It doesn't take long before we get the first attackers: Hepburn (Cisco) Kochetkov (Die Berg) Schoonbroodt (UPC) Dyrnes (Risa) Sai-Udomsin (PFG - Armavia) Cimolai (Vespa)
But they are kept and check, and then pulled back. So we start again, Drynes (Risa) Kinoshita (Meiji)
As we get to see the incline for the first time today which tops out
at 15.1%, they are joined by, Masuda (Japanese - Korean)
and Sai-Udomsin (PFG - Armavia)
The twisting roads allow them to quickly build up their lead to 2 minutes.
As they hit 100kms to go the gap is 3'22",
so it looks like we can now call them the breakaway of the day.
Vueling has taken the role of control the peloton in the early going.
Crash! Abakoumov (Die Berg) goes down without taking anybody with him. He gets up quickly and without the help of his teammates rejoins the peloton.
50kms to go, the breakaway is still working well together but only have a gap of 3'40" on the peloton, still being lead by Vueling.
Sauber isn't going to like this, with 35kms to go Awang is the first rider dropped from the peloton. Looks like the hill is tougher then first thought.
A few kilometers later Sauber loses their leader Haidar Anuawar as well!
He is dropped with Itami (Japanese - Korean).
Other sprinters lingering at the back with 30kms to go are, Peeters (Japanese - Korean) and Kreder (Swedbank).
No this isn't the peloton! The second to last climb has split the peloton, 33 more riders are dropped. Sprinters missing out in this split are Peeters, Kreder, Hushovd, Nateghi, Chavanel, Giacoppo, Uugunbayar, and Westling.
The last time up, 15kms to go. Don't look back the peloton is just 1'08" behind.
The hill tears up the peloton for the final time, this time dropping 31 more riders. Biggest sprinters dropped now are Abakoumov, Manarelli, and Borrajo.
One surprise though, Kreder has found a way to rejoin the peloton somehow.
Then all of a sudden Vueling quits chasing,
so Vaitkus (airBaltic) takes this as a cue to attack!
What's going on! Vanspeybrouck and Feillu (BPost) and Ford (Oz) go flying past Vaitkus as they attack as well. Just 10kms to go.
Visconti (Oz) wants in on this too.
UPC comes to the front of the peloton, but they aren't chasing at all!
Is this a message for Evian to start pull their weight for Napolitano?
5kms to go, the race has now turned upside down. The Breakaway Vs. the Attackers. The peloton has thrown in the towel for no reason; they could have easily pulled back the breakaway if Vueling didn't stop chasing.
The attackers start their sprint early and are coming on strong!
The breakaway looks over their shoulders and now have to kick.
2,500 meters to go, who has the legs left to steal the victory.
With Masuda looking for a gap to squeeze through to get by Dyrnes. Both are behind Phucong Sai-Udomsin who is looking strong and waiting for a opening to be found between the first 5 riders.
Ford can't keep up and are now fading out of the picture. And his teammate Visconti is starting to show fatigue as well after jumping out into the lead.
Vaitkus kicks to an extra gear!
This also opens up a hole between the other 4 rider, who are now fading fast, for Sai-Udomsin and Masuda to challenge for a rare podium.
That does it! Thomas Vaitkus takes a very surprising victory!
And with a late kick Masuda storms through to get 2nd and the Japanese - Korean Cycling Project are going to have a hard time believing this is reality. And after a hard day in the breakaway 3rd place goes to Sai-Udomsin and 4th to Dyrnes. And 5th is Romain Feillu.
Kinoshita 6th, Vanspeybrouck gets 7th and valuable points in a rare non-cobbled race for him. Oz gets the short end of the stick with Visconti in 8th and Ford limping behind for 9th.
Evian leads the peloton to the line with Sonnery and Averin leading out Napolitano. Gavazzi, Kennaugh, and Vantomme get in line behind them in that order.
To make this day even worse for Evian, Napolitano can even finish off the job to get 10th as he fades quickly after his sprint train peels off. Leaving the door open for...
Kennaugh. Followed by Gavazzi, Guarnieri, Vantomme, and then finally Napolitano.
It's a shame for Vueling now to see Kennaugh winning the sprint out of the peloton after they were the ones to give up on catching the breakaway. While the rest of the sprinter's teams can really only blame themselves for what happened since Vueling did all of the work without anybody helping them.
