The first of the three real mountain stages is today and, while it should cause some sort of selection, it is certainly not going to be the decisive day of the entire race. The race start with a short descent down to our first climb, which is a long 16km to the summit but only average 4.4% so most riders should be able to hold on. A long period along the flats comes next which leads up to our final double climb. The first half holds very steady at about 5% gradient. The second half is mostly the same but is a bit less consistent. There are no massive steep sections on it. Finally we have a 3.5km descent to the finishing line in San Simon.
The big climbers are all favourites today and that’s not a huge surprise by any stretch of the imagination. Marquez is without a doubt the biggest favourite for today and the big question will be if Pellizotti can hold on to his leader’s jersey. These two riders are exactly equal on time so they will need to give it everything to wear it tonight.
The peloton ride along calmly for a while with no major action on the first little descent. It takes 16km for the first attacks to go and there are definitely some familiar names there: Jonathon Thire Patrick Schelling Jean-Francois Camier
Another familiar attacker form a now-familiar team is Hillary Kiprotich. He attacks a fair way behind the rest and will have to bridge up.
The pace to the top of the climb is calm and Kiprotich hasn’t joined up with the front riders yet. At the summit Schelling surprises the much better climber Camier to take the maximum 5 points at the summit. There is a 1’34” gap to Kiprotich and another 2’12” back to the peloton, which has remained wholly intact.
But it is not all good news for Cisco as Dyachenko falls. Their manager has been immensely frustrated with him over the last few days and this is just sure to come as no surprise. He does manage to get back in to the peloton, however and he doesn’t look too shaken up.
Having gone over the top, there is a short descent down to a small unclassified climb. It is here that Kiprotich manages to catch up to the leading trio and that gives us the definitive four man breakaway of the day.
The descent leads down to a sprint point and up front there isn’t any interest at all. Camier is the best placed but he is still more than 10 minutes down. So Schelling rolls over in first with Camier in second and Kiprotich taking fourth.
The gap is just over 5’30” through here and it seems to be growing. Looking back at the peloton for just a moment will show why – there are three riders from WWE on the front and no one is giving them a hand.
With 63km to go, finally WWE get some relief as HTC decide to join the fray. The two rivals are working together here because the gap is inching towards 6’30” and needs to be cut if the favourites are to fight it out for the stage win.
The second sprint point marks the end of the flat section and here Camier goes through first with Schelling in second and Thire third. The gap is now down to 4’29”, which will be a relief for many.
And the climb starts. As said this first half of the climb is a very consistent 5% all the way to the next mountain prime, where the first rider will get a 6 point reward. It doesn’t look too daunting, but after a while this will start to hurt the legs.
But back in the peloton we don’t have to wait long for the excitement to start! Only 1km into the climb and Raisin shoots off an attack.
There is a long way to go, but still, WWE and HTC aren’t willing to let anyone get much of a gap so he can only pull out about 20”. That doesn’t stop more people trying, however, as third place overall Izagirre decides to attack up to Raisin. In fact, he goes straight past him. Raisin hooks in to his back wheel and a gap starts to develop.
But that’s not all! Monsalve decides to attack too and on his back wheel is our yellow jersey – Pellizotti!
Obviously HTC have to do something about this and as such it is Berard who is sent to the front. He is the second best climber in the squad and he really needs to rise to the occasion here. And rise he does! He brings all four of the attackers back with some solid tempo work.
Of course, once the touch paper is lit, someone else is bound to go. This time it is Soler who goes, just as the attack is brought back.
Raisin and Izagirre both kick again to get on to his back wheel. Pellizotti is also there and this time Hollister decide to send Ochoa Quintero up the road – they are using their strength in numbers magnificently.
Once again Berard shows some maturity as he rises to the challenge and drags the quintet back in to the peloton, shutting things down once again.
Raisin tries to launch another attack but it is clear that he needs some time to recover as he runs out of gas quickly. Following on from this it is Nicacio who launches the next one, closely followed by Soler and Izagirre.
HTC have assumed total control at the front, even though Pellizotti is still in the bunch, and as such they bring Soler and Izagirre back, though Nicacio’s attack is too good for it to be brought straight back in. He is nearing the first mountain prime now and has a small gap.
Raisin and Monsalve try to attack up to him but they can’t. They only succeed in drawing the peloton that bit closer.
The break is definitely in sight now and they have started the mad scramble for the points at the top. Surprisingly, all four are still together and working fairly well. The 6 points here will give the winner at least something to take away. Remarkably, Kiprotich goes over first, with Schelling in second and Thire in third. Camier went far too early and just ran out of steam.
Nicacio is only 9” ahead of the peloton through this prime and so he is caught by Diniz on the flat, as WWE re-assert some semblance of control over the front of the bunch. The peloton is only about 1’15” behind the break, so things aren’t looking for those at the front of the race. There are still 56 riders left in the main group, with Rojas Villegas being the only big climber missing.
As the final ascent starts there is another flurry of attacks, this time from Ardilla Cano, Monsalve and Izagirre.
Of course, this is once again contained by the WWE and HTC train, which is keeping up a high tempo to discourage attacks.
The next trio to try something are Briceno, Ochoa Quintero and Nicacio.
Of course, who else would contain this except Berard? The man has been riding out of his skin for his leader here today.
Another man tries an attack for the first time. It is Ndbri, who has been on strong form here. There is only 5km to the summit, so now is the time to make an attack stick.
He is followed by Pellizoti, Izagirre and Ochoa Quintero. That sends the HTC alarm bells ringing and once again the same Frenchman frustrates everyone, bringing these riders back in. The gap to the break is now only 30”.
Not to be deterred, Ndbri once again puts in an attack, this time with 2.4km to the peak.
And this time HTC don’t run it down! It quickly becomes obvious why, because Marquez has joined a counter-attack with some other big name riders: Ochoa Quintero Pellizotti Izagirre
Pellizotti and Marquez pull away from the other two, clearly determined to settle this over the top of the climb head-to-head. And with 1.2km to the summit Pellizotti kicks again!
A gap opens up back to Marquez, 8 seconds, 10 seconds, 12 seconds...
Pellizotti catches up to Schelling and Camier, who are all that remain of the original break. They are fighting it out for the 10 points on offer at the summit.
HTC can breathe a sigh of relief as Marquez hauls himself back in to this front group, forming four riders over the top of the climb. Camier takes the maximum points over the top and Schelling holds on to second ahead of Pellizotti. This will be just enough points to put Schelling in the mountain jersey for the day.
The gap back to the peloton is only 29” with the 3.5km descent remaining. There are 48 riders left in the peloton, though Khripta falls at the start of the descent, so 47 men remain behind to chase. Schelling, inspired by his efforts all day, manages to get a small gap on the descent. Camier is dropped from the leading group, clearly having had enough.
Under the kite the peloton ensure that there will be no time gaps today, as they are nipping on the heels of Pellizotti and Marquez. Schelling still has a good gap and the downhill run-in could play in to his hands.
The gap closes rapidly in the last few hundred metres. The two big names of this race are right behind him.
But Patrick Schelling takes an unexpected win for Cisco here!
With bonus seconds on the line, the fight for second place will be crucial... and Marquez takes second and with it the leader’s jersey. Pellizotti will have to be content with another podium place. Castano takes a strong fourth place, with Suaza and Agudelo fifth and sixth respectively. Rodrigues gets another strong stage placing with seventh. Broco, Diniz and Dyachenko round out the top ten.
As stated, Marquez pulls on the leader’s jersey. He and Pellizotti started the day tied on time, so the bonus seconds put him clear. Other than that, the large group at the end means that the GC doesn’t change a huge amount. In fact the only other major difference is that Schelling will wear the mountain jersey tomorrow.
