The Alps well and truly arrive today, with the Col d'Izouard up first, before the 3rd summit finish of the race up the Col du Parpaillon in this, the 4th mountain stage.
The big battle is between Cunego and Madrazo. With one stage victory each so far, and just 59 seconds between them in GC - and although Cunego is in the maillot jaune, Madrazo is expected to gain on him in the two remaining time trials.
3rd placed Pluchkin is 2 and a half minutes down on Cunego. He may not be out of it yet, but also has to look behind him too - last year's winner Spilak, and Dekker both have podium aspirations - while Amador, Uran, Popovych and Phinney are also in amongst the battle. As is Trofimov, but the steep mountains are more damage limitation for him!
As a reminder, the King of the Mountains is Duret with a 46 point lead. Cunego leads the Green jersey competiton - jersey worn by Trofimov; Madrazo is the best young rider and UBS have a 3 minutes lead on Wiggle in the teams competition.
There may be mountains today, but there is also a strong belief amongst much of the peloton, that the breakaway will have a strong chance. A lot of riders want to be involved.
M. Perget
J. Libert
G. Steurs
X. Florencio
T. De Gendt
Y. Delgado
J. RodrÃguez
R. Margaliot
S. Calzati
S. Pauwels
S. Cohnen
M. Paterski
A. Gilanipoor
B. Khalilikhosroshani
C. Meier
4 different teams help to chase it down, and still no break is clear by the 1st sprint - although a new wave of attackers will take those points.
1
S. Calzati
2
T. De Gendt
3
X. Florencio
And eventually, a break of 12 does form and is allowed to build a gap.
J. Libert
G. Steurs
X. Florencio
T. De Gendt
J. RodrÃguez
R. Margaliot
S. Calzati
S. Cohnen
A. Castro Rodriguez
A. Gilanipoor
B. Khalilikhosroshani
C. Meier
Up over the Izouard they go. Steurs, De Gendt and Khalilikhosroshani are dropped before the summit though.
1
A. Castro Rodriguez
2
C. Meier
3
J. Libert
Back in the peloton, a rider crashes on the descent: Kreder.
The valley roads are long and dull, but soon Parpaillon arrives. 14km of climbing to go, and the break holds a 2'43 lead.
10km to go: YouTube Video
Not confident enough about this lead, or the climbing abilities of the rest of the break, Sylvain Calzati is in a solo lead by 9km to go.
At the very same point, a couple of minutes later - the GC contenders attack!
A. Madrazo
Y. Trofimov
SL. Henao Montoya
T. Dekker
D. Cunego
There's a pause before any response comes, before pretty much all the expected contenders scramble to follow.
And my 6km to go, the first 5 attackers are already in the lead, having caught Calzati, Rodriguez and Cohnen.
And with 5km to go, a very welcome sight for relegation-troubled Spyker as Dekker moves clear with an unanswered attack.
YouTube Video
Phinney, Kashechkin and Uran lead a 23 man chasing group that is 35 seconds behind the Cunego/Madrazo group. Pluchkin inparticular is missing out here.
Dekker's hopes of a glorious solo victory don't last. Cunego is on the charge once again.
The Dutchman can only watch as Cunego rides by, while Madrazo and Henao Montoya try to catch up once again.
Next are Trofimov and Rodriguez - still holding on from the break - 30 seconds ahead of now just 9 chasers.
S. Spilak
T. Phinney
A. Pluchkin
A. Kashechkin
R. Úran
J. Gadret
A. Amador
R. Taaramäe
S. Calzati
This group is 1'13 down on Cunego.
20 seconds later: Fothen, Popovych and Ardila.
Solo 18 seconds after them is Martin.
Madrazo continues to battle to get back to Cunego - he can't really afford to lose much time on the Italian. Dekker also maintaining his rhythym.
Fothen, Popovych and Ardila get on terms with the chase group, that are still 30 seconds behind Trofimov. Most of this group need to be gaining time on Trofimov on a stage like today, not losing them!
As the final kilometre nears, here is the first 6 riders on the road. Madrazo has battled his way up to Dekker, but still Cunego leads.
And into the final kilometre with a 20 second lead
Trofimov and Rodriguez are caught by the chasers just as the final kilometre begins
Victory for Damiano Cunego!
Madrazo beats Dekker for 2nd. 21 seconds down on Cunego - and limiting Cunego's time bonus gains on him to 8.
Big stage for Dekker this though, as he makes inroads into Pluchkin's hold of 3rd place.
And taking 4th place is also great for Henao Montoya, who will move up a little from 13th overall. He is 45 seconds down on Cunego.
Despite being caught by the larger group behind, Trofimov is still strong enough to sprint to 5th. Suggesting he could perhaps have tried harder to remain clear by himself! Pluchkin is 6th, from Phinney, Spilak, Amador and Kashechkin. They are 1'13 down on Cunego.
Ardila is just dropped from this group, and 1'40 down. Calzati is at 2'13, while Dan Martin comes in solo at 2'33 - ahead of the dissapointing Velits and Karpets.
The end of the stage can be watched here: YouTube Video
So, stage win number 2 for Cunego - and his race lead extends to 1'28. A bad day for Pluchkin in failing to keep up with Cunego or Madrazo makes his race more and more about 3rd place. Spilak remains 4th, while Dekker has moved to within 2 minutes of Pluchkin. Trofimov drops to 6th as a result, while Henao is up to 11th.
In the King of the Mountains competition, Duret's lead is reduced as Meier and Cunego moves into 2nd and 3rd respectively - both scored 20 points today.
UBS are still the best team - although losing 13 seconds to Wiggle today. Jayco Red Bull gained 2 minutes on both of them, to reduce their gap to UBS to 6'39, with Vesuvio in between Wiggle and JRB.
