The Queen stage is only 115 kilometers long, but about half of the stage consists of climbing! It should be the real test for the GC contenders here, and after yesterday’s time loss, the pressure is definitely on Arroyo Serpa
who are two of the very best climbers, but find themselves 1’49 behind the race leader.
Other favourites for the stage win are Abal Gomez Marchante
The 137 riders line up with not much more than gravel to see, but luckily they’ve at least got asphalt to ride on. The conditions for bike racing are excellent with sunny conditions and absolutely no wind.
The stage starts with a pleasant surprise for the home crowd! Amanuel
wins the only intermediate sprint after 10 kilometers are raced ahead of Lorenzetto
The other sprinters didn’t bother.
A breakaway of three is allowed clear of the peloton as there are only 80 kilometers left to race today. The riders up front are Kastrantas Hansen Squire
They have a comfortable gap of four minutes.
The gap peaks at 4’50 63 kilometers from the finishing line as ING Cycling Project HTC Nieuwsblad Team CSC-Orbea
have started to work at the front to make sure we get a fight between the best climbers today.
45 kilometers to go and the breakaway climbs one of many small climbs before the real mountain starts. Their advantage is down to 3’30.
Here’s a look at the final 40 kilometers of racing. It looks absolutely brutal! The peloton led by HTC Nieuwsblad
has taken another 35 seconds off the escapees lead, which is now down to 2’55.
33 kilometers to go and Gomez Marchante
was clearly not happy with the pace HTC Nieuwsblad
was riding at the front of the peloton. Thus he sends Diaz Corralas Montaña Dupont
to the front to start working! The gap is still a healthy 2’40 for the breakaway.
And with 25 kilometers to go there’s action back in the peloton! De Weert Txurruka Soler Bongiorno
attack on the false flat before the real climbing begins.
Though, they stand absolutely no chance as Morton
quickly brings them back. The breakaway is 1’50 ahead with 24 kilometers to go.
Predictably, the immediate catch only leads to more attacks! Loosli
fires and is followed by Bakhin Montenegro
with 22 kilometers left of racing.
Arroyo!
The Spaniard seems determined to make up for yesterday’s time loss, and attacks 20 kilometers away from home. We’re still on the false flat, but the riders in the peloton now see the big climb ahead of them.
But no, Saldarriaga
shuts him and all the other attackers on the climb down with 18 kilometers left as Yeung Soler Txurruka
try their luck on the right side of the road.
The breakaway is also about to be caught.
Then it’s a quiet peloton for the next six kilometers, but with 12 kilometers to the top of the climb it’s again fireworks as Serpa Arroyo
attack! They really have to gap the others after yesterday’s disaster, and now seems a good time to give it a real go, as they see last man standing from the breakaway Squire
just ahead of them.
Actually, Arroyo
had no chance following Serpa
and the only one able to bridge the gap to the Colombian is Rodrigues
They’ve got a gap of 31 seconds back to the peloton with 10.400 meters left of climbing!
As they ride through a tunnel with 8.8 kilometers to go Soler Hasanovic
try to attack away from the peloton and join the two leaders. It’s still ING Cycling Project and Saldarragia
working at the head of the peloton.
Out of the tunnel and Rodrigues Serpa
meet graveled roads! It will only make the final 7.700 meters tougher. It’s starting to look good for the two leaders though, as they’ve managed to extend their lead to 32 seconds.
6 kilometers to go and Marquez
launches his bid for glory! His attack sees the two earlier attackers caught, as Cataldo Nazaret
try to follow.
But in fact, all Marquez’
attack did was just catching Serpa and Rodrigues. That doesn’t stop Serpa
as he attacks again. Now he’s off solo with 5.500 meters left!
It’s a big move from Serpa
and he immediately gets a gap of 30 seconds! It also forces many riders to let go of the chase group. Only 14 riders are able to hang on to the group being closest to Serpa.
3800 kilometers left for the chasers, and they’re down to 12 riders. The climbers in the group are: Abal Berard Gomez Marchante Marquez Rodrigues Arroyo Cataldo Nazaret Ndbri Devolder Rodas Ochoa Quintero
Abal
really stretches the chase group as he has started to ride the climb in his own pace at the front of the group. He’s starting to take back time on Serpa
now being 27 seconds behind with 2.7 kilometers to go.
No attacks from the favourites though, and Serpa
doesn’t look behind, he just continues to push on! He can see the one kilometer to go banner now, being only 1.800 meters away from a big victory. His gap has raised again, it’s now 29 seconds!
The 12 chasers seems to wait for the sprint, meaning it will be all about positioning and who has most power left for a last effort. At the front of the group it is now Gomez Marchante Abal Marquez Berard Nazaret Rodrigues Cataldo
But they’re still 26 seconds behind the Colombian leader, meaning their sprints really need to be good!
The chase group splits with 1.100 meters left and Devolder Ochoa Quintero Rodas Arroyo Ndbri
are left behind.
Up front Serpa
looks too exhausted to sprint, and Gomez Marchante
and the other chasers are flying compared to the Colombian! It’s only 700 meters left for the brave attacker, which is definitely enough road to lose what looked like a safe stage win.
Indeed, here they all come! Gomez Marchante
keeps command of the group, leading the hunt for the stage win with 500 meters left. He’s followed by Marquez Serpa Nazaret Abal Cataldo
with the others being gapped in the sprint.
Serpa
quickly finds himself at the back of the group while Gomez Marchante
seems to be opening up a gap at the very front!
Behind Serpa it’s Rodrigues
sprinting.
It’s a stage win and the leader’s jersey for Gomez Marchante!
Marquez Nazaret
rounds off the podium with Cataldo Abal
following at the same time. It also looks like front five riders all will receive the same time by the time keepers, which means it’s still everything to play for in this race.
Serpa Rodrigues
must see themselves gapped in the sprint as they come home for sixth and seventh.
Berard
sprints over the line for eight place on the stage, well ahead of the riders following him.
It’s Rodas Devolder Ochoa Quintero Ndbri Arroyo
following for the places from ninth to 13th. You must say that was a disappointing climb from Arroyo, as one of the big favourites for the stage win.
I’m sorry for the lack of exported results, but for some reason PCM didn’t want me to do just that, meaning you’ll have the results in screenshots.
