The uphill slant of the finish is unmistakeable, and this is likely to be the 2nd most important stage of the race, behind Willunga on Stage 5


And we had a frenzied start, with a break of 16 riders forming - from 2 separate 8 man attacks.

In no particular order: Kunitski, Ball, Van Loocke, Sergent, Ockeloen, Urtasun, Sijmens, McEvoy, Zingle, Abakoumov, Vanderaerden, Ratto, Loosli, Siedler, Ziegler, Kupfernagel


But 16 is too many, and they are brought back with the first intermediate sprint, and the only KoM of the day, in sight


A classifications issue in this race (which has been fixed for future man game races) means the intermediate sprints are not really contested - except that some riders ride off the front of the peleton to ride over the line and take the points. This time its, Croket ahead of Casper and Pavarin


Now the KoM, and Kairelis takes an early jump to catch out the rest


Ball responds first, but Sulzberger and Hermans wait a little


Hermans almost times it perfectly, but must settle for 2nd as Kairelis managed a small 2nd attack to take the points - with Sulzberger 3rd. Capecchi keeps the jersey then.


The peloton splits over the climb, and a few noteable names have been caught sleeping at the back - including 100% Me's Froome, Roche, Martin and Cavendish, El Al's Rast, and Wiggle's Bertagnolli and Cataldo. They all make it back to the peloton though.


No attacks by the next sprint - and the same 3 riders as before ride off the front. This time Casper beats Croket, with Pavarin 3rd again


So, now we wait for something to happen. Pendletons and Lego controlling things


Its a gentle pace, with IKEA also playing a role - no team opting to set a fast pace over these 'bumps' in the final 50km


With 30km though, the pace finally seems to be lifting


And it is really ramping up into the final 10km, although the peloton remains all intact


The pace remains high as Wiggle attempt to set up a train - Pavarin for Luke Rowe, with Davis tagged on


But come the sprint, the train hasnt worked, and instead a bunching on the other side of the road is infront, with Cillit Bang's Coenen leading. The pack is really stretched now, and the front group is infact down to just 88. (Out of 156)


Coenen is able to take a small lead


Flugel emerges to challenge him, while Hermans and Proni are also making a move


Into the final kilometre, and Flugel passes Coenen


Behind Hermans and Proni, Gerrans is there, while Davis has also put in a strong sprint to get up into contention


Aleksandar Flugel wins the stage!


Its very tight for 2nd place though. Proni takes it, while Coenen clings on to 3rd with Hermans the unlucky 4th. While Davis edges out Gerrans for 5th


Bole, Bettini, Matt Lloyd and Guldhammer round out the Top 10


Now, who is going to take the race lead? Van Heerden, Cavendish, Arashiro and Flugel all have the same time, so the leader goes down to the rider with the lowest combined finishing positions. Going into this stage, the values were Van Heerden 5, Cavendish 7, Arashiro 11, and Flugel 77. So even with Flugel only rising to 78, he can be counted out.

Coming across the line, alongside Froome, in 42nd is Arashiro. Cavendish is just behind the celebrating Ikea rider to take 53rd, while Van Heerden is further back in 70th. The result? Arashiro takes the race lead!


Cavendish takes back the best young riders jersey, while Allan Davis' consistency of 4th, 4th and 5th gives him the Points jersey.

1	Aleksandar Flügel	Team IKEA - Bianchi	3h23'43
2	Alessandro Proni	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
3	Johan Coenen	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
4	Ben Hermans	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
5	Allan Davis	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
6	Simon Gerrans	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
7	Grega Bole	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
8	Paolo Bettini	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
9	Matthew Lloyd	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
10	Rasmus Guldhammer	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
11	Tiziano Dall'Antonia	Milka	s.t.
12	Staf Scheirlinckx	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
13	Luke Rowe	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
14	Jaume Rovira	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
15	Rubens Bertogliati	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
16	Andrea Moletta	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
17	Daniel Martin	100% Me	s.t.
18	Brice Feillu	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
19	Marc De Maar	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
20	Wes Sulzberger	100% Me	s.t.
21	Piet Rooijakkers	Team LEGO	s.t.
22	Martijn Maaskant	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
23	Sébastien Duret	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
24	Jonathan Bellis	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
25	Gert Steegmans	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
26	Cristiano Salerno	Intesa	s.t.
27	Tom Diggle	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
28	Aleksei Saramotins	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
29	David Lelay	Intesa	s.t.
30	Romain Zingle	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
31	Eros Capecchi	Intesa	s.t.
32	Andrei Kunitski	Intesa	s.t.
33	Dimitri Claeys	Team LEGO	s.t.
34	Hassen Ben Nasser	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
35	John-Lee Augustyn	Red Bull	s.t.
36	Leonardo Bertagnolli	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
37	Frederik Willems	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
38	Ruslan Sambris	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
39	David Garbelli	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
40	Grégory Rast	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
41	Chris Froome	100% Me	s.t.
42	Yukiya Arashiro	Red Bull	s.t.
43	Tomas Vaitkus	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
44	Dario Cataldo	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
45	Jack Bobridge	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
46	Adam Hansen	Red Bull	s.t.
47	Jonas Ljungblad	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
48	Rui Costa	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
49	Jussi Veikkanen	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
50	Nicolas Roche	100% Me	s.t.
51	Ole Haavardsholm	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
52	Dainius Kairelis	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
53	Mark Cavendish	100% Me	s.t.
54	Marcello Pavarin	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
55	Markus Eichler	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
56	David Kopp	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
57	Lars Croket	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
58	Dan Holloway	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
59	Maxime Vantomme	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
60	Nick Ingels	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
61	Kin-San Wu	Red Bull	s.t.
62	Romain Feillu	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
63	Andrea Pagoto	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
64	Haijun Ma	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
65	Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy	Milka	s.t.
66	Gerald Ciolek	Team LEGO	s.t.
67	Matthieu Ladagnous	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
68	Nico Sijmens	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
69	Daryl Impey	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
70	Juan Van Heerden	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
71	Kevin De Weert	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
72	Matteo Carrara	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
73	Timothy Cassidy	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
74	Leigh Howard	Milka	s.t.
75	Samuel Dumoulin	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
76	Michael Matthews	Red Bull	s.t.
77	René Weissinger	Team LEGO	s.t.
78	Yon Bru Pascal	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
79	Adrian Malori	Milka	s.t.
80	Andreas Stauff	Team LEGO	s.t.
81	David Belda	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
82	Mattia Pozzo	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
83	Jimmy Engoulvent	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
84	Mikayil Krasnoperov	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
85	Richie Porte	Milka	s.t.
86	Fons de Romijn	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
87	Daniel Eliad	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
88	Jamie Ball	Red Bull	s.t.
89	Victor Gomes Colinas	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	+ 1'29
90	Daniel Lloyd	100% Me	s.t.
91	Thibaut Pinot	Intesa	s.t.
92	Ludvig Lundberg	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
93	Kris Boeckmans	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
94	Thomas Ziegler	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
95	Juan Pablo Forero	Milka	s.t.
96	Alberigo Passalacqua	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
97	Tim Kennaugh	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
98	Christopher Sutton	Red Bull	s.t.
99	Andreas Klier	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
100	Amos Wolff	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
101	Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
102	Jasper Ockeloen	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
103	Andy Flickinger	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
104	Igor Abakoumov	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
105	Nicolas Brolin	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
106	Michael Vanderaerden	Milka	s.t.
107	Claudio Cucinotta	Intesa	s.t.
108	Fabio Montenegro	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
109	Michiel Van Aelbroeck	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
110	Idan Shapira	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
111	Sebastian Balck	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
112	Nadi Hortig	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
113	Alfredo Balloni	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
114	David Loosli	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
115	Jurgen Van Loocke	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
116	Kim Michely	THE CONTROLTEAM	s.t.
117	Jimmy Casper	Milka	s.t.
118	Jonathon Clarke	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
119	Davide Appollonio	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
120	Jonathan McEvoy	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
121	Jasper Stuyven	Highroad-TomTom	s.t.
122	Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn	THE CONTROLTEAM	s.t.
123	Danilo Kupfernagel	Team IKEA - Bianchi	+ 2'55
124	Bjorn Selander	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
125	Vojtech Hacecký	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
126	Bruno Lima	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
127	Pablo Urtasun	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
128	Tom Last	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
129	Shlomi Haimy	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
130	Steven Burke	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
131	Luke Roberts	Team LEGO	s.t.
132	Yauheni Hutarovich	Intesa	s.t.
133	Dimitri De Fauw	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
134	Mattias Westling	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
135	Graeme Brown	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
136	Sebastian Siedler	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
137	Remco Te Brake	Team Telenor-SAS	s.t.
138	James McCallum	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
139	Jesse Sergent	100% Me	s.t.
140	Sebastian Batchelor	THE CONTROLTEAM	s.t.
141	Freddy Cruz	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
142	Sam Bennett	100% Me	+ 3'54
143	Adam Semple	Red Bull	s.t.
144	Marco Guillén	Team Pokerstars.com	s.t.
145	Jíri Hochmann	Team LEGO	+ 5'03
146	Daniele Ratto	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
147	Benedetto Monterastelli	Intesa	s.t.
148	Andreas Stillfors	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
149	Javier Benitez	Sport Lisboa e Benfica	s.t.
150	Ashley Hutchinson	Yamaha - Greenpeace	+ 6'23
151	Hayden Godfrey	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
152	Adrien Niyonshuti	THE CONTROLTEAM	s.t.
153	Sean Finning	Highroad-TomTom	+ 7'32
154	Felix Odebrecht	Team LEGO	s.t.
155	Lennie Kirk	YouTube - Twitter	s.t.
156	Azizulhasni Awang	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.

GC

1	Yukiya Arashiro	Red Bull	9h40'23
2	Mark Cavendish	100% Me	s.t.
3	Juan Van Heerden	Pendleton's Twicer	s.t.
4	Aleksandar Flügel	Team IKEA - Bianchi	s.t.
5	Maxime Vantomme	Highroad-TomTom	+ 8
6	Alessandro Proni	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
7	Lars Croket	Petronas - Olympus	+ 10
8	Gert Steegmans	Vespa-Caffrey's	+ 12
9	Johan Coenen	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
10	Matthieu Ladagnous	Pendleton's Twicer	+ 14
11	René Weissinger	Team LEGO	s.t.
12	Eros Capecchi	Intesa	s.t.
13	Marcello Pavarin	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	+ 16
14	Allan Davis	Quiksilver-Kraft	+ 20
15	Paolo Bettini	Vespa-Caffrey's	s.t.
16	Ben Hermans	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
17	Staf Scheirlinckx	Quiksilver-Kraft	s.t.
18	Jonathan Bellis	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.
19	Luke Rowe	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	s.t.
20	Grega Bole	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
21	Dainius Kairelis	Yamaha - Greenpeace	s.t.
22	Brice Feillu	EL AL - IDF	s.t.
23	Simon Gerrans	Petronas - Olympus	s.t.
24	Wes Sulzberger	100% Me	s.t.
25	Hassen Ben Nasser	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	s.t.

Points

1	Allan Davis	Quiksilver-Kraft	40
2	Juan Van Heerden	Pendleton's Twicer	36
3	Mark Cavendish	100% Me	35
4	Yukiya Arashiro	Red Bull	31
5	Gert Steegmans	Vespa-Caffrey's	28
6	Maxime Vantomme	Highroad-TomTom	26
7	Aleksandar Flügel	Team IKEA - Bianchi	25
8	Alessandro Proni	Vespa-Caffrey's	20
9	Jimmy Casper	Milka	20
10	Ben Hermans	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	17

KoM

1	Eros Capecchi	Intesa	8
2	Jamie Ball	Red Bull	5
3	Dainius Kairelis	Yamaha - Greenpeace	5
4	Nick Ingels	Team Pokerstars.com	3
5	Ben Hermans	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	3
6	René Weissinger	Team LEGO	1
7	Amos Wolff	EL AL - IDF	1
8	Wes Sulzberger	100% Me	1

Young Rider

1	Mark Cavendish	100% Me	9h40'23 (1)
2	Juan Van Heerden	Pendleton's Twicer	+ 0 (2)
3	Aleksandar Flügel	Team IKEA - Bianchi	+ 0 (3)
4	Maxime Vantomme	Highroad-TomTom	+ 8 (4)
5	Lars Croket	Petronas - Olympus	+ 10 (5)
6	Eros Capecchi	Intesa	+ 14 (6)
7	Marcello Pavarin	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	+ 16 (7)
8	Ben Hermans	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	+ 20 (8)
9	Jonathan Bellis	Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X	+ 20 (9)
10	Luke Rowe	Wiggle - San Pellegrino	+ 20 (10)