91st Giro d'Italia - Stage 1 TTT Live Coverage Part 2
Slipstream leads but Team CSC is on the road and rocking the first time split with 5 more teams to let their legs do the talking...

1650 CEST - Barloworld at the start line. High Road will be next. Again, here are the current Top 5 places at the finish:
1. Slipstream Chipotle - 26'32"
2. Astana at 29"
3. Tinkoff at 33"
4. Quick Step at 42"
5. Milram - at 45"

2007 winner, Danilo Di Luca prepares to start in a pink skin suit.
Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

1652 CEST - WOW! CSC made it to the first check. AND GOT THE BEST TIME!! 11 Minutes 24 seconds. They were faster than Slipstream by 8 seconds (at that point)!  Did we say "B TEAM"? NOOOO WAY - Expect a great battle in the second half of the parcours.

CSF Group-Navigare made it to the finish, but their time was basically as poor as Euskaltel's (more or less).

1655 CEST - Cavendish and High Road are in the saddle. They started their challenge about a minute ago.

Lampre flies through the first 10 kilometers. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

1656 CEST - Lampre started too fast. Their losses to Slipstream were small at the first check, but they were 35 seconds down at km. 19. And now the seven Lampremen left are making it to the finish. Their time to the line is 27'17", and puts them in fifth place, 45 seconds behind the current leader."We gave it everything we could, and all the boys were great" said Bruseghin after crossing the line. But his voice was not that of a satisfied man.

1700 CEST - The team that won the 2007 Giro just took to the start line. But Liquigas are without Danilo Di Luca this time ...

Barloworld put in a strong performance. Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

1701 CEST - And it's a BARLO-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD!! The Brit team scored the BEST time after 10 kms. They kicked CSC down to spot #2 and Slipstream down to third.  They kicked CSC down to spot #2 and Slipstream down to third. But the good news for Slipstream fans is that the Vaughters boys regained the lead at the km. 19 check.

Team CSC, down to 8 men, lost 10 seconds to them between km. 10 and km. 19 and fell two seconds behind Slipstream in the race ranking at the second time check. We're looking forward to knowing Barloworl's time at the second check too.

1705 CEST - Perhaps you were not looking forward to knowing FDJ's finish time, but here it is: 27'58". 01'26" down on Slipstream.

1706 CEST - Blaudzun drives the CSC charge as they are taking on the final km. Here they go... one more sprint ... and ... they DON'T beat Slipstream. 26'38". Second best time. 06" down to Slipstream.

1707 CEST - Team High Road at the first check ... and they smoke all other previous times! 11'18". They were the best after 10 kms, leading Slipstream by 14 seconds. And they're still all together as one. The 10-kilometre check is full of surprises, isn't it? But the stage is a bit longer than 10 kilometres.

1709 CEST - Lotto at the start line. High Road, down to 8 men, at the foot of the uphill section. Barloworld near the 19-kilometre check. And Slipstream in front of the TV, waiting to know what their most dangerous rivals are going to do in the second half of the route. No way Liquigas are going to win the TTT this year: 11'31" their time at the first check. 13 secs down to High Road. But still 1 sec. better than Slipstream.

1712 CEST - Barloworld lost some 20 secs to Slipstream between the first and second time check, falling down to spot number three, even behind CSC.  High Road are going thru some hard time too,with Sisvtsov struggling in the uphill section and a teammate yelling at him not to give up.

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1715 CEST - No more teams left to start. Di Luca and LPR are in the saddle.

Team High Road in a tight formation led at the ten km check point.
Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

1717 CEST - Barloworld finished their race ... 14 seconds down to Slipstream-Chipotle, that still hold onto their first place. High Road at km. 19. STILL IN FIRST PLACE. BUT THE LEAD WAS DOWN TO 03 SECONDS ONLY. They lost 11 seconds to Slipstream in the space of 9 kilometres.

1719 CEST - Who's gonna win? We''ll get to know soon. High Road are in the last thousand metres.  25'32"... 33 .. 34. Brad Wiggins leads them all. But there's also a strong TTist like Marco Pinotti; they should cover the last 400metre sin 30 seconds .. let's wait and see...  here they come ...and the time is ... is ... is ... 26 MINUTES 39 SECONDS SLIPSTREAM ARE STILL AHEAD!

High Road finished 7 seconds down to Slipstream, and even lost the runner-up spot to Team CSC.  They did quite poorly in the last 3.5 kms, lost 10 seconds to David Millar's teammates.

1724 CEST - Liquigas are doing fine too: they got the fourth best time at km. 19 check, only 3 second behind Slipstream, and 06" down to High Road. They went under the red pennant, but should ride at 60 kph if they wanna take the jersey today. Bennati drives the Liquigas charge. It's gonna be very hard for them... And they fail in this sense: 26'41". That's the fourth time to the finish.

Danilo Di Luca clad in pink leads the LPR squad to the finish.
Photo © 2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti

1717 CEST - Team LPR were 7th after 10 kilometres of racing. Not their best ever ride...

So, here are the Top 4 teams thus far:
1. Slipstream Chipotle - 26'32"
2. Team CSC at 06"
3. High Road at 07"
4. Liquigas at 09"

Four teams in just nine seconds. That was a CLOSE race, wasn't it? Slipstream surprising the European peloton. Well, Slipstream's win is no surprise to me, they have a loaded squad with time trial talent.

1730 CEST - The Waterboys are coming. Gerolsteiner will be next across the finishing line, but they are not posing any threat to the top-placed teams. Gerolsteiner are done with their efforts. They covered the route in 27 minutes and 26 seconds. Lost 54 seconds to Slipstream, and a lot to all other top teams.

1736 CEST - Silence-Lotto equaled Slipstream's time!!!... only, as they went under the flame rouge!

1738 CEST - 27'50" was Lotto's finishing time. And guess who won the "team sprint" for first place? A certain Robbie.

1740 CEST - 1k to the end of he stage. 1K to go for Team LPR. Their finishing time should be similar to Astana's. Yep. It's 27 MINUTES. They beat Astana by a second.

So the beginning has come to an end. And we've got a winner....

SLIPSTREAM-CHIPOTLE!!!!

And we've got a Maglia Rosa holder: CHRISTIAN VANDEVELDE!

David Zabriskie, Hesjedal. Julian Dean and Magnus Backstedt following in the other top five spots.

And here are today's top 8 places:
1. Slipstream Chipotle - 26'32"
2. Tean CSC - at 06"
3. Team High Road - at 07"
4. Liquigas - at 09"
5. Barloworld - at 14"
6. Team LPR-Ballan - at 28"
7. Astana - at 29"
8. Tinkoff Credits System - at 33"

 and the GC (Top 5 spots) is as follows:
1. Christian Vandevelde (USA - Slipstream-Chipotle) - 26'32"
2. David Zabriskie (USA - Slipstream-Chipotle) - s.t.
3. Ryder Hesjedal (Can - Slipstream-Chipotle) - s.t.
4. Julian Dean (Nzl - Slipstream-Chipotle) - s.t.
5. Magnus Backstedt (Swe - Slipstream-Chipotle) - s.t.

1754 CEST - Vandevelde is on the podium, wearing the first overall leader's mantle, an American in Pink... how long has that been.

This concludes our live coverage of the first stage of the Giro, please join us tomorrow for stage 2 -  Cefalù - Agrigento 207 km. Discuss this race and the sport with other cycling fans from around the world on the Daily Peloton.com Forums and Chat Room.  Sponsor the daily peloton & advertise your product or service to cyclists and cycling fans on www.dailypeloton.com - contact us.