Today we have a hilly stage, the first one of the race. It has multiple climbs, but it’s not a killer stage. It wouldn’t surprise me if the punchy sprinters survive this. There is a combination of 2 tough climbs close to the finish though. 25km from the finish lays the summit of the Limberg, a short but quite steep climb. A downhill follows, and halfway the downhill, the riders have to tackle another short bump. This one is not steep at all though. The downhill continues and the last ~8 km are flat. I’m confident that the GC riders try an attack today, given that they even tried something on a relatively flat stage, yesterday. Meersman and EBH have a chance though, if it gets back or stays together. Beside being a good puncher, having some serious downhill skills and a good sprint will help you as well.
Favourites

V.Nibali(AST)


J.Rodriguez(KAT)
C.Betancur(ALM)


R.Hesjedal(GRS)
G.Meersman(OPQ)
E. Boasson Hagen(SKY)

The Race
180km -
Marczynski(VAC) is the first attacker of the day!
177km -
Txurruka(CJR), Chaves(COL) and Howes(GRS) give it a shot too! It’s not the first time this Suisse edition that Chaves and Txurruka attack, and that’s nice to see. Txurruka is actually just 3 points behind on the KoM classification, and with 2 KoM sprints today, he could potentially take the lead today.
174km -
While the guys up front formed a quartet, Garzelli(VIN) and M.Wyss(IAM) attack as well.
166km -
All the escapees are now in 1 group, and co-operating well. They already gathered a gap of 2’30, which means that the break formed a lot easier than it did yesterday.
140km -
The gap is already at 5 minutes now.
100km -
The gap is at 6’30, and seems to have maxed out. The rain is pretty heavy now.
77km -
Txurruka makes sure he’s the first one to cross the KoM sprint line. He attacked once, but it was not ecessary, since nobody seemed to mind him taking all the points. So we’ve got ourselves a new KoM leader, it’s Txurruka, having 2 points more than Purito & Voigt! It’s possible that Purito(or Voigt) takes it back on the 2nd KoM, since it’s only 25km from the finish. The breakaway is 5’40 in front.
50km –
With just 50km to go, the gap is still 4 minutes. That’s definitely under control, but not safe for the peloton yet.
40km -
Katusha is taking care of most of the chasing work. Or in other words: Nobody is really helping Katusha. Therefore, the gap is still 3’20.
29km -
Wyss takes the IS win, though nobody seems to take it seriously. What has to be taken seriously is the chance of a break win. The gap is still 3 minutes now. Somebody help Katusha!
The riders will start the Limberg climb at any moment now.
26km -
This KoM sprint seems a lot more important to the escapees. Txurruka, who has his jersey in the pocket now he’s still ahead, is not the only one contending. The guys are still 2’45 ahead.

At the back, Rodriguez(KAT), Nibali(AST) and Hesjedal(GRS) decided to attack, and they receive some space, since Katusha won’t do the pace now, obviously.
25km -
Chaves wins the KoM sprint, Txurruka gets second and takes 3 additional points. He will ride in the KoM shirt tomorrow.

In the peloton, Kreuziger and Quintana are doing the pace. Group Purito already has a minute, and therefore, action is necessary. EBH is looking good.
23km -
While the gap from Purito to the early attackers is still 2’30, it seems likely that the break makes it to the line. Some action going on in the back though, with LLS(BEL), Betancur(ALM) and Quintana(MOV) attacking. This won’t do the pace in the peloton much good.
20km -
The break started the downhill. With 2’20, these will most likely win today. Chaves is the fastest sprinter, with Marczynski and Howes being relatively swift as well.
Behind the Purito group(2’20), the Quintana group is on 3’05, and the peloton is at 3’25.
15km -
Just before the intermediate sprint(we couldn’t care less about it), Txurruka gets a gap on the others. He won the IS therefore, but the others get him back fairly quickly.
Due to Purito having Hesjedal and Nibali(good downhillers) with him, the gap from the front to the yellow jersey is now just 1’45. Could be close.
Half a minute behind that group, there’s the Quintana group. The peloton is still on more than 3 minutes though.
12.5km -
While the break arrived at the bump, Garzelli(VIN) attacks. This disorganisation is obviously bad for the gap, which is 1’20 while we’re speaking. At the same time as Garzelli, LLS attacks from the Quintana group, attempting to close the gap to the Purito group.
11km -
At the ‘’summit’’, Garzelli was forced to join the group again. LLS failed as well, which means the 6 guys – 3 guys(1’30) – 3 guys(2’00) – peloton(2’40) situation is still applied.
10km -
Awesome descenders Hesjedal and Nibali are closing the gap on the downhill rapidly now, leaving only 1 minute.
8km -
Attack!
Weening(OGE) & Scarponi(LAM) attack at the downhill!
6km -
With a 47 seconds gap, the front group still has good chances to make it to the finish. Txurruka doesn’t want to wait and attacks. If you have binoculars, you might be able to see LLS attacking from the third group as well(once again).
Weening & Scarponi are back in the peloton.
4km -
Nibali, who already lost plenty of time in the GC, goes all-or-nothing and accelerates away from Purito and Hesjedal, having the break in sight, but not reached. Chaves is trying to get a gap from that said group, though.
LLS is back in the third group now. That group has meanwhile lost its pace, being just 30 secs ahead of the peloton.
2800m -
Chaves still has a small gap. He starts his sprint early, as do the guys behind him. Nibali is still hanging in between the groups. Quintana accelerated from LLS and Betancur, and Kiserlovski and Cunego have attacked from the peloton as well.
1700m -
Chaves looks tired, and Marczynski is coming at a big speed. He’s in pole-position now and can give Vacansoleil a big win here!
The peloton is preparing a sprint as well now, with Goss, EBH and Stromberg all at the front. The pace isn’t all that high though, so it might be for nothing(or 14th place or so)
1200m -
Chaves blew himself up, appearently. Marczynski passed him, though not having an impressive pace either. Only Howes can more or less follow and he’ll pick up if Marczynski blows himself up as well.
700m -
Marczynski lost his pace, Howes as well. Chaves found some again, but can only keep up for now and can’t overtake the Polish rider.
400m -
Or can he?
150m -
Or can he???!
Finish -
No, he can’t! Marczynski takes a great win for Vacansoleil here! Chaves obviously is the runner-up, and Howes takes a nice third place.
Wyss gets fourth, and Garzelli beats Txurruka for 5th. Nibali blew himself up and only gets 9th, though he took some useful time on most others today.
Meanwhile, the peloton has a km to go. Quintana is trying to stay ahead of the peloton, which is led by Pietropolli.
Quintana holds on! He just has the edge over Bouhanni, who came out of nowhere. No gap for Quintana though, but at least a Top 10!

For some reason, all the 9 guys ahead of the peloton get the same time. Purito, Hesjedal and Nibali won’t complain. They took 2’04 today! I consider Nibali, who lost time earlier on, the biggest winner today. He moves upto 4th in the GC and is now on a good spot to grab the podium, tomorrow. Porte and Quintana are the losers today. Notable is that Purito leads the GC by 2 mins now!
Txurruka takes over the KoM jersey today, which is nice news for Caja Rujal!


Results:

1	Tomasz Marczynski	Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team	4h20'50
2	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	s.t.
3	Alex Howes	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
4	Marcel Wyss	IAM Cycling	s.t.
5	Stefano Garzelli	Vini Fantini - Selle Italia	s.t.
6	Amets Txurruka	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.
7	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	s.t.
8	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
9	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
10	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 2'04

GC

1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	21h37'34
2	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin - Sharp	+ 2'00
3	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 2'31
4	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	+ 2'53
5	Richie Porte	Sky Procycling	+ 3'43
6	Roman Kreuziger	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	+ 4'04
7	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 4'22
8	Michele Scarponi	Lampre - Merida	+ 5'15
9	Cristiano De las Campos	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 6'01
10	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 6'27

Points

1	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	9	69
2	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	6	58
3	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	0	43
4	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Sky Procycling	0	42
5	Carlos Betancur	AG2R La Mondiale	0	39
6	Martin Elmiger	IAM Cycling	4	33
7	Nacer Bouhanni	FDJ.fr	5	31
8	Ryder Hesjedal	Garmin - Sharp	8	28
9	Tomasz Marczynski	Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team	26	26
10	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	7	24

KoM

1	Amets Txurruka	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	7	24
2	Joaquím Rodríguez	Katusha Team	0	20
3	Jens Voigt	RadioShack - Leopard	0	20
4	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	0	14
5	Roman Kreuziger	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	0	14
6	Matteo Rabottini	Vini Fantini - Selle Italia	0	12
7	Andriy Grivko	Astana Pro Team	0	12
8	Martin Elmiger	IAM Cycling	0	11
9	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	0	10
10	Brian Bulgac	Lotto Belisol	0	10

U25: Quintana
Team: Radioshack

brewers90 wrote:
Why do I bother?

*Walks away, mumbling words too rude for your innocent ears*