Adriano Malori and Jonathan Castroviejo made up for yesterday’s disappointment when they took a fantastic 1-2 for Movistar in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes time trial. The Italian was 1 second faster than his Spanish teammate while Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) was another three seconds adrift in third which was enough to take the overall lead.

The Tour du Poitou-Charentes is usually decided in the time trial and so Movistar sent all their TT heavyweights to the French race. With Adriano Malori, Jonathan Castroviejo and Alex Dowsett all at the start, they had a three-pronged attack and a very ambitious approach to the Spanish race.

However, they were caught by surprise in yesterday’s second stage when Etixx-QuickStep attacked in the crosswinds and even though they chased as hard as they could, they failed to catch the front group. To make things even worse, their biggest rival Tony Martin had made the selection and so their overall ambitions were dealt a heavy blow.

Knowing that the overall victory were probably no longer realistic, they still took aim at today’s time trial where they aimed at revenge. That’s what they got as both Malori and Castroviejo went faster than Martin who had to settle for third in his first TT since his comeback.

To make things even better, Dowsett even finished the stage in fourth to make it three riders from the Spanish team in the top 4. The Brit had been the one to set an early mark with 28.06 when he beat Patrick Gretsch (Ag2r) who had briefly had the lead but ended the stage in 5th.

Castroviejo was expected to be the first big threat to Dowsett but things looked bad for the Spanish champion who was a massive 35 seconds behind at the time check. However, he did an outstanding second half to stop the clock in 27.50, beating his teammate by 16 seconds.

At this point, Malori was already on the course and he had passed the time check in a time that was 7 seconds faster than Dowsett’s. Like the Brit, he was unable to match Castroviejo in the second part but he narrowly held on to his lead, stopping the clock in 27.49 to beat his teammate by 1 second.

Everybody knew that Martin was the final rider who could challenge the Movistar dominance and it seemed that they could be beaten when the former world champion passed the time check in a time that was one second faster than Malori. However, he was unable to maintain his speed and at the finish he came up four seconds short, slotting into third.

However, it was still enough to take the overall lead. Race leader Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) did one of the best time trials of his life to take 8th but as he lost 52 seconds to Martin, he dropped to fourth in the overall standings. Martin now leads Malori by 37 seconds while Castroviejo is one second further adrift in third.

Nothing is guaranteed yet as the hardest stage comes on the final day. After a lumpy first part with four categorized climbs, the stage ends with two laps of a 13.7km finishing circuit that has often allowed attackers to steal the show.

A flat time trial

After the morning sprint stage, it was time for the time triallists to come to the fore in stage 4 which was the usually decisive time trial. The 23.2km course brought the riders from Monts sur Guesnes to Loudon and was mostly flat.

It was raining when Theo Bos (MTN-Qhubeka) rolled down the ramp as the first rider. He stopped the cloc in 30.57 to take an early lead but he would soon be knocked out of the hot seat by Benjamin Thomas who managed 30.14 after a great comeback in the second part of the course.

McLay takes the lead

Daniel McLay (Bretagne) was the first rider to go below the 30-minute mark when he posted a time of 29.01 and this was enough to beat Steven Lammertink (LottoNL) who could only manage second with 29.15. Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) was the next to make it into the top 3 with a time of 30.01.

Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix) did a good ride to slot into third with 29.42 and Xabier San Sebastian’s time of 30.02 saw him take. That was slightly better than Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne) who could only manage 30.14.

Best time for Gretsch

The next rider to threaten McLay was Chirstophe Laporte (Cofidis) who posted a time of 29.22 to slot into third but he was already beaten by the next rider Rudy Kowalski (Roubaix) who was one second faster. However, it was Benat Intxausti who got the attention when he kicked off a great Movistar day by taking the lead with 28.55.

Intxausti knew that Patrick Grestch (Ag2r) would be the first serious threat and the German showed that he was in contention by going 20 seconds faster at the time check. In the end, he stopped the clock in 28.31 to move into the lead.

Dowsett moves into the hot seat

Olivier Chevalier (Wallonie) made it into the top 10 with 29.53 while Anthony Roux (FDJ) had a slightly disappointing ride with 29.27. Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx-QuickStep) could manage 29.46, 7 seconds better than Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ).

Everybody was already waiting for Alex Dowsett to finish his stage and as he had been 11 seconds faster than Gretsch at the time check, it was no surprise that he took the lead with 28.06. Moments later Jean-Christophe Peraud made it two Ag2r riders in the top 3 with a time of 28.36.

Fantastic comeback by Castroviejo

Jeremy Roy (FDJ) had hoped for a good ride but he could only manage 29.11. Instead it was another French specialist that got some attention as Damien Gaudien became the third Ag2r rider in the top four with his time of 28.48.

Nic Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) had a good ride with 29.09 while Pierre-Roger Latour continued his great progress by becoming the fourth Ag2r rider in the top 5 with a time of 28.50. Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne) was disappointed with 29.22 but everybody had their eyes on Catroviejo. The Spaniard had been 28 seconds behind Dowsett at the time check but with a great comeback he took the lead with 27.50.

Malori takes the lead

Danny Pate (Sky) made it into the top 10 with 28.55 while Yoann Paillot (Roubaix) could only manage 29.06. He has even been passed by the unstoppable Malori who had been 35 seconds faster than Castroviejo at the time check but only had one second left when he reached the finish.

Julien Vermote (Etixx-QuickStep) had a fine ride with 29.07 while Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) narrowly missed out in the top 10 with 29.03. Paul Martens (LottoNL-Jumbo) was one second faster but it was his teammate Jos van Emden that most were waiting for. However, the Dutchman could only manage 28.51 which was good enough for 8th.

Martin misses out

Wout Poels (Sky) lost ground with a time of 29.05 to miss out on the top 10 before Petr Vakoc (Etixx-QuickStep) slotted into 11th with 28.56. However, it was Martin who was in the spotlight after he had been one second faster at the time check but in the end, he had to settle for third with 27.53.

Rasmus Quaade (Cult) showed good form by slotting into seventh with 28.38 while former leader Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne) had a disastrous ride with 29.56. As expected, Vanmarcke was unable to defend his lead and even though 28.41 saw him take a fine 8th place, it was Malori who took the win.