sutty68 wrote:
Nice top ten for Benat

The 5th stage in China is one of the easier ones when looking at the profile. Could be one for the breakaway as the heat will once again weigh on a lot of riders.

Despite feeling like crap, Guerreiro decides to join the breakaway, along with Huffman, Costa and Coledan.
Ruben skips some of his turns to relay at first, hoping to grow a bit stronger on the road.

His tactics don't pay off as he has to let the others go at the only climb of today's stage. And in the end, all guys are reeled in anyway. Tinajero manages to hold on to Lavery's wheel, is a solid finish finally possible?

No. Once again. Aridani is cooked after having to ride a sprint during the sprint and finishes in 12th.

It's points leader Verhelst who denies fellow countryman and team mate Van Staeyen a stage win.

Stage 5 results:

1		Louis Verhelst	Lotto Soudal	4h34'58"
2		Michael Van Staeyen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
3		Fred Bouckenooghe	Drapac Professional Cycling	s.t.
4		Philip Lavery	Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5		Andrea Zordan	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
6		Guillaume Boivin	Team Optum	s.t.
7		Shiki Kuroeda	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	s.t.
8		Tosh Van der Sande	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
9		Yauheni Hutarovich	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.
10		Eduardo Estrada	Colombia	s.t.
…		…	…	…
12		Aridani Tinajero	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.

GC after stage 5:

1		José Herrada	Team Katusha	20h35'55"
2		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	+ 24"
3		Matvei Mamykin	Team Katusha	+ 1'47"
4		Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 3'02"
5		Dayer Quintana	Team Optum	+ 3'06"
6		Gorka Izagirre	Movistar Team	s.t.
7		Raffaello Bonusi	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	s.t.
8		Robert Power	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
9		J.A. Pardo Calvo	Movistar Team	+ 4'15"
10		Simone Petilli	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
…		…	…	…
24		Hector Saez	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 8'06"

sutty68 wrote:
China is becoming a headache for the guys

A last flat stage before tomorrow's decisive TT. We wouldn't care about the breakaway winning if that means our team and our GC leader Chávarri can save their legs.

The 8-man breakaway doesn't feature any known names apart from Orica's Jay McCArthy. Their attack looks promising as the gap runs up to over 6'.

With all the climbs tackled the pace is set by Bora for their sprinter Willwohl, who beat Barbero earlier in this race. The gap decreases, but will they be fast enough?

2K to go the breakaway looks good for the win, while Barbero has chosen the wheel of Vanbilsen, just in case. Who knows?

But the break of the day makes it. Trek's Alexander Darville surprises McCarthy for today's stage. Only seconds later, Barbero finishes in 10th, losing the peloton sprint against Zabel.

Chávarri finishes safely within the pack and will be facing the most important TT in his career so far with an advance of 2".

Stage 6 results:

1		Alexandre Darville	Trek Factory Racing	4h11'35"
2		Jay McCarthy	Orica-GreenEDGE	s.t.
3		Raffaele Radice	Bardiani CSF	s.t.
4		Nolan Hoffman	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
5		Julien Duval	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
6		Sjoerd Kouwenhoven	UnitedHealthcare Pro Team	s.t.
7		David Wöhrer	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
8		Piotr Havik	Roompot-Oranje Peloton	s.t.
9		Rick Zabel	Bora - Argon 18	s.t.
10		Carlos Barbero	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.

GC after stage 6:

1		Eder Chávarri	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	24h56'30"
2		Patrick Konrad	Bora - Argon 18	+ 2"
3		Ben Gastauer	Ag2r La Mondiale	+ 2'23"
4		Beñat Intxausti	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 2'26"
5		Juan Chamorro	Colombia	+ 2'33"
6		Peter Velits	IAM Cycling	+ 3'48"
7		Eduard Beltran	Colombia	+ 4'19"
8		Phillip Gaimon	UnitedHealthcare Pro Team	+ 4'49"
9		Stefan Denifl	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	+ 5'01"
10		Sam Vandenborre	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 5'23"

Tamijo - the heat might be a reason for our lack of power. Luckily we are performing in Austria with the yellow, white and KoM currently in our hands.

sutty68 wrote:
I really hope that Chavarri can time trial

Tamijo wrote:
Let's hope he got the super legs on the day.

This will be another hard and long day at the office, another 200+ km stage spiced up with two HC climbs. It won't be easy to control this for the team of the GC leader.

After a nervous and jumbled beginning, a group attacks without any of our riders present. All we want today is trying to keep Saez near the front as long as possible.
The most well-known names in the breakaway are Serge Pauwels and former ITT World Champion Michael Rogers.

After the first climb, the group is down to three, with Pauwels still present. Halfway the second climb, a group containing most of the riders in the top 10 of the GC accelerates.

Their pace is too high for Saez but near the top he manages to stay with a second group. Biggest loser at this point seems to be Dayer Quintana, former 5th in the GC.

In the final descent Pauwels has to give everything for the stage! Luckily he's not forced to wait for Sastre this time! The GC favourites have come close...

... but not close enough. Victory for Serge Pauwels! Hector Saez puts in a solid ride and moves up a few places in the GC.

Race leader Herrada survives a hard moment and will be battling Contreras for the GC win tomorrow, during the last mountainous stage. We hope to protect Saez well and maybe he may be able to move up some more places.

Stage 6 results:

1		Serge Pauwels	Lotto Soudal	5h11'22"
2		Edward Ravasi	Bardiani CSF	+ 48"
3		Matvei Mamykin	Team Katusha	s.t.
4		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	s.t.
5		Odd Christian Eiking	Roompot-Oranje Peloton	s.t.
6		José Herrada	Team Katusha	s.t.
7		Patrick Facchini	Lampre-Merida	+ 1'07"
8		Gregory Brenes	Team Cannondale - Garmin	s.t.
9		Michael Rogers	Bardiani CSF	s.t.
10		Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'50"
…		…	…	…
23		Hector Saez	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 1'50"

GC after stage 6:

1		José Herrada	Team Katusha	25h48'05"
2		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	+ 24"
3		Matvei Mamykin	Team Katusha	+ 1'43"
4		Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 4'04"
5		Gorka Izagirre	Movistar Team	+ 4'08"
6		Raffaello Bonusi	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	s.t.
7		Robert Power	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
8		Edward Ravasi	Bardiani CSF	+ 4'09"
9		Juan A. Pardo Calvo	Movistar Team	+ 5'17"
10		Jacques J. V. Rensburg	Bardiani CSF	s.t.
…		…	…	…
20		Hector Saez	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 9'08"

24.3 kms. The only thing standing between Eder Chávarri and his first GC win with the pro's. He's had a beautiful week with a stage win from the breakaway, but can he confirm now?

The first guy to register a strong time is Dutchman Cees Bol. Him winning a .HC stage would be a nice achievement for Team Roompot.

But his fellow countryman Martijn Keizer doesn't show any mercy and forces him to get out of the hotseat. The new best time is set at 32'31".

Solid time trialists such as Durbridge, Ludvigsson and Ben King come close but fail to beat Keizer's time.

Meanwhile, Belgian champion Sam Vandenborre
has started as well. Wearing the white jersey today he's only 8" slower than Keizer at the intermediate point.
He maintains a strong pace but still loses so more time compared to Keizer. Final time: 32'50".

After a steady performance, Beñat Intxausti is our next finisher, grabbing 8th, 33" down.
With both Chamorro and Gastauer losing quite some time, Beñat looks good for a podium spot.

Chávarri is on the road for 24 kms of suffering. Still before the intermediate point he removes his earpiece in order to remain concentrated on his legs and the roads.

When he crosses the line, Eder is drained, exhausted, empty. He needs support in order to make it to rider's zone. He's broken after receiving the news that he's lost almost 2' to Konrad, losing the yellow jersey and dropping from first to third in the GC.

Stage 7 results:

1		Martijn Keizer	Team Giant-Alpecin	32'31"
2		Tobias Ludvigsson	IAM Cycling	+ 3"
3		Ben King	BMC Racing Team	+ 9"
4		Sam Vandenborre	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 19"
5		Cees Bol	Team Roompot-Oranje Peloton	+ 22"
6		Tom Bohli	Trek Factory Racing	+ 25"
7		Tanel Kangert	FDJ	+ 31"
8		Beñat Intxausti	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 33"
9		Peter Velits	IAM Cycling	+ 34"
10		Lukas Meiler	Trek Factory Racing	+ 43"
…	…	…	…	…
32		Patrick Konrad	Bora - Argon18	+ 1'23"
…	…	…	…	…
152		Eder Chávarri	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 3'15"

GC after stage 7:

1		Patrick Konrad	Bora - Argon18	25h30'26"
2		Beñat Intxausti	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 1'34"
3		Eder Chávarri	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 1'50"
4		Juan Chamorro	Colombia	+ 2'37"
5		Ben Gastauer	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 2'39"
6		Peter Velits	IAM Cycling	+ 2'57"
7		Sam Vandenborre	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 4'17"
8		Eduard Beltran	Colombia	+ 4'41"
9		Stefan Denifl	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	+ 5'05"
10		Phillip Gaimon	UnitedHealthcare Pro Team	+ 5'31"

Tamijo wrote:
A little disappointing in Österreich off course, but with 2 in top 3 not bad at all.
China

Final stage. Short ride towards Vienna and some laps to finish the 2017 Tour of Austria. Barbero should be our guy for today.

Nice image to start our ride towards the capital. Beñat in green, Eder in the polka dot jersey and Sam in white. Too bad we only have two of these three jerseys in our hands.

Oh yes. Meanwhile there's a race going on and the breakaway has been formed. It includes some strong riders such a Kadri, Schär and Skujins. Aldo Lature represents our team.

They stay together until they reach the streets of Vienna, even until the last lap. And it seems like they might make it...

UnitedHealthcare's Kouwenhoven wins the stage over Kadri. Aldo finishes in 7th, while Barbero grabs 11th.

Stage 8 results:

1		Sjoerd Kouwenhoven	UnitedHealthcare Pro Team	2h53'15"
2		Blel Kadri	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
3		Toms Skujins	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
4		Julien Antomarchi	FDJ	s.t.
5		Michael Schär	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
6		Emilien Viennet	Colombia	s.t.
7		Aldo Lature	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.
8		Miguel Bryon	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
9		Willy Willwohl	Bora - Argon 18	s.t.
10		André Looij	Team Giant-Alpecin	s.t.

Final overall standings:

1		Patrick Konrad	Bora - Argon 18	28h23'41"
2		Beñat Intxausti	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 1'34"
3		Eder Chávarri	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 1'50"
4		Juan Chamorro	Colombia	+ 2'37"
5		Ben Gastauer	Ag2r La Mondiale	+ 2'39"
6		Peter Velits	IAM Cycling	+ 2'57"
7		Sam Vandenborre	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 4'17"
8		Eduard Beltran	Colombia	+ 4'41"
9		Stefan Denifl	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	+ 5'05"
10		Phillip Gaimon	UnitedHealthcare Pro Team	+ 5'31"

Jersey winners:

		Patrick Konrad
		Patrick Konrad
		Eder Chávarri
		Eder Chávarri
		Caja Rural - Seguros RGA

sutty68 wrote:
Shame Chavarri lost out on the win in Austria but I am sure he will bounce back

Tamijo wrote:
Fine top 10 to finish a great race for Caja Rural

The penultimate stage is classified as flat but still contains two KoM sprints. Might be interesting as it's the only jersey that doesn't know its winner yet.

Fraile attacks, at least trying to make sure we did not travel to China for nothing. Luckily his breakaway companions don't care too much about the points and Omar wins the KoM jersey, after reaching both mountain tops first.

This breakaway is reeled in though and Verhelst wins another stage ahead of Canada's champion Boivin.

The last stage is a circuit race sprinters should be interested in. But they miss out on it, cause the pack started chasing too late.

And that way Javier Moreno finally gets his stage win after a few unsuccessful attempts.

Stage 8 results:

1		Louis Verhelst	Lotto Soudal	5h09'26"
2		Guillaume Boivin	Team Optum	s.t.
3		Philip Lavery	Skydive Dubai Pro Team	s.t.
4		Eduardo Estrada	Colombia	s.t.
5		Yauheni Hutarovich	MTN-Qhubeka	s.t.
6		Andrea Zordan	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
7		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	s.t.
8		José Herrada	Team Katusha	s.t.
9		Shiki Kuroeda	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	s.t.
10		Delio Fernández	Team Katusha	s.t.

Stage 9 results:

1		Javier Moreno	Movistar Team	2h34'00"
2		Michael Van Staeyen	Lotto Soudal	+ 30"
3		Louis Verhelst	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
4		Eduardo Estrada	Colombia	s.t.
5		Philip Lavery	Skydive Dubai Pro Team	s.t.
6		Jiri Hochmann	Skydive Dubai Pro Team	s.t.
7		Tosh Van der Sande	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
8		Shiki Kuroeda	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	s.t.
9		Ivan Savitskiy	Team Katusha	s.t.
10		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	s.t.

Final overall standings:

1		Rodrigo Contreras	Tinkoff-Saxo	35h48'26"
2		José Herrada	Team Katusha	+ 1'00"
3		Robert Power	Lotto Soudal	+ 5'25"
4		Raffaello Bonusi	NIPPO - Vini Fantini	+ 6'06"
5		Edward Ravasi	Bardiani CSF	+ 7'16"
6		Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 7'42"
7		Gorka Izagirre	Movistar Team	+ 8'57"
8		Matvei Mamykin	Team Katusha	+ 9'36"
9		Juan A. Pardo Calvo	Movistar Team	+ 10'06"
10		Rodolfo Torres	Skydive Dubai Pro Team	s.t.

	Rodrigo Contreras
	Louis Verhelst
	Omar Fraile
	Rodrigo Contreras
	Bardiani CSF