The inaugural edition of La Méditerranéenne kicks off with a short 5.5km team time trial in the city of Banyoles where crucial time gaps will be opened up in a race that will be decided by seconds. In such a short race, speed is more important than a big engine and the stage is likely to be dominated by the best lead-out trains.

The course

The race will kick off in the Spanish city of Banyoles where the riders will get the chance to create the first minor time gaps. On the first day in the history of the event, the riders will tackle a short 5.5km team time trial which is actually more of a team prologue. The course is completely flat and doesn’t seem to be very technical which should make it an affair for the powerful teams with plenty of speed for such a short affair.

The weather

Thursday will be a rainy day in Banyoles as there is a 25% risk of a shower all day, with a total of 2mm of rain predicted. There will be a bit of sunshine too and the maximum temperature will be 10 degrees. There will be a moderate wind from a southeasterly direction and it will be the same for all the teams.

The favourites

The first stage of the race will be of utmost importance. There will be no time bonuses in this race and as we are likely to have some kind of sprint at the end of the next three stages, it could all be decided by the time differences between the best climbers in this stage. That makes it a crucial test for the teams which have to be on their toes right from the beginning.

The stage is very short and the time gaps will be very small. It will be a matter of seconds between the best teams. At the same time, it shapes up to be a pretty exciting and open affair as none of the big specialist teams are in attendance. For once, it seems that the French teams that are often far off the pace in team time trials, will actually be among the best.

The short distance means that it is more about speed than horsepower and this makes it a great test for lead-out trains. They have the acceleration skills in the turns and can go very fast on the flats. The big engines will still do well but they don’t have the speed to go up against the fast riders.

It is important to note that there is a risk of showers all day. This is the worst conditions for a team time trial as nobody knows which teams will have dry or wet roads and it can be very different for different teams. In such a short stage that is decided by seconds, it will be impossible to win for a team if they have been riding on wet roads if other teams have had dry conditions. This can turn the race into a very unpredictable affair.

If all teams have the same conditions, FDJ must be the favourites. They don’t have many TT specialists – only Ignatas Konovalovas – but they have by far the best sprint train. Marc Sarreau, Matthieu Ladagnous, Daniel Hoelgaard, Mickael Delage and Arnaud Demare are all very fast and have the speed and acceleration to do well on this course. We doubt that anyone will be able to match that kind of speed and so they are our favourites.

Their biggest rivals are likely to be Ag2r. On paper, Alexis Vuillermoz’ team is the strongest in the race and they will be last off. However, the roster is mostly made up of climbers and only Christophe Riblon who is usually in poor form at this time of the year, is a real specialist. Furthermore, they don’t have any real sprinters in the team and the short distance doesn’t favour them. On the other hand, they have such a classy line-up that they should be among the best.

Rally Cycling may only be a continental team but they could take a surprise win on the opening day. With Tom Zirbel, Rob Britton, Evan Huffman and Danny Pate, they have four real specialists in the team and they have some fast guys with lots of speed too as Eric Young and Pierrick Naud are also on the roster. On paper that’s a very good combination. The big uncertainty is the fact that they have not raced yet and the start of the American season is far away so they may not have their best form.

Cofidis have some fast riders in the team with Rayano Bouhanni, Loic Chetout, Florian Senechal and Michael van Staeyen and they also have a prologue specialist in Gert Joeaar. It’s probably not enough to win the stage but they are definitely podium contenders.

Fortuneo-Vital Concept should also be able to do well as they are led by an in-form Anthony Delaplace and have some fast riders in Florian Vachon and Armindo Fonseca. However, they definitely lack the firepower to win the stage.

Astana only have six riders in the race and that probably makes it impossible for them to win the stage. However, the riders that they do have are pretty strong. Andriy Grivko, Daniil Fominykh and Andrey Zeits are all solid time triallists and Laurens De Vreese is a very strong rider. Their reduced manpower is a big disadvantage but they are definitely capable of a good ride.

Androni have always performed poorly in team time trials but here they could actually do pretty well. Seghei Tvetcov is a TT specialist and Marco Bandiera, Marco Benfatto, Tiziano Dall’Antoni and Francesco Chicchi are all fast. They have never given TTTs much priority so they don’t have much experience but they have the team to create a surprise.

CyclingQuotes’ stage winner pick: FDJ

Other winner candidates: Ag2r, Rally Cycling

Outsiders: Cofidis, Fortuneo-Vital Concept

Jokers: Astana, Androni-Sidermec