The good news is that there will be a sunny day but the wind it's still there and again the riders will have to be careful for any splits in the pack. The stage is very likely to end in a mass sprint though and Vantomme surely wants to take his revenge in front of Hushovd, who won yesterday's stage
Two riders attacked quite late from the pack for the breakaway. But Ingels and Monterastelli got soon a big advantage
There was no fight between them at the only intermediate sprint of the day, which was won by Monterastelli
Behind them there was no fight between the favorites or the main sprinters for the bonus seconds and Cucionotta took the third place. But the main news it was that the pack was 7 minutes behind the escapes
The leading duo entered the last 20 kilometers of the race with 6 minutes in front of the pack and it was clear that there will be a fight in 2 for the stage win
15 kilometers later they had only half of that advantage left but it was more than enough for them to maintain in front until the end. Ingels took Monterastelli's wheel and he looked to be in the better position for the finish
Behind them Milka were leading the sprint in the pack for Hushovd, being clearly faster than the Intesa train. Vantomme and Blythe were also following the Milka train
Even though Ingels had a clearly better position for the sprint, with just 300 meters left it was still a tight fight in front for the stage win
But Monterastelli gave up in the final meters and Ingels took the win. A great race for the Pokerstars rider, winning a stage and the polka dot jersey
After a great lead - out from Stybar, Hushovd won easily the sprint of the pack and he is 32 seconds behind Blythe in the GC before the final time - trial. The pack came almost 2 minutes behind the winner
