Stage 3 must be named the Queen stage of the race. It’s up and down the whole day, finishing with a short and explosive climb to the finish line. Koren
holds a very slim lead in the overall classifications, as he leads Ignatiev
with only 1 second. Ignatiev had a somewhat disappointing time trial yesterday, but he obviously hopes to get the yellow jersey back today. Another rider hoping for overall glory is Reus
The Dutchman won yesterday’s stage, and he’s only 4 seconds behind Koren. Of those 3, only Ignatiev
is named favourite for the stage, together with Roy Vansummeren
The riders are ready to roll. 191 kilometers of tough racing awaits them, luckily they’ve got nice weather; it's sunny and no wind to speak about.
It doesn’t take long before we’ve the first attacks of the day. Hopman Likhaya Van Belle Heymes Dumoulin Mourato Pineau
are the brave riders. It looks like Pineau is here only to mark the move, while it’s impressive to see Heymes Likhaya
go for it once again, after their breakaway try on stage 1.
California Focused
take response for the chase, but they seem happy to let them ride away. After 25 kilometers of racing, they’ve allowed the breakaway a gap of 2 minutes, and Poulhies
decides he can't wait any longer, and attacks.
It’s a brilliant chase by Poulhies
and he makes contact with the breakaway 155 kilometers away from the finish line.
Likhaya
got 6 mountain points on the first stage, and he clearly wants the mountain jersey today, as he’s the only one interested in the first mountain sprint, it gives him 10 solid points, which takes him to provisional 2 nd place in the mountain ranking. You can see the peloton behind, but the breakaway looks safe now. Going over the top, with 147 kilometers left, their gap is 3’30.
The peloton is relaxed, and California
is confident to let the 8 riders up front get a good gap. 130 kilometers from the finishing line, they’re chasing 5 minutes behind.
There’s no interest in the first intermediate sprint, and Mourato
rolls over first, followed by Pineau Poulhies
The peloton takes on today’s major difficulty with 92 kilometers left, and it’s Tinkoff Volkswagen Focused California
who dominate the front of the peloton, clearly determined to put their leader in prime position for the difficulty climb. The gap to the breakaway has grown though, and it’s now 8 minutes.
The 2nd mountain sprint is hotly contested, and it’s Dumoulin
who takes the maximum 16 points. Mourato Hopman Likhaya
follow behind. Likhaya’s 8 points makes him the current leader of the King of the Mountains competition.
Going over the top, it’s clear that the peloton isn’t relaxing anymore, and the tough pace on the climb forces a split. Only 24 riders are able to hang on in the first group. The most notable riders missing are home favourite Casar
and Belgian puncheur Vansummeren
Luckily for Bpost, Elijzen
is able to stay in the elite group, meaning he’s defending his overall position well. There’s still 87 kilometers left, which definitely should be interesting now, with only 24 riders in the peloton. They’re now 7’20 behind the breakaway.
Proximus Cerne
do a great job in the dropped group, which gives them contact with 80 kilometers left. But this is a rolling terrain, and the riders dropped on the big climb have to put themselves in a better position, if they’re not able to do that, they’ll most likely get dropped again on one of many short and steep climbs.
The 2nd intermediate sprint is more interesting than the first one for the breakaway riders. Poulhies
is superior, and takes the 6 sprint points by a good margin.
The peloton rolls through the intermediate sprint 5’40 behind the breakaway. There’s 56 kilometers left, meaning they’ve work to do!
Disaster for Casar
with 50 kilometers left! He crashes, and it looks like he’s considering to give up the race. At least he continues, but he’s 2’30 behind the peloton when he’s back on the bike.
Poulhies
starts his sprint a little late at the third intermediate sprint, and Mourato
takes the 6 points, ahead of Poulhies Pineau
They must feel they’re being controlled by the peloton, as their gap is getting smaller and smaller. With 38 kilometers left, they’re 3’45 ahead of the peloton.
But the breakaway puts up a real fight! They’re all together approaching the penultimate categorized climb, with 31 kilometers left, and their advantage is 3’30, can they surprise everyone today?
Dumoulin
times his move on the penultimate climb to perfection, and he beats Poulhies Likhaya
for the 10 points on offer, giving him 30 in total. Likhaya only gets 6 points this time, meaning he’s also up to 30 points in total. The final climb might decide who will wear the polkadot tomorrow.
Poulhies
decides to launch his attack for the stage win over the top of the climb! No one follows him, and he’s off on his own.
Volkswagen & Veikkanen
really hammers the pace on the climb, and most riders are forced to let go. Only 18 riders are left, with the biggest names still being there.
However, it’s horrible news for Bpost, as Vansummeren
is told to wait for Elijzen, who’s in a group 40 seconds behind the peloton. Bpost clearly rides for a good overall placing from Elijzen, but it also looks like they throw away a golden opportunity for Vansummeren.
But Bpost is quickly back on track, as Elijzen
makes contact with 25 kilometers left, just before we hit another steep climb. They’ve cut the gap to the breakaway aswell, it’s only 2 minutes now.
Poulhies attack led to nothing, and now Likhaya
realizes he had no chance head-to-head with Dumoulin
in the fight for mountain points, and he decides to play a surprising move on the final categorized climb. He attacks 2000 meters from the top, 14 kilometers away from the finishing line.
And now it’s serious back in the peloton! At the very same place as Likhaya
launched his attack, Van Goolen
attacks! No one immediately follows him.
Reus
picks up the pace, and catches Van Goolen
quickly, in fact, Van Goolen was only allowed 1000 meters up front. The favourites are well placed now, with Roy Koren
on Reus’ wheel, while Ignatiev
is solo on the left side of the road.
900 meters before the top of the climb, the yellow jersey himself attacks! Many experts say attack is the best defense, and Koren
clearly agrees! They’ve also caught the breakaway now, and the final 12 kilometers should be wide open, anyone still in the peloton can win this.
Dumoulin Pineau
manage to hold off Koren
on the climb, meaning Dumoulin secures the polkadot. But look at the gap they’ve got! It looks like a brilliant attack by Koren, has he decided the race already?
Few meters from the top, Reus
finally finds a way through the traffic, while Ignatiev
still struggles behind former breakaway riders, and he can only see Reus pull away.
Reus
immediately bridges the gap, giving us Koren Dumoulin Pineau Reus
half a minute in front of the riders remaining in the peloton.
No chance for Koren Reus
to get away here, Vansummeren
quickly chases them back for his leader Elijzen, who’s still at the back of the group.
Said to be a bad descender, Ignatiev
wants to prove otherwise and attacks with 7 kilometers left. Reus
is immediately on his wheel, the same is Clement
Elijzen
can’t afford to let those 3 riders ride away, and he finds power to attack with 5.9 kilometers left. Koren
is straight on his wheel, as he has to be together with Reus Ignatiev
if he’s going to defend his yellow jersey.
But their attack only speeds up the peloton, which means it's all together with 4700 meters to go. You must fancy Roy
for the stage win now, he hasn’t attacked once, but he’s sitting pretty in the peloton.
With 2300 meters left, Volkswagen Focused
are in control, with Ignatiev
trying to find space for himself on the right side of the road. He’s followed by Koren
while all other GC favourites are a bit behind in the group.
Ignatiev
finds a way to the very front with 1900 meters left. Isn’t that a bit early?
1 kilometer to go, and Ignatiev
holds on in the middle of the road. He’s challenged by Roy
on the left, Koren
on the right. A bit behind follows Clement Anacona Vansummeren
And here it comes, the crowd goes wild! Roy
powers to the front with 800 meters, looking for a brilliant win on home soil.
Not many riders are able to follow in this uphill sprint, and it creates splits everywhere in the group. Vansummeren Clement
are behind Roy Ignatiev Koren
but they’re in front of the rest of the group, where you can see Reus
finally launch his sprint on the left.
Roy
can celebrate a great stage win! His sprint was outstanding, no chance at all for Ignatiev
who must settle for 2nd place.
Koren
goes 3rd, but did he manage to make it on the same time as Ignatiev and Roy? The timekeepers are still holding back their decision. But Ignatiev
will have the yellow jersey anyway, question is how big his lead will be.
Vansummeren Clement
sprint well, and gets 4th and 5th. Especially Clement must be satisfied, as he will advance in the overall classification.
Reus
sprints desperately to limit his losses, but damage is done. He crosses the line in 6th, no doubt he has lost valuable time to his closest rivals.
Anacona & Brenes Boucher
lead home the peloton, but as you can see, there’s definitely gaps between the riders. Elijzen Van Goolen
are in the second row, which should be satisfying for both of them.
And here comes unlucky Casar
6 minutes behind fellow Frenchman Roy, his crash was a shame for his overall ambitions.
The organizers clearly reward the 3 first riders, as they’re given a 23 seconds gap to Vansummeren and Clement. Reus was 36 seconds behind, meaning Roy passes him in the overall ranking. Ignatiev now leads with 3 seconds to Koren, 38 seconds to Roy, and 52 seconds to Reus.
