After yesterday's breakaway win, it would be up to Wikipedia to protect the lead of Nys but the hilly rating meant this stage could be wide open to a well timed attack.

5 riders break away, in this morning's TV break - and it seems to be all about the sprinters here, as we have Facci (Warner Bros.), Wellens (Nintendo), Phinney (Virgin), Barbosa (Fed-Ex) and Grillo!!! (Sony Ericsson)



Today, it is Wikipedia who are doing all the work, trying to protect the lead of Nys. They are receiving very little help, La Gazetta go through the motions, but it's pretty a sole chase today



Jufre attacks for Magenta, and whilst he gets within 20 seconds of the front group, he never quite would bridge the gap - nice view though



82km to go, and a lead of 6 minutes



Over the top of today's climb, and the front group is still intact, and looking strong - Jufre follows 30 seconds later, with Berard (American Suzuki) 1'29 behind.



The peloton (led by Wikipedia, as ever), follow on, 4'31 behind the front group



50km to go, and a very dangerous attack!!! Voeckler (looking great in that Credit Lyonnais jersey), Tschopp, Soler, Quinziato and Bertogliati try to go, but are swiftly swallowed up, that is too dangerous an attack to let go



30km to go, and a 3 minute lead - but surely the peloton can't make the same mistake as yesterday?



And with 15km to go, it becomes quite apparent they have! A 2'53 lead, and Wikipedia have run out of gas, and aren't getting help. But as we look at the front group, by far the best sprinter, Grillo, is dropped!!! This finish is wide open now



Barbosa is the best sprinter, but is forced to open up the sprint - can Fed-Ex, the wildcard team pull off a stunning victory?



It's Facci who fights back!



And he takes the win - Warner Brothers, the sprint kings of last season do what they do best, taking the sprint, with Barbosa just edging out Phinney for 2nd, leaving the other escapee, Wellens, with 0 points. Wait, he's my rider. Bugger



Freire leads the pack in, trying to prove the public right that he can get over the hills and sprint.



The group loses over 2 minutes on the break, so Nys, after flogging his team to protect his lead, loses the orange jersey - it's a big welcome to the new boys of the ProTour. He still has the points jersey though, but can he keep it?

Stage:

1	Mauro Facci	WARNER BROTHERS	3h43'42
2	Candido Barbosa	FED-EX	s.t.
3	Taylor Phinney	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
4	Bart Wellens	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
5	Paride Grillo	SONY ERICSSON	+ 48
6	Oscar Freire	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	+ 2'31
7	Frantisek Rabon	CARLSBERG	s.t.
8	Jerome Coppel	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
9	Marcus Burghardt	FESTINA	s.t.
10	Pierrick Fédrigo	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
11	Johan Coenen	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
12	Marc De Maar	CARLSBERG	s.t.
13	Igor Astarloa	FED-EX	s.t.
14	Bauke Mollema	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
15	Mitch Docker	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
16	Lars Boom	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
17	Sven Nys	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
18	Cristian Moreni	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
19	Daniele Bennati	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
20	Danny Summerhill	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
21	Ruggero Marzoli	CARLSBERG	s.t.
22	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	CARLSBERG	s.t.
23	Damiano Cunego	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
24	Mickaël Delage	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
25	Santo Anza	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
26	Allan Davis	FED-EX	s.t.
27	Dmitri Muravjev	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
28	José Enrique Gutiérrez Cataluña	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
29	Enrico Gasparotto	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
30	Sergio Marinangeli	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
31	Markus Zberg	FESTINA	s.t.
32	Patrice Halgand	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
33	José Antonio Redondo	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
34	Luis Pasamontes	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
35	Dimitri Claeys	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
36	Carlos Barredo	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
37	Addy Engels	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
38	Dries Devenyns	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
39	Nico Sijmens	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
40	Mathieu Perget	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
41	Laurens Ten Dam	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
42	Benjamin Brooks	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
43	Tony Martin	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
44	Frederik Willems	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
45	Kévin Lalouette	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
46	Marco Marzano	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
47	Thomas Voeckler	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
48	Felix Cardénas	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
49	Ruslan Podgorny	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
50	Linus Gerdemann	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
51	Karsten Kroon	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
52	Mirko Celestino	FED-EX	s.t.
53	Dominique Cornu	CARLSBERG	s.t.
54	William Ford	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
55	Amaël Moinard	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
56	Juan José Cobo	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
57	David Deroo	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
58	René Mandri	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
59	Christian Knees	FED-EX	s.t.
60	Rubens Bertogliati	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
61	Simon Gerrans	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
62	Mario Aerts	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
63	Manuel Quinziato	EUROSPORT	s.t.
64	Bram Schmitz	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
65	Kevin Ista	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
66	Mauricio Soler	CARLSBERG	s.t.
67	Johann Tschopp	FESTINA	s.t.
68	Roman Kilun	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
69	Drasutis Stundzia	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
70	Jai Crawford	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
71	Christophe Le Mével	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
72	Josep Jufre	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	+ 3'28
73	Sergei Lagutin	EUROSPORT	+ 4'36
74	Gert Steegmans	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
75	Mauro Da Dalto	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
76	Christophe Kern	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
77	Jure Kocjan	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
78	Julien Berard	AMERICAN SUZUKI	+ 5'40
79	Vicente Reynès	EUROSPORT	s.t.
80	Mitja Mahoric	ERSTE	s.t.
81	Jakob Piil	CARLSBERG	s.t.
82	Aleksandr Khatuntsev	ERSTE	s.t.
83	Kevin Hulsmans	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
84	Jussi Veikkanen	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
85	Raúl Granjel Cabrera	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
86	Vadim Ratiy	ERSTE	s.t.
87	Oliver Zaugg	FESTINA	s.t.
88	Arnaud Coyot	ERSTE	s.t.
89	Marco Pinotti	CARLSBERG	s.t.
90	Mathieu Heijboer	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
91	Michael Reihs	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
92	Danilo Wyss	DOMINA VACANZE	+ 7'32
93	Bobbie Traksel	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
94	Sid Taberlay	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
95	Kristof Vandewalle	EUROSPORT	+ 9'16
96	Robbie McEwen	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
97	Niels Scheunemann	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
98	Baden Cooke	ERSTE	s.t.
99	Matt Booth	AMERICAN SUZUKI	+ 9'48
100	Chris Newton	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
101	David Talbott	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
102	Alain Van Katwijk	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
103	Aleksandr Mironov	ERSTE	s.t.
104	Iban Iriondo	FESTINA	+ 13'56
105	Peter Kennaugh	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
106	Ondrej Slobodnik	FESTINA	s.t.
107	Mikayil Krasnoperov	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
108	Alejandro Borrajo	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
109	Tyler Farrar	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
110	Romain Vanderbiest	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
111	Ben Curfs	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
112	Luke Roberts	EUROSPORT	s.t.
113	Mark Renshaw	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
114	Hervé Duclos-Lassalle	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
115	John Devine	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
116	Mark Cavendish	EUROSPORT	s.t.
117	Evan Oliphant	EUROSPORT	s.t.
118	Jean Nuttli	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
119	Kevin Fouquet	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
120	Olaf Pollack	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	+ 16'52
121	Sebastian Siedler	FED-EX	s.t.
122	Geert Omloop	EUROSPORT	s.t.
123	Robert Förster	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
124	Roy Sentjens	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
125	Kristof Goddaert	FESTINA	s.t.
126	Wilfried Cretskens	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
127	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
128	Ivan Dominguez	FED-EX	s.t.
129	Stéphane Bonsergent	FESTINA	s.t.
130	Marino Prestia	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
131	Wim De Vocht	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
132	Gregor Gazvoda	ERSTE	+ 20'44
133	Cameron Meyer	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
134	Raivis Belohvosciks	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
135	Daniel Thorsen	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	+ 21'24
136	Óscar Avelino	ERSTE	s.t.
137	Alois Kankovský	FED-EX	s.t.
138	Ivan Kovalev	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
139	Frédéric Obiang Essono	Gabon	s.t.
140	Krzysztof Szczawinski	CREDIT LYONNAIS	+ 23'00
141	Ashley Hutchinson	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
142	Josu Irazusta	THE CONTROL TEAM	+ 30'20

General Classification:

1	Mauro Facci	WARNER BROTHERS	7h33'33
2	Candido Barbosa	FED-EX	+ 6
3	Taylor Phinney	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	+ 16
4	Bart Wellens	NINTENDO - HONDA	+ 24
5	Paride Grillo	SONY ERICSSON	+ 1'08
6	Sven Nys	WIKIPEDIA	+ 1'27
7	Danny Summerhill	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	+ 1'45
8	Cristian Moreni	AMERICAN SUZUKI	+ 1'57
9	Laurens Ten Dam	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
10	Mathieu Perget	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
11	William Ford	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	+ 2'49
12	Oscar Freire	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	+ 2'55
13	Daniele Bennati	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
14	Mitch Docker	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
15	Jerome Coppel	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
16	Allan Davis	FED-EX	s.t.
17	Igor Astarloa	FED-EX	s.t.
18	Johan Coenen	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
19	Sergio Marinangeli	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
20	Pierrick Fédrigo	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
21	Enrico Gasparotto	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
22	Nico Sijmens	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
23	Bauke Mollema	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
24	José Enrique Gutiérrez Cataluña	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
25	Damiano Cunego	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
26	Santo Anza	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
27	Patrice Halgand	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
28	Dmitri Muravjev	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
29	Kévin Lalouette	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
30	Frantisek Rabon	CARLSBERG	s.t.
31	Thomas Voeckler	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
32	Marcus Burghardt	FESTINA	s.t.
33	René Mandri	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
34	Lars Boom	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
35	Dries Devenyns	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
36	Luis Pasamontes	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
37	Ruggero Marzoli	CARLSBERG	s.t.
38	Addy Engels	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
39	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	CARLSBERG	s.t.
40	Karsten Kroon	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
41	Carlos Barredo	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
42	Mirko Celestino	FED-EX	s.t.
43	José Antonio Redondo	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
44	Ruslan Podgorny	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
45	Marco Marzano	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
46	Marc De Maar	CARLSBERG	s.t.
47	Markus Zberg	FESTINA	s.t.
48	Simon Gerrans	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
49	Juan José Cobo	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
50	Christian Knees	FED-EX	s.t.
51	Mario Aerts	NINTENDO - HONDA	s.t.
52	Mickaël Delage	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
53	Bram Schmitz	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
54	Amaël Moinard	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
55	Dimitri Claeys	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
56	Linus Gerdemann	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
57	Tony Martin	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
58	Rubens Bertogliati	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
59	Felix Cardénas	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
60	Benjamin Brooks	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
61	Kevin Ista	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
62	Christophe Le Mével	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
63	Frederik Willems	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
64	Manuel Quinziato	EUROSPORT	s.t.
65	David Deroo	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
66	Drasutis Stundzia	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
67	Dominique Cornu	CARLSBERG	s.t.
68	Roman Kilun	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
69	Jai Crawford	WIKIPEDIA	s.t.
70	Sergei Lagutin	EUROSPORT	+ 3'58
71	Aleksandr Khatuntsev	ERSTE	+ 4'40
72	Gert Steegmans	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	+ 5'00
73	Jure Kocjan	CREDIT LYONNAIS	s.t.
74	Christophe Kern	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
75	Mauro Da Dalto	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
76	Kevin Hulsmans	WARNER BROTHERS	+ 5'02
77	Johann Tschopp	FESTINA	+ 5'53
78	Vicente Reynès	EUROSPORT	+ 6'04
79	Raúl Granjel Cabrera	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
80	Arnaud Coyot	ERSTE	s.t.
81	Michael Reihs	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
82	Mitja Mahoric	ERSTE	s.t.
83	Mathieu Heijboer	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
84	Jussi Veikkanen	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
85	Jakob Piil	CARLSBERG	s.t.
86	Bobbie Traksel	DOMINA VACANZE	+ 7'56
87	Danilo Wyss	DOMINA VACANZE	s.t.
88	Oliver Zaugg	FESTINA	+ 9'02
89	Julien Berard	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
90	Josep Jufre	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	+ 9'27
91	Baden Cooke	ERSTE	+ 9'36
92	Robbie McEwen	WARNER BROTHERS	+ 9'40
93	Niels Scheunemann	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	s.t.
94	Kristof Vandewalle	EUROSPORT	+ 12'38
95	Aleksandr Mironov	ERSTE	+ 13'10
96	Alejandro Borrajo	SONY ERICSSON	+ 14'20
97	Mark Cavendish	EUROSPORT	s.t.
98	Tyler Farrar	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
99	Peter Kennaugh	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	s.t.
100	Hervé Duclos-Lassalle	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	s.t.
101	Kevin Fouquet	SONY ERICSSON	s.t.
102	Ondrej Slobodnik	FESTINA	s.t.
103	Jean Nuttli	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	s.t.
104	Mauricio Soler	CARLSBERG	+ 14'38
105	Sid Taberlay	DOMINA VACANZE	+ 15'23
106	Vadim Ratiy	ERSTE	+ 16'27
107	Ivan Dominguez	FED-EX	+ 17'16
108	Sebastian Siedler	FED-EX	s.t.
109	Roy Sentjens	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
110	Wim De Vocht	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
111	Marino Prestia	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
112	Mark Renshaw	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	+ 17'18
113	John Devine	AMERICAN SUZUKI	s.t.
114	Evan Oliphant	EUROSPORT	s.t.
115	Chris Newton	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	+ 17'39
116	Marco Pinotti	CARLSBERG	+ 18'11
117	Matt Booth	AMERICAN SUZUKI	+ 18'59
118	Luke Roberts	EUROSPORT	s.t.
119	Romain Vanderbiest	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	+ 19'55
120	Alain Van Katwijk	NINTENDO - HONDA	+ 20'11
121	Olaf Pollack	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	+ 20'14
122	Wilfried Cretskens	WARNER BROTHERS	s.t.
123	Geert Omloop	EUROSPORT	s.t.
124	Jaime Alberto Castañeda	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	s.t.
125	David Talbott	NINTENDO - HONDA	+ 22'19
126	Kristof Goddaert	FESTINA	s.t.
127	Ben Curfs	AMERICAN SUZUKI	+ 23'07
128	Raivis Belohvosciks	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	+ 24'06
129	Mikayil Krasnoperov	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	+ 24'43
130	Robert Förster	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	s.t.
131	Stéphane Bonsergent	FESTINA	+ 26'03
132	Gregor Gazvoda	ERSTE	+ 26'11
133	Ivan Kovalev	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	+ 26'51
134	Iban Iriondo	FESTINA	+ 27'39
135	Óscar Avelino	ERSTE	+ 31'23
136	Cameron Meyer	SONY ERICSSON	+ 31'31
137	Ashley Hutchinson	NINTENDO - HONDA	+ 33'47
138	Daniel Thorsen	MAGENTA ALL-STARS	+ 33'55
139	Krzysztof Szczawinski	CREDIT LYONNAIS	+ 36'43
140	Alois Kankovský	FED-EX	+ 37'31
141	Frédéric Obiang Essono	Gabon	s.t.
142	Josu Irazusta	THE CONTROL TEAM	+ 53'39

Points:

1	Sven Nys	WIKIPEDIA	0	35
2	Aleksandr Khatuntsev	ERSTE	0	34
3	Mauro Facci	WARNER BROTHERS	29	29
4	Candido Barbosa	FED-EX	26	26
5	Danny Summerhill	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	0	20
6	Paride Grillo	SONY ERICSSON	16	19
7	Sergei Lagutin	EUROSPORT	0	18
8	Taylor Phinney	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	16	16
9	Bart Wellens	NINTENDO - HONDA	14	14
10	Kevin Hulsmans	WARNER BROTHERS	0	13
11	Laurens Ten Dam	DOMINA VACANZE	0	12
12	Oscar Freire	ACCUMALUX - FORMEX	10	11
13	Cristian Moreni	AMERICAN SUZUKI	0	10
14	Frantisek Rabon	CARLSBERG	9	9
15	Mathieu Perget	CREDIT LYONNAIS	0	8
16	Jerome Coppel	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	8	8
17	Marcus Burghardt	FESTINA	7	7
18	Allan Davis	FED-EX	0	7
19	William Ford	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	6	6
20	Daniele Bennati	LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT	0	6
21	Pierrick Fédrigo	NINTENDO - HONDA	6	6
22	Gert Steegmans	PHILIPS - HUMMEL	0	5
23	Johan Coenen	NINTENDO - HONDA	5	5
24	Mark Cavendish	EUROSPORT	0	4
25	Baden Cooke	ERSTE	4	4
26	Marc De Maar	CARLSBERG	4	4
27	Igor Astarloa	FED-EX	3	3
28	Robbie McEwen	WARNER BROTHERS	0	2
29	Bauke Mollema	FRANCE TELEVISIONS	2	2
30	Mitch Docker	CREDIT LYONNAIS	1	1

KOM:

1	Mauro Facci	WARNER BROTHERS	38	38
2	Candido Barbosa	FED-EX	26	26
3	Taylor Phinney	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	22	22
4	Bart Wellens	NINTENDO - HONDA	16	16
5	Paride Grillo	SONY ERICSSON	12	12
6	Danny Summerhill	VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE	0	8
7	Aleksandr Khatuntsev	ERSTE	0	6
8	Sergei Lagutin	EUROSPORT	0	4
9	Cristian Moreni	AMERICAN SUZUKI	0	4
10	Mathieu Perget	CREDIT LYONNAIS	0	2