Lets skip all the boring bits and head straight into the final climb. E1 and E2 were the original break, while E3 and E4 attacked midway through the stage.
Ricco waits just 800m on the climb before attacking.
Many of the other favourites attack - the notable esceptances being Cunego and Medina. Only Ricco got a gap though, and soon, the break had been passed.
The steep climb has an average slope of over 11%, and it is enough to crack the yellow jersey.
Savoldelli is not the only one struggling though, as the group ahead of him contains Janez Brajkovic!!
Ricco is still holding on to a slender lead as the group behind him thins out.
With 2.2km to go, they drop to 9: Perez Cuapio, Menchov, Dessel, Piepoli, Medina, Sella, Karpets, Cunego and Suaza. A few hundred metres later though and we say goodbye to Karpets, Medina and Suaza.
Aftrer leading for the whole climb, theres 1km to go - Has Ricco got the strength to hold on?
Menchov spurts after him and is looking caught, can he pass the Italian?
Yes he can! Albeit just after the line, so Ricco wins the stage!
1
Riccardo Ricco'
MAGENTA TREFOIL
4h38'50
2
Denis Menchov
CARLSBERG
s.t.
3
Cyril Dessel
TEAM FLOGAS
s.t.
4
Leonardo Piepoli
CYCLING24 - HONDA
s.t.
5
Damiano Cunego
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
s.t.
6
Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
s.t.
7
Emanuele Sella
TELEFONICA
+ 1'05
8
Patxi Vila
SATURN
+ 1'33
9
Manuel Medina
ACCUMALUX
s.t.
10
Vladimir Karpets
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
s.t.
11
Jaime Suaza
CYCLING24 - HONDA
+ 1'51
12
Beñat Intxausti
ACCUMALUX
+ 2'40
13
Fabio Duarte
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
s.t.
14
Ivan Parra Pinto
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 3'01
15
Vladimir Efimkin
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 3'13
16
Janez Brajkovic
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 3'58
17
Magno Nazaret
MAGENTA TREFOIL
s.t.
18
Christophe Moreau
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 4'30
19
Manuel Beltran
CARLSBERG
+ 4'44
20
Paolo Savoldelli
CARLSBERG
+ 5'24
21
Mauricio Ortega
SATURN
+ 5'32
22
Bobby Julich
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
+ 5'40
23
José Antonio Pecharroman
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 5'48
24
Ricardo Mestre
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
s.t.
25
Gianpaolo Caruso
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 6'44
26
Sergio Pardilla
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
s.t.
27
Edwin Parra Bustamante
TELEFONICA
+ 7'00
28
Ruggero Marzoli
CARLSBERG
+ 7'24
29
Marzio Bruseghin
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
+ 7'32
30
Mauricio Ardila
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 7'40
31
Victor Niño
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 8'04
32
Santiago Perez Fernandez
CYCLING24 - HONDA
+ 8'20
33
Matteo Carrara
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 9'08
34
Joan Horrach
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 9'40
35
José Luis Rubiera
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 10'20
36
Matthieu Sprick
CYCLING24 - HONDA
+ 11'00
37
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil
DOMINA VACANZE
s.t.
38
Pieter Weening
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
s.t.
39
Steve Zampieri
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 11'08
40
Evgeni Petrov
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 12'04
41
Dario Cataldo
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 12'44
42
Branislav Samoilev
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 13'00
43
Carlos Castaño
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 13'56
44
Egoi Martínez de Esteban
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 14'04
45
Christophe Brandt
MAGENTA TREFOIL
+ 14'12
46
Steve Morabito
TIME - VAN HEMERT
s.t.
47
Xavier Florencio
CYCLING24 - HONDA
+ 15'32
48
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
CARLSBERG
+ 15'48
49
Marco Velo
FED-EX
+ 16'20
50
Oliver Zaugg
TIME - VAN HEMERT
+ 16'36
51
Wladimir Gustov
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 17'16
52
Andrea Tonti
MAGENTA TREFOIL
+ 17'24
53
Jelle Vanendert
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 17'40
54
Vitor Rodrigues
TELEFONICA
+ 17'56
55
Christian Meier
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 18'12
56
Thomas Voeckler
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 19'16
57
Theo Eltink
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 20'20
58
Mauricio Soler
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 20'52
59
Addy Engels
CARREFOUR CYCLING
+ 21'24
60
Johannes Frohlinger
CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN
+ 21'40
61
Carlos Barredo
CARREFOUR CYCLING
+ 21'56
62
Steffen Weigold
CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN
+ 22'04
63
Paul Voss
CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN
+ 23'08
64
Pascal Hungerbühler
TIME - VAN HEMERT
+ 24'12
65
Charles Wegelius
TEAM FLOGAS
+ 24'28
66
Bingen Fernandez Bustinza
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 25'40
67
Ivan Santaromita
TIME - VAN HEMERT
+ 25'48
68
Julien Loubet
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 26'28
69
Mikayil Krasnoperov
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
+ 27'56
70
Matej Jurco
FED-EX
+ 28'04
71
Nikolai Trusov
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 28'36
72
Marco Pinotti
CARLSBERG
+ 29'40
73
Aleksandr Kolobnev
FERRARI - GUERCIOTTI
+ 29'56
74
Vadim Ratiy
TELEFONICA
+ 30'36
75
René Mandri
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 31'00
76
William Ford
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 31'32
77
Joost Posthuma
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
+ 32'12
78
Mauro Facci
CARREFOUR CYCLING
+ 35'08
79
Vladimir Bileka
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 38'36
80
Assan Bazajev
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 38'52
81
Mathieu Perget
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 39'08
82
Michail Ignatiev
ACCUMALUX
+ 42'20
83
Brian Vandborg
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 44'04
84
Frederik Willems
VIRGIN MEDIA PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 44'20
85
Jure Kocjan
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 45'08
86
Jürgen Van de Walle
CARREFOUR CYCLING
+ 45'40
87
Laurent Mangel
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 46'12
88
Nicolas Roche
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 46'36
89
Frederik Nolf
TELEFONICA
+ 46'52
90
Manuel Antonio Cardoso
TELEFONICA
+ 47'40
91
Sven Krauss
CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN
+ 48'04
92
Christian Poos
ACCUMALUX
+ 48'12
93
Steven Cummings
DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM
+ 49'16
94
Borut Bozic
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE - RENAULT
+ 51'00
95
Bruno Neves
TELEFONICA
+ 51'32
96
Nazareno Rossi
TIME - VAN HEMERT
+ 52'12
97
Robert Hunter
ACCUMALUX
+ 52'52
98
Murilo Fischer
DOMINA VACANZE
+ 55'08
99
Alberto Loddo
TELEFONICA
+ 55'56
100
Steffen Wesemann
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 57'08
Despite falling to pieces, Brajkovic holds on to a top 10 spot, while Menchov is the new race leader.
