Not pancake flat but the hills a very minor with only the really lady sprinters likely to struggle with this one. Though yesterday's wind certainly hurt the riders so they'll be hoping for a calmer one today which it is.
No rider has been able to double up yet and the big three sprinters ( Lo Cicero, Guarnieri and Roelandts) will be hoping to get their second today.
They get an early hit out with no breaks before the first sprint, though it is only Roelandts and Guarnieri who get well clear of the pack.
Roelandts adds to his very convincing points lead, whilst Guarnieri makes up ground on Bazajev.
Behind Lo Cicero, Andriato, Manarelli, Torckler, Zabel and Lorenzetto go for the third with Lo Cicero getting it.
Seeing a break win the day yesterday though has encouraged a bigger group of riders to have a go today with eight in the break of the day.
There are some interesting names in here. Schurter 26th at 17.13 Priedler 21st at 13.17 (3rd on the youth) Masuda 19th at 11.36 Ronimois 33rd at 20.23 Rodriguez Galindo 32nd at 20.16 Gate 23rd at 15.26 (4th on youth) Atkins 52nd at 28.41 Nel 74th at 36.09
Some of these riders could leapfrog a few places on GC, so could be quite a good move if they can keep away like yesterday.
Gate is sixth on the points comp with 54 pts and Atkins in 11th on 40 pts, so both could profit from the sprint primers also.
Though neither sprint for the first primer.
Armavia and Vespa are on high alert in the pack, they start chasing 100km out with the gap at six minutes.
Atkins manages to slip in a second place at the last sprint primer.
Though a wasted chance for he and Gate to move up in the points classification. With 50km left it is looking bleak for the break as their lead is just 3 minutes.
Armavia, Bouygues, ING and Vespa are the teams who are chasing.
15km to go the game is virtually up with the break having a minute on the pack.
It’s been a good steady catch that should keep the big sprinters fresh for the finale.
We get the three train set-up once more with Vespa, Bouygues and Armavia.
Starting with Vespa we have Petrie-Armstrong, Richeze and Guarnieri. Zabel and Bouhanni are looking to follow this.
The Bouygues train is Jacobs, Weylandt, Roelandts with Manan trying to get on this one.
Armavia have just Wang driving theirs, with Lo Cicero, Andraito, Lorenzetto, Torckler and Bazajev following.
It’s bad for Armavia that they have just one man and by 3km, Vespa have just one too.
Petit, Manarelli and Crespo try to get involved but they jest cannot get past the dropped lead outs and the GC men. Manan also struggles to get on a train.
2.7km to go.
Lo Cicero is sprinting already! Jacobs now drops off as Richeze has done a great job pulling Guarnieri up to Roelandts side.
2.1 km to go:
Roelandts is trying to hold himself but is losing ground as Lo Cicero drags Andriato through. Lorenzetto doesn’t fancy it and drifts to try and pick up Zabel’s wheel vacated by a struggling Bouhanni. Bazajev is along way back here behind Torckler and Manan.
1.7km to go
Guarnieri goes for it but Weylandt is following with Roelandts still looking cool.
Behind.
Zabel and Lorenzetto are struggling for speed, Bouhanni is just blocking and not sprinting with Torckler and a disappointing Bazajev behind these three.
1.2km to go:
Lo Cicero is of course fading, Andriato needs to get round his big frame. Lorenzetto is pulling Zabel, Torckler and Bazajev through.
Under the kite.
Roelandts looks to go but Guarnieri’s early dart has opened three or four lengths. Also Roelandts is looking sluggish with Lorenzetto dragging Torckler and Bazajev through.
650m left.
The lengths Guarnieri had are disappearing, Roelandts is looking favourite here but Bazajev has got himself back into this, Torckler is also impressing now overtaking Lorenzetto.
450m left
Roelandts is just accelerating, whereas Guarnieri is going slower. Iglinski and Castano are coming through into the minor places as well.
Roelandts is showing his experience here as he romps away.
Bazajev is second and Torckler third. Lorenzetto is 4th with Guarneiri 5th. Iglinski takes 6th, Castano 7th, Weylandt 8th and Lo Cicero 9th.
Stage results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Jurgen Roelandts
Bouygues Telecom
4h02'53
2
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
3
Michael Torckler
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
4
Mirko Lorenzetto
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
5
Jacopo Guarnieri
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
6
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
7
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
8
Wouter Weylandt
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
9
Ivano Lo Cicero
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
10
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
11
Rick Zabel
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
12
Rafael Andriato
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
13
Evgeni Popov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
14
Adrien Niyonshuti
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
15
Mauro Richeze
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
16
Simon Galle
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
17
Nacer Bouhanni
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
18
Dimitri Jiriakov
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
19
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
20
Taiji Nishitani
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
21
Meiyin Wang
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
22
Gustav Larsson
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
23
Anuar Manan
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
24
Aleksandr Bespalov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
25
Andriy Khripta
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
26
Adrien Petit
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
27
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
28
Ralf Matzka
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
29
Pieter Jacobs
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
30
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
31
Simone Masciarelli
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
32
Nino Schurter
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
33
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
34
Daniele Di Nucci
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
35
Eric Baumann
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
36
Blaise Sonnery
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
37
Edward King
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
38
Daniel Schorn
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
39
Ben King
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
40
Adrian Laidler
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
41
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
42
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
43
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
44
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
45
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
46
José Serpa
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
47
Kin-San Wu
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
48
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
49
Heiko Redecker
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
50
Roman Kilun
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
51
Geert Van der Sanden
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
52
Johannes Christofel Nel
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
53
Luca Ascani
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
54
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
55
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
56
Tom Scully
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
57
Clément Lhotellerie
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
58
Victor Shishelov
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
59
Marco Osella
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
60
Benedikt Mundle
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
61
Suk-Young Choi
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
62
Joshua Edmondson
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
63
Josh Atkins
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
64
Louis Meintjes
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
65
Yeison Delgado
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
66
Daniel Vesely
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
67
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
68
Oleksandr Lobov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
69
Roberto Ferrari
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
70
Nariyuki Masuda
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
71
Karel Hnik
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
72
Xavier Quevedo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
73
Gyung Gu Jang
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
74
Mikhel Ronimois
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
75
Simon Gerrans
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
76
Danilo Di Luca
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
77
Daniel Ricardo Diaz
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
78
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
79
Johann Rabie
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
80
Fabio Aru
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
81
Michael Hepburn
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
82
Georg Preidler
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
83
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
84
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
85
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
86
Sonomtseren Delgerbayar
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
87
Kristoffer Skjerping
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
88
Tom David
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
89
Fernando Briceno
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
90
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
91
Craig Lewis
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
92
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
93
Matteo Priamo
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
94
Joost Van Leijen
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
95
Hossein Nateghi
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
96
Denis Vorontsov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
97
Chen Shikai
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
98
David Garbelli
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
99
Thomas Murray
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
100
Dennis Van Niekerk
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
101
Chun Kai Feng
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
102
Dylan Groenewegen
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
103
Stefano Locatelli
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
104
Romain Bardet
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
105
Andrea Dal Col
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
106
Maxime Daniel
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
107
Simon Yates
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
108
Nicolas Brolin
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
109
Michael Schwarzmann
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
110
Sam Harrison
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
111
Vassilis Adamou
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
112
Pablo Andres Alarcon
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
113
Hugues Mottin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
114
James Oram
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
115
Aleksei Bauer
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
116
Óscar Pereiro Sio
Control Team
+ 2'41
117
Kenji Itami
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
118
Phan Age Haugard
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
119
Giacomo Scarponi
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 4'02
120
Javier Joaquin Navarro
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
GC
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
33h07'44
2
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 11
3
José Serpa
Evian-MIAT
+ 54
4
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
+ 2'09
5
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 2'35
6
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 3'18
7
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 5'01
8
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
+ 5'02
9
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
+ 5'07
10
Gustav Larsson
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 5'14
11
Adrien Niyonshuti
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 5'21
12
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Oz Cycling Project
+ 5'52
13
Yeison Delgado
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 6'18
14
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
+ 6'39
15
Andriy Khripta
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 6'41
16
Dimitri Jiriakov
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 9'09
17
Marco Osella
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 9'31
18
Roman Kilun
Oz Cycling Project
+ 11'24
19
Nariyuki Masuda
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
+ 11'34
20
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 12'06
21
Georg Preidler
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 13'15
22
Denis Vorontsov
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 14'41
23
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
+ 15'26
24
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
+ 16'01
25
Kin-San Wu
Oz Cycling Project
+ 17'05
26
Nino Schurter
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 17'13
27
Craig Lewis
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 18'03
28
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 18'14
29
Louis Meintjes
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 18'57
30
Michael Torckler
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
+ 19'14
31
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 20'06
32
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
+ 20'12
33
Mikhel Ronimois
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 20'17
34
Blaise Sonnery
Evian-MIAT
+ 20'29
35
Simon Gerrans
Oz Cycling Project
+ 20'55
36
Johann Rabie
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 20'58
37
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'36
38
Meiyin Wang
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'52
39
Chun Kai Feng
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'54
40
Vassilis Adamou
PFG-Armavia
+ 22'18
41
Danilo Di Luca
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
+ 23'19
42
Edward King
ING Cycling - Project
+ 23'33
43
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
+ 24'08
44
Chen Shikai
Meiji - Cannondale
+ 24'10
45
Jurgen Roelandts
Bouygues Telecom
+ 25'08
46
Simon Galle
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 26'56
47
Nicolas Brolin
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 27'43
48
Stefano Locatelli
Bouygues Telecom
+ 27'46
49
Evgeni Popov
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 27'54
50
Pablo Andres Alarcon
PFG-Armavia
+ 28'00
Points
Bazajev strengthened his hold on second place, with Roelandts confirmed as points winner. Lo Cicero is struggling to make the top five with the riders encrouching.
