Maybe the last opportunity for anyone that wants to take the yellow jersey away from Hermans. 2 climbs on the last part of the race and a uphill finish should be the perfect place for an decisive attack
On the first climb of the day the breakaway group was already made: Sawada, Hincapie, Lequatre, Serov, Sutton and Rajala. The climb was won by Hincapie, with Serov and Sutton taking the other places on the podium
After the climb the group was joined by Creed and Dempster, which means that there is going to be a 8 riders breakaway for today’s stage
Ikea, Starbucks, Wiggle and 100% Me are leading the pack behind the breakaway, which means that Flugel, Visconti, Hermans and Roche have big plans for today
With 80 kilometres left Crane made a pointless attack
Still he managed to stay in front for 20 kilometres before he has caught by a pack moving very fast behind the breakaway
The escapes start the second climb of the day with 3 minutes advantage, which means that they might have a chance for the stage win today
Serov was first at the top, followed by Lequatre and Rajala
Bosiso and Valjavec attacked from the pack right at the end of the climb, chasing the down the escapes now
Even though he is a better downhiller Valjavec has problems keeping it up with Bosisio on the downhill
On the last climb Flugel and Visconti attacked to bring Valjavec back in the pack, while Bosisio and the escapes still have a little advantage left
At the top Serov was again first, followed by Lequatre and Hincapie
Rajala lost the contact with the other escapes on the climb and he is now in the chasing group with Visconti, Flugel and Bosisio
Voganov also attacked from the pack and he is trying to catch the other favourites on the downhill
With 15 left from the stage Visconti, Rajala, Bosisio and Flugel caught the breakaway group
Bosisio, Flugel and Visconti were way stronger than the other riders in that group and soon they countinued the race in three
Feelling that he could lose the yellow jersey today Hermans attacked
Delage and Cassidy were right after him
Another 3 riders also attacked: Trusov, Szczawinski and Bertogliati
Only Trusov and Vorganov were able to catch up with breaway group though
Soon they also got away from there trying to catch Visconti, Bosisio and Flugel
Behind them Hermans and the others finally managed to join the breakaway group, with Roche also coming there
All the escapes, except Hincapie, couldn’t continu in the favourites group and they were caught by the pack. Bertogliati, Hermans, Roche, Hincapie and Delage are now the second chasing group behind Visconti’s group, who is at the moment the virtual leader of the race
Bosisio has problems staying with Flugel and Visconti as they reached the final 3 kilometres
Vorganov was too strong for Trusov and he is now the main chaser of the leaders
Trusov is almost caught by Hermans’ group, with the pack also being pretty close
With Bosisio already lost the contact on the final uphill, Flugel doesn’t seem strong enough to keep it up with Visconti either
And Visconti takes the queen stage of FBD Insurance Ras. Flugel is second, same time with Visconti
Visconti lost more than a half of minute in the final kilometers but he managed to hang on to the third place
Vorganov was caught by Roche and Hermans on the last hill, with the pack coming right after them
No doubt that Visconti is the new leader. Second today, Flugel is also second in the overall rankings, with the previous leader, Hermans, only third now
Stage
1
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
4h11'14
2
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
3
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 33
4
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
+ 1'04
5
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
s.t.
7
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
+ 1'19
8
George Hincapie
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
9
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
10
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
11
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
12
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
13
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
14
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
15
Anthony Charteau
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
16
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
17
Fabio Ciccarese
Team Starbucks
s.t.
18
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
19
Ruggero Marzoli
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
20
Gianni Meersman
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
21
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
22
Julian David Muñoz Giraldo
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
23
Timothy Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
24
Ciaran Kelly
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
25
Charles Dionne
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
26
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
27
Richard Ochoa Quintero
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
28
Martin Elmiger
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
29
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
30
Sergiu Cioban
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
31
Shaun Lewis
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
32
Hubert Dupont
AON Global
s.t.
33
Matthew Crane
Team Starbucks
s.t.
34
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
35
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
36
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
s.t.
37
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
38
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
39
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
s.t.
40
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
41
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
42
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
43
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
44
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
45
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
46
Ciaran Power
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
47
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
48
Jonas Ljungblad
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
49
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
50
Ben Swift
100% ME
s.t.
51
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
52
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
53
Thomas Murray
100% ME
s.t.
54
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
55
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
56
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
57
Michael Creed
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
58
Matt Booth
100% ME
s.t.
59
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
60
Muradjan Khalmuratov
AON Global
s.t.
61
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
62
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
63
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
64
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
65
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
66
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
67
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
68
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
69
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
70
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
71
Matías Médici
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
72
Danilo Kupfernagel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
73
Keir Plaice
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
74
Lucas Schädlich
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
75
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
76
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
77
Esteban Mardones
AON Global
s.t.
78
Richard Cleaver
100% ME
s.t.
79
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
80
Kevin Barclay
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
81
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
s.t.
82
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
s.t.
83
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
s.t.
84
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
85
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
86
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
s.t.
87
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 4'50
88
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
+ 5'58
89
Steven Burke
Nokia-Nike
+ 7'22
90
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
91
Ronald Harvey
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
92
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
93
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
s.t.
94
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
+ 9'02
95
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 10'58
Overall
1
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
25h20'45
2
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 48
3
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 51
4
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 57
5
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
+ 1'16
6
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
+ 1'26
7
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
+ 1'36
8
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
+ 1'43
9
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
+ 1'51
10
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
+ 2'19
11
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
12
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 2'28
13
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
+ 2'32
14
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
15
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
16
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
17
Ben Swift
100% ME
s.t.
18
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
+ 2'36
19
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 2'40
20
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 2'44
21
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
+ 2'52
22
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
23
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
25
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
Points
1
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
119
2
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
118
3
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
111
4
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
101
5
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
97
6
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
93
7
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
91
8
Ben Swift
100% ME
87
9
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
86
10
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
83
Mountain
1
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
99
2
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
85
3
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
70
4
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
63
5
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
53
6
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
52
7
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
50
8
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
49
9
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
