Last stage of this sprinters festival and it is looking very good for Tolleson on GC who surely has to just roll around and hope that Guillen (Pokerstars) does not win the stage. He should have plenty of competition for the stage win as Cavendish, Steegmans and Caspar all look fast enough to take one if (and its a big if) they are positioned properly.
The points competition is also led by Tolleson but his lead is only 4 points on Guillen here and the Mercedes man will have to finish better than he did yesterday if he wants that jersey too.
But firstly on this 110km stage we have the KOM prime, its Kessiakoff vs Colby here but neither of these riders go for the prime. Instead its Pfannberger who is sent up for it, but it is the rider in second who grabs the headlines as Portela of Bimbo Nutella snatches the 2 points and third place will go to him.
Pfannberger protects Kessiakoffs KOM jersey share
Its Inoue of El-Al who grabs the last KOM point as these point getters make 3 out 4 riders in todays break. Its Boeckmans of Highroad the other man in the break.
Four men in todays BotD
There is a nice sprint time bonus up for grabs on the course today and Boeckmans who missed the KOM primes takes a nice six seconds here. That may well be good enough to net him a top 10 GC position at the end of the race.
Boeckmans - > Inoue - > Portela
Inoue grabs 4 seconds and Pfannberger misses out to the only rider that will not benefit from time bonuses. Good stuff for Inoue and Boeckmans who now have to make sure they are not dropped by the peleton later. What's that? What if they are not caught? Don't be silly!!!
Mercedes are not going to let this GC win slip away
Mercedes will chase this down comfortably and when the time comes they step aside and let the sprint teams do their work. Remember though Guillen could theoretically still steal the GC win off of Tolleson, he has to win though and this sprint should be competitive. With 4800m to go lets have a look at those trains.
A crowded track of trains!
On the far left you have Tolleson just behind the slow motion 100% Me Murray/Cavendish train. Next to that you have the bendy pace snake... Bimbo have come to the party with Rikki Nelson leading out Eisel and the Milka Nepo/Caspar train is next. Vespa really need a better sprint here its the Cassidy/Steegmans train with Sinner, Awang and finally Guillen. How does this develop...
Bimbo move forward
They have not really been involved in any of the sprints but they have saved something special for today as Nelson moves forward here its textbook leading out for Eisel. But Milka and Vespa are not too far behind. Cavendish has left Murray's wheel early and is drifting across.
1900m to go
The sprint starts and Vespa faded badly at the end, Bimbo still looking good. That is Degenkolb by the side of them by the way, it's safe for Tolleson on GC and possibly on points as well. Cavendish though is fighting his way up into the picture.
Under 1km to go
Eisel is making his jump here and Cavendish is not really motoring, threatening him now is Caspar on the right and Steegmans from behind.
500m to go
Nelson fades but Eisel has timed his move to perfection, the other minor placings will be taken by Caspar and Cavendish. Nothing at all for Steegmans.
Race saving win for Bimbo Nutella here who have had an excellent day
Caspar is second and Cav is third. Behin them rolling over in 8th is GC winner Tolleson.
Mercedes pick up a surprisingly easy victory in France
