It's individual time trial day at the Eneco Tour and already a day for the TT specialists and GC contenders to show their form over the 9.6km course. We're around an hour or so into the event and we've already seen some importantly rapid times.
Here are the top five as things stand:
1 R. Dennis 10'48"00 2 R. Navardauskas 11'07"00 3 S. Andersen 11'09"00 4 J. Bauer 11'15"00 5 A. Edmondson 11'46"00
There are still a number of quick men to come but Dennis is once again showing that he has form ahead of the World Championships. The BMC rider won a stage and finished on the podium at the recent Tour of Britain and after the bad luck that cost him a medal at the Olympics he's really knuckled down.
Here are some recent comments from the former Tour de France leader:
"I should have got silver in Rio," Dennis told Cyclingnews at the Tour of Britain where he impressively won stage 7b with a late attack.
"I was there to win gold and it would have been nice to have come away with at least a medal but it's not the end of the world and I'll move forward. If I do get a medal or win in Doha I will be somewhat happier with the season, that's for sure."
You can find the complete list of today's start times, just here. Tom Dumoulin should be coming to the finish in a minute or two.
Another rider to watch today is Bob Jungels. National time trial champion and had a breakthrough Giro d'Italia back in May. He's been quiet since then but the course suits him and he's warmed up on the rollers a few minutes ago.
Tom Dumoulin had finished in 11'08. Twenty seconds slower than Dennis. That's a bit of a surprise from Dumoulin, to lose that amount of time in such a short distance. He does excel over the longer time trials, but still...
Dennis remains on the top step for now:
1 R. Dennis 10'48 2 J. Van Emden 10'53 3 P. Roglic 11'04 4 R. Navardauskas 11'07 5 T. Bohli 11'08
Tony Martin and Taylor Phinney are both still to make their time trial efforts. Martin of course won the time trial at the Tour of Britain, while Phinney is better suited to short distances like this than events like the Olympics.
Blue skies out there, perfect conditions, and former UCI Hour Record Holder Brandle has finished in 11'03'8 to take third place for now.
Well that didn't last long. Bradley Wiggins retired from road racing for about a week. He's now down to do the Abu Dhabi Tour in October. You can read about it here.
Can't help but wonder about the timing of that announcement given the recent headlines surrounding Wiggins. Yesterday we published a story about Wiggins' TUE use, and Team Sky. You can read it here.
Meanwhile, back to the race and Arashiro has come over the line in 56th place. He's another rider moving from Lampre Merida to Bahrain Merida in 2017.
We're just seeing image of time trial world champion missing his start time, rolling out the start house and throwing his bottle to the floor. Dennis, who was on the ramp already, doesn't know where to look.
Jon Izaguirre sets 11'07. Just a bit slower than Navardauskas. 7th best time for the Movistar man. Dennis still leads.
Tony Martin, probably the only man who can beat Dennis, has set off from the start house.
No intermediate time check for Martin but he's motoring along this flat course in his national time trial kit. This is probably his last individual time trial for Etixx.
Martin ten seconds off Dennis time at the moment so there's work to be done for the German time trial specialist.
German champion TT Tony Martin is on his way. #EnecoTour #timetrial #Breda
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:10:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 4 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 00:00:15 5 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:16 6 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
Transparency put aside following Wiggins #TUE revelations https://t.co/h3WV2EUVJW https://t.co/vPrfRAMQBF
Dowsett has still to ride, and Sagan, Kittel and Kelderman, so there's certainly some talented time trial riders to come.
And Kelderman who moves teams at the end of the season starts his time trial. A lot was expected of this Dutch rider but he's struggled in the last couple of years with injuries and a lack of form.
Van Baarle, another rider late for his time slot. Not great from him or his team at WorldTour level.
Dowsett is now on course but Dennis still leads with less than 30 riders still to being their TT.
Kelderman comes to the with 4th fastest 11'04.
There is @tomboonen1, preparing for his time trial https://t.co/8yTNidvjM7
Dowsett 8th at the finish, 17 seconds off Dennis' leading time. Degenkolb is on the course at the moment but we're almost into our last batch of stage contenders. Boonen starts his effort.
News: Wiggins to come out of road retirement for Abu Dhabi Tour: The Tour of Britain wasn’t the end of the ro... https://t.co/b9yoIpFeF1
Kittel starts his time trial effort with the German looking focused as he zips down the start ramp and quickly settles into a rapid pace.
The remaining riders yet to start:
168 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 16:17:00 169 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot - Oranje Peloton 16:19:00 170 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise 16:21:00 171 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre - Merida 16:23:00 172 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 16:25:00 173 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 16:27:00 174 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 16:29:00 175 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 16:31:00 176 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 16:33:00
Latest top ten:
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:10:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:15 5 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:16 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 8 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 00:00:18 9 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 00:00:19 10 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Drapac
Kittel has a top ten place for his efforts.
The German slots into 8th place, 17 seconds down on stage leader Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing).
What can Peter Sagan pull out of the bag? Here goes the world champion.
.@FabioAru1: I’m still struggling with Tour de France defeat https://t.co/T4aj1scVqR https://t.co/k2sLYljige
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:10:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:15 5 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:16 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 8 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:00:17 9 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 00:00:18 10 Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar Team 00:00:19
Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo, the race leader is now on the road.
Sagan takes 8th to go ahead of Kittel.
Frederik Backaert close to the finish - 2 km to go #EnecoTour https://t.co/wfW9DSdIMT
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:10:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:15 5 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:16 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 00:00:17 9 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 10 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 00:00:18
Bouhanni coasts over the line so just the race leader still out there. It looks lie Dennis has the stage and the race lead though.
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:10:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 4 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:15 5 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:16 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 00:00:17 9 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 10 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 00:00:18
General classification after stage 2 1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 04:24:48 2 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:05 3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 00:00:13 4 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 00:00:14 5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 00:00:15 6 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 00:00:16 8 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 9 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:00:17 10 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 00:00:18
Dennis leads Van Emden in the overall classification. The Dutchman is at five seconds, with Peter Sagan third at 13 seconds. Sagan set a time of 11:05 for the time trial.
Dennis is now a contender for overall success thanks to BMC’s expected strength in the key team time trial on stage five.
Wednesday’s 186km third stage is between Blankenberge and Ardooie and is expected to suit the sprinters once again.
Thanks for joining us today. We will be back tomorrow with more live coverage from the Eneco Tour.
