The second hill stage running, and this time the proper climbing ends closer to the finish. More of an opportunity for gaps?



Lots of flat at the start, and it seemed like the breakaway attempts would never end. Many tried, but all got chased down. It was somewhat anticlimactic then, when the break of the day ended up as just 1: Stalder



He wrapped up the intermediate sprints, which were more of interest behind. Eager for something to do, Ben Swift took 2nd at both. With a 3rd each for Reynes and Koren.

There was also peloton interest at the first KoM of the day, and the attackers there kept going, forming a 6 man chase group.



Scarponi, Popkov, Rabon, Van der Velde, Kelderman and Wallays.

They caught up with Stalder, but their long range move would come to nothing as the race hit the 4km climb to the peak of the day's climbing - when Bakelants set off on the first big move of the day.



The Belgian was not ready to settle for merely catching the break, and powered onwards in a fresh move. Popkov tried to follow from the break, but was blown away, and Bakelants quickly opened up a promising gap.

Most attentive were Brajkovic and Keinath - they too both have a gap - with Schumacher riding across to them.



A reaction now comes from the likes of Martin, Pedraza, Fothen, Gesink and Phinney. But Bakelants has climbed this perfectly and hits the summit first.



18km to go, and the Pearl Adidas rider boasts a 55 second lead on the chasing trio of Schumacher, Brajkovic and Keinath.

There is another 40 seconds to Dan Martin and Gesink - 30 more to the peloton! Just 4km of climbing yet so much damage has been done.

Only 11 remain in the 'peloton': Pedraza, Phinney, Fothen, Vanendert, De la Fuente, Lloret, Uran, Konig, Wallays and Popkov.

Van den Broeck storms out of this group though, and takes Lloret with him.



They bridge up to Gesink and Martin.

The finish is fast approaching, the situation at 6km to go is:

Bakelants
+ 40: Keinath, Schumacher, Lloret
+ 1'30: Lloret, Gesink, Van den Broeck, Martin
+ 2'00: Pedraza, Phinney, Fothen, Konig, Uran, Wallays, De La Fuente, Vanendert, Popkov

What an opportunity this if for Nico Keinath and Team B&O. If this comes off then he could be a strong contender for a podium here - which his team badly need in their relegation struggle.



But here it all falls apart. The German is left to do all the work, but then so is Dan Martin of fellow relegation battles Pendleton's in the chasing group behind. Only Martin is riding much faster, and the gap falls from 50 to 25 seconds in just a couple of kilometres.



Martin's group itself has been caught though, as the Pedraza/Phinney/Fothen group has pulled itself together. And now the sprint is on, and any hope of a time gain for Keinath looks lost.



Not to be forgotten is Jan Bakelants though! He has taken advantage of Keinath's pace behind to push his lead out to over a minute. Plenty of time to celebrate a great stage win!



He will take the race lead - and a good performance on the Mountain stage cannot be ruled out either!

Gesink shows his strength behind to sprint up alone to Schumacher/Brajkovic/Keinath.



But having saved their efforts for far too long, Schumacher and Brajkovic are able to move away again. 2nd for the German, 3rd for the Slovenian.



4th for Keinath from Gesink, before Phinney leads in the rest.



All from Schumacher in 2nd to Fothen in 14th receive the same time - 55 seconds behind Bakelants. A pity for some, since there were some small gaps there it seemed. The race will now be decided by those 14 riders.

1	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	4h59'53
2	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	+ 55
3	Janez Brajkovic	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
4	Nico Keinath	Team B&O	s.t.
5	Robert Gesink	Project 1t4i	s.t.
6	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	s.t.
7	Daniel Martin	Pendleton's	s.t.
8	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
9	David De la Fuente	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
10	Rigoberto Úran	Milka - AVG	s.t.
11	Walter Pedraza	Koenigsegg	s.t.
12	Manuel Lloret	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
13	Jelle Vanendert	Project 1t4i	s.t.
14	Markus Fothen	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
15	Jelle Wallays	Pokerstars.com	+ 2'17
16	Leopold König	Milka - AVG	s.t.
17	Vitaliy Popkov	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
18	Dominique Nerz	Team Puma - SAP	+ 4'44
19	Kristjan Koren	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
20	Ricardo Van der Velde	Team Bacardi	s.t.
21	Marcus Burghardt	Team Bacardi	s.t.
22	Vladimir Gusev	Pendleton's	s.t.
23	Domenik Klemme	Team B&O	s.t.
24	Tanel Kangert	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
25	Paolo Scarponi	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
26	Jaroslav Kulhavy	Milka - AVG	s.t.
27	Frantisek Rabon	Milka - AVG	s.t.
28	Bauke Mollema	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
29	Tim Kennaugh	Pendleton's	s.t.
30	Dan Craven	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
31	Tim Dees	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
32	Konstantin Siutsou	Pendleton's	s.t.
33	Laurent Pichon	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
34	Brent Bookwalter	Wikipedia	s.t.
35	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
36	Wilco Kelderman	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
37	Jakub Danacik	Koenigsegg	s.t.
38	Serge Pauwels	Koenigsegg	s.t.
39	Martin Hacecký	Team B&O	s.t.
40	Andrew Talansky	Wikipedia	s.t.
41	Hubert Schwab	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
42	Tyler Brandt	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
43	Brian Vandborg	Team B&O	+ 5'33
44	Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio	Control Team	s.t.
45	Jacob Fiedler	Koenigsegg	+ 6'09
46	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Aker - MOT	s.t.
47	Matej Vysna	Milka - AVG	s.t.
48	Ben Swift	Vesuvio - Accumalux	+ 8'00
49	Fabio Felline	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
50	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
51	David Livramento	Aker - MOT	s.t.
52	Joseph Biziyaremye	Aker - MOT	s.t.
53	André Steensen	Team B&O	s.t.
54	Marcel Aregger	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
55	Jaroslav Popovych	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
56	Didac Ortega	Santander	s.t.
57	Yoann Offredo	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
58	Ole Hirschlein	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
59	Matthieu Ladagnous	Pendleton's	s.t.
60	Rafaâ Chtioui	UBS - BMC	s.t.
61	Andreas Stauff	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
62	Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin	Santander	s.t.
63	Ole Haavardsholm	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
64	Johan Le Bon	UBS - BMC	s.t.
65	Sondre Sørtveit	Aker - MOT	s.t.
66	Ethan Weiss	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
67	William Bonnet	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
68	Alexander Wetterhall	Koenigsegg	s.t.
69	Juan Van Heerden	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
70	Florian Stalder	UBS - BMC	s.t.
71	Thomas De Gendt	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
72	Leigh Howard	Milka - AVG	s.t.
73	Thomas Frei	UBS - BMC	s.t.
74	Olivier Le Gac	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
75	Adil Jelloul	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
76	Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
77	Thomas Peterson	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
78	Eric Berthou	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
79	Philipp Walsleben	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
80	Michael Faerk Christensen	Team B&O	s.t.
81	Mattia Pozzo	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
82	Alberigo Passalacqua	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
83	Russell Downing	Control Team	s.t.
84	Luigi Sestili	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
85	Joost Posthuma	Project 1t4i	s.t.
86	Vicente Reynès	Santander	s.t.
87	Sebastien Reichenbach	UBS - BMC	s.t.
88	Timothy Vangheel	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
89	Tom Stubbe	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
90	Ivan Mauricio Casas	Pendleton's	s.t.
91	Blake Caldwell	Wikipedia	s.t.
92	Matthieu Sprick	Wikipedia	s.t.
93	Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg	Wikipedia	s.t.
94	Gerald Ciolek	Lotto - Cervelo	+ 9'36
95	Lorents Ola Aasvold	Aker - MOT	s.t.
96	Sten Stenersen	Team B&O	s.t.
97	Erick Rowsell	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
98	Javier Aramendía	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
99	Piotr Mazur	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
100	Jean-Patrick Nazon	Control Team	s.t.
101	Sébastien Rosseler	Project 1t4i	+ 10'31
102	Nolan Hoffman	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
103	Javier Moreno	Santander	s.t.
104	Pedro Merino Criado	Vesuvio - Accumalux	+ 12'05
105	Morten Reckweg	Team B&O	s.t.
106	Dmitri Grabovski	Team Bacardi	s.t.
107	Jurgen Van Goolen	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
108	Jan Ghyselinck	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
109	Benoît Vaugrenard	Project 1t4i	s.t.
110	Ryder Hesjedal	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
111	Oleksandr Sheydyk	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
112	Jason Donald	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
113	Wout Poels	Project 1t4i	s.t.
114	Thomas Koep	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
115	Kristof Vandewalle	Project 1t4i	s.t.
116	Bob Jungels	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
117	Dion Beukeboom	Wikipedia	s.t.
118	Jackson Rodríguez	Pearl Adidas	+ 13'15
119	Piter Campero	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
120	Pello Bilbao	Team Bacardi	+ 13'58
121	Steven Caethoven	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
122	Adam Blythe	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
123	Lucas Schädlich	Team Bacardi	s.t.
124	Freddy Johansson	Koenigsegg	s.t.
125	Stijn Joseph	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
126	Michael Schär	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
127	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
128	Tom Thill	Team Bacardi	s.t.
129	Kevin Van Impe	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
130	Haijun Ma	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
131	Kiril Yatsevich	Team Bacardi	s.t.
132	Maxim Belkov	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
133	Westley Gough	Milka - AVG	s.t.
134	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
135	Koen De Kort	Project 1t4i	s.t.
136	Welle Jallays	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
137	Roger Kluge	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
138	Cedric Lebris	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
139	Marcel Barth	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
140	Evert Verbist	Milka - AVG	s.t.
141	Michele Viola	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
142	Alfredo Balloni	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
143	Pim Ligthart	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
144	Aberlardo Ablenado	Santander	s.t.
145	Tom Dumoulin	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
146	Marco Brus	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
147	Luke Durbridge	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
148	Aitor Hernández Gutierrez	Santander	s.t.
149	Bradley Wiggins	Pendleton's	s.t.
150	Robert Hunter	Control Team	s.t.
151	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Aker - MOT	+ 16'20
152	Cameron Meyer	Koenigsegg	s.t.
153	Jure Zrimsek	Aker - MOT	s.t.
154	Daniel Freitas	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
155	Evan Huffman	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
156	Stelly Robert	Wikipedia	s.t.
157	Viktor Renäng	Koenigsegg	s.t.
158	Erik Mohs	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
159	Sonny Colbrelli	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	+ 17'22
160	Sebastian Lang	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 19'50
161	Silvan Dillier	UBS - BMC	s.t.
162	Mario Gonzalez Salas	Santander	s.t.
163	Steven Burke	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
164	Dimitri Champion	UBS - BMC	s.t.
165	Elia Viviani	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
166	Jon Ander Insausti	Santander	s.t.
167	Tyler Butterfield	Team Bacardi	s.t.
168	Sergiy Lagkuti	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
169	Nevio Tirloni	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.

GC

1	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	16h03'18
2	Walter Pedraza	Koenigsegg	+ 40
3	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	+ 57
4	Robert Gesink	Project 1t4i	+ 58
5	Jelle Vanendert	Project 1t4i	s.t.
6	Janez Brajkovic	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
7	David De la Fuente	Lotto - Cervelo	+ 59
8	Manuel Lloret	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
9	Daniel Martin	Pendleton's	+ 1'02
10	Markus Fothen	Festina-Canal+	+ 1'06
11	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	+ 1'10
12	Nico Keinath	Team B&O	+ 1'19
13	Rigoberto Úran	Milka - AVG	+ 1'31
14	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Team Puma - SAP	+ 1'48
15	Vitaliy Popkov	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 2'50
16	Leopold König	Milka - AVG	+ 2'53
17	Jakub Danacik	Koenigsegg	+ 4'37
18	Serge Pauwels	Koenigsegg	s.t.
19	Vladimir Gusev	Pendleton's	+ 4'51
20	Kristjan Koren	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	+ 4'53
21	Tim Dees	Festina-Canal+	+ 4'55
22	Konstantin Siutsou	Pendleton's	s.t.
23	Tyler Brandt	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
24	Bauke Mollema	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
25	Laurent Pichon	Festina-Canal+	s.t.

Points

1	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	65
2	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	44
3	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	35
4	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Team Puma - SAP	28
5	Jaroslav Popovych	Metinvest-Emirates	25
6	Ben Swift	Vesuvio - Accumalux	24
7	Walter Pedraza	Koenigsegg	21
8	Daniel Martin	Pendleton's	19
9	Nico Keinath	Team B&O	19
10	Marcel Aregger	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	18

KoM

1	Jackson Rodríguez	Pearl Adidas	32
2	Sebastien Reichenbach	UBS - BMC	24
3	Alberigo Passalacqua	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	20
4	Brian Vandborg	Team B&O	16
5	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	10
6	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	10
7	Janez Brajkovic	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	8
8	Matthieu Sprick	Wikipedia	8
9	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	6
10	Brent Bookwalter	Wikipedia	6

U25

1	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	16h04'28 (1)
2	Jakub Danacik	Koenigsegg	+ 3'27 (2)
3	Tim Dees	Festina-Canal+	+ 3'45 (3)
4	Tyler Brandt	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	+ 3'45 (4)
5	Martin Hacecký	Team B&O	+ 4'03 (5)
6	Paolo Scarponi	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	+ 4'04 (6)
7	Andrew Talansky	Wikipedia	+ 4'09 (7)
8	Wilco Kelderman	Team Puma - SAP	+ 4'21 (8)
9	Dominique Nerz	Team Puma - SAP	+ 4'27 (9)
10	Sebastien Reichenbach	UBS - BMC	+ 8'22 (10)

Teams

1	Milka - AVG	46h19'59 (1)
2	Project 1t4i	+ 1'20 (2)
3	Koenigsegg	+ 1'43 (3)
4	Pendleton's	+ 1'58 (4)
5	Festina-Canal+	+ 2'01 (5)
6	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	+ 2'01 (6)
7	Team B&O	+ 2'14 (7)
8	Wikipedia	+ 2'25 (8)
9	Team Puma - SAP	+ 2'43 (9)
10	Pearl Adidas	+ 4'55 (10)