It’s time for stage 3. A serious mountain stage, and a ridiculously long one, being 222km. Passo Lavaze, halfway the stage, won’t have much influence on the race itself, but will definitely cost the riders some energy. Vetriolo Terme, the finish climb, will destroy most riders though, because the riders have to take 200 kilometres before they reach the climb. Stamina will come in to play, and that means riders like Evans & Pozzovivo will have the edge over riders like De Las Campos & Duarte. I even think that the distance means that De La Montagne & Hintermuller are pretty much chanceless. The field behind the ‘Big 3’ will be really open though. The podium is pretty much settled, it’s the sequence that counts, unless someone surprises. The fight for 4th will be just as interesting though.

Favourites

V.Nibali(AST)


J.Rodriguez(KAT)
A.Contador(SAX)


C.Evans(BMC)
D.Pozzovivo(ALM)
B.Intxausti(MOV)

Other riders with a good chance: R.Bardet, I.Basso, F.Pellizotti, J.Peraud, C.de las Campos, J.Brajkovic, M.Rogers, D.Ulissi, F.Duarte.

The Race
220km –
The first 2 guys break away. Watch out, they’re strong! Sella(AND) & Firsanov(RVL) are both great climbers. I wonder if the peloton allows this?
218km –
Garzelli(VIN) & Santaromita(BMC) try to bridge the gap. The peloton doesn’t seem to be interested in getting them back.
217km –
Yeah, why not? Esteban Chavez(COL) decides to give it a go as well. Anacona(LAM) follows a few secs later.
213km –
It’s not over yet. Huzarski(TNE) & Arroyo(CJR) want to be in the break as well.
210km –

Pennarossa(CAN) thinks it’s enough, and sets a tough pace in the peloton. Saxo helps.
205km –
With Arroyo and Huzarski back in, the peloton calmed down. It looks like we have a 6-men break now. The group is split in 2 now, with Sella & Firsanov a minute ahead on the other 4, and 3 minutes ahead of the peloton.
198km –

So, the 6 escapees are now all in 1 group. They have 3 minutes and a half, and clearly, these guys shouldn’t be underestimated.
150km –

Androni’s Sella manages to win the intermediate sprint, just having the edge over Firsanov & Chavez. The other 3 don’t seem to care that much.
Gap’s at 7 minutes.
138km -
The peloton let the gap get to 8’30, but now they finally seem to wake up a bit.
123km –
Nope, not really. Gap is at 9 minutes. The peloton really has to do something now, though it’s still a long day.
113km –

The peloton reaches the tough climb halfway. The peloton really wakes up now, the gap is back to 8’30.
102km –
The pace in the peloton is tough now. The first guys drop, but they’re only some domestiques and sprinters, nothing to worry about. Dropping this early has the risk of not making the time limit, though, and tomorrow has a small chance of a sprint. Halfway the climb, the gap is just above 7 minutes.
91km -

Santaromita manages to win the KoM sprint on the summit. He looks fresh, and secures BMC at least a provisional jersey, but the finish gives as much points as this KoM sprint. Anacona & Chavez complete the Top 3.

Meanwhile, the peloton is 2,5 km from the summit, 6’30 behind. The peloton gets thinned out. Notable is that Mucelli, the Nr2 in the GC, is already dropped. All sprinters, including guys like Gatto & Duque, have dropped by now, but that shouldn’t be a surprise.
85km -
The peloton reached the top, and Pirazzi(BAR) attacks along with Barta(TNE). They get reeled back in after a few metres though. The peloton only consists of 92 riders now, with Garcia(CJR) being the only good climber that dropped. The escapees are 7 minutes ahead.
Notable is that Evans & Ulissi are hanging at the back of the peloton. But for now, they’re safe.
60km –
The escapees seems to have cracked. They’re just 4’30 ahead now. Evans is still at the back, he must have a bad day.
54km -

It’s an attack! It’s really early, so I wonder if this has any result. The attackers are König(TNE), Hintermuller(MTN), Herrada(MOV) & Pirazzi(BAR). Euskaltel chasing them down, they look really strong.
52km -
They’re already back! Wow Euskaltel, wow. The peloton is at 3’30 now.
50km –

Pierre de La Montagne crashes! I already noticed him dropping back a bit, but this is worse. Awful for Cofidis, who even did their share of the chasing work. Cofidis waits for him, but he’s 3 minutes behind. Schwabe & Taaramäe are still in the peloton though.
40km -
Euskaltel & Katusha are relaying, the gap is getting smaller quickly, just 2 minutes now, and the situation is under control. Cofidis’ group is still 3 minutes behind the peloton, despite Cofidis relaying with 5.
35km -

Both the peloton and the breakaway are getting messy now. Sella attacks from the front group, Garzelli is the first to jump in the wheel, and Santaromita & Chaves follow as well. They get reeled in a km later though, as goes for all the guys who attacked from the peloton(Taaramäe, Bardet & Herrada for instance). Euskaltel looks really strong today, but will Izagirre hold on today? I doubt it. There’s just 1’30 in between now.
28km -
The pack is shattered now, even without a climb making that difference. 63 guys left in the peloton. New guys missing out are Llanet(MOV) & Arroyo(CJR).
19km -
The gap is just over a minute now, I guess it’s going to be allright. De las Campos is now leading the chase, which is rather surprising, since he could’ve been an outsider today, and he has better odds than Izagirre.
13km -

The peloton reached the climb, and they have the breakaway in sight now.
The big 3 are all positioned well.
11km -

There goes Purito!!!
König(TNE) & Nibali(AST) follow on a small distance, and Izagirre is in Nibbles’ wheel.
Firsanov & Sella are the only ones in the former break that still look good.
9km -

Purito is the only one with a gap, beside some early escapees. Contador leads the pack(on his own), and looks good. Same can be said for Nibbles. König & leader Izagirre look quite bad. Two AG2R guys at the front, and another one positioned well too, so I wonder who will be their leader.
8000m –

The big 3 are now in a group ahead, along with Firsanov(who’s still there). Pozzovivo is hanging in between.
7500m -

The 3 are all alone now, and will probably battle this out. A group of 9 is now ahead of the small peloton. Izagirre isn’t one of those 9!
Those 9 are: Firsanov(RVL), Evans(BMC), Intxausti(MOV), Anacona(LAM), Pellizotti(AND) and three AG2R riders: Bardet, Pozzovivo & Peraud.
6000m -
Purito with an acceleration! Contador has some trouble following. Meanwhile, the group of 8(Anacona dropped), is 1’15 behind, and the peloton is 2 minutes behind.
5000m-

Contador can just hold on, but Purito just goes again. Contador doesn’t seem able to hold on for very long anymore. The chasing group is now just 7, Firsanov dropped now. Ag2R is doing the most work, which makes sense, having 3 riders in it.
4000m -

Purito has a gap on Nibali, who has a gap on Contador. Nibali still looks fresh though. Contador is still 1’30 ahead of the chasing group. The chasing group is 40 seconds in front of the peloton.
3000m -
With 3km to go, the situation barely changed. Nibali is just 7 seconds behind Purito.Contador is at 0’35, the chasing group is at 2’30 and the peloton(only having 14 riders now) is at 3’30. Basso leads the peloton chase.
2200m -

Purito & Nibali are now together. Contador’s winning chances are low, being on 40 seconds. Intxausti(MOV) dropped from the AG2R group, who still have all 3 AG2R riders in it.
1400m-

Nibali & Purito slowed down a bit. Contador is just 20 secs behind.
1500m behind, the peloton shattered, and Herrada(MOV), Basso(CAN) & Rogers(SAX) are now forming the third ‘group’, but they’re still 41 seconds short of Intxausti.
1000m -

The sprint is on. It’s going to be a sprint on the summit. Nibali’s at the front, but can he hold on?
400m -

They’re both completely tired out. Nibali still has the edge, can he do this?
Finish -

Yes he can! Nibbles did it! He just pips out Purito on the line, with just 1 wheel being the difference.
Contador comfortably third.

*3 centuries later*

AG2R get 4th and 5th, Peraud by far had the most energy left, and Pozzovivo was fresh as well.
König, Pelli & Bardet finish in a small group, and Evans just misses out on that group and gets 9th. Intxausti, in the background, takes the last Top 10 spot.
Izagirre, finishing 5:30 later than the winner, completely cracked, but that was to be expected.

Everyone finishes in the time limit, the last group was in 38 minutes after Nibbles.
Nibali takes the KoM jersey, despite having the same amount of points as Santaromita.
Gaps are huge.

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	5h38'49
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	s.t.
3	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 30
4	Jean-Christophe Peraud	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 2'59
5	Domenico Pozzovivo	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'07
6	Leopold König	Team NetApp - Endura	+ 3'17
7	Franco Pellizotti	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	s.t.
8	Romain Bardet	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 3'30
10	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	+ 3'54

GC

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	8h52'45
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	+ 6
3	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 30
4	Jean-Christophe Peraud	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'18
5	Domenico Pozzovivo	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'26
6	Romain Bardet	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 3'36
7	Leopold König	Team NetApp - Endura	+ 3'50
8	Franco Pellizotti	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	+ 3'53
9	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 4'06
10	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	+ 4'18

Points

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	25	35
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	20	29
3	Davide Mucelli	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	0	26
4	Ion Izagirre	Euskaltel - Euskadi	0	25
5	Beñat Intxausti	Movistar Team	6	18
6	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	16	16
7	Oscar Gatto	Vini Fantini - Selle Italia	0	16
8	Jean-Christophe Peraud	AG2R La Mondiale	14	14
9	Diego Ulissi	Lampre - Merida	0	14
10	Domenico Pozzovivo	AG2R La Mondiale	12	12

KoM

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	16	16
2	Ivan Santaromita	BMC Racing Team	16	16
3	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	12	12
4	Winner Anacona	Lampre - Merida	12	12
5	Davide Mucelli	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	0	10
6	Alberto Contador	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	10	10
7	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	10	10
8	Ion Izagirre	Euskaltel - Euskadi	0	8
9	Jean-Christophe Peraud	AG2R La Mondiale	8	8
10	Emanuele Sella	Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela	8	8

U25: R.Bardet
Team: AG2R

Silvio Herklotz wrote:
yay, top100 in a mountain race without any climber. that is what you get from entering the game just outside of time..