There are 6 climbs on today's route with another 2 small hills right before the finsih. That and the wind should make the stage finish really interesting
Bertogliati is in the yellow jersey, but Hermans is really close and he might see a change at the top of the rankings today
On the first climb there were 2 breakaway groups. Dempster, Lara Ruiz and Scanlon were in the first group (crossing the top of the climb in that order)
In the second group we had Rajala, Cioban, Brolin and Bagdonas
After the climb ended we had another 2 attacks from the pack: Blythe and Nilsson
With 5 kilometres before the top of the second climb of the day all 9 were together
Lara Ruiz is first on the climb, followed by Bagdonas and Brolin. But they are only 8, someone must have lost the contact on the climb
It was Nilsson, who doesn't seem able to come back
Nokia - Nike don't look too intersted in chasing the breakaway at least for now and the escapes already have 5 minutes advantage
The third climb of the day came right away and it was one by Brolin. Bagdonas and Dempster completed the podium at the top
Nokia seems to have finally woke up and started to do a real chasing behind the breakaway group
The fourth climb of today's stage and also the hardest was one by Dempster, followed by Rajala and Brolin
The fifth climb was maybe the easiest of the day and it was one by Bagdonas, Dempster and Rajala followed him. Dempster seems to be going for the KoM jersey as with this points he already has a better total than Cassidy
Behind them Ernst and Young are helping Nokia - Nike and they are with 35 km left at less than 2 minutes away from the escapes
With the pack coming really fast Blythe and Bagdanos attacked from the breakaway group
Delage also attacked, but from the pack. He managed to make a gap but still he doesn't look like he could go too far with this one
As the last climb started Hermans and Bertogliati attacked from the pack
Valjavec and Bosisio were right after them as the breakaway, including Delage, is almost caught
Still Blythe and Bogdanos were helped by that attack to be the first riders on the climb. With the points won here Bogdanos is the new leader of the KoM rankings
Valjavec, Bosisio and Hermans caught the other escapes but they didn't manage to get awat from the pack
On the downhill, Wiggle took the lead of the pack, which meant the end of Bogdanos and Blythe's adventure
Inside the last 10km of the stage are 2 small uphill sections. On the first one Jaksche and Visconti attacked
Vorganov, Bosisio and Valjavec were right after them
Roche missed the best moment to attacked there, but he managed to join them on the last hill of the day
Bertogliati attacked there as well to keep his yellow jersey, while Hermans and Szczawinski are also trying to break away from the pack
Hermans and Bertogliati are chasing the leading group on the downhill but they don't have much time left to join it
With less than 3 kilometres left to ride Hermans manages to catch the first group but Bertogliati seems to have problems joining
Valjavec is leading the sprint and he might not be able to keep it up as he is a poor sprinter
Roche and Visconti are coming pretty fast as Valjavec seems to be slowing down
Just a few metres left and Valjavec lost it. It will be between Roche and Visconti
The last 100 metres weren't 100% flat and that helped Roche, even though he is not a better sprinter than Visconti, to take the stage win. Visconti was only second, while Valjavec almost lost the third place to Vorganov
Bertogliati was caught by a chasing group, made by Martin, Szczawinski and Flugel, finshing 28 seconds behind the winner
Dan Craven lead the pack, one minute and one second lost to the leading group
Hermans was in the leading group wich means that he won 28 second over Bertogliati and he is the new leader.
Stage
1
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
3h20'29
2
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
s.t.
3
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
4
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
s.t.
5
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
6
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
7
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 28
9
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
10
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
11
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
12
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
+ 1'01
13
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
14
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
s.t.
15
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
s.t.
16
Ruggero Marzoli
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
17
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
s.t.
18
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
19
Richard Ochoa Quintero
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
20
Gianni Meersman
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
21
Anthony Charteau
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
22
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
23
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
24
Jonas Ljungblad
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
25
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
26
Shaun Lewis
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
27
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
28
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
29
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
31
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
32
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
33
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
34
Charles Dionne
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
35
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
36
Matías Médici
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
37
George Hincapie
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
38
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
39
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
40
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
41
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
42
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
43
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
44
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
45
Michael Creed
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
46
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
47
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
48
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
49
Ciaran Power
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
50
Julian David Muñoz Giraldo
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
51
Martin Elmiger
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
52
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
53
Keir Plaice
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
54
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
55
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
56
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
s.t.
57
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
58
Fabio Ciccarese
Team Starbucks
s.t.
59
Ciaran Kelly
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
60
Matt Booth
100% ME
s.t.
61
Richard Cleaver
100% ME
s.t.
62
Muradjan Khalmuratov
AON Global
s.t.
63
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
s.t.
64
Hubert Dupont
AON Global
s.t.
65
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
66
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
s.t.
67
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
68
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
69
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
70
Ben Swift
100% ME
s.t.
71
Sergiu Cioban
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
72
Timothy Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
73
Matthew Crane
Team Starbucks
s.t.
74
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
s.t.
75
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
76
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
77
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
78
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
79
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
80
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
81
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
82
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
83
Esteban Mardones
AON Global
s.t.
84
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 2'37
85
Thomas Murray
100% ME
s.t.
86
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
87
Lucas Schädlich
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
88
Danilo Kupfernagel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
89
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
90
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
91
Steven Burke
Nokia-Nike
+ 4'51
92
Kevin Barclay
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
93
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
94
Ronald Harvey
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
95
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 7'15
Overall
1
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
16h58'00
2
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
+ 20
3
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
+ 25
4
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
+ 33
5
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
+ 37
6
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 45
7
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
s.t.
8
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
9
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
+ 1'13
10
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
11
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
12
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'22
13
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
+ 1'26
14
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
15
Ben Swift
100% ME
s.t.
16
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 1'34
17
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
+ 1'38
18
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
19
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
20
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 1'46
21
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
22
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
24
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
25
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
Points
1
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
94
2
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
87
3
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
83
4
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
81
5
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
74
6
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
69
7
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
67
8
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
66
9
Ben Swift
100% ME
65
10
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
64
Mountain
1
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
70
2
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
69
3
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
53
4
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
50
5
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
48
6
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
42
7
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
38
8
Adam Blythe
100% ME
36
9
Sergiu Cioban
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
32
10
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
30
Young
1
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
16h58'00
2
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
+ 25
3
Daniel Martin
100% ME
+ 1'13
4
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 1'13
5
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'22
6
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
+ 1'26
7
Ben Swift
100% ME
+ 1'26
8
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 1'34
9
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
+ 1'38
10
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
