The first time trial is over, and the GC standings are recognizable.
They have been recognizable throughout; with cross-winds on day 1 and attacks by Pogacar/Vingegaard.
- Tadej Pogacar - the odds-on favorite.
- Remco Evenepoel - the odds-on favorite for third place.
- Kevin Vauquelin
- Jonas Vingegaard - the odds-on favorite for second place
- Matteo Jorgenson
- Mathieu Van Der Poel
- Joao Almeida
- Primoz Roglic
- Florian Lipowitz
other than Van Der Poel, that could well be the top 8 finishers. Other contenders for the top 8 include Oscar Onley (11th), Enric Mas (13th), Tobias Johannessen (15th).
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NBC has Phil Liggett, again. I had heard he had retired; apparently not. He makes viewing the race less enjoyable.
💡 and, I would prefer "listen-only" to "video-only", much of the time.
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There have been no mountains of note, only hills. This is how the rouleur ⚙️ A rider who excels at stages that are neither sprint-finishes nor high-mountains of Van Der Poel is at the top of the standings.
Wout van Aert is not there. Partially because of bad-luck on the cross-wind ⚙️ Cross-winds limit the effect of "drafting" on riders, sometimes enough to stop the normal game-mechanic of the entire field coming in as one or two groups., partially because of bad form, and partially because he doesn't want to be. ⚙️ https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/im-not-going-to-beat-remco-anyway-wout-van-aert-ponders-if-its-worth-trying-to-go-for-time-trial-result describes most of these