It is very much the calm before the storm today, though it is one of those notorious short circuit races that so often can cause surprising results.
Regardless for the points jersey contenders it is important to keep the high finishes coming with yesterdays stage winner Ashley Hutchinson
currently holding the points jersey.
The pack do seem resigned to allowing the sprinters having their day as we see far less attacking than usual with just six riders going away.
Andreas Anderegg Pekka Jääskeläinen Guillaume Blot Owen Fabbro Piotr Brzózka Jaoa Costa
are the ambitious riders looking for what seems an unlikely breakaway win. Perhaps it was worth the gamble but Eurovision likely resigned to losing the leaders jersey on the mountain stage tomorrow are not going to give any gifts away today.
Towards the end of the stage we do see some action with Brett Lancaster
and Adonis Cardoso Española
The latter AMEX rider looking to move himself up into GC contention a day early!
Looking for the sprint now Eurovision no longer are at the front with Samsung Mol and Vodafone chasing hard for their sprinters. They pull everything back together too.
However as we enter the last 10km one of the Samsung riders takes a tumble and it is one of their climbers and fairly well placed on GC Iván Melero
Even more dramitically though we get an massive multi rider pile up with about 7km to go.
Some of the names involved are Aleksandr Bespalov Juri Krivtsov Ino Ilesic Ronald Gonzalez
and John Freddy Agudelo
Up front the sprint trains are forming and we have three distinct ones today with Vodafone looking to set it up for Thomas Murray
Samsung Mol once again for Daniel Thorsen
and Dyson thinking of Simon Gaywood
Samsung Mol once again look to have control they have stage one winner Ivan Stevic
with Pawel Szaniawski
and Martin Kohler
there.
Mike Friedman
is following Murray with Mahdi Sohrabi
following Gaywood.
Awang puts on the afterburners but once again Thorson doesn't really react properly. The Malaysian doesn't get the gap today though as Vodafone and Dyson are right there with him under the kite.
Kohler makes a move up the right hand side as Gaywood makes a decisive early dart to the left to deny Murray space. Awang and Sohrabi lacking speed rather block the middle.
Gaywood having launched early comes under pressure as Murray prises an opening to the left of him Friedman, Stevic and Kohler are battling for third.
On the line Gaywood really has to sprint through to take it.
Murray takes second, with Friedman managing to follow through for third. Friedman takes the points jersey today. But the stage win glory belongs to Dyson and Simon Gaywood.
Towards the end another GC candidate seems to have lost touch and it is one of the UPC boys in Remmert Wielinga
he loses 1.34.
Jose Chacon finished over four minute back, some way ahead of the Gonzalez/Agudelo group a major set back for the South American teams in their own back yard.
