The transition is over, time to head to the Alps! This hilly stage to Mont Coloimbis is merely the start - but with the race so close, it could be a crucial one. Cunego does like the hills, much more so than Madrazo. Trofimov of course won the earlier hilly stage in Corsica - and could make it a hatrick for Sony Ericsson - and his 5th stage of the race.
But the break is sure to keep trying!
Bak and Zubeldia are the first to attack, and contest the first KoM
1
LY. Bak
2
H. Zubeldia
3
MA. Rubiano Chavez
Plenty more attacks go, but Cunego is keeping a close eye on just how is getting away - making sure it is nobody dangerous.
Everybody wants in on the breakaway. Sony and Bacardi are amongst those to chase it down, to then allow Muravjev and Perget to join the attack.
The following riders all made attempts to get away:
LY. Bak
H. Zubeldia
A. Moinard
C. Riblon
G. Brizuela
I. Bibby
R. Kreuziger
S. Duret
S. Pauwels
A. Zeits
D. Mehr-Wenige
J. El Fares
S. Zahner
D. Summerhill
L. Ten Dam
Y. Offredo
D. Holloway
D. Muravjev
M. Perget
But eventually, only 11 actually make it into the break that is allowed to build a gap.
D. Holloway
L. Ten Dam
R. Kreuziger
S. Duret
A. Moinard
A. Zeits
C. Riblon
D. Mehr-Wenige
G. Brizuela
I. Bibby
D. Summerhill
Sprint:
1
A. Zeits
2
S. Duret
3
D. Holloway
And the lead just grows and grows. 65km to go, and the gap is 14 minutes. This is definately the day of the breakaway!
Cafe de Colombia are quite happy to roll along.
A notable member in the breakaway is Sebastian Duret, our King of the Mountains leader. He leads Lalouette by 31 points, but in the long terms, perhaps of more importance is his current 50 point lead over Cunego.
He's shown to be lacking in the actual mountains, but today is an opportunity to extend his lead.
1
S. Duret
2
L. Ten Dam
3
I. Bibby
4
D. Mehr-Wenige
5
A. Moinard
Struggling over the top is Dan Holloway. He really has picked some of the hard stages to go for the breakaway, they never really suit him - but then, Morabito and an injured Fothen aside, Festina didnt really pick a climbing team for this race.
Sticking with the Americans, it is interesting to see Danny Summerhill has finally gone for a long range move. He has spent much of this race following Cancellara in making pointless late attacks on the flat stage. Cancellara has missed a trick by not emulating Summerhill today - and infact, no Carmeuse riders have made it on one of their better chances to score ranking points. Indeed, the presence of Andrey Zeits brings Spyker a much needed opportunity for points - with 11 in the break, only 1 rider is going to score nothing.
1
S. Duret
2
L. Ten Dam
3
A. Moinard
As Duret continues to pick up KoM points, the other two Frenchmen will be amongst those in the break trying to store energy for the final dash to the line. Amael Moinard may well fancy his chances in an uphill finish, and will be desperate for a stage win chance after coming so close in Stage 9, leading until the final few hundred metres. UBS stopped him that day with Tschopp, and Christophe Riblon is the other Frenchman in this group.
Riblon is one of just three riders out of the 11 who are in their first break of this race - theyve waited for the moment and picked the right one! Argentine Gabriel Brizuela is one, and the other is Wiggle's Ian Bibby. The Brit has been better known for his crashes so far in this race - having come down on Stages 4, 6, and 12. Even stages not having worked for him until day - but he has at least dodged any damaging injuries.
For Roman Kreuziger meanwhile, as well as Duret, this is his fourth breakaway! He is rewarded for his consistent efforts today.
The lead is now over 20 minutes as we approach the 3rd KoM at 20 km to go.
1
I. Bibby
2
L. Ten Dam
3
D. Mehr-Wenige
So, Duret misses out on points on this climb - perhaps he is starting to feel the lactic acid kick in in his legs - it's been an easy day for the break, but still a challenging one. And behind Bibby are two riders who are perhaps started to show their good legs ready for the finale.
Laurens Ten Dam may not be Chavanel, who his manager would surely prefer in the breakaway, but he has taken 2nd in all the day's climbs and a hilly stage is better suited to him than when he went on the attack in Stage 11. Then there's Dietmar Mehr-Wenige. It's a hilly stage, and he has the best hilly stat amongst the breakaway. He couldnt quite hold off Trofimov after being in the break on the Corsican stage - and now is a much better chance. Vesuvio keep just missing out on the stage win here, will that change?
Holloway is now out of the running though. A break of 10 takes the descent towards Mont Colombis, with 10km to go.
The peloton have taken things very easily. So much so that some riders have apparantely fallen asleep. They are both on the 3rd Climb of the day, and 90 riders have suddenly been dropped!
The best placed riders in this 2nd group are:
J. Rodriguez Oliver
P. Velits
J. Hoogerland
D. Cataldo
18km down the road, rather than 22km to go, there is 4km to go. Moinard leads on to the Mont Colombis climb. He led out the battle in the final kilometres of Stage 9, and now does so again.
But Moinard is alert to the danger and responds, with Bibby also tracking the moves.
Moinard is trying to win this before the final kilometre, and is moving clear - but Bibby is not being easy to throw off.
Mehr-Wenige has been caught napping, but the Deutsch screams of one of his fans brings him to life with the Kilometre banner in sight.
It may already be too late, as Bibby surges away from Moinard on the 10% slope. Hilly stage it may be, but the mountain-like gradients really favour Bibby here.
And he takes the victory! A first Tour de France stage win for the Wiggle team.
Having quickly closed the gap to Moinard, Mehr-Wenige didnt have anything left to offer. So it's the second second place of the race for Moinard. He gave it his all, but was never going to beat Bibby.
Ten Dam wins the battle for 4th, ahead of Kreuziger, Zeits and Summerhill. Then the French pair of Duret and Riblon.
Brizuela trailks in 2 minutes down, while Holloway finishes 11th at 5 minutes.
So now we cut to the peloton. Still that front group of 65 has a 90 second advantage, and after most of the day off, there's 4km of effort to come - and a chance for some small time gaps perhaps?
Spilak certainly thinks so. And it is all Yellow, as Cunego responds!!
Trofimov tries to respond, as does Dekker. But its as if a lot of the leaders expected a simple ride to the line. Theyve been truly caught out, and while Madrazo does come to the fore in the final kilometre, he is throwing vital seconds away!
Cunego beats Spilak for 12th. 18 and a half minutes since Bibby finished.
Trofimov and Madrazo are next. Theyve lost 29 seconds - so Cunego has effectively doubled his lead! But the gaps don't end there!
Taaramäe is another 9 seconds later - with the timekeepers really being keen on gaps here, as if to punish the peloton for their lazyness.
Then its 6 more seconds to van der Hugenhaben, Kashechkin and Dekker.
6 more seconds to a Pluchkin led group of 11 including Amador, Martin, and a possibly no-longer injured Fothen.
Add another 19 seconds for a group with Phinney, Karpets, and Uran - putting these 3 at over a minute's loss to Cunego.
And its 20 more seconds until the group with Henao and Popovych!
Some of these riders simply started the final kilometre too far down the group. There was no narrow road issues, but slower riders infront do leave gaps, and it has proven costly. So on a day when Wiggle celebrate victory, they can also curse the carelessness of their team leader.
Cunego remains in the jersey, while Duret picked up 15 important KoM points today. Madrazo remains in White, and is surely favourite to take that to Paris, while the break of course had a big effect on the teams classification for those who missed the move. Sony Ericsson, Nestle and B&O now fall well behind there. Nestle were particularly badly hit as their 3rd best rider, Joaquin Rodriguez, finished way down in 149th, some 7 minutes behind Cunego, presumably having waited on Lo Cicero.
UBS, Wiggle and Vesuvio remain within 5 minutes of each other at the top, while Wikipedia are 10 minutes behind leaders UBS.
