The temperature actually cooled off more than predicted - hovering around 80 degrees at start time.  I'm guessing the breeze was a gentle 5mph out of the NW.  The only downside was the 30" cut in the road filled with gravel just before Blackcreek Rd. Never the less, great TT conditions for Sept 5th.

While five showed up for the TT, only four participated in the race of truth.  The fifth decided he was just too tuckered out to do it.  Next time!      The Fastest Man Time (FMT) was set by Chris Lamothe. He scorched the course in a time of 23:33 (25.47mph) - his fastest 2023 time.  Bonny rocketed through the course in an FWT of 24:26(24.55mph).   Everyone negotiated the gravel slot with aplomb.  

Note:  Next week we will start at 6:00 pm.

Stage 6-  My last summary left off with a 30 rider break away and seeing 3 Jumbo Visma riders as part of it - including Sepp Kuss.  I wondered what Jumbo was up to.  Well they gave Sepp the green light and he took advantage off the opportunity to go for the stage win.  And win he did and in doing so, took over the Red jersey to lead the race and the GC favorites by over 2 minutes!

Stage 7:  Sprint finish.  But, a huge crash took out many of the sprinters and included Sepp Kuss.  Luckily he was able to get back the pack and not loose any time.   The winner of the sprint was as shocked as everyone that he could hold off the charging bunch. Nice to see.

Stage 8:  Mountain top finish.  Roglic out sprinted 23 yo Evenepoel and 20 yo Ayuso for the win.  Kuss, Vingegaard, Almeidi, Mas and Soler a few seconds back.  Evenepoel embarrassingly admitted post race that he didn't realize he and Roglic were sprinting for the stage win.  He thought the breakaway riders had already finished.  DOH!  It might have been to keep that to himself.

Stage 9:   Another Mtn top finish.... BUT, a mud slide in the finishing 400m forced the race organizers to scramble.  And this while the race was in progress.  Initially it was reported that times would be taken at the 2.6 km mark, but then it was announced it would be at the 2.05 km line.   The riders still had to finish the whole course.  Kinda weird. The break away guys fought all the way to the orig finish line and got thru the mud w/o issues.  The rest of field not fighting for placement just noodled along without a care after the 2.05km mark.  Surreal!  

Monday rest day

Will World TT champion Evenepoel crush the GC contenders and claim the red jersey?

Will the red jersey give Sepp Kuss super power?

Who is the team leader on Jumbo Visma?  Roglic, Vingegaard or Kuss?

Well, hour record holder Filipo Ganna posted a super fast time early on for everyone to shoot at.   Supposedly, Ganna rode a 62 tooth chainring with an 11x34 cassette.  He needed the 34 to get up the incline with good cadence.   No one would beat him today.  His average speed was 34.7mph.  

Evenepoel finished 2nd,  16 seconds back, and 20 seconds ahead of Roglic.  Vingegaard had an off day.    Sepp Kuss is generally not known for time trialing.  He usually conserves energy on the TTs so he's got something left for the climbs.  He finished 13th and still holds the red Jersey. Superb effort !

Sepp Kuss

Soler            :26

Evenepoel   1:09

Roglic          1:36

Wednesday:   Mountain top finish

Lotsa of mountains to come.  Very few sprint stages.  It should be interesting to watch.  I wouldn't count out Vingegaard just yet.  Also, keep in mind that the Vuelta is Sepp Kuss's 3rd tour of the year. How much gas is in the tank for the 3rd week?   Jumbo Visma has already won the Giro and the TdF... going for the hat trick with the Vuelta.

Brian

Director de Contrarreloj

315-727-1458