So Nairo Quintana jumps into the top ten for the first time after that impressive showing from Movistar. BMC demonstrated exactly why they were the favourites coming into the team time trial, but Sky did enough to keep hold of the yellow jersey and Froome will be happy to have gained time over Contador and his other GC rivals. Next up is a rest day as the Tour takes off for the Pyrenees. Join us on Tuesday for stage ten, from Tarbes to La Pierre Saint-Martin. That’s it from me. Bye!
Updated
General classification standings after stage nine:
1. Froome
2. Van Garderen +0.12
3. Van Avermaet +0.27
4. Sagan +0.38
5. Contador +1.03
9. Quintana +1.59
Stage nine result
1 BMC Racing 0:32:16
2 Team Sky 0:32:15
3 Movistar Team 0:32:19
4 Tinkoff-Saxo 0:32:43
5 Astana Pro Team 0:32:50
6 IAM Cycling 0:32:53
7 Etixx - Quick-Step 0:33:00
8 Lampre-Merida 0:33:03
9 Team Lotto NL-Jumbo 0:33:29
10 AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:39
11 Trek Factory Racing 0:33:40
12 Cannondale-Garmin 0:33:44
13 Bora-Argon 18 0:33:46
14 FDJ 0:33:48
15 Lotto Soudal 0:33:51
16 Team Giant-Alpecin 0:33:52
17 Team Europcar 0:33:57
18 Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:34:01
19 Team Katusha 0:34:08
20 MTN - Qhubeka 0:34:11
21 Cofidis 0:34:47
22 Orica GreenEdge 0:37:13
BMC Racing win stage nine!
Sky are in trouble, Nicolas Roche falling off the back. He clings on but they lose perhaps a second or two and it’s just enough – Sky fall ONE SECOND short of BMC’s 32.15 time... though it is enough for Chris Froome to retain the yellow jersey.
Updated
Sky approach the final kilometre as they climb to the finish:
Six riders remain for @TeamSky as they power towards the final climb. The Cote de Cadoudal is a tough test up to the line #TDF2015
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 12, 2015
BMC lead the team time trial
BMC are whittled down to just five riders, which means they cannot afford to leave anymore behind. They grind up the Côte de Cadoudal, Tejay van Garderen leading his red troops to the line and they clock 32.15, four seconds quicker than Movistar and Quintana. Team Sky are five minutes down the road and need to get within 13secs of BMC for Froome to retain the yellow jersey. As if aware of his task, he jumps to the nose and drives on.
Team Sky pass the 20km checkpoint one second ahead of BMC Racing. This team time trial is developing into a thrilling conclusion. Peter Sagan and Tinkoff-Saxo finish +24secs back on Movistar’s lead time – which puts a broad smile on Nairo Quintana’s face. Astana are +31 in third, IAM Cycling +34 in fourth and Etixx QuickStep +41 in fifth.
Updated
BMC have dropped Danilo Wyss from the back but they won’t be too worried; the key here is to nurse five riders up the final ascent to the line. Team Sky approach the 20km check...
BMC pass the 20km checkpoint in a neat single paceline, wheel on wheel, but they are only three seconds up on Movistar! Down on their 11 second lead at 10km. How will Team Sky respond?
Updated
Wowee – It’s a fantastic start from Team Sky and they match BMC’s 10km checkpoint time of 10.54. Tinkoff-Saxo were 7secs back at the same stage and they are now the only three teams yet to finish, after AG2R La Mondiale cross as the sixth fastest team, a reasonable return for the French team of yesterday’s stage eight winner, Alexis Vuillermoz.
Giant-Alpecin cross the line with Warren Barguil at the back in the white jersey, but they are +1.32 from Movistar’s leading time.
BMC cross the first timecheck at 10km in a neat paceline and they are the first team through inside 11 minutes with a time of 10.54. An impressive start by Tejay van Garderen and his team-mates in red. Team Sky will be there in five minutes, so soon we will have a much better idea of who might be in yellow by the end of the day.
Movistar lead the team time trial
Movistar come to the line. It’s a little messy and they’ve dropped some of their slower riders but the five left together – including Nairo Quintana – cross in 32.19 to comfortably beat Nibali’s Astana and their time of 32.50. That’s a huge chunk of time that Quintana has gained. How will BMC and Sky react?
Team Sky are the final team away from the start ramp, all nine riders still in the Tour. Froome is in his custom-made yellow jersey for this team time trial amongst the dark blue. Geraint Thomas leads them away with Richie Porte closely in tow.
Team Sky
31. Chris Froome
32. Peter Kennaugh
33. Leopold König
34. Wout Poels
35. Richie Porte
36. Nicolas Roche
37. Luke Rowe
38. Ian Stannard
39. Geraint Thomas
Updated
Movistar work their way up the gruelling final climb before the finish, fans five-deep either side leaning in to clap on their way. Next up are the favourites, BMC. What can Tejay and his team do?
BMC Racing Team
61. Tejay van Garderen
62. Damiano Caruso
63. Rohan Dennis
64. Daniel Oss
65. Manuel Quinziato
66. Samuel Sánchez
67. Michael Schar
68. Greg van Avermaet
69. Danilo Wyss
Three teams left and here’s one of them: Alberto Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo set off, and in amongst the light green is the slightly darker shade of green jersey winner Peter Sagan, who could realistically be wearing yellow by the end of the day if his team can take more than 11secs out of Team Sky, the last group out.
Tinkoff – Saxo
41. Alberto Contador
42. Ivan Basso
43. Daniele Bennati
44. Roman Kreuziger
45. Rafal Majka
46. Michael Rogers
47. Peter Sagan
48. Matteo Tosatto
49. Michael Valgren
Astana fan out and push hard to the line, mouths open desperate to eke out every last second – and they clock the fastest time by three seconds from IAM Cycling with a 32.30. Nibali lays down a marker for his GC rivals to take on. Etixx QuickStep are the next away, Cavendish alongside Michal Kwiatkowski, Rigoberto Uran and stage six winner Zdenek Stybar.
Etixx – Quick Step
111. Michal Kwiatkowski
112. Mark Cavendish
113. Michal Golas
114. Tony Martin
115. Mark Renshaw
116. Zdenek Stybar
117. Matteo Trentin
118. Rigoberto Uran
119. Julien Vermote
Updated
Trek Racing cross the finish in a line with the minimum five riders still there. They are fourth, +47secs from IAM Cycling’s lead-time of 32.53. French team AG2R La Mondiale are the next team away and only four teams remain; the penultimate team are the favourites, BMC, and last out are Team Sky.
AG2R La Mondiale
11. Jean-Christophe Peraud
12. Romain Bardet
13. Jan Bakelants
14. Mikael Cherel
15. Ben Gastauer
16. Damien Gaudin
17. Christophe Riblon
18. Johan Vansummeren
19. Alexis Vuillermoz
Standings after ten teams finished
Lotto NL-Jumbo get five riders across the line, chugging away after the draining finish of the 1.7km ascent to the top of Côte de Cadoudal. They are sixth fastest so far of the ten to finish.
1. IAM CYCLING 32.53
2. LAMPRE - MERIDA +0.10
3. TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO +0.36
4. BORA-ARGON 18 +0.53
5. FDJ +0.55
6. LOTTO-SOUDAL +0.58
7. TEAM EUROPCAR +1.04
8. BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT +01.08
9. MTN-QHUBEKA +01.18
10. ORICA GREENEDGE +04. 20
Updated
IAM Cycling’s 32.53 is the time to beat as Movistar get their time trial under way. Alex Dowsett looks ahead with focus alongside Nairo Quintana. They have a full compliment of nine riders and certainly have the power to challenge for the stage victory.
Movistar Team
51. Nairo Quintana
52. Winner Anacona
53. Jonathan Castroviejo
54. Alex Dowsett
55. Imanol Erviti
56. José Herrada
57. Gorka Izagirre
58. Adriano Malori
59. Alejandro Valverde
Updated
Teams yet to start
- MOVISTAR TEAM at 3.15pm
- TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN at 3.20pm
- AG2R LA MONDIALE at 3.25pm
- ETIXX-QUICK STEP at 3.30pm
- TINKOFF-SAXO at 3.35pm
- BMC RACING TEAM at 3.40pm
- TEAM SKY at 3.45pm
Russian Team Katusha go next with Joaquim Rodriguez among their number, which counts only seven after the abandonment of Kozontchuk and Paolini’s positive drugs test for cocaine.
Team Katusha
91. Joaquim Rodriguez
92. Giampaolo Caruso
93. Jacopo Guarnieri
94. Marco Haller
95. Dmitry Kozontchuk
96. Alexander Kristoff
97. Alberto Losada
98. Tiago Machado
99. Luca Paolini
Astana have crossed the first checkpoint at 10km in the fastest time so far in stage nine, one second up on IAM Cycling – but they look in a mess, Dmitriy Gruzdev and Rein Taaramae struggling and the duo have slipped off the back of the pack, leaving Nibali and company to it. Can Astana lay down a marker for Nibali’s GC rivals? Cofidis are the latest team to roll down the start ramp.
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
171. Nacer Bouhanni
172. Nicolas Edet
173. Christophe Laporte
174. Luis Ángel Maté
175. Daniel Navarro
176. Florian Senechal
177. Julien Simon
178. Geoffrey Soupe
179. Kenneth Vanbilsen
Updated
IAM cycling have shaved a few seconds off Lampre’s leading time at the 10km and 20km checkpoints, so we could have a new leading time shortly.
The lime-green pack of Cannondale-Garmin get moving, rolling down the start ramp into what is a quite a tricky, snaking start which requires a slow and steady approach. They are missing New Zealand rider Jack Bauer who had to withdraw through injury.
Cannondale – Garmin
161. Andrew Talansky
162. Jack Bauer
163. Nathan Haas
164. Ryder Hesjedal
165. Kristijan Koren
166. Sebastian Langeveld
167. Daniel Martin
168. Ramunas Navardauskas
169. Dylan van Baarle
And we are off! #TDF2015 TTT time. Watch us go!
— Cannondale-Garmin (@Ride_Argyle) July 12, 2015
Five teams have completed the TTT so far, Lampre leading the way:
1. LAMPRE - MERIDA 33.03
2. FDJ +0.45
3. TEAM EUROPCAR +0.54
4. BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT +0.58
5. ORICA GREENEDGE +4.10
Updated
Team Astana and Vincenzo Nibali are up next. Last year’s winner lost 10secs at the end of stage eight yesterday so he will be desperate to make up some time to Chris Froome and the other GC contenders ahead of him in the overall standings.
Astana Pro Team
1. Vincenzo Nibali
2. Lars Boom
3. Jakob Fuglsang
4. Andriy Grivko
5. Dmitriy Gruzdev
6. Tanel Kangert
7. Michele Scarponi
8. Rein Taaramäe
9. Lieuwe Westra
Updated
Trek, of course without Cancellara, get their time trial going.
Trek Factory Racing
141. Bauke Mollema
142. Julián Arredondo
143. Fabian Cancellara
144. Stijn Devolder
145. Laurent Didier
146. Markel Irizar
147. Bob Jungels
148. Gregory Rast
149. Haimar Zubeldia
#TDF2015 Only 22, @BobJungels is the biggest TT engine of our 8, and will have a big role to play in the 28km TTT. pic.twitter.com/gJrirV63A3
— Trek Factory Racing (@TrekFactory) July 12, 2015
Somehow, as John Griffin points out, Orica GreenEdge managed not to clock in at the 26km timecheck:
@LawrenceOstlere looks like Orica Greenedge took a little shortcut somewhere. Not that it did too much good pic.twitter.com/0S97CS0bSy
— John Griffin (@JohnGriffin_) July 12, 2015
FDJ cross the line in second place with a time of 33.48 (+0.45). Bretagne-Seche still lead the way early in this team time trial.
Bretagne-Seche finish with only five riders, having sacrificed four of their team on the testing climb to the finish, to record a 34.01. That ascent to the line will be an interesting feature of this TTT. Lampre are in soon afterwards and go faster with a 33.03. Dutch team Lotto NL-Jumbo are away next with a full compliment of nine riders.
Lotto NL-Jumbo
131. Robert Gesink
132. Wilco Kelderman
133. Steven Kruijswijk
134. Tom Leezer
135. Paul Martens
136. Bram Tankink
137. Laurens ten Dam
138. Jos van Emden
139. Sep Vanmarcke
Plenty of big names watching from the side today in Brittany:
Updated
Orica GreenEdge finish together as a six with a time of 37.13. They are the first team to lay down a marker but it is sure to be smashed, such is the weakened nature of their line-up. King of the Mountains leader Daniel Teklehaimanot and his MTN-Qhubeka team are next to start the team time trial.
MTN – Qhubeka
211. Edvald Boasson Hagen
212. Stephen Cummings
213. Tyler Farrar
214. Jacques J v Rensburg
215. Reinardt J v Rensburg
216. Merhawi Kudus
217. Louis Meintjes
218. Serge Pauwels
219. Daniel Teklehaimanot
Updated
Lampre go through the 20km mark with a time of 22.26, more than 30secs clear of Bretagne-Seche and a full 3mins ahead of Orica GreenEdge who are nearing the end of the stage. Swiss team IAM Cycling are the eighth group off.
IAM Cycling
181. Mathias Frank
182. Matthias Brändle
183. Sylvain Chavanel
184. Stef Clement
185. Jérome Coppel
186. Martin Elmiger
187. Reto Hollenstein
188. Jarlinson Pantano
189. Marcel Wyss
Lotto-Soudal are away, the Belgium team with Tony Gallopin well-placed in the overall standings in fourth place. They also have Thomas de Gendt in their ranks who controlled the pace of the peloton for much of stage eight, and André Greipel who lost his green jersey to Peter Sagan on the Mûr-de-Bretagne yesterday.
Lotto Soudal
71. Tony Gallopin
72. Lars Bak
73. Thomas De Gendt
74. Jens Debusschere
75. André Greipel
76. Adam Hansen
77. Gregory Henderson
78. Marcel Sieberg
79. Tim Wellens
Lampre-Merida are still the fastest team through the 10km timecheck so far, with 11.11. German-based Bora-Argon 18 get going with eight riders, Andreas Schillinger the man who has abandoned the Tour this week.
Bora-Argon 18
191. Dominik Nerz
192. Jan Bárta
193. Sam Bennett
194. Emanuel Buchmann
195. Zakkari Dempster
196. Bartosz Huzarski
197. José Mendes
198. Andreas Schillinger
199. Paul Voss
Michael Matthews, who has showed so much promise coming into his first Tour de France, is clearly struggling with injury and he is being sheltered at the back of the Orica GreenEdge paceline.
This 28km stage has timechecks at 10km, 20.5km and 26km, and we have an early indication of just how big the gaps could be today between teams: Lampre-Merida clock 11.11 at the 10km mark, Bretagne-Seche are 24secs back at 11.35 and the six-man Orica GreenEdge are way down, clocking 12.56. Team Europcar are the fifth team to get going.
Team Europcar
121. Pierre Rolland
122. Bryan Coquard
123. Cyril Gautier
124. Yohann Gene
125. Bryan Nauleau
126. Perrig Quemeneur
127. Romain Sicard
128. Angelo Tulik
129. Thomas Voeckler
Home team FDJ are away, which contains last year’s third-place finisher Thibaut Pinot, who has recovered well from several crashes this week. They are without William Bonnet today following the major stage three crash which he appeared to cause.
FDJ
21. Thibaut Pinot
22. William Bonnet
23. Sébastien Chavanel
24. Arnaud Démare
25. Alexandre Geniez
26. Matthieu Ladagnous
27. Steve Morabito
28. Jérémy Roy
29. Benoit Vaugrenard
🔝 chrono ! #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/sTe3SdomfJ
— Equipe FDJ (@EquipeFDJ) July 12, 2015
Updated
Team Sky’s manager Dave Brailsford has talked up the significance of this team time trial: “Getting the fifth fastest guy up the hill will make the difference. We came here and tried a couple of different formations, and we’ve settled on the plan we are going to ride today. Hopefully it’s a good one.”
Orica GreenEdge’s depleted team have formed a neat single paceline. It’s a little cloudy in Brittany but it’s a cycling-mad part of the world and fans have come out in huge numbers to line this tricky, hilly time-trial route. Lampre-Merida make their start.
Lampre – Merida
151. Rui Costa
152. Matteo Bono
153. Davide Cimolai
154. Kristijan Durasek
155. Nelson Oliveira
156. Rubén Plaza
157. Filippo Pozzato
158. José Serpa
159. Rafael Valls
Bretagne-Seche are away; the French team have a full compliment of nine riders.
Bretagne – Séché Environnement
201. Eduardo Sepúlveda
202. Frederic Brun
203. Anthony Delaplace
204. Pierrick Fedrigo
205. Brice Feillu
206. Armindo Fonseca
207. Arnaud Gerard
208. Pierre-Luc Perichon
209. Florian Vachon
So Orica GreenEdge get us under way in this TTT from Vannes to Plumelec. Crashes this week have devastated the Australian team to leave only six of their nine riders, one of whom is the embattled Michael Matthews who you imagine will be happy enough to finish. A reminder that five riders must complete the stage, and the team will be timed by the fifth man across the line.
Orica GreenEDGE
101. Simon Gerrans
102. Michael Albasini
103. Luke Durbridge
104. Daryl Impey
105. Michael Matthews
106. Svein Tuft
107. Pieter Weening
108. Adam Yates
109. Simon Yates
Updated
Chris Froome will be wearing a tailor-made yellow jersey for today’s time trial:
The company in charge of providing the leaders’ jerseys at cycling’s biggest race sent two technicians to Brittany to take the 2013 Tour champion’s measurements on the eve of the race against the clock. They then worked for two hours at Team Sky’s hotel to create the aerodynamic outfit. (AP)
Team time trial: start times
- ORICA GREENEDGE at 2pm BST
- BRETAGNE - SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT at 2.05pm
- LAMPRE - MERIDA at 2.10pm
- FDJ at 2.15pm
- TEAM EUROPCAR at 2.20pm
- BORA-ARGON 18 at 2.25pm
- LOTTO-SOUDAL at 2.30pm
- IAM CYCLING at 2.35pm
- MTN-QHUBEKA at 2.40pm
- TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO at 2.45pm
- TREK FACTORY RACING at 2.50pm
- ASTANA PRO TEAM at 2.55pm
- TEAM CANNONDALE-GARMIN at 3pm
- COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS at 3.05pm
- TEAM KATUSHA at 3.10pm
- MOVISTAR TEAM at 3.15pm
- TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN at 3.20pm
- AG2R LA MONDIALE at 3.25pm
- ETIXX-QUICK STEP at 3.30pm
- TINKOFF-SAXO at 3.35pm
- BMC RACING TEAM at 3.40pm
- TEAM SKY at 3.45pm
Updated
While we wait for this team time trial to get going on a warm day in Brittany, have a read of Barry Glendenning’s take on an incident-filled opening week from the ground.
A quick look back at yesterday’s stage eight, which Alexis Vuillermoz claimed with a terrific show of power at the summit of Mûr-de-Bretagne. Vincenzo Nibali struggled at the finish and lost ten seconds to Chris Froome in yellow, leaving him 1min 48secs behind. Peter Sagan, currently second overall, finished fourth yesterday to grab the green jersey in which André Greipel was just getting comfy.
Today’s stage could see a much more telling shift in the standings, with Chris Froome predicting gaps of up to 30 seconds between the GC contenders’ teams.
Overall standings
1. Froome
2. Sagan +0.11
3. Van Garderen +0.13
4. Gallopin +0.26
5. Van Avermaet +0.28
6. Uran +0.34
7. Contador +0.36
8. Barguil +1.07
9. Stybar +1.15
10. Mollema +1.32
13. Nibali +1.48
16. Quintana +1.56
Stage nine: team time trial from Vannes to Plumelec (28km)
The treacherous trip from Holland through Belgium and northern France is coming to an end. The riders have fought against wind, rain and cobblestones and what remains of the peloton will have truly earned their rest day tomorrow, when they travel to the Pyrenees for the next part of the Tour.
This team time trial is a big one for Team Sky, who showed poorly in the equivalent stage at the Giro d’Italia and Dauphiné. It is not your average TTT, being much further into the race than the norm of two or three days in. With nine days’ racing in their legs the riders will all have accumulated fatigue – plus plenty of bumps and bruises – which should make the time gaps larger than usual.
The stage is also a little different from past TTTs, finishing with a sharp 1.7km climb at an average gradient of 6.2%. Time trial bikes aren’t made for climbing and this also will bring another tactical layer – conserving enough energy for the final ascent whilst not losing significant time will be a delicate balancing act. Remember, it is the fifth rider’s time that counts so teams with their full compliment of nine riders can afford to sacrifice a couple of men to a ‘death pull’ up the Côte de Cadoudal.
Orica GreenEdge impressed in the Giro but following the withdrawals of Simon Gerrans, Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini only six riders remain, making this a hugely difficult task for the Australian team, even more so considering the hammering Michael Matthews has taken over the past few days.
Jack Bauer’s abandonment is a big loss to Cannondale-Garmin, and Trek are without Fabian Cancellara following the terrible stage four crash which also ended Dmitry Kozontchuk’s Tour. His Katusha team are further hindered after Luca Paolini tested positive for cocaine; the ginger beard’s Tour is over, as may be his career.
BMC are the favourites today with Tejay van Garderen (third overall) and Greg van Avermaet (fifth) at the helm. But Sky, Movistar and Astana all have enough in their ranks to win the stage, while Tinkoff-Saxo and Etixx QuickStep – even without Tony Martin – should go well.
Time trial start: 2pm BST
Updated
