T.Danielson(GRS), F.Mourey and
M.Tosatto(TCS) escape from the pack.. behind them, more riders try to make the jump too..

.. but they don´t get far as the peloton catch them before the 1st kom sprint... Mourey keeps his steady pace at the front..

E.Vorganov(KAT) takes advantage for the 1st kom sprint, Mourey tries to stick with him..

Still before the top, 4 riders attack.. M.Frank(IAM),
J.Voigt(TFR), D.Villella(CAN) and B.De Clercq(LTB)...

As they reach the 1st Int. Sprint, only De Clercq and Voigt stay escaped, they will catch up with the front duo..

2nd climb,... with Mourey at the front not feeling good(-2) and being with +1´15" in GC, T.Pinot takes the lead in the pack, protected by A.Geniez and starts to push hard..

The peloton decides to let them go with 6kms to the top.. Mourey´s group is 2´04" ahead.

Like we predicted, Mourey can´t keep with the group..

Mourey waits for Pinot and Geniez.. they have a nice gap to the peloton now.. 4´19"..

Geniez and Mourey managed to bring Pinot close enought to catch the front group with 3,5kms to 3rd kom sprint but both riders are done..

Mourey(here) and Geniez are empty, they made a great job... 5´49"gap to peloton..

2nd Int. Sprint.. the gap to the peloton is droping.. now at 3´56".. Geniez has been fighting all the way to catch up with the front but the pace from the brea is too much for him.. 47kms to go..

Last kom sprint.. little fight for the points.

With 31kms to go, Geniez is about to get caught.. 2´48"gap to Pinot´s group..

15kms.. it´s a pleasure to watch this guy racing...
J.Voigt drops his break mates..

T.Pinot´s group is caught with almost 10kms to ride.. Voigt isn´t far, only 48"sec away..

With 5kms to go, Voigt is caught.. Giant riders take the lead..

Final sprint is on..

A.Demare, just like the other sprinters, chose
M.Kittel´s wheel and forgot about J.Degenkolb..

The fake lead out from Degenkolb allows him to take advantage to the rest..

.. and sprints for another stage win for Giant.
A.Demare is 6th..

The first breakaway isn´t that big but has enought quality..
M.Ladagnous, S.Vanmarcke(BEL) and
S.Vandenbergh(OPQ), all cobble specialists, are nearing Livorno(1st Int.Sprint) with 2´03" gap to the peloton..

Within the 1st kom sprint, Ladagnous and Vanmarcke delivered a nice fight for the pts with our man going 1st.. 4´45" gap but already droping..

2nd kom sprint, S.Vanmarcke leaves the rest behind.. Ladagnous still fights to catch up with him.. 45kms to go..

Couple kms later, "Los 3 amigos", D.Cunego(LAM),
D.Rebellin(CCC) and M.Rabottini(YEL) try to escape from the pack..

26kms to go, M.Monfort(LTB), F.Cancellara(TFR), I.Basso(CAN) and
D.Moreno(KAT) attack too.. they catch up with the italian trio.. Ladagnous is 58" ahead and Vanmarcke 2´01"..

11kms... we try to bridge with the front with K.Elissonde, protected by J.Veikkanen..

S.Vanmarcke leaves the 5kms mark behind.. Monfort follows with Cancellara on his tail..

Last km..

S.Vanmarcke wins after an amazing solo ride..

R.Curvers(GIA), P.Niemiec(LAM) and
T.Marczynski(CCC) pass by the 1st Int.Sprint with a decreasing gap of 5´48"..

1km to the 1st Kom sprint, we try to catch up with the front with
Y.Offredo and M.Ladagnous..

With Offredo making the pace, we catch Curvers first..

Then we catch Marczynski...

With Offredo´s pace, we even catch the race directors car..

68kms to go, we finally catch Niemiec.. 4´50"gap to the pack..

40kms.. our gap was decreasing slowly but still was a safe one until M.Rabottini(YEL) decided to attack and thus making the pack increase their pace... at this point, it was only 1´43"..

This made that the break was caught with 27kms to go..

We quickly reach the final kms with P.Gilbert(BMC) leading the race...

With Gilbert and M.Albasini(OGE) getting away, the peloton entered in panic mode.. A.Kristoff(KAT) was the 1st to panic, he starts the sprint still far away from the finish line.. N.Bouhanni decides to follow him..

Because of this mad pace, Bouhanni was loosing some energy quiet fast, the battle for the stage win starts now at the front..

While behind some riders just want to get over it..

F.Pozzato wins... Bouhanni manages to finish 5th..