2008 Tour of Missouri Live Updates: Stage 3

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To VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the Tour of Missouri time trial

He posted 40:24 on the 18-mile course.

Garmin-Chipotle’s U.S. national time trial David Zabriskie now sits in second.

Garmin’s Caldwell has taken a nasty spill on course.

40:24 Sven Tuft (Symmetrics)
41:01 Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Chipotle)
41:24 Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis)
41:41 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United)

Under cloudy skies.

Following a short flat section, riders tackle some stiff climbing. None of the climbs are especially long, but they do sting.

It’s sprinter-heavy at the top of the GC following two flat stages. Mark Cavendish leads Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) by 12 seconds. Eric Baumann (Sparkasse) is another two seconds back, followed by Garmin’s Tyler Farrar.

These 18 hilly miles in the wind, however, will certain shake things up.

That group includes a lot of the favorites, including George Hincapie.

That group includes Sven Tuft, who currently holds the best time of the TT.

Kohler is fifth on GC, 14 seconds back on Cavendish.

Garmin’s sprinter won’t be fourth GC at the end of the day, though…

Columbia has some serious firepower today, with Rogers, Hincapie and Italian national time trial champion Marco Pinotti.

He climbs onto the bike now.

For Mr. Cavenish, who fully expects to lose the jersey today. But he hopes to pass it to a teammate.

The two Colavita riders started one and two minutes in front of Hincapie, who has just passed them both.

He finishes 51 seconds behind Tuft.

1. Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) at 40.24
2. Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Chipotle)at 37 seconds
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) at 42 seconds
4. Tom Danielson (Garmin-Chipotle) at 51 seconds
5. Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) at 1:00
6. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) at 1:17
7. Tom Zirbel (Bissell) at 1:21
8. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) at 1:21
9. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) at 1:32
10. Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) at 1:52

He finishes well down on Tuft.

Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) was in the mix yesterday, giving a leadout for his man Tyler Farrar in the finishing circuits in Springfield. Or maybe he was just doing openers for his effort today. He has the best split time on the road.

Tuft at 40:01

23 riders still on course, including Rogers, Hincapie and Dominique Rollin.

Slotting into second, ahead of Tuft, Zabriskie and Liquigas’ Vincenzo Nibali.

Tough one. If riders go too far into the red before the finishing climb, they could lose huge amounts of time.

“It’s brutal,” Vande Velde said. “Everyone told me that it was really hard. You just have to see it to believe it”

He rode 42/53 chainrings, pretty standard, and coasted on some of the downhills to recover. “Jonathan wanted me to go with a 55,” said Vande Velde, who opted for a 53 because of the hills.

Slotting in top five, but well down on Vande Velde.

Is still on course. He could definitely post a good time today.

He’s staying aero… for a sprinter.

He’s out of the saddle over the top of a climb, then quickly getting back onto the extensions.

We don’t know what the injuries were, but he did go in the ambulance instead of the helicopter, which is a relatively good sign.

Was 39:37, by a certain Levi Leipheimer.
Vande Velde posted a 39:51 today in similar conditions.

With a break getting some 14 minutes on stage 2 in 2007, the time trial was critical for the breakaway riders. George Hincapie won the day of the GC conditions, and Discovery Channel defended his jersey to race’s end.

One second behind teammate Tom Danielson

The Heath Net-Maxxis rider started 10th from last today.

1. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) at 39:52
2. Michael Rogers (Columbia) at 20 seconds
3. Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) at 33 seconds
4. George Hincapie (Columbia) at 1:02
5. Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Chipotle) at 1:10

Can anyone unseat Vande Velde in the next four days? There are still three rolling stages ahead, but if his fifth place finish at the Tour de France is any indication, Vande Velde probably won’t have too much trouble.

Well back on the day.

He is the last man on the road.

And what a long 1km it is.

Just a few more minutes now.

Like many of the Europeans, Chicchi opted not to bring a TT bike for the race, and just bolted aero bars onto his road bike for the day.

Up the hill he goes.

And Vande Velde wins the stage and the jersey.

1. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) 8:48:24
2. Michael Rogers (Columbia) at 21 seconds
3. Sven Tuft (Symmetrics) at 44 seconds
4. George Hincapie (Columbia) at 1:02
5. Dave Zabriskie (Garmin) at 1:10

Thanks for tuning in to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of stage 3 of the Tour of Missouri. Tune in tomorrow for live coverage of stage 4. And check back soon for a complete report from Neal Rogers, plus photography from Casey Gibson.