Hilly stage, but the climb at the end is rather steep, and so provides another opportunity for all. Those like Schreurs and Dowsett, who are stronger in the hills than the mountains, will look to gain time on their rivals - or simply get a stage win - while the Spanish battle will no doubt continue.
Early attacks, and they take the first sprint - Vernaeck, Kwiatkowski and Anguilet
These 3 form part of a breakaway of 13 - Anguilet going for a 2nd day running, evidently looking to take over the KoM lead. Also in the break are: Cioban, Paquet, Haimy, Zito, Nystrand, Pidun, Gauer, Beatse, Sutterlin and for the first time in the race, a sight of the man so dominant in the U23 Division - Vandoussellaere
Theres no interest in the 2nd intermediate sprint, that Nystrand takes, but Anguilet attacks to take the first two KoM points - and he does indeed take the lead in the competition
And so we reach the key part of the stage, and the Santander and Mercedes led peloton are closing in on the breakaway, causing some to attack
Soon Beatse and Vernaeckt are the only ones left in the peloton. They are caught by a group of 8 that splinters briefly from the peloton - that includes Dowsett, Summerhill, Wallays, Costagli and Danacik. No urgency for these guys to press on - but Madrazo is attacking, Schreurs in tow - wheres Tenorio? A looong way back in the peloton.
Madrazo and Schreurs get a gap, and so as Wallays counters, so does Tenorio - but a significant part of this attack is simply getting to the front of the peloton
And while Tenorio attacks past them, Danacik, Brandt, Costagli, Dowsett and Wallays get a gap simply by being at the front, with Mach struggling to keep with them, and a gap emerging behind - the likes of Gulhammer, Eastman, and Summerhill all still in there
Tenorio's attack falls short, by 22 seconds, giving Madrazo the advantage alongside the company of Schreurs. Behind Tenorio, Costagli and Danacik have attacked and gotten away from Dowsett, preferring to ride tempo, who has Brandt and Wallays trying to hold with him
Madrazo leads over the top of the climb, Tenorio is close though, gap down to 17 seconds
Danacik has dropped Costagli, who in turn is being caught by Dowsett - still riding tempo, not attacking. Danacik incidentally is over a minute behind Tenorio.
Wallays and Brandt are still together, 2 and a half minutes down on the lead 2, then we have Mach, soon to be joined by Guldhammer - the Dane finally making his move. Summerhill has attacked aswell but not as well as Guldhammer, while Eastman is nowhere - throwing away all his hard work from yesterday
Into the descent then, Schreurs and Madrazo working together - gap just 15 seconds. And behind, Dowsett did finally make an attack just over the top - of course limited by the descent - which means he has caught Danacik
Guldhammer is descending well, he has passed Mach, and now catches Brandt and Wallays
5km to go, and still Tenorio has not caught up. Infact, the gap is increasing again - 20 seconds!
Summerhill and Mach are working together, looking to close in on the Guldhammer trio, who in turn chase Costagli, who in turn chases Dowsett and Danacik. Theres life again in the peloton aswell, as the road flattens - Boonratanathankorn able to attack away.
But up front we reach the sprint, and bang, Madrazo sleeps as Schreurs launches
Madrazo belatedly tries to respond, but his legs have nothing left, and Schreurs storms away to win the stage!
Madrazo takes 2nd place, gapped at 14 seconds - but a fading Tenorio finishes slower, 48 seconds behind Schreurs, 34 behind Madrazo - so Tenorio's race lead is reduced to 1'22.
Dowsett takes 4th from Danacik, 1'47 behind Schreurs
Costagli is caught in the final sprint by Brandt, Guldhammer and Wallays - their time loss is 2'57
Summerhill is next at 3'37 before some late attackers - thats Kennaugh in Green, and eventually a move by Eastman! Their gap is 3'48 - a gap that is shared by others who somewhat fortuitously get given the same time as them - first Betancourt and Mach, then Boonratanathanakorn, then Ryabkin, then Mat Amin
The Malaysian is barely ahead of the peloton, which is led in by Vandoussellaere, but as far as the time keepers are concerned, he has gained 52 seconds. Lucky!
Surprisingly there is a further loss for Wikipedia rider Tom Copeland. He had been up there in the Top 10, but somehow finished down in 64th today - losing a further minute than the main peloton lost.
