So the first, and toughest hilly stage - but just how decisive can it be? All the tough climbs are some way before the finish, with only the one small one to test the riders closer to the finish line.
It looks like the sprinters will get a go at the early intermediate sprint .. but so close to it we get, and some attacks. Munro wins it from Goodfellow and Navid.
Those 3 form a group of 17 ... but are caught. But it is a day for a large break though - and 22 riders eventually get clear - this could be dangerous if the peloton dont keep a close watch throughout.
And at the first KoM, Nygren takes the points from Cabrera Gonzalez and Munro
Here we see a better view of all 22 - a few teams have got more than 1 rider in here - and Sony Ericsson even have 3. Of them, Nygren trys again at the next KoM but is well beaten by Schaffer, with Laengen in 3rd
Schaffer and Nygren are clearly the two interested parties in the KoM jersey. Nygren's problem is, he isnt relaying, so his attacks come from too far back. Schaffer does relay, but is also too back at the next climb to only salvage 3rd behind Tieri and Brown. No mistakes next time around though, with Tieri again scoring well in 2nd, and Munro 3rd
And so we head to the 5th and final climb. Corwin, Bezemer, Morkov and Skogen have been dropped by the break, and caught by the bunch. Three riders went the other way though, Da Luz, Landa and Lechuga
Theres a 9% gradient on the climb, so while the peloton seem close to the now 21 man break, theyre actually 2 minutes behind
Holt, Nygren, Nystrand, Ziesler and Shmalko are the next to be detached from the breakaway, before a split occurs at the front. Anguillet is on the front, Coelho, Cabrera Gonzalez, Landa and Tieri are with him. It seems like Munro couldnt follow the pace, and yet he manages to drag himself back up to make it 6 in front - so its a mystery as to how that gap developed. But it grows, and while Lechuga tries to bridge across solo, Coelho leads them over the top. Schaffer is in the last of the scoring positions back in 7th, and takes the KoM jersey by 12 points from Munro.
5 attackers from the peloton over the top. 2 Red Bull riders: Roe and Williamson, plus Michely, Gmelich and Lund
These 5 bridge up to the group of 9 from the break, and the situation with 35km to go is that the 6 leaders have roughly 45 seconds on Lechuga, with another 40 seconds to this now group of 14, and a minute 20 more back to the peloton - so the peloton actually lost time on the climb, to the breakaway - danger!
But now here comes the madness, attacks galore from the peloton.
Race leader Bar is amongst the first to look interested, but stops before getting a gap. Khalilikhosroshani is the first to get a gap on the peloton, closely followed by Herrada, Vandousellaere, Battaglin, Stamsnijder and Sai-Udomsin. Stage winner Bercz, Pereira, Guardiola Tora and Rodriguez also go - and aha, there is Bar once again, going for it properly this time. All these attacks quickly swamp that group of 14.
Bar, Guardiola Tora, and Pereira reach Lechuga, along with Wurz from the intial break. Bar, Guardiola Tora and Wurz press on to reach the front group of 6. Chasing them are Pereira, Kiprotich, Tedros, Sgrigna, Lechuga, Vandoussellaere and Bodiot
We're onto the last of the climbing today, and some of the few remaining break have enough left to respond to the recent attacks, Tieri jumps away first but it is Anguillet who is strongest and moves past him
Plenty of action behind still, but a lot of the groups are starting to merge together back into the peloton. And over the top very few remain clear, there's Anguillet, then Tieri at 25 seconds, and another 30 to Gmelich, who is just ahead of all others back in the peloton.
Anguillet is increasing his lead over Tieri as we hit 5km to go, while Gmelich is caught as Bar - not content to wait for a sprint for 3rd - attacks again. (As does Vandoussellaere further back) Theres a descent getting in the way here though.
Bar will have to bid farwell to his race lead then, as the Gabonese rider Charles Anguillet is well and truly clear - extending his lead on Tieri all the way to the line - he wins the stage, and takes the race lead!
The sprint in the peloton is not particularly organised, but Williamson, Khalilikhosroshani, and Costa emerge as front runners as they close in on Tieri
Tieri just hold on for 2nd - although with a decent TT stat (67), he would have so much liked to have gotten a gap - while its Williamson 3rd, from that Iranian, Costa, Lodewijk, Mas and Cronshaw.
Its a 72 man group who finish together behind Anguillet, with Bar slipping to 2nd overall having taken 13th place on the stage. The Top 71 in GC all remain in contention, no more than a minute behind Anguillet (2nd to 71st being separated by just 20 seconds). A lot of the stronger time triallers got dropped today, but one who didnt, is Pokerstars' Vandoussellaere.
