Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) picked up where he left off taking the first maglia rosa of this year's Giro d'Italia by winning the 9.7km individual time trial around Jerusalem, Israel in a time of 12.02.
The defending champion took the stage victory by finish two seconds ahead of closest rival Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) in what was a nail-biting finish that was decided at the very last. Such a small gap is produced by the faintest of margins and thanks to power data from Velon, we can see where these gaps formed.
In the final sprint to the line, Dumoulin was able to grab a single second from the second-placed Australian, enough to account for half of his overall win. The Dutchman covered the final hundred metres in a time of 18 seconds while Dennis did the same in 19 seconds.
This gap was caused by Dumoulin's higher average speed of 41.2km/h compared to Dennis' 40.2km/h. The higher speed was thanks to a higher power average of 880w, 20w higher than Dennis.
Interestingly, in this final sprint, Dennis' produced a higher peak power of 1020w compared to Dumoulin's 980w, proving that the later rider managed a more even distribution of power in the race's closing stages.
Earlier in the stage, eventual winner Dumoulin proved why he is considered a favourite for the overall title in Rome in three weeks time. On the first climb of the course, his power averaged 470w for 2 minutes 25 seconds with a high cadence of 100rpm, stats that proved good form.
Another rider that can leave today proud is Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott). The young Brit came home seventh in a time of 12.22 giving him the second quickest time among favourites for the GC.
His performance was a surprise considering his lack of prowess against the clock so much so that he almost matched Dennis for time in the first kilometre.
Dennis covered the distance in 1 minute 21 seconds with Yates just a second slower. Yates then matched Dennis on the final sprint to the line also covering the distance in 19 seconds.
Yates, a lighter rider, needed less power to cover the same distance averaging 740w maxing out at 890w. The Bury man also averaged a cadence of 98rpm in this final dash to the line.
Young Frenchman Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) set one of the day's early benchmark times and it shows through his impressive stats from the first 2km of the stage.
Covering the distance in a time of 2 minutes 33 seconds, the second-year pro hit 78.3km/h with an average power of 510w. In that period, Cavagna's 1 minute peak power of 597w and max power of 1010w. Try matching that on the turbo trainer.