It seemed liked the mountains would never end, but theres only one more mountain stage to come after this one - and the first real test, can CSC-Orbea hold off the strengths of Alarcon and co? Looking at the profile, its one of the hardest stages to date, though the final 14 km are dissapointingly un-steep.
Unsuprisingly, getting in the breakaway is an attractive proposition now, after CSC-Orbea took 2 mountain stage wins from the break. And its very interesting to see defending champion Ochoa Quintero now going on the attack. Although at 24th overall, he is not even the best placed in the break, with Cal Giant's Americans Peterson and Brandt in 21st and 22nd.
3 categorised climbs on the route, but before them is quite a hard climb, with no reward for topping it first. 66km to go, break leads by 5'45, Aker set to work, stretching the peloton
A group of 40 is dropped with 3 Top 20 riders in it! Carrara, Paulinho, and Evans. But theres no real attempts to get back. This is bad news for teams classification leaders WWE but also Vespa. 3 men in the break doesnt seem such a great idea now. Just 1 teammate, Balloni, in the group with him, Cattaneo - who is now ahead of him in GC - still in the peloton. Only Cerne end up doing much relaying in this group!
CSC-Orbea take on the relaying in the peloton, Rodas is sat back in the peloton, but then, so is Alarcon
The break approaches KoM #1. With 5 points in the competition already, Sorensen tries to go for it, but Ochoa Quintero completely blocks him on this narrow road and he is left out of it. Garbelli first from Pozzo and Raisin
We move towards the next climb then. 36km to go and the break's gap down to 2'23. Not everyone in there is helping, and at current, Ochoa Quintero is taking on much of the work
Theres a further 3 minutes gap to the group that got dropped and seemingly gave up, but finally a response! Nothing from Paulinho or Evans, but Carrara and Saldarriaga have attacked from it! Kinda late now though
Moving on to an even bigger bridge across a valley now, a bridge so long that the peloton can see the break in the distance, even though there is still a 2 minute gap. And what you might not be able to tell, is that this bridge is on a 5% gradient
Coming to the end of the bridge, Astarloza and Nazaret attack!
Lloret, Castano, Ratiy and Eastman counter and while Ratiy is strongest, he is chased back - caught at the same time as 2 of the Vespas dropped from the break
Up front, the break has reached the top of the climb. This time there is no mistake for Chris Anker Sorensen, taking the points from Peterson and Murgoitio. This takes the Dane to 15, with Alarcon on 18.
The peloton is closing in though, and now down to 23 riders. Recent riders to drop are Nordhaug, Pietropolli, Lewis, Martinez, Vantornout, Diaz Corrales, and Cattaneo - the bad news keeps on coming for Vespa! Does seem only a matter of time for the break to be caught now.
Onto the 3rd categorised climb. The break is starting to attack each other, but so is the peloton. Astarloza, Lloret, Castano, Ratiy and Nazaret again. Still nothing from Alarcon, CSC-Orbea are in control also
All but 3 of the break are caught by these attacks, which Eastman also joins in - Alarcon hovering
Still leading with just under a minutes advantage, it is Sorensen, Raisin and Peterson
But now Alarcon attacks! Eastman on his wheel
But it doesnt work, no gap is made! Castano looks to make a counter move as Raisin starts edging away from Sorensen and Peterson, with that gap down to 45 seconds. 2nd over the top for Sorensen is very important though! That gives him 4 points, taking him to 19 ahead of Alarcon - this means we have a new King of the Mountains leader!
Thats pretty much it for the testing gradient today. Well ridden by CSC-Orbea, Colorado leading the way on the front.
The urgency seems to have dropped in the peloton, perfect news for the leaders, with the descent coming in time for Peterson and Sorensen to stick with Raisin. Theyve pushed the lead up to 1'16 inside the final 5km
2km to go and Raisin rides clear!
Alarcon attacks!! A last desperate attempt to gain time today? Realising too late that only the Top 3 places give bonus seconds, and theres 3 riders infront?
But Saul Raisin takes the stage! First win of the season for Emu Export
Peterson edges out Sorensen for 2nd place
And a frustrated Alarcon is unable to gain time. 4th place does give him the points jersey lead though.
So Jose Alarcon keeps a lead in 2 competitions, swapping KoM for Points, but no time loss here gives Rodas a huge boost for the all important GC victory. Those dropped early have had it very bad though. Carrara loses 4'29 and falls to 28th. Paulinho and Evans lost a whopping 9'50 - they really didnt fancy riding a wheel in anger today - and are now down to 32nd and 33rd - a 21 place loss for Paulinho.
Fortunately for WWE though, this does not affect the teams classification. Astarloza and Kessiakoff finished in the peloton, likewise Krasnoperov and Nazaret did for Emu. The breakaway being again crcuial though, with Raisin dropping Sorensen at the finish, and gaining 19 seconds - reducing WWE's lead over Emu to 15 seconds. And in a mixed day for WWE, where Sorensen took the KoM jersey, Leif Hoste was the first rider to abandon from the race, having really struggled on the climbs.
