Today’s stage is a 154km stage that is fairly lumpy. There are five categorised climbs, meaning that anyone who wants the mountain jersey has to be in the break today. The last 20km of the run-in are slightly downhill, so there will be a decent chance for any splits in the peleton to be brought back together.
The first attack on today’s stage is from Michael Vink. He is followed by William Maesen and Tomas Swift-Metcalfe.
They are joined almost immediately by three more riders: Bram Tankink Brad Armstrong Mike Egger
And then another four: Tesfar Teklit Bjorn Selander Thomas Fothen Huub Duyn
And finally one more bridger – William Connolly
Red Bull like they are going to chase this down, as do Bianchi, but they eventually sit up and let them get away. This gives us a large leader’s group of 11 riders.
The first mountain on the menu for today is only about 500 metres in length but it averages about 10%. This really tests the legs of the riders up front and it is Tankink who comes over the top first, ahead of Selander and then Teklit.
With Selander’s points from the first day’s break this puts him in the provisional mountain jersey, but there are many more climbs to come today. The lead over the bunch is 6’28” with 107km to go.
The second climb is rather steep then it goes out to a false flat that leads to the points. There are a lot of attacks for these points too and it is Selander who goes over first this time, ahead of Vink and then Tankink.
The lead is now at 7’20” with 89 to go. The peleton looks like it is starting to get organised, however, as Bianchi, Rothaus and Pirelli all show interest in helping out on the front.
Going on to the third climb of the day, this one is about 6km in length with an average of 5-6%. Despite not being as steep, some of the legs in this group look like they are hurting and only four riders attack. Selander once again takes the maximum points, ahead of Tankink and then Vink this time. Selander really looks like he wants this jersey and he is going about getting it the right way.
With 73km remaining the gap has started to slowly fall and it is now at 6’53”. With the organisation on the front things should start falling even faster, though.
At the sprint point Fothen takes the bonus time ahead of Teklit and then Maesen. It is a bit surprising that Selander didn’t go for this, given that he is well placed on GC, but he is probably tired from attacking at the mountain points.
With 55km to go, there is finally some a stirring in the peleton. Two riders leap out – Simon Gerrans and Dainius Kairelis. Gerrans in particular is dangerous on this type of course.
They have a gap of about 5’20” to come across, which is a tough ask. They do succeed in getting a solid gap of about 40” over the front of the bunch, however.
The fourth of five climbs for the day is about 3km in length with an average gradient once again between 5 and 6%. This proves too much for the legs of Connolly, who, truth be told, has done well to get this far today. At the top of the climb Tankink takes the maximum points ahead of Vink and then Teklit. Selander seems confident in how many points he has, as he doesn’t seek to challenge when Tankink jumps away.
Armstrong was tailed off over the top, but he fights his way back in. Still, it isn’t a good sign with one more tough climb left. Over the top the gap between the break and Gerrans/Kairelis is 2’57” and then there are another 41” back to the peleton, with 34.5km still to ride.
The leaders get to the final categorised climb of today’s tough course. This is a brute of a climb. It is only 1.5km in length but it averages over 8%, maxing out with a section of 10%. Neither Armstrong-Metcalfe nor Armstrong can follow this pace, and they are dropped for good. At the very top it is an unexpected list of names as Teklit takes the maximum ahead of Duyn and then Vink. Neither Tankink nor Selander could challenge for these points, but Selander has done enough to secure the jersey anyway, with a slim lead of only 2 points over his rival.
Over the top the gaps are almost the same as they were over the previous climb, with the peleton only 2 seconds closer. With the major difficulties out of the way and a slightly downhill run-in it is looking better and better for the breakaway.
The peleton puts the hammer down, however, and you can tell that the pressure is really on as several riders are tailed off. The biggest names are Moinard, Giaux and Colorado.
The break continues to work well together but as they realise that they are going to be fighting each other for the stage win, there are mutterings of discontent. The first one to give voice is Maesen, who launches an attack with 12km remaining.
He can’t really get away as Teklit keeps the pace high. Seeing how unsuccessful this effort was, everyone else is just happy to leave things as they are and try their luck in the group sprint. Their lead over the peleton is just under the 3 minutes mark right now.
Gerrans and Kairelis catch up to the two recently dropped riders, and they are still 40” ahead of the peleton. They are putting in a lot of effort for not much gain.
Up front he peleton start off their sprint. Fothen leads everyone out, with Selander on his wheel. No one here is a particularly strong sprinter so this could get quite messy
The first man to really launch himself is Duyn, who has Tankink on his wheel. Already Maesen is struggling and starts to slip backwards.
As Duyn comes up to him, Teklit decides that now is the time to come off Selander’s wheel, with Vink trying to come up the inside.
Duyn comes to the front, with Teklit in second and closing. Tankink is still in a good position.
But what’s this? Selander finds a gap with a big burst of speed!
And he comfortably takes the stage win! Great news for Hollister!
Duyn is in second and Egger just beats out Teklit for third place. Vink, Tankink and Fothen cross the line, slightly disappointed. 32” later Maesen rolls over.
2’04” after Selander, Gerrans leads over Swift-Metcalfe and Kairelis.
The peleton is lead in 47” after the time of Gerrans, 2’51” back from Selander by none other than the yellow jersey himself. He has enjoyed his one day and shouldn’t feel too bad that it slipped off his shoulders. The group that was tailed off doesn’t come back and ends a minute down on the peleton.
Looking at the jerseys today, it is no surprise that Selander takes yellow. He also has the points jersey. And the mountain jersey. Oh, and the young rider jersey too. But the question is this – how will he fare on tomorrow’s mountain stage?
