After yesterdays excitement we are back to usual stuff today.
However we now have a new team in charge as Adam Blythe’s 100% Me outfit will be the ones controlling the breakaway. Barring any time gaps the Brit will be crowned winner of the Tour du Faso, but with a large second group behind yesterdays lone winner the scramble for a high GC placings is still hot. Mohs, Van Heerden, Gatto, Loddo, Davis, Cucinotta and one of yesterdays instigators JJ Haedo will feel they can get amongst the bonus seconds at the final stage finish.
Actually the opportunity is there on the intermediates today as only one rider decides to brave a breakaway. It is Kroupis of Bacardi Colt, a team with no realistic GC ambitions who goes solo.
Kroupis on the breakaway
Kroupis started the day 59th at 7.45 to Blythe and so barring something amazing will not threaten the GC positions. But behind there will be a big tussle for the 2nd and 3rd places at the primers. Twelve riders move clear for this including Mercedes battler Haedo(23rd at 2.31) – but he is badly out of position for the first on the wheel of teammate Weiss (53rd at 6.59).
Twelve riders go to the front
It is Kip (27th at 2.34) who is sucking the Mercedes’ wheels and the Pirelli rider up front on the left hand side is Paolini (39th at 5.47). Leading the way on the far right is Sulzberger of 100% Me (30th at 4.19), ahead of Pokerstars lead out Kluge (33rd at 5.33) – next door is Kocjan of Bacardi (54th at 7.15) ahead of Thomas (9th at 2.13). Lorenzatto (20th at 2.26) of Intesa is there, as is Bacardi’s Gajek (51st at 6.13), Quiksilvers Murphy (28th at 3.29) and Pendletons’ Tim Kennaugh (56th at 7.33).
The riders being towed near the front are fastest here as Kluge beats Thomas for the second place. But Thomas will at least get the two seconds for third.
Kluge takes a meaningless four seconds
Sprint 1:
1.Kroupis
2.Kluge
3. Thomas
In between the next two primes we were alerted that Kroupis was now the virtual leader as he had 8.40 with 88km to go. He would roll over the next sprint as the same riders moved forward. This time JJ Haedo took second ahead of his Cillit Bang shadow for the day Ismael Kip.
Haedo nips ahead of Kip
Sprint 2:
1.Kroupis
2.Haedo
3.Kip
This at least gives some reward to the rider who really deserved more from yesterdays effort. Talking of excellent efforts Kroupis is giving a great performance today as with 70km to go his lead has ballooned to well over nine minutes. It is time for 100% Me to send some riders to the front and start chasing this move.
McConvey and Bennett start to up the tempo
One more sprint prime and Haedo is in the pink again as he takes another second place this ahead of Quiksilvers youngster Murphy.
Haedo takes his bonifications up to eight seconds for the day
This moves the sprinter up into the top twenty. However the GC may be shuffled a bit by the end of the stage – primary concern is Kroupis who has 6.32 with 27.5km to go. This would turn what has been a bit of a drab Faso tour for Bacardi, he starts to enjoy himself waving to the crowd.
Kroupis offers a salute to some local fans
The pack though have not given up yet as the sprinter teams Pendletons, Pirelli, Quiksilver and Pokerstars start to fire riders up front in a rapid fire team trial type move.
Pow pow pow the sprinters teams send riders up front
15 km to go the gap is 3.14.
10km to go the gap is 1.38
6.2km to go....
The game is up for Kroupis, he ran out of gas
The sprinters teams even have time to set up a couple of sprint trains. With three kilometres to go the two teams who have set it up are Pirelli and Intesa.
Two Italian teams set up some trains.
On the right hand side we have the Intesa train we have Lorenzatto followed by Cucinotta, stage 5 winner Gatto and GC leader Blythe. On the left it is the longer Pirelli train with Paolini, Loddo, Haedo, Mohs, Van Heerden, Davis, Kip and Nazon.
Lorenzatto and Paolini are pretty good lead-outs but Loddo has the more predatory sense of the two sprinters being led out and strikes out early. Van Heerden, 4th in the line seems caught out by the speed and loses the wheel of Mohs. Meanwhile Cucinotta struggles to get past his lead out blocking Gatto and Blythe.
Final km: Loddo powers clear with Haedo and Mohs close
Kocjan is the Bacardi man in the centre and Cillit Bangs Manan is also in the frame as Intesa fluff their lines completely. Haedo doesn’t have the energy left to come around Loddo but does hold an excellent second as the Italian powers to his second win of the race.
Win number two for Loddo
Behind Haedo, Mohs grabs the third place time bonus ahead of Manan and Kocjan. Some of the sprinters seemed out of energy or blocked there, like Van Heerden, Davis and Gatto.
Haedo 2nd, Mohs 3rd and Manan 4th
Loddo then moves back up onto the podium overtaking Van Heerden but not Mohs who retains second position. Van Heerden is down to 4th after being too far down the line in the sprint, biggest move of the day though is JJ Haedo who is up to 10th nabbing twenty second of bonus in all.
