Remco EVENEPOEL. 10. He is the strongest time trial rider around, of this I believe there are no doubts, even if he perhaps hoped to recover more from the Slovenian champion. A high-level performance, but not "monster". At the first intermediate check, Remco is second behind Plapp. He takes the lead at the third intermediate, doing 11" better than Affini. In the end, he leaves the Mantuan behind by 33" advantage. He makes an absolute leap forward, now he's second overall at 42". It's not enormous, but he has someone ahead who makes everything surreal. He hoped to wear the yellow jersey, but miscalculates.

Tadej POGACAR. 10 and praise. Concedes 16" to the Belgian world champion, not few, but not many either. Incredibly fast start for Tadej, who is immediately ahead of Vingegaard in the first kilometers. Absolute consistency: fast from start to finish, without any weakness. Indeed, in the final maze, he gains 5" on Remco. Tonight he wears not only the yellow jersey, but also the green points classification jersey and the polka dot "climbers" jersey. For him, this is yellow jersey number 41. Take note, please.

Edoardo AFFINI. 9. Touches the visor of his cap as if to say to Remco 'chapeau!'. Hats off to Edoardo too, who doesn't joke around, who doesn't go slow, who remains on the hot seat for three hours. An absolutely top-level performance, for a rider who now has an extremely high level in time trials. The European champion deludes us: he would like to gift himself and his partner Lisa a victory that Italy has been missing for 111 stages. It would be a nice way to celebrate the upcoming child, but it will be for next time. Decisive was the Mantuan's performance between the second and third intermediate sections, where he creates a gap, overtaking Romeo and Plapp. At the finish line, he's first with a time of 37'15", clearly the best time at 53 km/h average; all this for three hours, before those two phenomena he clings to.

Bruno ARMIRAIL. 8. The French champion starts at full speed and flies away at Affini's pace. Then, between the second and third timed sections, the pedaling intensity drops and he loses precious seconds. At the third partial, the Frenchman loses 14" to Affini. However, his performance is more than good. A fourth place that is worth a lot.

Kevin VAUQUELIN. 9. The 24-year-old Frenchman showcases his time trial skills. He's inspired, feeling good, pedaling with great profit on all terrains. At the moment, the Arkea B&B rider is the true revelation.

Florian LIPOWITZ. 7. The German is clearly the man of the Red Bull Tour. Primoz Roglic is there but not there, he is. He's among those who gain the most positions: eleven. Now he's 9th overall.

Ivan ROMEO. 8. The young Spanish rider shows a high-level time trial. True, he rides when the wind is more favorable, but in any case, the 21-year-old Iberian doesn't lie.

Joao ALMEIDA. 8. The time trial doesn't lie and he can't go slow, because among the UAE - apart from Tadej - he's the fastest: even today.

Luke PLAPP. 7. Good first part of his time trial, a final to forget, where he loses precious seconds (24") in the last 1800 meters. However, in the end, his time trial is good.

Primoz ROGLIC. 4. Constantly chasing, even himself.

Jonas VINGEGAARD. 4. And we thought he was in top form like never before, instead the Dane is experiencing one of the darkest days of his career. A defeat to be archived quickly: beware of dwelling too much on what happened. A lot happened, too much, things hard to believe.

Mattias SKJELMOSE. 5.5. He must defend himself and tries to do so in a very complicated time trial for him, but at least he manages to put this day behind him.

Ben O'CONNOR. 6. The Australian didn't start in the best way, but the important thing is to still be there: in the overall standings, he gains a beautiful twelve positions.