Today's stage is once again made for hilly riders. The sprinters will definitely be eliminated - if they're not dropped before the last climb, they will be Instead, it's looking good for riders like Bettini or Carrara who has been sprinting and climbing really well throughout this tour. The passage might be too short for GC-attacks, but it's possible. Otherwise, there's a mountain about 40 km from the finish which could be used for an attack.
Before we get that far, there's the TV-break as always. Today, these riders got away: Astarloa, Mangel, Flecha, Petrov, Ulissi and Suaza. Petrov and Ulissi were dropped by the others on the first climb, though, and they never made it back. Instead, the 4 others established a gap of 4 minutes with 100 km to go.
Not much happened after that. It semed like a pretty ordinary stage with the breakaway out on the road, and with the peloton starting to chase. However, on the mountain mentioned in the intro attacks were launched. McGee and Medina got away, but only for a short while. Gazetta weren't going to let them go.
In the front group, Suaza had dropped his fellowmen and kept on by himself.
At the top of the mountain, Gadret and Pellizotti managed to get away and ride up to the group with Astarloa, Mangel and Flecha. However, this also meant the end of that group since Gazetta, who by the way totally dominated this stage, didn't let them go. With 30 km to go, their adventure was over.
So, who was left? Right, Suaza was still out there - and at this point, he has 5'16 minutes to the peloton. That surely had to be enough to hold on to the finish. Question was if Gazetta would try to catch him.
They didn't. They realized it was too late, and instead Suaza could ride towards the win. He did, and took a very, very deserved win. And if that wasn't enough, he also got the mountain jersey!
Carrara once again proved his great form by winning the bunch sprint ahead of Bettini and Cunego.
Instead, it's looking good for riders like Bettini or Carrara who has been sprinting and climbing really well throughout this tour. The passage might be too short for GC-attacks, but it's possible. Otherwise, there's a mountain about 40 km from the finish which could be used for an attack.
