The final stage of the race takes us to St Georges, and while the hill in this circuit appears similar to that of Stage 6, the circuit is shorter, so it will be climbed more - making it the hardest of the 3 hilly criteriums.
Fredrik Kessiakoff holds a 55 second lead on JJ Cobo, but its far from over. Cobo is stronger on the hills, and has previous, having grabbed the overall victory of the Euskal Bizikleta with a final stage triumph. It promises to be a good battle, but its not all about them. Theres only 30 seconds between 3rd and 4th Larsson and Grabovski, and just 18 in the 5th-8th battle of Ruijgh, De Greef, Raisin and Stetina.
It takes 60km of waiting for anything to happen, before finally, Hivert launches an attack
The ever-aggressive Dionne follows, as doe Weiss and stage-winner Capecchi. And whats this? Saul Raisin too!
At 7th overall he could be a marked man - and that proves to be, despite the fact that he is 5 minutes down on Kessiakoff and Cobo. The peloton are chasing, so next lap round on the main climb, the other 4 attack away from him - except he just rides back up to them
ElAl dont seem very popular right now, as another move sees both Dionne and Raisin dropped - and the peloton doesnt stop until both are then caught, on the next climb of the hill.
The now break of 3 is soon granted a 2 minute gap, but Telenor and Santander are still able to keep things stretched behind. 37km to go, and surely soon, the battle will commence
And you cant hold him down for too long. We cross the finish line on the main hill once again, 30km to go, and off goes Raisin oncemore!
Also fancying another go, Dionne attacks aswell in the response, the best placed Canadian in the race up to 20th overall after the previous stage, but more importantly is the rest of the countermove. Theres Larsson, Kessiakoff, Grabovski and Ruijgh.
Wheres Cobo? Here he goes, a little late though.
Help arrives for him in the shape of Lorenzetto and Ljungblad - who we have already established has no worries working against teammate Larsson
The leading attack of 6 catches the early break - Raisin and Dionne can afford to raise a smile, but not for long - 2 laps, or 20km, to go and Grabovski leads some new attacks
Cobo's struggling cause now receives help in the form of Stetina, attacking past from the peloton - followed by Sagan and Guerao
Given a spark of life once again, Cobo now gets his legs moving again and gets himself back to the same group as Kessiakoff - albeit with Larsson and Ruijgh slipping away up front
Grabovski is chasing Larsson and Ruijgh, but here we go Ljungblad again chasing his teammate, with Kessiakoff again looking to benefit - but Cobo is closing in on Kessiakoff. In fact, forget that, the Spaniard flies past!
Cobo joins Grabovski, while Ljungblad gets back up to him - but crucially, theres now a gap to Kessiakoff
It takes a 3km chase for Kessiakoff to chase and rejoin Cobo, but just a kilometre later we see Cobo attack again. Grabovski and Ljungblad are following, Kessiakoff must do the same!
But he doesnt, at least, not immediately. It takes the gap to rise to 20 seconds, and for Sagan to join him, to realise his mistake and now he has put himself right back onto the back foot
And heres exactly what he did not want to happen, and its his fault. He fails to rejoin Cobo - who has now linked up at the front with Larsson and Ruijgh
Cobo is pressing on here - he has the gap he needs on Kessiakoff, and the prospect of time bonuses to further secure it!
Grabovski and Ljungblad get up to form a front group of 5. Cobo wont mind, its 5 v 1 with 5km to go - and already Kessiakoff is 56 seconds down! Cobo is into virtual race lead with so little racing left
No such thing as Swedish teamwork in this race. If Ljungblad wont help Larsson, he certainly wont help Kessiakoff. The gap remains 56 seconds, now 2.3km to go
An extra IKEA rider appears, as the 5 leaders lap Brolin, but with just over 1km to go Cobo is launching away. As well as the gap edging up to 59 seconds, he is perfectly placed for time bonuses
Hope for Kessiakoff? Ruijgh shoots past Cobo, as Ljungblad also looks faster
Its a stage victory for Ruijgh, as he secures 5th overall and the young rider jersey. 2nd for Ljungblad, and he moves up to 10th overall with Florencio lagging again, and there is a time bonus here for Cobo - he is 3rd.
Kessiakoff has given it his all, but he fell apart in the final kilometre, eventually losing 1'20. He has ridden so well in this race, but ultimately its dissapointment, and 2nd overall
So Cobo has done it again, a 2nd Stage race victory of the season, both by grabbing the race lead on the final stage - a nice boost to Santander's promotion hopes.
