Today continues the run through Ohio with a 201km stage that finishes in Dayton. It is once again pretty much flat all day with barely any climbs out on course. The finale of the course is a 12.3km finishing circuit which the race will navigate 8 times. It is a technical circuit with a lot of 90 degree bends, though the final straight is about 1200 metres long. Add in the fact that it will be raining throughout most of today and you have a recipe for disaster. Yet another sprint finish is tipped, though we are yet to see a break stay away so today could well be the day!
It takes about 16km before anyone decides to put in an attack. Today it is Emilien Viennet and Nelson Oliveira who put in an attack up the road.
Viennet was in the break on stages 1 and 3, with stage 3 being a solo effort. He also wore the mountain jersey for one day after his effort on stage 3. Oliveira has not been in the break this race. He is a young rouleur with a great deal of promise so these two should pair up well to push a hard pace over the flatlands today.
The first sprint point approaches with the gap only at about 30 seconds and as such the sprinters look hungry. They sprint hard but not hard enough as Oliveira takes the points for first place across. Viennet could not push hard enough and as such Kip takes second with Greipel in third place.
The sprinters all slow up, however, and allow our two attackers to stay out in front. As such we have a two man breakaway.
At our second sprint Viennet leads over with Oliveira obviously in second. Viennet had 30 points before today started and might be looking for a way to sneak into the top 8 in the points competition just to get himself an extra ranking point or two. Back in the peloton there is another big sprint and Greipel again takes the two remaining points on offer. The gap stands at 4’27”
Greipel has been sprinting really well in these intermediate points the whole race but he remains without a stage win. Out of our 5 sprints so far he has been on the podium 4 times and that is what is keeping him in second place in the points competition.
At the third sprint point it is again Viennet who leads over with Oliviera in second. The gap stands at 4’53” to the peloton with 112km remaining and once again it is Greipel in third place, barely beating Serebriakov to the line. The gap in the points competition is down to 9 points and with no more intermediate sprints on offer it will all come down to the finishing line.
Our two riders up front reach the final circuit and pass under the start/finish banner for the first of eight times. Their lead is at 6’33”. The gap goes out to about 6’55” but with the start of the second lap the gap is coming back down slowly to 6’40”.
Another 40 seconds have been lost as they begin their third lap. But there is more going on in the peloton than just chasing as Seeldraeyers falls. He is currently sitting in 19th place. With the pace as high as it is things don’t look good for him today.
As the fourth lap starts the gap is down to 5’09”, meaning that almost a minute has been lost in the last 12km. But the peloton might have the sting taken out of their chase as two important domestiques fall. First off is Polito.
And then it is Monsalve.
Mercifully neither of them cause anyone else to come down. It does mean, however, that both Serebriakov and Greipel have lost a man who spends most of the day on the front and so Proximus are going to have to put in an even bigger effort to make up for their loss.
At the start of the fifth lap the gap stands at 4’12” and things are clearly still at a high pace because as the sixth lap starts the gap has come down to 3’19”. There are 37km remaining, so things are looking tight. Proximus are indeed the ones doing most of the chasing.
The gap is down to 2’10” at the start of the seventh lap but fatigue has clearly taken its toll as our two leaders are only 48” ahead as the final lap starts. They can see the peloton on the finishing straight behind them.
And with 8km remaining Hacecky makes the catch for the peloton. Proximus are doing almost all of the work on the front at the moment.
Once again it is Proximus who have the best train set up. WWE are trying to bring Greipel up and Serebriakov is hovering around his wheel.
And here are the lead-out trains once they are fully formed with 3500 metres to go.
The train on the right is: Kopp Uuguubayar Kip Teruel Sicard
And the train on the left is: Becerra Greipel Serebriakov Feillu Manan De Fauw Jorgensen
There are some interesting things going on here. Firstly, Sicard is well up there. He has been sprinting well and might be thinking of having a shot at the green jersey. Secondly, WWE’s train is not as strong as it should be, but most of the sprinters have put their faith in them.
Indeed with 2.3km left to the line, Greipel is forced to go.
With 1500 metres left he pulls past the Proximus train, which is now lead by Uuguunbayar. Teruel starts to make his move as well.
And Kip finds himself boxed in. He has left it too late! Greipel is starting to fade, and Serebriakov, Feillu and Teruel are all coming past him!
And it is Romain Feillu who has the strongest burst of speed today!
Serebriakov takes second. He has been on the podium for five straight sprints. Teruel is a remarkable third place. Manan continues his fine sprinting form with a fourth place. Kip will be disappointed with fifth after all the work that his team did. Sicard takes sixth and will be looking to improve on his points haul in the mountains. Greipel dropped back to seventh and this will hurt him in the points competition. De Fauw is in the top ten yet again in eighth. Uugunbayar and Kessiakoff round out the top ten.
Looking now at the jerseys, the only change is obviously in the points competition. Serebriakov has now extended his lead by another 5 points to be 20 points ahead of Greipel, who desperately needs a stage win to stay in contact. Manan, Feillu and Kip seem to be battling it out for third place in that competition.
