A short and sharp stage in the Asturias was the stage of what should be in paper be the queen stage, however the GC remains fairly unchanged, despite a hard stage pushed by Movistar, Jumbo took over in the final climb and paced it out for the big majority, the slowest attacks came from Mas mainly, some small gaps opened in the closing kilometers and from them Hugh Carthy was the strongest, taking the win over Vlasov and Mas. Carapaz distanced Roglic and recovered the yellow jersey but has only won 10 seconds over Roglic.
Positive: Carthy with another big performance, putting himself in the fight for the win, Roglic in part Roglic is also a winner, despite loosing time to his rivals it was little which in normal circumstances should be easy to recover. Poels climbing from 9th to 6th and Vlasov from 15th to 9th were also big winners.
Negative: Marc Soler was clearly in trouble, collapsed completely out of the Top10, everyone else was there racing within expectations.
The Route
Time-trial day! A 2020 time-trial we have in our menu, mostly flat but with a climb that should motivate a bike change at the base. Tomorrow it's the roads of Galicia that will receive an epic day of cycling where all riders will individually tackle the flat coastal roads of Finisterra and then ascend the brutal Mirador de Ézaro.
Steep is the only word you need to know. Steep steep steep, does it get less steep at some points? Yes. Does it matter? No. Slight gradients are 10%, it's a Spanish murito, expect road bikes, a lot of suffering, but honestly expect also a lot of show even without crowd!
The Weather
Strong northeastern wind. And yes, this will make a difference, a headwind will be present throughout most of the time-trial meaning it won't be as fast, bigger gaps can be created, and things can turn ugly for the non-specialists who will struggle a lot to keep their speed. As for the final climb it's somewhat hidden, but even if the wind is felt it's effect is the same for everyone.
The Favourites
This time-trial shouldn't have a very tricky outcome to predict. There's one man to beat and a few riders that may dream of an elusive win, or a strong Top3 result. That man is of course Primoz Roglic, the strongest rider on paper by far for the time-trial specially with the steep hilltop finish, it's perfectly suited for him however he needs to have his good legs to perform (and in the normal scenario he should recover the red jersey) unlike his Tour TT.
Behind him only a few riders who can ambition a win out of tomorrow, Remi Cavagna being one, long-term locomotive but has finally been able to turn that power into results in the discipline, he will love the amount of flat terrain in the TT and can take benefit from it whilst being a solid climber to wrap it up, and the other is Nelson Oliveira who should have fairly the same mindset, both being strong time-trialists in great form.
Behind these riders there's a huge gap, with some possible surprises on quality time-trialists like Bruno Armirail, Dylan van Baarle, Will Barta, Brent van Moer, maybe a little surprise on a rider like Ian Garrison.
Ion Izagirre, Alexander Vlasov, Felix Grossschartner, Luis Leon Sanchez, Marc Soler, Enric Mas are some of the names that can surprise, it will depend a lot on the feeling on the day, they can all climb but also roll very well on their best day, the focus on some of these is on GC so they will fight for every second!
Prediction Time
⭐ Armirail, Barta, Vlasov, Mas
I mean there really isn't no evading. For yesterday's stage he looked to have recovered and turned into the top climber, but struggled in the Angliru, the only thing that would take away this win from him would be a horrible day, which has happened, but shouldn't as it's still fairly early in the race.
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