This is the first of two straight mountaintop finishes and the excitement is palpable. The stage may only be 131.4km long but it finishes on the very tough Grita. The climb is 11.4km long with a gradient of 5.7% and a max of close to 10%. Not only that but there is a long climb beforehand which, while tough, leads to about 30km of climbing with only a short false flat for a break. To make matter worse, there is a strong wind today, which may hamper any chase and indeed may hurt the legs of some pure mountain goats before we even get to the steep parts.
Unlike yesterday, the first attack comes very early in the stage. It is launched by Ulugbek Galiev. Going with him are Irakli Bablidze and Ivan Seledkov. Of course it should be noted that Bablidze was always going to attack, because he had to keep his unbroken streak of attacking on even numbered stages up. He officially is the most OCD rider in the peloton.
These three aren’t the only ones wanting a piece of the action, and they are soon joined by Simone Masciarelli. These four will form our break of the day. It should be noted that the three original attackers are all on 14 mountain points, meaning that the mountain prime and the stage finish today could be important for deciding who takes the mountain jersey.
We have perhaps the least interesting start to any stage in this race so far today, as HTC sit on the front tapping out a very easy rhythm, with no one else even looking interested in helping. The gap keeps increasing at quite a steady rate but no one up front is even close to a threat.
The only thing breaking up the tedium is the sprint point with 66km remaining, and even then Galiev just rolls over with Bablidze and Seledkov taking the other places. The gap is out to 6’58” and it is clear that HTC aren’t going to do any unnecessary work to bring these riders back.
Finally, the break reach the start of the small climb which comes before La Grita. There are about 19 fairly easy kilometres of riding and then the main event starts, meaning that there are about 36km to the finish line. The gap sits at 7’48” and it is only once HTC hit this very first section of the climb that the pace starts to increase.
Even so, not a lot happen for much of the climb, as HTC look to just ride a TTT up the fairly easy gradients. Some riders seek to ruin this plan, however. Launching an attack is Soler!
He is followed by: Khripta Monsalve Solis
The gap up to the front group is at 6’30”, but particularly Monsalve (15th) and Solis (13th) are playing for some time on GC here. Then a rather strange thing happens, as BNCR and Repsol both come to the front of the group and start chasing. They may possibly be defending the GC positions of their leaders, but with soler in this move, it is particularly odd for Repsol.
Regardless, the group is brought back and HTC immediately re-assert control. As this is happening, the break go through the mountain prime. Masciarelli takes the maximum points, which is odd because he is the only one in the break who didn’t have any this morning, while Bablidze moves in to the provisional lead by taking second ahead of Seledkov.
Through the mountain prime, the gap is at 5’16”. So far the only two climbers unhitched from the peloton are Vasquez and Rojas Villegas. So the race moves across the false flat to the final climb, which as said is 11.4km long. The gap is now at 4’15”.
Not wanting to play games with the rest of the break, Galiev puts in a valiant attack. You have to admire the aggression that Cisco have shown here. It proved enough to win a stage yesterday, so will it work again today?
Galiev pulls out a lead of about 30” which holds pretty consistently over this slightly easier terrain. The truly tough terrain comes after the sprint point which is half way up the mountain and that will be the real test for his attack.
As the peloton get to about 9.5km from the summit there is the biggest and most concerted attack which this race has witnessed. The list of riders going are: Marquez (1st) Pellizotti (2nd) Izagirre (3rd) Nicacio (8th) Camano (9th) Ardila Cano (10th) Briceno (12th) Solis (13th) Monsalve (15th) Soler (23rd) Esquivel (28th)
With only 6 of the top 10 riders in this attack, and a number of other dangerous riders besides, some alarm bells clearly are going off in the bunch. A few riders launch a counter-attack: Ndbri (6th) Aru (11th) Pineau (17th)
Not only must they defend their GC positions, but Aru also has to keep an eye on Monsalve if he wants to win the best young rider competition. Also note that Rodrigues and Ochoa Quintero, who are 4th and 5th respectively, haven’t reacted yet. Hollister could be in some trouble here.
Galiev reaches the sprint point, taking the points and, more importantly, measuring a 26” gap to the 3 chasers and about 4 minutes to the favourites group. Remember that this sprint point marks the beginning of the toughest part of the course, the final 5.6km, and the average from here to the line is about 7%, including a long ramp of 9%.
Having finally realised that the favourites aren’t going to be dragged back in, Ochoa Quintero (6th) and Suaza (7th) both attack out of the peloton, determined to bridge up to at least the Aru group. They now have a huge 1’21” to get across to get into the group of Marquez.
And the reason that this gap has gone out so quickly? Marquez is leading the group himself, and he is getting help from some of the other strong climbers, particularly Izagirre, who could really put distance between himself and 4th placed Rodrigues here, possibly guaranteeing himself a podium.
Ochoa Quintero and Suaza are brought in by the peloton, which is being lead by BNCR. As the peloton come through that crucial sprint point, here are the gaps:
46"
20"
1'06"
Gr. Marquez
--->
Gr. Aru
--->
P (39)
Meanwhile up the front, the steeper gradient clearly has hurt Galiev quite a lot and with 3.8km to the line Seledkov brings him back into the break.
In the steeper gradient Suaza and Ochoa Quintero both decide to give it another go and they manage to bridge up to the group containing Aru, though the gap between them and the peloton is eroding thanks to the work of BNCR.
With the road almost at 8%, Galiev decides that he has come too far to be happy with a sprint between the breakaway members, so he attacks away again with 3.1km to the line.
Having ridden up to the group of Aru, Suaza now teams up with Ndbri and they just ride away from the other three members of that group – Ochoa Quintero, Aru and Pineau.
Finally some action in the big group of favourites as Briceno, Izagirre and Nicacio put in an attack. Clearly the Izagirre doesn’t just want a podium place – he wants yellow!
Of course, no one can quite match the pure strength of Marquez, who just keeps the attack under control, powering along. The group is starting to splinter a little bit, though no one has been dropped yet. And Marquez is not the only one with pure power, as Seledkov first catches and then gaps Galiev up front, distancing the rest of the break in the process.
With just under 2km left for the favourites, Ardila Cano puts in his bid for the line. The road is really steep now, and it is about to hit the 9% section.
And he is able to get a gap! Not only that but as he rounds the second last bend he can see the break as they cross under the 1km to go kite.
But in this steep terrain, only Marquez can reign supreme. Looking back it is possible to see the destruction that he has wrought out on the road today.
The group containing Aru and Ochoa Quintero were caught by the peloton but Rodrigues launched an attack with Dyachenko, who decided to actually wake up today. The peloton now numbers only 28 riders.
Not only that but the group of favourites has split! Camano and Esquivel both drift back and are caught by Suaza and Ndbri, who are desperately trying to go forward to save or improve their GC position.
But one thing is for sure – none of these riders are going to win the stage. Ivan Seledkov celebrates early, raising his arms and enjoying the moment. He does not get many results, but this will surely be one that he will remember for the rest of his life.
The group containing Ndbri and Suaza manage to claw their way back to the favourites, and Rodrigues shows a stunning ability as he too manages to get into this group, possibly saving his GC place in the process.
Seledkov may have won and Galiev looks a sure second, but there is still a chance to round out that podium and claim some bonus seconds, so Pellizotti and Marquez sprint side-by-side in the final kilometre.
As Galiev crosses the line for second, Marquez sprints past Masciarelli and Bablidze.
And what a final burst from Marquez! Not only does he take third with the bonus seconds on offer for that, but he also gets a 10” gap on Pellizotti, who takes 4th.
Bablidze will have to settle for 5th, finally seeing some reward for his breakaway efforts all race. Masciarelli is 6th, then Ardila Cano takes 7th, Soler 8th, Izagirre 9th and Nicacio rounds out the top 10.
For the first time, Marquez now has a clear lead in the GC, with a 22” gap over Pellizotti. That could easily change in either of the next two days, but it hasn’t looked this safe for a while. In addition to his win, Seledkov gets the mountain jersey, though with the number of points on offer tomorrow that is no guarantee of winning it overall. Finally, Aru holds on to his young rider jersey by only 7” over Monsalve. That will be a fight to watch tomorrow.
