Coming to the last hilly stage in Japan. With under 100km but lots of hills it`s a dangerous route as splits will surely appear.
Also the fight for the KoM will be decided today as there are no sprints tomorrow. With 24 points to win it`s only the top 5 being able to win this competition and it`s pretty unlikely that Gadret goes for it in a long range attack. So it`s only Sambris or Sano, who can challenge Vorganov there.
But more interesting might be the stage and especially overall result. Froome absolutely convinced in the hilly stages so far being the big favourite today. After losing some time on Mt Fuji he surely wants to come back into the fight for the podium.
Also Ben Nasser became more offensive in the last stages, willing to improve.
On the podium spots it`s De la Fuente, who surely wants to stay in the lead. So far he was always concentrated and maybe the most consistent next to Augustyn, who was always in a good position. He might be the Spaniard`s biggest challenger if he sets an strong attack today.
But also Gadret will have big ambitions after yesterdays win. He started with the goal to win the race, so he surely won`t stop now.
Pretty weird race. No team is really doing the pace but still a first split happens after only 7km. And this one is a huge one as you can identify the yellow jersey of De la Fuente there.
But he isn`T the only one being behind. Also runner-up Augustyn was too far behind with the Jayco duo Moreno & Vorganov.
However, no team is doing the pace and so everything is running together. This could have been the chance for Gadret actually.
De la Fuente learned and comes to the front covered by Aramendia. These two also take the first KoM sprint ahead of De Maar. Still no attacks or even someone fighting for the points here.
With 74km to go another split. And it`s again Augustyn, who wasn`t concentrated. He should surely leave the last rows to avoid these splits. Also Vorganov is caught behind, but at least the KoM jersey looks a bit safer after 1/4 KoM sprints.
Augustyn and Vorganov are back in the peloton again. But a 2nd group is still behind. It`s riders like Bobridge or Gutierrez Palacios being the most popular there. So all top 15 riders are together.
68km to go and still no attacks and also the pace is not that high.
Ben Nasser, De la Fuente and Froome riding next to each other in the first row. Probably the best way to avoid any splits.
Also other top15 riders like Niemiec, Gadret, Kessiakoff, Lloyd and Costa are seen in these first rows.
Finally the Bobridge group is back. The Australian is surely under performing here at the moment always crashing and splitting so far. Still he is leading the U25 ranking.
2nd KoM and again no one is fighting for the points. Kilun takes 6 points ahead of Mazur and Pozzo. Good to see these 3 teams starting with some work, which looks at least a bit similar to pace working.
Also the 3rd KoM is won by Kilun ahead of the Bianchi duo Mazur and Aramendia.
Only 25km to go and still no attacks. Bianchi having full control now with 4 riders ahead of De le Fuente. This might become the most boring stage of the season. It`s like they refusal to work today for some reason.
As expected the first riders in the peloton also takes the last points. De Maar ahead of Appleby and Rooijakkers. This also means that Vorganov is winning the KoM jersey of the Tour of Japan. He just has to finish the race now safely.
With Rapha and Proximus coming to the front they surely plan something in the final.
And indeed it`s Ben Nasser with the first attack of the day after 87km and just 11km to the finish line.
After running together again 3 riders are attacking just 2km later. Ben Nasser Proni Costa
Froome and Kessiakoff (The one in the background) follow these 3.
Due to this acceleration another split. No top 15 rider this time. The race finally started.
With 7km to go all attackers are caught again but some riders use this situation for a new attack. Ben Nasser Kessiakoff
And for the first time today Gadret
But De la Fuente is looking super strong once more again joining these 3 without bigger problems. Also Froome and Moreno are trying to join them solo.
The Brit even overtakes them and goes ahead with only Ben Nasser following a bit behind.
Augustyn and Costa mainly bring the others back supported by Ferrari and Meiji, who have a pretty calm day so far.
Not willing to allow the puncheurs a too big gap De le Fuente attacks again and this really splits the group behind, which is down to 12 now including all top 10 riders.
Froome is starting the sprint with 1km to go but Ben Nasser is coming fast from behind being the better sprinter. This will be a close one for sure.
But it`s again Froome, who totally dominated the 3 hilly stages with his 3 stage wins in Japan. Ben Nasser would have needed another 500m to take the win.
The question now is how much time they gained on the rest and where they will be in the overall afterwards.
Proni finishing on a strong 3rd ahead of De la Fuente and Gadret. No time gaps in this group but unlucky Gadret is losing the podium by just 1s to Froome today. Also Ben Nasser is climbing one step up overtaking Meiji`s Lloyd, who was really invisible today.
4 riders had to abandon. List under the results again.
