Today brings the toughest day of racing and simultaneously the toughest individual climb – The Cerro El Cristo Rey. It is the climb which we finish on today, measuring 6.8km with an average of 7.6% and a maximum of 13.8%, with the final 3km averaging almost 10%. Before that we have a couple of tough climbs which will be described as we get to them. The stage measures only 135.4km but much of that is uphill.
Marquez will be looking to build on the small lead he gained yesterday over Pellizotti. It will also be the last chance for the numerous pure climbers who have got very little out of this race so far. Not only that but the mountain jersey will be decided today as there are 3 10 point climbs and a 5 pointer as well and there are no points on offer tomorrow.
Our first attack is started off by Patrick Schelling, the winner of stage 9 from a break. He will surely be looking to fight for the mountain jersey, where he already has 17 points. Going with him are Jose Mendes and Jonathon Thire.
Mendes is the best placed of this trio, who form our break of the day. He is in 17th place overall but is still 8’30” down so it will be a while before he even looks like a threat.
Everything is very calm over the flat, with no one willing to really assert themselves over the race. Schelling leads through the sprint point with 83km to go and a lead of 5’36”.
This sprint point marks the start of today’s climbing. The first mountain on offer is the Altos de Carbonera. It is a whopping 12.3km long with an average of 6.1% and a maximum of 11.6%. This is a tough climb to start the day with though thankfully a lot of the steepest parts of the climb are concentrated around the middle, with the top of the climb flattening out nicely to the summit.
As the break get to the tough middle section, where there are about 5km with a gradient of over 7%, the gap to the peloton is 6’48” and growing out nicely. Lots of teams are working behind, though no one is committing a huge number of men to hammer the pace. Instead, the pace is toughened up considerably by Ortega.
The pressure works as already a lot of the main sprinters in the race are shelled out the back. This could be a tough day for them as they will have to finish inside the time limit with two and a half climb to go. The sprinters include green jersey leader Serebriakov.
Up front, the concern is now with the mountain points. The only one to make any effort is Schelling, who takes the 10 points on offer and thus puts himself into the provisional mountain jersey.
Seledkov jumps out of the peloton to defend his mountain jersey, taking the four points on offer, which puts him back in his jersey on the provisional scoreboard. He will have to hope that the break is caught or that Schelling doesn’t win many more points, because otherwise he could have his work cut out for him.
In fact Seledkov keeps going with his attack. He doesn’t 100% commit to the attack to try to bridge but he hovers about a minute in front of the peloton, which is odd but at least it will guarantee him minor placings in mountain primes.
The three breakaway riders reach the second climb of the day, the Alto de Pab Grande. This is 7km long with a slightly tougher gradient of 6.9% and a maximum of 13.6%, which sits near the summit of the climb. Even at the base, though, this has an imposing look about it.
The gap to the peloton is down to 6’32” as many teams join the chase. The plan for several teams today is clearly to grind HTC down and isolate Marquez. They somewhat succeed as Lane and Barbin are both dropped, and the peloton is ground down to 68 riders as the climb starts.
Up front, the fight for the mountain points is harder at the top, as all three show some interest in taking the 10 on offer. Schelling takes it, however, with Mendes second and Thire third.
The gaps over the top are:
6'39"
53"
7'32"
Break (3)
--->
Seledkov
--->
P (65)
There are only 4 points for Seledkov to claim here, so Schelling moves to 3 points up in the mountain competition. The next mountain prime and the finishing line each provide 10 points to the first person over.
HTC and LukOil are the two teams working on the downhill and then the flat run-in to the final climb. They are defending Marquez in the leader’s jersey and Izagirre, who is currently in a surprising third place. Interestingly, WWE have chosen not to work so far today.
There are two small bumps before the final climb today, with the second one being a category 4 climb. However, even this first one is tough as it gets to over 8% gradient for about a kilometre. It is as we hit this tough section that Ndbri puts in an attack.
Surprisingly, he manages to get a gap and before the second of these bumps, some others are inspired by his effort to launch their own attack: Nicacio Suaza Esquivel
And, surprisingly Pellizotti jumps out after them! He catches the riders ahead and then teams up with Nicacio to go past them and create a gap.
This is an interesting move from the 2nd placed rider on GC. Maybe he is trying to catch Marquez napping? Certainly the reaction in the peloton is slower than usual but there is another attack – Ochoa Quintero goes, and boy does he goes! He leap-frogs past the other two, getting a solid gap straight off.
There is another tough fight at the mountain prime here, but once again Schelling reigns supreme, taking the 5 points. That will pretty much guarantee it for him today, as Seledkov had been brought back in to the peloton during the last flurry of attacks.
The fight back in the peloton is no less hard as Berard gets on to the front and does what he spent all of yesterday doing – he brings all of the attackers back into the fold. Surprisingly, only one climber has been dropped thus far – Orozco.
Only the final mountain of the race looms ahead, and just as it is about to begin, Ndbri decides that he wants to have another go.
Once again it is Berard who is called on to do the hard pulling on the front to control it. But the control is only temporary as there is another attack, this time from Salas and Solis.
And Marquez jumps on to the back wheel of this one, as do several other favourites! Rodrigues Nicacio Ochoa Quintero Krasnoperov (who appears to have recovered!)
Now we see why WWE were saving themselves as it is Diniz who pulls the entire attack back in to save Pellizotti from missing out! There will be several other well-placed riders breathing a sigh of relief too.
There is an attack now from Solis, Nicacio and Ochoa Quintero with 5km to go. Only Solis can get a gap, however, but he looks good today.
The peloton is down to 39 riders now with these huge accelerations and work being done from strong climbers. Montenegro is the latest climber to be dropped. It isn’t all bad news for Bintang, however, as Krasnoperov puts in a huge dig to get up to Solis. He was injured for most of this race, but will look to make up for it today.
In fact so good is Krasnoperov’s attack that he goes past Solis, who latches on to the Ukrainian’s back wheel. Esquivel attacks up them as well.
Now the peloton thins down even more with only 28 riders left in the main group. The latest victim is white jersey wearer Aru. His main rival Monsalve is still in the peloton, though he is struggling at the back of the group. If Aru can keep calm he might be able to fight back in.
Thire is dropped by both of the breakaway riders up front. However, with 1.9km of steep terrain still to ride their 1’30” gap is starting to look quite thin. The aggressive attacks behind have really eaten in to it.
Krasnoperov and his two followers now have a 27” gap on the peloton and sensing an opportunity here, Rodrigues puts in an attack. He is the best placed of the Hollister riders despite the fact that he has probably been the quietest of them. The road has just hit 10% so this is as good a place as any to fight for time.
And several reactions occur. Firstly the yellow jersey of Marquez latches on to him and then Ardila Cano. Sensing danger Pellizotti comes up with his attendant Diniz and Suaza makes an appearance too. Together with Krasnoperov, Solis and Esquivel, this forms a strong favourites group of 9 riders.
They blaze past the dropped Thire. Behind the peloton, Aru has fought his own battle to bring himself up to Monsalve, who is shelled out of the shattered peloton. The effort seems to have cost him a lot, however.
And just as we hit the very steep final kilometre, the break is caught. Solis launches an attack in a bid to get the stage win here today!
But Solis seems to have burned himself too early and Marquez sprints past him. Suaza is trying o come through as well, moving in to second place.
Marquez has pulled out a gap back to the other favourites. Krasnoperov is putting in a strong final effort, but he may have left this too late.
And Florentino Marquez takes a great mountaintop victory after a super aggressive day. He looks good to make it two career wins in this stage race, if h e can survive the hills tomorrow.
Suaza holds on for 2nd place on the stage with Krasnoperov recovering to at least get a podium place. Solis gives Bouygues Telecom a little bit more joy with his 4th, leading home a group 29” back. Rodrigues shows why he is team leader with his 5th. Ardila Cano once again is strong today in 6th. Esquivel is a surprise in 7th. Diniz is even more of a surprise in 8th. Finally, 57” back from the stage winner, Pellizotti comes through in 9th, with Vasquez managing the same time.
Looking at withdrawals on today’s stage, there are a lot of sprinters, all of whom were in the first group to be dropped. That will really shake up the green jersey competition and rob their teams of some valuable points. Here are the names: De Fauw Avelino Weylandt Serebriakov Kip Cano Vesely
And so let’s have a look at the jerseys. Marquez got more than a minute on Pellizotti thanks to his time bonus and so his yellow jersey looks quite assured. As shown last year, however, anything can happen on the hilly stage. Not only that, but with all the sprinters leaving, Marquez moves into the lead in the points competition too. As stated during the stage, Schelling will win the mountain competition here. Hollister lost some time to Bouygues today in the team competition but have retained their lead there. Finally, Aru sadly lost some time on Monsalve in the final sprint for the line and thus Monsalve takes the youth jersey.
