1. An interesting route provides interesting results
The route for today's TT was not quite a typical one: just over 10km, most of it was flat but there was a kicker in the end. This atypical route had it's effect on the composition of the result lists: the top is a mixed bag of TT specialists such as Tony Martin, Nelson Oliveira and Jos van Emden and GC riders such as Ion Izagirre, Alejandro Valverde and Daniel Martin. A bit further down the line, the classics' riders annex sprinters get into the mix, with Colbrelli, Gasparotto and Roelandts all riding a top 20 spot. The day's winner comes from those ranks: a well earned win for ultra-roleur Edvald Boasson Hagen!🇪🇸 #VCV2019— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) 6 februari 2019
Phew... Eddy the Boss was in a hurry!! 😅 Currently he is fastest by 10 seconds! 🚴🏽♂️💨 pic.twitter.com/250DoKjidk
2. Ion Izagirre takes a head start in the battle for GC
Two days after his thirtieth birthday, Basque rider Ion Izagirre impressed most of all GC candidates during the opening time trial. In his debut race for Astana Pro Cycling, Izagirre finished second overall, a handful of seconds behind stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen. Although time differences were small, Izagirre managed to take anywhere from 10 to 40 seconds on his major competitors, with only Bahrain Merida's GC contender Dylan Teuns finishing close at only three seconds behind. The success might be most interesting for Astana's team dynamics, who hasn't yet announced who would be their GC leader for this race, with fellow Basque Pello Bilbao and always-good-this-early Luis Leon Sanchez also in the picture.
3. Hope for Esteban Chaves
Speaking of dual leadership, it's been a while since Esteban Chaves has shared leadership duties at Mitchelton Scott. To be fair, it's been a while since the unlucky Colombian has raced a bike at all, but never fear: he's back.
In his first bike race in eighth months, Esteban rose to the occasion with a respectable 36th place, among most GC contenders and five seconds in front of his team leader Yates. Alright, perhaps it's a bit early to fire up the hype train yet, but we can all be happy he's riding again.
Gracias parcero, que bonitas palabras https://t.co/ugmvEbTflO— Esteban Chaves (@estecharu) 6 februari 2019
4. Harry Tanfield is warming up
After British youth impressed in the CX World's this weekend, it's again a Brit taking on the young rider's jersey today. Tanfield had a great first half of a year with continental squad Canyon Eisberg in 2018, taking second in the national TT championships, but failed to impress in the later half. Nevertheless, he transferred to world tour formation Katusha Alpecin for 2019. Although he DNF'ed on the first two Mallorca Challenge races he rode, the first TT for his new team was great, finishing just outside the top 10.
Mejor joven de la 1a etapa de la #VCV2019 GP @BancoSabadell Hanry Tanfield @katushacycling. Entrega el maillot Juan José Castellón, Diputado de Deportes Alicante pic.twitter.com/Bnj7ACc5UQ— Vuelta CV (@VueltaCV) 6 februari 2019
