Tinkoff showed they have improved their team time trial ability when a team of their lesser GC riders and domestiques put four seconds in Gazprom-Rusvelo to win the long TTT in the Tour of Croatia on a very wet and dangerous circuit. Synergy Baku did a great time to keep Matija Kvasina in the GC lead, 32 seconds clear of both Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff) and Victor de la Parte (CCC).

While yesterday’s summit finish was always going to be important in deciding who wins the Tour of Croatia, today’s 40.3km team time trial was clearly the decisive factor in seeing who would take home the red leader’s jersey. The favourites were Trek-Segafredo, Tinkoff, Dimension Data, IAM and Gazprom-Rusvelo.

Dimension Data were the first team to roll off the start ramp for the crucial team time trial at the Tour of Croatia. A team not known for their team time trial abilities, the African team set a time of 12:46 at the first time check, although Gazprom-Rusvelo would soon drop that time down to 12:20.

The roads were wet and slippery and there was very heavy rain for the early starters , with Bardiani CSF coming to grief on a very slow corner, with one of their riders slipping out, forcing another to unclip. Meanwhile, the favourites for the stage, Trek-Segafredo had started, containing the favourite for the GC in Riccardo Zoidl.

Trek’s communication was poor, with Zoidl even going the wrong way around a roundabout and the whole team having to sit up and wait for him to chase back on. IAM meanwhile were suffering, coming over a minute down at the first time check. Smaller teams like De Rijke and Verandas Willems were excelling in the weather, doing well at the first check in third and fourth respectively.

The big story was Gazprom. Despite their best GC rider sitting way back in 34th, the team were preparing for the Giro and had won the TTT in Coppi e Bartali and in this race, they were 1:04 up on Dimension Data at the second check.

Close to the finish, Dimension Data had a horror moment as they lost Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg in the final corners to a crash and the team came across the line with four riders, just enough to register a time.

In a small shock, ONE Pro Cycling (who had just five riders at the start of the TTT) went two seconds faster than Gazprom-Rusvelo at the first checkpoint. Zoidl was clearly nervous and was dropping off the back of his team to avoid crashes, which left Giaccomo Nizzolo to constantly pace him back. Gazprom crossed the finish line, even catching Androni, to post a fast time of 40.40. At this point, race leader Matija Kvasina’s Synergy Baku team had rolled down the start line.

Trek suffered another problem when Nizzolo suffered a mechanical and had to swap to a regular road bike, leaving the two-time stage winner and points leader way off the back of his teammates. The next time check at the finish was De Rijke, who were 1:09 behind Gazprom. It was revealed that Astana also suffered a crash in the final few corners like Dimension Data.

From the first check, Tinkoff went a second faster than ONE Pro, before CCC Sprandi Polkowice smashed their time by 15 seconds, recording a 12:02. Synergy Baku came across the same check 25 seconds behind CCC. It was evident that the drier conditions were favouring the teams who were starting later.

Trek were the next team to finish, with a time of 51:57, although Zoidl was around a second or two behind the rider in fourth place. ONE were next across the line, with their lack of riders finally starting to show, but they still managed to do a 50:18, the only team within a minute of Gazprom-Rusvelo at this point.

At this point, it was clear that Adria Mobil, Tinkoff, CCC and Synergy Baku would need good times to move their riders up the GC and take advantage of Trek’s horror show. The rain had also come back on, leaving the last few kilometres soaking.

Tinkoff had looked strong all day and had six riders before Juraj Sagan fell off just a few corners from the line. They were the first riers across the line with Sagan’s  teammates managing a time of 49:36 to go fastest by just four seconds.

CCC Sprandi Polkowice were also looking strong but had clearly eased off in the wet, leading to a finishing time of 49:46 which was looking great for their GC man Victor de la Parte. Adria Mobil and their riders Rogina and Novak were next across in 51:05. Synergy Baku were the last team on the road and had all seven riders with them and their time at the finish was 50:07

By the time the dust had settled (perhaps in this case, it is more appropriate t say by the time the roads had dried) the GC leader was still Kvasina, with both Hansen (Tinkoff) and de la Parte (CCC) at 32 seconds. De la Parte’s teammate Grosschartner is the only other rider within a minute of the GC.

Tomorrow’s stage to Zagreb is by no means easy. The 158.5km stage features an uphill finish on a circuit in Zagreb. In the 2015 race, GC leader Paterski broke away with six other riders, winning the stage and putting 17 seconds into the peloton. There is room for change, but Hansen and De La Parte would need to get rid of Kvasina and also take ten bonus seconds to win the race overall.