Ryan Mullen's numbers showed a big surge during his test, but he then paid for that. It wasn't his day at the Giro, but his time will come. Nicolas Roche also lost time to his general classification rivals.
Few would doubt some huge results lay down the road of Ryan Mullen’s professional career, but today was not the day for him at the Giro.
The Irish road and TT champion said he exploded after the first half of the 9.7km TT in Jerusalem this afternoon.
And based on his finishing time and position it was easy to believe him.
Despite the stage being so short and Mullen excelling at this discipline, he lost almost one minute to winner Tom Dumoulin.
The reigning Giro champion scorched around what proved to be a tricky course; more undulating and technical than many of the pros expected.
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The 27-year-old Dutch rider banged out an average speed of 48.366km per hour.
That was enough for victory, but only just. He saw off Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Fix All); both by two seconds.
Dumoulin in pink; again. Dennis gets his test underway; good enough for the runner-up slot.
In the end Mullen finished well off what he was capable of; back in 62nd place and 57 seconds off the winner.
He had indicated before the race that there were more inclines that he expected. And he felt because of that it was not a course to suit pure power riders like himself.
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However, even allowing for that his result was well below what he is able to achieve.
And he suggested afterwards he had gone out too hard and blown after the first 5km.
He covered the first 2km in 3:30 and had a top speed of 73.5km, with a 90rpm cadence.
His one minute peak power was 662W and his maximum power was 964W.
Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) conceded time too; over a minute. He was 1:14 down in 116th place and that is a dent to his general classification hopes.
Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) was in 125th place, at 1:19. However, that time loss is irrelevant to him as he is in the race for the sprint finishes.
The stage threw up a strange top 10; after the top three coming a eclectic mix of names.
Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain Merida) were both in the top 10; claiming 7th and 10th at 20 and 27 seconds respectively.
Giro d'Italia big guns
Of the big contenders, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was 16th at 33 seconds. Chris Froome, who crashed during his recon ride, lost 37 seconds; best of the Team Sky rides down in 21st place.
Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) was 26th at 40 seconds and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) was 40th at 46 seconds.
Kiwi hope George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) was 43rd at 49 seconds. Fabio Aru, who UAE Team Emirates and most of Italy believes can win this race, bombed out. He was 47th at 50 seconds.
Miguel Angel Lopez, who has been in great form this year, crashed in the warm-up. And he would trail home in 61st at 57 seconds, just one place ahead of Ryan Mullen.
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