It is time for revenge for Bradley Wiggins after yesterday's crash festival that ended up costing the British favourite 1.24 to his key rivals. However, the Brit could not have wished a better stage to come just the day after his defeat as the 54,8km from Gabicbe Mare to Saltara offers him the perfect opportunity to show that he is still very much in the game. For all his competitors it will be a mission of minimizing their losses but after yesterday's drama they won't find themselves will a huge time loss to make up at the end of the race's most crucial stages. Starting at 14.15 you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

With a hard stage already in their legs one of the race's single most crucial days is today. In an attempt to convince some to the world's major stage race riders to participate in the Italian grand tour, organizers RCS Sport decided to include a long time trial in the race for the first time since 2009 when Denis Menchov founded his overall victory with a win in the mammoth 60,6km race against the clock from Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore. The 54,8km individual test has the potential to be just as crucial as that infamous time trial in 2009 and there is little doubt that the presence of this stage is one of the key reasons for Bradley Wiggins' participation in Italy. With the only remaining timed event being a mountain time trial in the final week of the race, Wiggins will do his utmost to take as much time out of his rivals in this stage as possible and there is little doubt that most contenders are glad to get this stage out of the way very quickly.

However, the stage is not your typical time trial for the specialist and the GC contenders who have done a recon in the lead-up to the race have all stressed how hard and unusual this test is. Starting in Gabicce Mare, the first 26km until the intermediate time check in Pesaro follow a very winding coastal roads with almost no flat parts for the specialists to express their talents. What will be favoured in the early part of the race is as much bike handling skills as it is raw power.

After Pesaro the specialists get an opportunity to show their strength on 4,9km of almost flat roads until they start the 2,5km climb to Novilara as they leave the coast to head towards the finishing city of Saltara. A short descent follow before 14,5km of dead-flat and straight roads take the riders to Calcinelli and the second intermediate check. This is where Wiggins will really put the hammer down and show who is the boss in the time trial discipline.

Just as the riders feel that they are about to finish their suffering, they get a nasty surprise. The final 3,35km are all uphill and while the first 2,7km are rather gentle with an average gradient of 3,6%, the final 650m are extremely brutal with its 11,2% gradient and maximum of 13%. To win this time trial it is important to save something for that last hard bit and it will require rather strong all-round abilities to come out triumphant at the end of the day.

Most of Wiggins' rivals will be happy to see that the time trial is not a dead-flat out-and-back course on which the Brit really can express his talents. Instead, the technical nature will make sure that the Sky leader will not be able to take out as much time of his challengers as he was on the flat course at the end of last year's Tour de France. Nonetheless - and despite Wiggins' struggles yesterday - he is just superior in the time trial and on the 14,5km of flat roads he will be able to really put the hammer down. It will be a huge surprise if Wiggins not takes this one home and he even still has a solid change of taking his first maglia rosa since 2010. While most people expected him to have a huge gap at the end of today's stage, this will, however, certainly not be the case and the dynamics of the race have been completely changed by yesterday's drama.

Vincenzo Nibali has done plenty of work to improve his time trials and his results prove that his efforts have not been in vain. He was a very solid 4th in the Tour de San Luis earlier this year and defended himself well in the Tirreno-Adriatico. Today he has to reap the benefits of his work and the technical nature of the first part of the course is a huge advantage for the Italian and he will certainly not lose 3.38 to Wiggins as he did in the final time trial of last year's Tour de France.

For Ryder Hesjedal this is another opportunity to show that he is a solid time triallist. Last year he was almost heralded as a specialist prior to the final race against the clock in Milan but that was only due to the weak level of competition from his fellow GC contenders. He defends himself well in the race against the clock and his good condition and the nature of the course lend him a strong hand. He should be able to deliver a solid top 10 performance today.

Cadel Evans is the big question mark in this race as nobody really knows how strong the Australian is. Until know he has appeared to be close to the top of his game and on paper he should be the one of the GC riders who should be closest to Wiggins today. Robert Gesink has improved massively in the time trials in recent years and it will not be a surprise to see the Dutchman finish in the top 10. Finally, Samuel Sanchez is a solid time triallists - especially on hilly, technical courses like today's - and one should remember his victory in the very difficult final time trial of last year's Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

Benat Intxausti deserves a mention as the new wearer of the maglia rosa. The Spaniard is a formidable time triallist - especially on difficult courses like today's. He last proved his credentials with a formidable 3rd place in the individual effort in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and he could be very close to the podium today. The uncertainty surround the length as he has never done such a long time trial as today's but he could very well end up defending his leader's jersey.

The GC riders will be challenged by a number of specialists of which to deserve a special mention. The first of those is world time trial silver medallist Taylor Phinney. The American has been sick in recent days but has improved sufficiently to give it a shot today. He would have preferred a different course but he will be one of the strongest on the 14,5km stretch for the specialists. At his best he could be the man to end up second behind Wiggins.

Fredrik Kessiakoff won the time trials in last year's Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a Espana and was 5th  at the worlds. All three races were held on technical, hilly courses like today's and the Swede is one of the very best when the time trials are of a tricky nature. Like Phinney he has been sick and could choose to save his energy for his support of Nibali but if he goes all out and is not hampered by allergies, he could very well end up on the podium.

The race boasts a number of specialists of which many would have preferred a much flatter course but they will all go all out in an attempt to express their talents. Expect to see an in-form Tanel Kangert, Stef Clement, Alex Dowsett, Tiago Machado, Svein Tuft, Jesse Sergent and Manuele Boaro mix it up with the best. Good performances could also be delivered by Wilco Kelderman, Anthony Roux, Luke Durbridge, Nelson Oliveira, Dario Cataldo, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Patrick Gretsch, Tobias Ludvigsson and Mads Christensen.

Starting at 14.15 you can follow the big stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Bradley Wiggins, Taylor Phinney, Fredrik Kessiakoff

Outsiders: Cadel Evans, Benat Intxausti, Stef Clement