2015 Tour de France stage 9 TTT

 

The start ramp ready, the highly anticipated TTT got under way.

 

Svein Tuft.

 

Down to just 6 riders after the first week, Orica's original goal of winning the stage was thrown out the window before they'd even taken to the start ramp.

 

Bretagne Séché have received extra support from the fans while the Tour has been in Brittany.

 

Filippo Pozzato and Costa of Lampre Merida.

 

FDJ.

 

A deep breath from Yohan Gène of Europcar.

 

Bora.

 

 

A wheel change literally at the last minute.

 

IAM.

 

Game faces on for Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar, and Louis Meintjes of MTN Qhubeka.

 

Bike checks and stretches for Lotto Jumbo.

 

Kruijswijk on the ramp while his teammates sit and wait.

 

Trek's smallest rider, Colombian climber Julian Arredondo, between two of the team's tallest.

 

Astana.

 

Haas of Cannondale Garmin.

 

Dan Martin.

 

Ramunas Navardauskas.

 

Before every stage of every race, Andrew Talansky can be seen checking his equipment.

 

Cofidis.

 

Katusha.

 

Herrada, Quintana, and Imanol Erviti of Movistar.

 

Giant Alpecin watches the teams already on course on the big screen.

 

Roy Curvers and Simon Geschke.

 

Warren Barguil lies second in the best young rider category and wore the jersey instead of Sagan, who is in the green jersey.

 

AG2R.

 

Mark Cavendish and Kwiatkowski of Etixx Quick Step.

 

Tinkoff Saxo.

 

Contador, Rafal Majka, and Sagan.

 

Stage favorites and TTT world champions BMC. Dennis, Tejay Van Garderen, Danillo Wyss, and Daniel Oss check out the competition on the big screen.

 

Chris Froome and Richie Porte of Sky.

 

Movistar stopped the clock at 32'19″ and moved into the hot seat. A nervous Quintana had to wait for rivals Tinkoff, BMC, and Sky to come in.

 

On the road, Tinkoff set a new best time at the first checkpoint at 10k into the 28k course. This wasn't necessarily cause for alarm to Movistar. Their 10k time had been only the 4th fastest, 6″ slower than Tinkoff's new time, though they managed to hang on while IAM and Astana had faded. Minutes later, however, BMC came flying through the checkpoint and took a further 7″ off of Tinkoff's time. When Sky, the final team on the road, passed the checkpoint on the same time as BMC, Quintana grimaced.

 

The lumpy course wasn't technical but it was demanding. At the 20.5k checkpoint, Tinkoff had fallen off the pace and were no longer a threat. BMC had slowed too, but they maintained their advantage over Movistar by 3″. Sky pulled ahead and were 1″ ahead of BMC. The top 3 teams were within just 4″ of each other. The nail biter TTT would come down to the final kilometers and who could complete the 2k uphill finish the fastest.

 

Their faces portraits of agony, BMC rounded the last corner and finished with a time of 32'15″, knocking Quintana and Movistar out of first place by 4″. It was too early for the American team to celebrate as Sky was storming the course, taking a massive 5″ off of BMC with just 2k to go.

 

The seconds ticked by as the maillot jaune and his surviving teammates gave everything they had left on the climb. Watching the clock and calculating the remaining meters, my mind kept jumping from “Sky's going to catch BMC!” to “BMC will pull it off!” It was tight and the 2 teams were closely matched. When the fifth Sky rider crossed the line, it was just a fraction of a second slower than BMC. Van Garderen and BMC had taken the stage win! Sky would keep the yellow jersey, with both Froome and Van Garderen taking time on their GC rivals.

 

As for Monday, the peloton will be thrilled to hear just 2 words: rest day.