Chris Opie will be the first BIKE Channel Canyon rider to roll down the ramp in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain individual time trial.
The Cornish sprinter will begin his charge in Clacton at 12.03pm, just two minutes after Graham Briggs, of JLT Condor, gets the 16km stage under way (12.01pm).
Rob Partridge follows Opie at 12.06pm before Harry Tanfield, the hero of stages three and four, starts his challenge on Canyon’s Speedmax machine.
Tanfield, who was seventh in Newark-on-Trent yesterday, was fifth in the British Time Trial Championship on the Isle of Man earlier this season.
And that pedigree makes him BIKE Channel Canyon‘s biggest hope of a result in the 10-mile test in Tendring this afternoon.
Rory Townsend begins his race against the clock at 12.38pm before Dexter Gardias, the team’s highest-placed rider in the general classification, starts at 1pm.
Gardias is currently in 55th position, 20 seconds adrift of Team Sky’s race leader Elia Viviani, who will bring the curtain down on the time trial at 2.04pm.
Among the time trial specialists gunning for glory on the stage is Marcin Bialoblocki, the fastest man ever in a 10-mile time trial on British soil.
The former ONE Pro Cycling rider, who now races for CCC, will roll down the start ramp at 12.05pm and will be hopeful of setting the benchmark for his rivals.
Those other contenders include Luke Durbridge (12.37pm), Primoz Roglic (12.53pm), Jonathan Castroviejo (1.04pm), Michael Hepburn (1.09pm), Victor Campenaerts (1.14pm), Jos van Emden (1.18pm), Ryan Mullen (1.22pm), 2014 winner Dylan van Baarle (1.31pm) and Stefan Kung (1.34pm).
World time trial champion Tony Martin will be a big favourite to take the honours and all eyes will be on his charge from 1.36pm.
Two-times Tour of Britain winner Edvald Boasson Hagen, a dangerous tester and already in receipt of time bonuses from the sprint stages, begins at 1.58pm.
Team Sky contenders Vasil Kiryienka, Geraint Thomas and Michal Kwiatkowski begin their challenges at 1.03pm, 1.06pm and 1.26pm respectively, while team-mate Owain Doull is off at 1.20pm.
Five-times British champion Alex Dowsett is due off at 1.28pm, with JLT’s James Gullen – second and third in the past two national championships – starts at 12.40pm.
Click here for the full startlist.
