After two flat stages, the peloton is now hitting tougher terrain. And while the GC contenders, mainly Mikhail Ignatiev, Yuri Trofimov and Taylor Phinney, already got into the mix in the sprint yesterday, they will be even more keen on showing something here. Also, we can expect the weaker time trialists like Nicholas Roche or Dimitri Claeys to attack today. Will Ignatiev be able to defend his newly-acquired leader's jersey?
During the first few kilometers, Mikhail Ignatiev lets his team mates control the pace in the pack. It seems as though the Russian is really enjoying his leading position.
Not many riders bothered to attack today, and the first attempt already sticks. It is a bit surprising, with so many KoM points up for grabs, but the quartett at the front now won't mind:
Meron Amanuel Martin Hacecky Jacques Janse van Rensburg Rafael Serrano
Van Rensburg and Amanuel are solid puncheurs while Hececky and Serrano are more of a climbing type of rider. Sprinting is something none of them are particularly good at, but Hacecky uses his superior acceleration to win the intermediate sprint in front of van Rensburg and Serrano.
The first mountain sprint is heavily contested as well. A series of attacks results in van Rensburg taking the full amount of points. Meanwhile, their advance to the peloton has grown to almost eight minutes!
As the advance increases to nine minutes, the teams in the peloton are upping the pace. Relaying is a conglomerate of Rothaus, Vesuvio, Lotto and Swisscom. On the descent towards the major climb of the day, they start to reduce the gap.
The pace on the climb is really high and riders start falling behind. Among the first names are Troels Vinter and Theo Bos.
Rafael Serrano wins the mountain sprint and takes the lead in the KoM classification. Amanuel and Hacecky follow.
Zingle attacks out of the pack to take six points.
Only 85 riders are in the peloton on the descent. But no major rider has fallen behind.
Serrano defends his lead with a second place on the third mountain sprint. However, Hacecky comes closer, as the Top 3 are now:
Serrano
24
Hacecky
20
van Rensburg
14
With 60 kilometers to go, the gap of to the leaders is at around five minutes. The peloton seems to have it under control.
Nothing of notice happened on the flat part towards the final climbs. Martin Hacecky won the second intermediate sprint as well, and the pack continued to come closer to the escapees.
However, with 23 kms to go, we witness the first interesting attack. It's Romain Zingle who is active again, and he is followed by Maurice Schreurs and Leopold König!
But that only started the madness: The big guns are making their moves!
Dimitri Claeys Mikhail Ignatiev Luis Leon Sanchez Gil Andreas Flügel Yuri Trofimov Ben Gastauer
But Project 1t4i and Swisscom are very attentive and still have a lot of manpower. No chance for the attackers.
Only Romain Zingle managed to stay in front with another late attack. He has some 30 seconds of advance, with the escapees another minute in front. 15 kilometers to go.
Let's have a look at what's waiting for the riders in the final 10 km:
The short and steep climb towards the final KoM sprint is followed by a longer flat part. The final ascent isn't as steep, but can surely produce gaps.
Up in front, the escapees realize they may have an actual chance at the stage win, and start to attack each other.
But the favorites are far from done either: This time, Stefan Schumacher is the attacker, with Sanchez and Ignatiev on his wheel quickly. Trofimov tries to follow, too.
Several other riders followed and they caught up with Zingle and van Rensburg to form and 11 men group consisting of
Schumacher Sanchez Trofimov Claeys Ignatiev Gesink Gastauer Phinney, van Rensburg Costa Zingle
Nicholas Roche and Martin Reimer follow a little behind.
Meanwhile, up in front, Martin Hacecky left his companions behind. He still has a little more than a minute of advance as he passes the 10 km gap.
Hacecky rides on to win the final mountain sprint, but as Serrano crosses the line in second place, the Spaniard will wear the KoM jersey tomorrow.
As the peloton catches up with the favorite's group, the next attacks keep coming. Gastauer, Claeys and Gesink are the men at front.
This attack leads to the next selection. The same favorites are there again, with the exception of Rui Costa, who rides solo half a minute behind this group. Alexey Lutsenko is at the front instead. Also, Serrano and Amanuel are caught by this group. Only Hacecky is left in front, half a minute of advancem seven kilometers to go.
But his adventure is over with 5 kms to go.
Meanwhile, Nicholas Roche attacks from the pack and catches up with Rui Costa. A bit later, Schreurs and Flügel attack as well.
Roche and Costa catch up with the front, the other attacks weren't successful. The 14 men at front have a 45 seconds gap to the pack and will fight for the win here.
Yuri Trofimov opens the sprint with 1,5 kms to go. Claeys, Schumacher and Ignatiev are at the front, too.
Behind them, Flügel, Coppel and Schreurs try again to gain some time.
Trofimov has an amazing acceleration and creates a gap of a few meters. Ignatiev is the main chaser.
Trofimov still looks well, and while Ignatiev is fading, Sanchez and Phinney are moving to the front.
Further behind, a group of six including König, Klemme and Schreurs is on the move, trying to limit the losses.
But first, it's time to celebrate today's winner: Yuri Trofimov. He was rock-solid all day and simply the strongest in the sprint. A well-deserved victory, that also puts him in the overall lead, as he gets a 15 seconds gap.
Taylor Phinney leads the second group to the line. Gesink closely misses the podium. Lutsenko on six is the biggest surprise of the day.
Roche comes in 24 seconds later. Not a perfect day for the Irishman.
Costa and Flügel are the final riders that finish in front of the pack.
