Time's running out if we want to advance in the GC, so we need to make something happen here.

I was the best out of the peloton over the Cat. 1 - in 4th.


Finally! A break got away, with 4 attendees.

They would avtually win it, too, with 7'21" on the peloton with 30km to go.


We caught Kocjan on the last climb, with Puccio just behind.

De Troyer of Accent-Jobs took the win.


Atapuma was dead, so it looked like it would be me vs Kocjan for 5th.


But! Puccio came in and stole it from me.


Again yellow changes hands.

The last chance to change the GC. Stamina and recovery will show here.

The break today consisted of 6 riders, appropriate to the stage number.


Tiernan-Locke
Arashiro
Gorka Izagirre
were the first favourites to attack.


We tried to ride away from the peloton, but weren't strong enough.


So, we attacked - Darwin in my wheel. We caught up to the favourites and kept going.


However we couldn't make a gap to them. Tiernan-Locke tried his luck in the closing kilometres, trying to avoid a sprint.


We were caught just as we started sprinting. The break was also in sight now, but they would win.


It was Degand who won it. Our best rider was Chaves, in 10th. I was 12, and Atapuma 13th.




I think that they gave the interns a try at snapping the pics today. At least Arashiro's flowers match the tree.


The best snap though, was at the Youth Rankings.

The sprinting starts. The first of 2 stages for the fast men to justify their inclusion here.

5 riders probably didn't see the profile. They formed the break of the day.


With a horrific pace, ALL of our riders were behind 13km from the finish line.


Out of all the people to be dropped! Atapuma!


It looked like it would be a fairytale for Lobzen (TRS), but his long sprint just fell short of a miracle. Arashiro and van Staeyen were coming fast.


And it was the in-form Japanese who would take it! Duque only managed 8th - but not too bad considering the circumstances.

But good news! Despite there being a definite gap, John Darwin didn't lose any time. Thank god for flat stages!

The last stage of this exciting race. Today shouldn't be as thrilling as previously, but it remains to be seen who the best will be.

Unsurprisingly, only 2 men broke. However it did become 3 soon after.


Duque took van Staeyen's wheel. This was due to Romero being left behind. He only just got up for the sprint.


Inside 200m, Duque still had energy. Could he win this?


Oh no! So close! Van Staeyen took the win.

Carlos Quinero and Marco Corti are ill. The Italian will likely play no more part in the Colombia team, as he is leaving next year.

This is a very hard race. Hopefully our we can get a good result, although we are not bringing a very strong squad.

Fabio Melani


Esteban Chaves


Juan Pablo Suarez


Juan Pablo Valencia


Dalivier Ospina


Alexis Camacho

We had 7 riders trying to escape today.


Valencia and I were the first to make gaps from the peloton. We rode away, with him taking the wind for me.


Chiarini (AND) had survived from the break. He was now joined at the front by World Champion Gilbert.


With 4.5km to go, I was chasing, along with Tony Gallopin. Behind us was a star-studded group of favourites. Including Nibali, Rodriguez and Rodgers.


Now this is unfair. I was blocked by Chiarini just as the favourites started attacking. I had energy and could've kept up with them, but now my race was over.


Rodriguez took the win ahead of Nibali.


I finished 9th. A good result in this star-studded field,but it could've been oh so different.

Leonardo Duque was our best rider in the:
Munsterland Giro | 58th s.t.
Tour de Vendee | 74th s.t.

Virgilijus Grazhys was our best performer in the Giro della Romagna, 50th @ 2'57".


Fabio Duarte somewhat disappointed in the Coppa del Piemonte, but still got a decent-ish result.


Grazhys continued to impress, getting 11th in the GP Bruno Baghelli.


Michael Rodriguez has fallen ill.

Relatively flat, but with undulations everywhere. Should be tough.

I was the first on the team to go. I had no reference as to where to go hard or how hard to go. This could be tough.


I was feeling on top form. I passed Bardiani's Christian Delle Stelle after just 27km.


However I soon realised I started off too fast. I had to sit back a bit, but was still dead 2.5km from the finish.


I still managed to finish in front of Christian, and somehow managed to come in provisional 7th! I was 3'11" down to GreenEDGE's Cameron Meyer.


Grazhys started off very well, gaining 500m on the man in front of him and still staying within his energy limits. However, it all came unstuck on the 2nd climb. He completely lost it there, and we were left wondering what could've been.


Meyer ended up taking it, ahead of teammate and compatriot Luke Durbridge. Unfortunately we did not get anyone in the Top 10.

I can confirm that neither Alberto Contador nor Phillipe Gilbert will be in the Top 3 of the Velo d'Or. The World Champion Gilbert wasn't able to do much else besides the Worlds, while Contador faltered in the Grand Tours and other big races.