Like the other stages, this is flat, but there is a 10+km stretch of cobbles late on, that only ends with around 2km to go, that could tear apart the race.
First of all though, a solo breakaway - Vassdal
Behind him the first 2 intermediate sprints held some interest, in the battle for 2nd and 3rd, but a lot of the sprinters didnt bother, leaving Nazon to take 2nd in both, and Trussov to take 3rd in both.
70km to go, Niels Albert attacks. Stuart O'Grady is countering
They catch Vassdal
And soon Alberit is on his own
This leads to a 2nd LEGO move - Kopp attacking with 20km to go
Albert hits the cobbles with a 90 second lead on O'Grady
With 2 solo LEGO riders before the peloton, that Fenn and Machado lead
Its clear that Albert has plenty left in the tank, still increasing his lead with 5km to go. Only a crash can stop him now
As we see attacks from the peloton, including De Maar and Sieberg - but not Blythe
Kopp catches O'Grady
Closely followed by Sieberg, then De Maar and Sentjens, and then a group containing Machado, Fenn, Rowe, Casper, De Kort, Hunter, Haedo, Nazon, Van Heerden, Blythe and Ista
Niels Albert wins the stage!
2 minutes later, Kopp takes 2nd
3rd for Sieberg
And Sentjens beats O'Grady and De Maar for 4th
Race leader Haedo is close, finishing in a group all with the same time as Kopp - but the race lead will of course transfer to Albert
1
Niels Albert
Jack Wolfskin
3h44'31
2
David Kopp
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
+ 2'11
3
Marcel Sieberg
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
4
Roy Sentjens
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
5
Stuart O'Grady
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
6
Marc De Maar
AON Global
s.t.
7
Juan Van Heerden
AON Global
s.t.
8
Koen De Kort
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
9
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
10
Jimmy Casper
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
11
Luca Paolini
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
12
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
13
Robert Hunter
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
14
Jean-Patrick Nazon
M&M Cycling
s.t.
15
Juan José Haedo
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
16
Kevin Ista
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Marc Machado
AON Global
s.t.
18
Andrew Fenn
100% ME
s.t.
19
Bobbie Traksel
Jack Wolfskin
+ 3'52
20
Fumiyuki Beppu
M&M Cycling
s.t.
21
Gerben Löwik
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
22
Saïd Haddou
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
23
Tom Zirbel
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
24
Timothy Johnson
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
25
Niki Terpstra
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
26
Shaun Lewis
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
27
Isaac Speirs
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
28
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
29
Ferdi Van Katwijk
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
30
Kristof Vandewalle
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
31
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
32
Remco Broers
Team Ultimate
s.t.
33
Steven Cummings
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
34
Kevin Peeters
Team Ultimate
s.t.
35
Peter Kennaugh
100% ME
s.t.
36
Ahmad Haidar Anuawar
M&M Cycling
s.t.
37
Matt Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
38
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
39
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
40
Bradley Wiggins
100% ME
s.t.
41
Benoît Sinner
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
42
Cornelius Van Ooijen
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
43
Markus Eichler
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
44
Hayden Roulston
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
45
Ricki Nelson
M&M Cycling
s.t.
46
Hubert Dupont
AON Global
s.t.
47
Jason Donald
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
48
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
49
Massimo Iannetti
M&M Cycling
s.t.
50
Juan Pablo Forero
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
51
Maciej Ulanowski
Team Ultimate
s.t.
52
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
s.t.
53
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
54
Steven Cozza
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
55
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
56
Sergey Sarkisov
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
57
Hesham Abdelmotelb
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
58
Jos Van Emden
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
59
Tommy Zaini
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
60
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
61
Deni Rizio
Team Ultimate
s.t.
62
Couliball Moussavou
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
63
Bolderdene Boldbaatar
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
64
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
65
Gracjan Lejman
M&M Cycling
s.t.
66
Fonne Woortman
Team Ultimate
s.t.
67
Adam Bonser
100% ME
s.t.
68
Jerome Kornetzky
Team Ultimate
s.t.
69
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
70
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
71
Yves Da Luz
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
