Originally Posted by divingbboy:
“Jens Voigt making a lot of sense on ITV4 right now about whether to switch bikes: he argues that it's not worth the risk: there are only 8kms left in the stage after the second climb, so you're talking about, maybe, being able to pick up 30 seconds using a TT bike, but then the rules stipulate that you can't have someone standing by the side of the road with a bike. The bike has to be taken off the roof of a car when required. So, the bike switch will take around 20 seconds, even if it goes completely smoothly. Is it really worth it?”
Yes, it could be for some of the top GC guys, even if it only gets them 10 seconds or so - 10 seconds would take Kreutziger above Contador, and 12 seconds would take Contador above Mollema.
Contador's not switching bikes, so that's all irrelevant, but the point is that for some of the other small gaps slightly further down it might be.
The rain's probably neutralised the effect of changing bikes though, I wouldn't be surprised if Froome doesn't bother now.