The last stage shouldn`t be too selective and maybe even sprinters like Davis, Dall`Antonia or Marinangeli have chances here as the slopes aren`t too hard.
On the other hand it`s just 11s between Castano and Rujano and also the other top10 places are still pretty close together, so some riders might want to improve with a strong attack.
Rodas Vandborg
and Preidler
with a first attack.
They are soon joined by Rooijakkers
and (Tinkoff) Petrov
As also by Brolin Mollema Elijzen
and Dieteren
None of them is able to get enough points today to win the KoM jersey from Salgueiro. Also former KoM leader Dieteren could maximum reach the 2nd in this ranking if taking the high points today.
3min back Aramendia
and Martins
are trying to close the gap. But as duo against 9 riders it`s pretty hard.
So these 9 first named riders form the break of the day.
Best placed rider is Tinkoff`s Petrov as 39th and 7'38 back.
Pokerstars is obviously not too worried about that break and allows them a bigger gap while relaxing in the peloton.
Nothing to see from the sprinter teams, so they obviously don`t expect any chances here.
Big fight for the last KoM sprint of this race although none of them can influence the decision. Dieteren is not even sprinting for the points although the 2nd would have been a good result for Koppert.
Rodas wins ahead of Elijzen and Preidler but as none of them had a single point before it`s more a small bonus.
So Salgueiro surely wins the KoM jersey.
With 100km to go and a gap of 9'30 it`s Pantano Gomez doing all the work alone. Obviously Davis feels good today and sees a good chance for a stage win.
Almost 50km later it`s still only Pantano Gomez doing all the work but at least he gained 4min on the group. Obviously the other teams in especially Pokerstars and the other sprinter teams don`t see any reason to support him. 54km -> 5'30
After 55km of solo working Pantano Gomez has to relax and falls back. Pokerstars is presenting their jerseys in the front rows again but the pace is that slowing down again and the group can extend the gap again.
Now it will be hard to catch these 9 riders.
And with 34km to go Petrov again has the virtual lead as the gap is again at 8min. Can the Russian make the big coup today? What are the top 10 riders thinking here allowing him such a huge gap?
At least some teams recognize the danger and accelerate hoping for a good outcome.
The stage win surely goes to one of this group with Roijakkers being in the worst position leading the train into the final kilometers.
With 1,5km to go Vandborg-Dieteren-Elijzen are opening the real sprint on the right with Roijakkers still leading the left train with Mollema-Rodas-Preidler being a bit behind in between these trains.
Somehow Mollema found a gap and comes to the front being by far the fastest.
The Dutch celebrates a nice win ahead of Elijzen and Vandborg.
Great sprint skills shown by him and well deserved.
When does the peloton finish? How much time can Petrov gain on them and where will he land in the overall rankings?
Allan Davis leads the full peloton over the line as 10th. The clock stopped at 6'25, so no danger for the podium riders. But surely Davis will be pissed now as their team tried to chase the break down but had no support at all.
Also disappointment at Cal Giant and Eastman as they lost the 6th to Petrov, who made a big jump today and takes care for some more points for Tinkoff as their former leader Efimkin lost all chances in the crash. With 2 riders in the top 10 they might be more pleased than before.
But most important the big win for Rujano ahead of Castano and Pellizotti. Surely a big motivation for Pokerstars in the next races.
Obviously their seasons turns around a bit. Interesting to follow if this lucky phase continues.
