This stage surely will mix up the whole rankings. Starting with some easier climbs the final climb with lots of steep sections and some flatter parts in between the mountain goats are asked to show something.
Big favourite for todays stage is
Jose Rujano
But also
Castano
Lövkvist
Pellizotti
Eastman
Lloret
are in a great position for a good overall as they haven`t lost time on the previous stages.
But surely you mustn`t forget riders like Efimkin, Ratiy or some other victims of the crash that will at least try to get a stage win today and maybe even come back.
Many riders attacked today. 8 of them form a first group.
Preidler, Zabel
Voeckler
Vandborg
Salgueiro
Thomson
Agnoli
Hasta
Another 6 riders trying to join the gap.
Anton
(Tinkoff) Belkov
Orozco
Antunes
Stubbe
Pozzo
Anton surely being the biggest name in this group. He lost some time in the crash yesterday, so this is a nice move by him today.
3 teams are doing the work in the peloton as they are not in the group and have big names for the overall: Cal Giant, Pirelli and Bianchi.
Rujano`s Pokerstars team still relaxing in the field.
With 80km to go both groups come together and have a 7min advance.
All of them were involved in the crash and lost 3'36 but Agnoli, who is just 1'29 back,
Biggest name for sure Igor Anton but many of them are decent climbers.
Many riders fight hard for the first mountain sprint. Voeckler wins ahead of Salgueiro and Belkov.
Zabel and Antunes are no longer able to follow the group and fall back.
The first riders have problems to follow the peloton and fall back. Many sprinters and other helpers will have a hard day to finish inside the time limit now.
2nd KoM is won by Salgueiro, who collected most points so far, ahead of Thomson and Belkov.
45km -> 4'30
A little surprise. It`s CSC`s Igor Anton having early problems on the small climbs. Obviously he is lightly injured from yesterdays crash. Bad luck for CSC as this would have been a good chance for a stage win at least.
With 20km to go some attacks out of the peloton. The final is obviously opened.
Ortega (+ 1'29)
Ratiy (+ 3'36)
Dueñas (+ 3'36)
Pretty fast they catch Igor Anton, who has big problems now.
But they are still 3min behind the front group.
Ratiy chasing the group solo now as the other two are not able to follow his pace. He looks much better recovered than Anton from the crash.
In the group it`s Voeckler accelerating and leading the race now. It will be hard to defend the lead with the pace being that high in the peloton now.
The yellow jersey of Haedo in big troubles. It must have been expected that he loses the jersey today, but he is not alone with this problem.
Big names like Lövkvist, Eastman, Txurruka, Martinez, Castano, Kolesnikov, Nicacio and Ochoa are also caught in the later group, while Rujano, Lloret and Pellizotti are still in the first group.
Lloret seems to feel good today. Easily he rides out of the peloton joining Dueñas and Ortega.
But all 3 are caught again by the now 18 riders group.
Next attacks are following immediately.
Pellizotti (+ 28)
Montenegro (+ 3'36)
Larsson (+ 3'36)
Time for Pokerstars to do something for Rujano. Also Bianchi is working again seeing that the next group around Castano is coming closer again.
And with 10km to go the 2nd group comes back including Lövkvist, Martinez, Ochoa, Txurruka, Eastman, Castano and Kolesnikov.
Nicacio still missing here and obviously won`t come back.
Again Lloret accelerates at the same moment. Pellizotti and Montenegro again following. No chance for the new joined favourites to follow as they are all at the end of the group.
Bad luck for Ratiy. He just reaches the breakaway when also the peloton comes from behind. So his solo chase was not really worth it but at least he tried.
So the race "starts" again. Who will attack next? Rujano was pretty defensive so far.
Obviously Montenegro risked too much today as he falls back now after all his attacks. Also Soler, Rutkiewitz and Preidler fall back.
Just 13 riders in the first group.
Most important in this group:
Rujano
Castano
Pellizotti, Agnoli
Lövkvist, Salgueiro
Eastman
Lloret
Ratiy
(Tinkoff) Efimkin
Osella
But a few more riders are coming from behind again.
With 8km to go Castano attacks. Parra Bustamante and Rujano immediately follow him as also Lloret and Pellizotti.
Castano, Rujano and Pellizotti are clearly the strongest on the climb and have a small gap to the Lloret/Lövkvist group with just 2km to go.
Rujano gaps his opponents in the final sprint with Castano/Pellizotti fighting for the 2nd, Lövkvist/Lloret coming next ahead of the next group.
So obviously the strongest on the stage are also the riders that haven`t lost time so far.
Jose Rujano wins the stage and 33s on the next two Castano and Pellizotti.
55s later Lövkvist wins the sprint against Lloret for the 4th with Ratiy being 6th another 24s later...
...ahead of the strong former breakaway riders Agnoli, Belkov and Salgueiro, who will wear the KoM jersey tomorrow as also Efimkin and Eastman, who had a solid ride but maybe too exhausted for any attacks due to his pace working on the previous two stages.
Team WWE had a bad day today with Sörensen/Txurruka losing 2'42 today as also Ochoa (2'56)
And worst for Cerne`s Nicacio, who had best chances for a top10 after avoiding the crash but losing more than 6min today ruins all hopes.
Good news for the sprinters, who are all allowed to continue the race.
