Here we go. The start of the 2017 Tour of America and the riders will begin on a 6,4km prologue.
There is no real top favourite with Van Winden being just a little bit favoured over the trio Dillier Fraile Hamza. Later clearly happy about a prologue only as a longer TT would favour the others a lot more.
Other riders that must be watched today are Meyer and Aregger. Both combine their fast sprint with a good prologue and hence motivation is likely high to have a strong ride here and then get the GC shirt via bonus seconds on the upcoming sprint stages.
Martin and US rider Bookwalter as last riders to mention as big favourites for today.
Van Winden was one of the early starters. And his time is not bad or better say, right now it looks pretty good.
8s faster than Schär, who is a decent time trialist, 18s over Tolosa, Vandewalle or van der Poel.
But will it be enough? Only time can tell.
Warbasse might not be the top favourite, neither today nor in the GC but he is the home fans best hope for a top10 and maybe even more than that.
And as first GC rider on the road, he seems to have a good ride. 20s to Van Winden seems realistic and around similar riders for the moment.
His team mate Verona is more a rider for today and he impressively shows it. 2nd place and just 3s off the best time.
So question again. Did he extraordinarily well or was Van Winden not as fast as he could?
Hussein as very similar rider a bit later 4th and 13s off. Rosas, who already has a prologue win this season, 6th and 16s.
And then two more GC riders: Schelling +28 and Ratiy +20. Both in the expected range.
Meyer next and while being 6th and +14 sounds disappointing at first, he at least would be in the bonus second range for the moment. Though in the need of the stage win or intermediates.
Kiflay another rider, who prefers the short prologues more than a long TT and as 5th and +13 he shows a decent ride.
Ivars in theory could also fight for a top10 in the ToA, though lacks the hill strength and also is not as strong of a climber as others.
And as domestique for Schelling he might have different tasks as well. Today though a solid ride. 3rd for him and just 1s slower than Verona. 4s to Van Winden.
Hamza on the road and Kiflay must have given him good advices. The Algerian TT champ is flying and once over the line it`s secured. New best time!
3s faster than Van Winden!
Prov. top10:
1
Faycal Hamza
Eritel - Sonatrach
7'44
2
Dennis Van Winden
MOL-OMV Petrom
+ 3
3
Carlos Verona
Newton Foundation
+ 6
4
Sébastien Ivars
Team UBS
+ 7
5
Michael Schär
Team UBS
+ 12
6
Mujtaba Hussein
Haute Route - Mavic
+ 17
7
Sonomtseren Delgerbayar
Garmin - BikeNZ Cycling
s.t.
8
Metkel Kiflay
Eritel - Sonatrach
s.t.
9
Erick Rowsell
Wiggle p/b Boardman Bikes
+ 18
10
Cameron Meyer
Team Reddit
s.t.
Dillier next and his time is okay but not impressive. Just 6th and +12. Earlier Christensen got 5th with +10, Bookwalter +16 and Krasnoperov +22. Hence not the best ride for the top US favourite today.
Berhane far from a good time trialist but as top GC favourite a mention is needed.
+50 for him, which likely means about half a minute behind other GC riders. Surely needs to play out his strength in the mountains as the longer TTs neither are in his favour.
Kiserlovski surely could become a problem for Eritel and other GC riders. The Kraftwerk rider has a decent TT and with +23 he is doing okay and same time as Warbasse for example.
Remember Schelling at +32 and hence sitting in the middle of the GC riders.
Martin spends a lot of race days here in America for a top CT time trialist with good allround stats. So he better deliver as other races surely could have given a bit amount of points.
Today he does fine. 5th and +7 for him. Will be interesting to see him on the longer TTs as he could have an advantage over the pure time trialists then.
Meanwhile Aregger disappoints with +21 and clearly not his day here. Not even in realistic bonus second range for the next stage and hence needing more than 1 stage if he wants to attack the GC lead which will be hard enough seeing he is not one of the best sprinters.
Fraile coming into the finish and not only a favourite for today but also one of the big dark horses for the race. Decent stage racer, not the best in the mountains but surely one to gain time in the TTs and then limit the loss on the climbs or maybe even a breakaway here and there. Chances for a top10 clearly.
Today already a good start. 5th and 7s off only. He might have hoped for the win but as said, competition is close today.
Two more riders to mention. Pinot, who is a very similar rider to Berhane and hence one of the big 3-5 favourites on the GC win.
Neither a good time trialist and with +47 he at least beats Berhane for a few seconds.
Then last but not least Barguil, one of the most complete stage racers here next to probably Kiserlovski. Being at +26 seems fine and one of the better TT results of the GC riders.
Hence stage wise Hamza takes the win ahead of Van Winden and Verona.
GC wise Fraile as best with Krasnoperov, Warbasse, Kiserlovski, Reguigui, Ratiy and Barguil all doing fine and also Schelling just a bit behind.
Berhane and Pinot will need to ride aggressive in the mountains.
Reigning champ Pozzovivo in the middle at +39, Atapuma +45, Garby/Grmay +46, Chamorro +47, Elissonde +52 to name some other potential top10 riders.
Regarding sprinters Granjel Cabrera at +34, Vanoverschelde +35, Nizzolo +46 all three more than one stage behind but several flat stages coming now. Meyer though with the best chances.