The opening stage is a hilly stage - the favourites are Nocentini, Albasini and Ghisalberti
An initial break of 9 went away, being chased by Vespa and Wiggle, but then a Vespa rider attacks aswell
The result sees Esmaeli and Vanspeybrouck with a gap over 5 others, and then the pack
But more attacks later and Garbelli leads a group of 11: Sohrabi, Mori, Martins, Esmaeli, Vanspeybrouck, Van Katwijk, Willems, Wilman, Vanderaerden, Usov and Nogaledo
Garbelli is solo for 15km to go, being caught just before the intermediate sprint, which he still wins
By the time the 12 reach the first notable climb of the day, around 80 km to go, they lead by 5 minutes
They top the climb, having dropped Usov, and Willems attacks to take the points
A strong descender, Vanspeybrouck takes to the front on the descent as Wiggle lead the chasing peleton - even Bertagnolli is helping as they all work for Nocentini
Vanderaerden takes the 2nd intermediate sprint, perhaps practising for the flat Stage 3, while Willems again takes the points on hill #2.
Vanspeybrouck again takes over in the descent, while Van Katwijk, Vanderaerden and Martins have now been dropped
Onto the 3rd, possibly decisive climb, and the break looks to attack each other
And Nocentini immediately attacks the peleton
Basso, Ghisalberti, Leipheimer and Taaramae are the first to follow - although Leipheimers attack wont last long
Nocentini catches the break as Willems attacks for more KoM pts
But the Belgian will only take 2nd this time, unable to recatch Nogaledo who had attacked away from the breakaway group earlier on the climb
Nocentini now tries to get a gap on his rivals going over the top
But he cant get away from the mixture of attackers and break, as more attackers are looking to come across: Theres Albasini, Pedraza, De Maar and Lloret who are close, with Colorado, Perez Cuapio, Bertagnolli, Bosisio and Fernandez Oliveira a little further back
Some ready made IKEA tactics now kick in, as they try to favour Taaramae. Vanspeybrouck hits the front, again to make use of his descending talents, and splits the group down to himself, Nocentini, Nogaledo, Ghisalberti, Basso, Garbelli, Taaramae, Albasini, Mori and Wilmann - while another IKEA rider Alarcon is the first of those to lose contact, attempting to slow the other, rivals of their Estonian leader.
If nothing else, this gap should limit who can win the stage as we descend towards the final 3km. Vanspeybrouck still leads, but rather than Taaramae, Nocentini is the man tucked in - with Nogaledo behind him. Then we have Taaramae as the other riders, 3 lots of pairings from teams, are trying their own poor attempts at a sprint train.
But the 11 riders chasing behind are close, and limiting any gains Vanspeybrouck could otherwise drag out
With 2km to go, the 21 are all grouped together. Still Vanspeybrouck leads but Nocentini is itching for the sprint to begin and ready to move - less patience for Nogaledo though who starts to go now, with Taaramae following
Into the lead goes Nogaledo and now perfectly poised is Taaramae! Vanspeybrouck isnt going to sprint, certainly not with Taaramae infront, so Nocentini is throwing it away here
Ghisalberti and Albasini are now entering the fray, but still it is advantage Taaramae
Now Nocentini moves, at last, but he is merely level with Ghisalberti and Albasini having began so far ahead
But now Taaramae is taking his time, waiting behind Nogaledo, is he now throwing it away? Not quite, he makes his move as last as he dare leave it, cutting off Albasini before the opposite could happen, as Nocentini closes back in
Its going to be a tight sprint on the line, after all the questionable timings, its so close between Taaramae and Nocentini
Rein Taaramae wins the stage! Nocentini is 2nd, ahead of Albasini and Ghisalberti.
Crucially though, bar the time bonuses, Nocentini and Ghisalberti were unable to take advantage of their strengths over the hills to gap the strong mountain climbers, with the likes of Pedraza, Lloret and Perez Cuapio all finishing in this 21 man front group
