A group of 6 attacked, including Ludvigsson, as the flag dropped, and formed the day's break.

Astana and AG2R took the early control of the peleton, as the gap to the lead group stretched out to 8'22.

Approaching the climbing circuit to finish, the gap was down to 2'22, and it was definitely going to be caught on the first ascension of the climb.

As expected, the group was fully back, and the main favourites positioned themselves towards the front.

Rodriguez (KAT) and Henao (SKY) made the first move of the favourites, as another group, containing Villella, formed behind.

On the final climb, Rodriguez kicked again to take win. Henao finished second. Roman Kreuziger (TST) made a late move to take third. Davide rode well, but just faded in the final kilometre and finished 11th.

A group of 5 attacked from the start of the stage, with St-Pierre making his presence known.

A number of teams took control of the peleton, as the gap grew to 5'43" very quickly.

Approaching the finishing circuit, the break's lead was down to 1'33", and the peleton was coming into view.

Everything was brought back together and the descent off the climb, and on the second ascent, Villella went on the attack.

5km to go, Davide was one of 5 off the front of the group of favourites behind. Frank (BMC) lead on the road, with Nocentini (ALM), Ulissi (LAM) and Kiryienka (SKY) chasing ahead of Villella.

It would be Frank who would take the win, just finishing ahead of Ulissi and Nocentini. Villella crossed the line in 5th, 1'04 down on the Swiss rider.

Remy was part of the 7 man breakaway, as the French riders / teams wanted to give themselves some TV time on home soil.

A number of teams took up controlling the peleton, that including some big sprinting power, with Cavendish (OPQ), Greipel (LTB) and Degenkolb (ARG) all present.

With 10km to go, all but two riders were caught by the peleton. Vachon (BSE) attacked, with Costa (MOV) in chase.

As the sprint approached, the pair were still off the front of the peleton. More amazingly, Degenkolb, Cavendish and Greipel had all taken Caleb's wheel!

Vachon takes the win! The Frenchman holds on, and takes one of the biggest wins of his career. Degenkolb is the quickest of the sprinters, to take second, with Costa stealing 3rd. Ewan struggled in the sprint, finishing 9th.

A group of 4, including Howson, attacked after 5km into the race, and despite attempts from other, they formed the day's break

Astana and RadioShack took the control of the peleton, and seemed comfortable to let the escapees build a good lead.

The break were allowed a maximum of 8'44", before the chase back began. With 30km to go, it was all pulled back together, as Cancellara (RLT) attacked.

A group of 23 riders formed behind Cancellara, as the chase to pull him back was on. Howson and Earle worked hard on the front, seeing a good chance for Yates to shine at the finish.

Cancellara was caught in the last 1km, and suddenly Kristoff (KAT) went early in order to steal the glory, as it became very unorganised behind...

Victory to Kristoff! The Norwegian was unstoppable in the end, and comfortably took the win. Iglinskiy (AST) was second, as Cancellara hung on for 3rd. Yates struggled with the finish, and as the peleton came back together, he could only finish 16th.