The big one today - a mountain top finish and whoever finishes this one in yellow would have to be overwhelming favorite to hold on to it through Stage 8. Will Castano be recovered from his exertions yesterday? and can Thomas Dekker show that he is the favorite for the Tour de France?
It's extremely windy on the day and there a lot of riders who attempt to get away. Some do, some don't, and those that do never really form up into a group.
86km to go and as we hit the second categorized climb of the day, Burghardt is out in front. He has 1'57" on a group of three - Albasini, Kreuziger and Taberlay. Then it's 25" back to Redondo and Walker. Ladagnous is then 59" down and riding all alone. A minute behind him is Miholjevic and then 6'23" behind him is the pack, a total of 10'45" behind Burghardt.
In order to cut the gap, the pack need to get up this climb quickly. That's what they do. 5k to the top and with Phillips riding a decent tempo all but the decent climbers in the race have been shelled. Just 56 riders remain in the peloton.
Burghardt makes it over the top in front though. There are some attacks out of the pack close to the summit for KOM points but riders like Gomez Marchante, Fothen and Kasheckin that step on the gas do not try and stay away on the descent.
Burghardt is tired too and with the pack hurtling along he is finally caught with just over 23k to go. It is time for the climb and the battle for the race to begin in earnest. One of the 49 riders still left in the pack has to win this one.
Fothen is the first to attack and he does it at the foot of the climb. Popovych immediately sets off after him, and stuck to the Ukrainian's wheel is Intxausti. Mayo is quick to move to the front of the peloton and he puts in an absolute massive turn to chase these three very capable riders down.
No sooner has he done it, than Gadret makes his move. Gesink is a little slow to react, but the Dutchman now decides it is time to really put the pressure on Festina.
Sensing weakness, Di Luca and Kohl attack, but only after Gadret and Gesink have a gap. With Mayo struggling, Casar decides to go after his team mate. Race leader Castano decides to go along for the ride.
Paco Mancebo hits the front now for Eurosport, but it does nothing to discourage the attacks. Serpa goes, Kloden goes and suddenly all hell has broken loose. But Mancebo is steady on the front - and he gets a helping hand from Intxausti and eventually we have this. The seven in the shot ahead are the second group on the road.
Up the road in front of them, Gadret and Gesink have managed to get a gap. Inexplicably, the pace in the chase drops and the gap begins to grow quickly. Frenchman Gadret on home roads is really putting the hammer down and Gesink is struggling to hold on. Just 10k to go and the lead is over 2 minutes.
With the gradients lessening the riders in the second group decide to have one more throw of the dice. Everyone of the favorites for this race has a go, but it looks as if they may have left things too late today. Up the road, Gadret shows no sign of fading and has now dropped Gesink.
The gap has come down though and Intxausti, Dekker and Popovych are just over 30 seconds behind Gesink. 34" behind this trio is Brajkovic. Di Luca follows 10" down the road, while a further 18" back is Gomez Marchante. Castano is in big trouble and the race lead looks to be slipping away from him. He is part of E10 and over two minutes back.
It doesn't really matter what the other so-called favorites do anymore though...Gadret has timed his move to perfection is riding away with this stage.
Gesink is still in second, while a little further back Dekker and Popovych look to be putting Intxausti under a lot of pressure in the third group.
At the line, it is Gadret and he has a moment to savour.
Gesink is rocking and rolling over the final few hundred meters, but he has second.
Dekker draws deep on his hidden reserves and over the last few hundred meters he manages to get himself away from Intxausti and Popovych.
Intxausti wins the battle for 4th over Popovych. Gomez Marchante is 6th, Brajkovic 7th, Di Luca 8th, Kashechkin 9th and Fothen 10th. Carlos Castano has rode valiantly in trying to keep hold of his jersey, but 14th on the day, 3'42" behind Gadret surely means that he has lost it.
