly can.
The Australians record the same time as Pendelton’s in the 1st checkpoint, which isn’t really impressive for them, but their 2nd sector seriously agitates all their staff as they lose 14’’ to Vesuvio! Can they limit their losses now?
tsmoha breathes a huge sigh of relief when he sees the time: 1h04’15’’. It looks like their efforts were perfectly concerted to deliver this time, which is only 2’’ faster than Vesuvio’s.
But… after looking at the time tsmoha, lowers his head in disappointment. Their leader Pozzovivo couldn’t hang on with the rest in the very last meters conceding 2’’ and crucially is given the same time as Andy Schleck. A cheerful breeze passes through Vesuvio’s stand, lightening a subtle smile in SN’s face.
Anyway, let’s just see where do we stand at the moment:
1
Oz Cycling Project
1h04'15
2
Vesuvio - Accumalux
+ 2
3
Bacardi Limited
+ 31
4
Tinkoff Bank - Tinkoff Insurance
+ 35
5
Pendleton's
+ 53
6
Bouygues Telecom
+ 55
7
Festina-Canal+
+ 2'08
8
Venchi
+ 2'34
Robert Gesink has come to the Dauphiné confident that he could be in the mix for final victory. Luckily for him, his team, Project 1t4i is well-known for their quality in the race of truth, and despite not being the powerhouse they once were in this discipline, they certainly are among the best here, with both the Romainian TT champ and the European one (not pictured, sorry)
The dutch team utterly crushes the opposition on checkpoint no.1 by claiming a new best time 16’’ faster than Pendelton’s!!
They must have overdone it though, as the 2nd checkpoint tells a completely different story, as they come 41’’ later than Vesuvio!! The 3rd sector isn’t so cruel on them, as they stabilize the gap with 42’’ in total. However, I’m sure alex won’t go easy on his crew.
Next up is Nibali’s team: Swisscom. Some say they could be the biggest threat to Oz Cycling, and they surely do have a respectable team.
The Swiss riders record what would be a new best time on the 1st sector if it weren’t for their predecessors, using 14’’ more. A promising start nonetheless.
But something goes really really wrong afterwards. Nibali was reported to have contracted food poisoning last night, and had to go no.2 behind the bushes which causes them to lose 1’08 to Vesuvio on the 2nd checkpoint. They eventually recover from that, losing a total of 42’’ at the end which gives them provisional 5th place.
Movistar – US Postal isn’t one of the favourites for today, but they have Ratyi as an Overall contender, which makes this an important stage for them as well.
With the Spanish TT champion at the front of their TTT train they register a modest time losing 2’55 to the current leaders.
A few more teams complete the route, crowding the bottom half of the table. We have to wait a little while for the next relevant team. Volkswagen is the one we were waiting for. The germans don’t really have a top candidate here but they have brought a competent set of TTists and should be good for a top10 result today.
Their first sector is awful though, as they lose more than a minute already. At the second intermediate point they trail by 1’50, but will finish their effort with a more respectable difference of 1’32.
After them come Metinvest. The Ukrainians are no strangers to TTs and in fact have already caused some havoc in Herbiers with Zmorka! They have brought him and Ignatiev to command their hopes of success today, as with no top sprinters or climbers, this should be the crucial stage for them, here in the Dauphiné.
They do not start well. In fact they use 50’’ more than the fastest team in the 1st checkpoint.
Unfortunately for them, it’s even worse in the 2nd sector, as they lose 1’26 in total. They cross the finish line 1’05 down on Oz Cycling, with already envisioning Avin loudly shouting at them in the team bus.
Another GC contender starts his TTT. It’s Sicard with his Orange team. It’s not all orange though as you’ll notice. There’s a fellow in yellow at the back, who you’ll remember from the past couple of stages. But Kennaugh’s days are gone and now the Englishman leaves it all on the road for his team leader, who’s going to need all the manpower he can get, since they’re not among the favourites here today.
It was never going to be a good day for them. Sicard and co. cross the line with a total loss of 2’17, which isn’t all that surprising, but it’s definitely going to weigh him down on the rankings.
Aegon, one of the wildcards, would have liked to treat their leader with a better ride, but the germans can only manage a 3’08 deficit at the end. Plenty to make up for on Keizer’s hands now.
Aker – MOT is another team with a strong GC candidate but who lacks the power to defend him today. The Norwegians finish with 2’15 more than the aussies.
Pokerstars, looks a little bit better on paper, but they too will have some difficulty to protect their leader Keinath. After the last two disappointing stages, they will finish this one with a sense of mission completed. They won’t enter the top10, but 1’46 is an understandable gap for them.
And that’s it for the stage. Nobody else came close to Oz Cycling and as such the Australians can celebrate a very typical TTT win.
Ligthart is the new race leader, but he’s likely to be replaced soon. Can he hold his jersey for more than a day? We’ll find that out tomorrow.