A hilly rated stage 6 though not as nasty as the Mur there is a tough little leg breaker on the finishing circuits today. The finishing circuit was certainly the highlight yesterday after some very defensive riding in wet and windy weather yesterday.
Furdi will likely be confident today, though he will have to watch out for Risa's attacking climbers who were very active yesterday.
It's sadly another tame start to the day, the first action is on the second cat climb - Tanguy attacking near the top to take the climb.
It is Goddaert leading the pack behind though to just keep ahead of Tanguy in that competition. Barbari did nothing here, this competition may not be over yet.
Tanguy continues with his move and being 9 minutes down he is allowed to continue. Unfortunately there is only one more KoM prime today but still a good platform for the final day tomorrow.
He cruises through the days first hotspot sprint maybe thinking if I pace myself and the pack plays silly again it could be a glorious stage win.
The sprint hotspot here could be another important one for the sprint classification. We have nine or so riders still in contention for that one.
Rank
Name
Team
General
1
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
65
2
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
65
3
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
63
4
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
61
5
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
57
6
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
56
7
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
48
8
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
48
9
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
44
It's Lasca who takes it ahead of Nardin. Meaning Lasca is the new provisional leader of that competition.
Tanguy moves on to take the second and final mountain prime of the day.
Goddaert went back for drinks so is nowhere near the front meaning Tanguy moves clear in second with the likes of Sentjens and Venter gaining some cheap points in the KoM.
We get a long section, the question we ask ourselves is can or will the pack chase down Tanguy. With 50km left he has over seven minutes. His GC deficit of nine minutes and 13 seconds almost wiped out!
Gazelle are monitoring from the point of view of keeping Furdi in yellow but nothing more.
So the race for points at the second hotspot sprint. Nelson and Dekkers involve themselves, but the result is the same as the first.
Lasca creating a six point buffer between him and Cardoso and Moren, though plenty of points available at the stage finish.
The stage finale features three circuits that include one very tough little climb.
Tanguy gets onto the first of these with an eight minute lead. The stage is surely his, but what of GC he could move up really high.
The first crossing has a hotspot sprint, but Talabardon attacks before any of the points contenders can organise themselves.
The climber will be given some freedom as his puncture in an earlier stage cost him time.
Barbari goes for the sprint with Friedman for the two points. Freidman just about takes the two behind Talabardon.
Mori uses this though as a launch pad for his own attack.
This tough hill is splintering things as Mori joins Talabardon, behind with other small groups forming.
Feillu, Cardoso - Fonte are next
And then Gingsjo and Florencio (FC Barcelona).
Pressure on the yellow jersey here as Siskevicius helps out.
The three groups ahead of the pack join up to form a group of seven (Mori, Talabardon, Feillu, Cardoso, Fonte, Florencio, Gingsjo). Risa's Rake and Olsson attack to join up with these elite group.
However Gazelle just about have this covered.
It's a softening up process though as some of these breakaways go again.
Olsson, Mori, Talabardon, Fonte and Gingsjo form a new lead group.
All this time Tanguy remains alone up front, his lead has reduced to just over six minutes meaning his GC move has been limited but the stage win is now just five Kms away. Having done all the full climbs he only has to do the half climb to the finish once more.
Vangenechten, Venter and Duchesne are on super domestique work here for Gazelle as they work to catch this five man danger rider group.
They're being helped by Florencio who must be feeling strong and just missed the move.
A gap remains as they hit the bell.
Florencio, Siskevicius and Carrara (Allianz) attack near the top of the climb.
Furdi is forced to make his move.
Tanguy takes the win exhausted after a long day, he can relax and watch the finale.
Olsson could take the GC lead here, however Fonte could also depending on end bonuses. Mori and Gingsjo could also move deep into the top ten if they can make this stick. They have about 30 seconds on Florencio, Siskevicius, Carrara and Furdi. The rest are now just cruising.
The five battle for second place here with Talabardon making a big move. Olsson and Fonte having paced for much of the last 5kms have nothing left as the other three go for bonifications.
Talabardon takes second with Mori third, Olsson will not mind as he moved into the GC lead.
Furdi has launched that trademark late sprint but it looks as though as gap is there. He has it all to do tomorrow. Siskevicius, Florencio and Carrara follow him in.
Feillu, Cardoso, Moren and Rovira lead the pack in for the minor placings, Cardoso gaining a few points for that comp.
Nardin is slightly lazy here possibly getting behind a split.
Indeed he needlessly loses 38 seconds on a bit of a nightmare day for Gazelle. They lost the GC lead to Olsson, with Fonte also overtaking into second. Nardin drops down to 15th, just ahead of Tanguy who is up to 16th.
Lasca's sprint hotspot attempts have him move back into green, with Cardoso and Moren hot on his tail.
Stage results
Tanguy wins solo, but the GC action was behind as Furdi sat behind his team whilst a group of favourites teamed up against him - is there already a league against Gazelle forming this season?
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
3h50'04
2
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 4'09
3
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
4
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
5
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
s.t.
7
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
+ 4'59
8
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 5'14
9
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
10
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 6'11
12
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
13
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
s.t.
14
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
15
Jonas Vangenechten
Team Gazelle
s.t.
16
Geoffroy Lequatre
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
17
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
18
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
19
Davide Villella
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
20
David Chokheli
Team Privatbank
s.t.
21
Jaco Venter
Team Gazelle
s.t.
22
Scott Thwaites
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
23
Danny Pate
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
24
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
25
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
27
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
28
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team Privatbank
s.t.
29
Nikolas Maes
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Klaas Sys
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
31
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
s.t.
32
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Team Privatbank
s.t.
33
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
s.t.
34
Arturs Ansons
Team Privatbank
+ 6'49
35
Kristian Dyrnes
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Vojtech Hacecký
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
37
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
s.t.
38
Anthony Delaplace
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
39
Soufiane Haddi
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
40
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
41
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
42
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
43
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
44
Roy Sentjens
Team Gazelle
+ 7'16
45
Johan Broberg
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 7'24
46
Andrei Krasilnikau
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
47
Ludovic Bret
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 7'37
48
Yves Lampaert
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
49
Davide Appollonio
Kappa-ENI
+ 8'58
50
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 10'07
51
Alex Meenhorst
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
52
Eric Pedrosa
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
53
Kristof Goddaert
Team Gazelle
s.t.
54
Alberto Rodriguez Oliver
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
55
Artis Pujats
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 11'12
56
Guytan Lilholt
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
57
Giuseppe Fonzi
Kappa-ENI
+ 11'29
58
Christian Ranneries
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
59
Russell Hampton
ANC-Halfords
+ 13'03
60
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 15'08
61
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
62
Maarten Tjallingii
Control Team
+ 15'18
63
David Millar
ANC-Halfords
+ 17'38
64
Ed Clancy
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
65
Björn Leukemans
Control Team
+ 17'52
66
Tadej Valjavec
Control Team
s.t.
67
Leif Hoste
Control Team
s.t.
68
Oscar Freire
Control Team
s.t.
GC
Things will be tense tomorrow with some really suspect on cobbles riders near the top of GC. Furdi must be back to his stage 4 best if he is to rattle back up the GC, whilst Risa take the turn of defenders.
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
24h23'26
2
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
+ 12
3
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
+ 29
4
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
+ 32
5
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 57
6
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
+ 1'58
7
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 2'02
8
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 2'10
9
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 2'32
10
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
+ 2'39
11
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 2'44
12
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 3'04
13
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
+ 3'07
14
David Chokheli
Team Privatbank
s.t.
15
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
+ 3'09
16
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
+ 4'05
17
Danny Pate
ANC-Halfords
+ 5'53
18
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 6'36
19
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
+ 7'53
20
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 7'55
21
Klaas Sys
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
22
Jonas Vangenechten
Team Gazelle
s.t.
23
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team Privatbank
s.t.
24
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
s.t.
25
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Davide Villella
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
27
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Team Privatbank
s.t.
28
Nikolas Maes
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
29
Jaco Venter
Team Gazelle
s.t.
30
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
s.t.
Points
We are possibly down to three possible winners of green, barring another break from Barbari. Nardin, Freidman and Furdi could feasably snatch away the jersey also.
Rank
Name
Team
Points
General
1
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
8
71
2
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
3
68
3
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
2
67
4
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
61
5
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
4
61
6
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
2
58
7
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
9
57
8
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
16
48
9
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
48
10
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
0
44
11
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
43
43
12
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
24
40
13
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
12
38
14
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
6
36
15
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
7
34
16
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
0
29
17
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
0
28
18
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
8
26
19
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
4
26
20
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
10
24
21
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
0
23
22
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
14
20
23
Russell Hampton
ANC-Halfords
0
18
24
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
5
15
25
Klaas Sys
Kappa-ENI
0
14
26
Geoffroy Lequatre
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
14
27
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
12
28
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
0
9
29
David Chokheli
Team Privatbank
0
7
30
Christian Ranneries
Vattenfall Cycling
0
7
31
Davide Appollonio
Kappa-ENI
0
6
32
Vojtech Hacecký
Kappa-ENI
0
6
33
Soufiane Haddi
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
5
34
Jonas Vangenechten
Team Gazelle
1
2
35
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
2
36
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
1
KoM
The strange almost false KoM battle goes into the final day. The Gazelle's have been on the front of the pack often. Tanguy you'd imagine will need to breakaway again.
Rank Name Team Mountain General
1
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
86
2
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
20
70
3
Kristof Goddaert
Team Gazelle
8
62
4
Jaco Venter
Team Gazelle
2
58
5
Roy Sentjens
Team Gazelle
14
56
6
David Millar
ANC-Halfords
0
44
7
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
0
36
8
Russell Hampton
ANC-Halfords
0
36
9
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
0
34
10
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
24
11
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
0
18
12
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
0
18
13
Guytan Lilholt
Vattenfall Cycling
0
16
14
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
0
12
15
Eric Pedrosa
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
12
16
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
0
10
17
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Team Privatbank
0
10
18
Giuseppe Fonzi
Kappa-ENI
0
10
19
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
0
8
20
Jonas Vangenechten
Team Gazelle
8
8
21
Vojtech Hacecký
Kappa-ENI
0
8
22
Christian Ranneries
Vattenfall Cycling
0
8
23
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
0
6
24
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
4
4
25
Davide Villella
Kappa-ENI
4
4
26
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
0
2
27
Arturs Ansons
Team Privatbank
0
2
28
Ludovic Bret
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
0
2
29
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
0
2
Youth
Gazelle do keep the youth jersey, though even this is threatened by Siskevicius.
Name
Team
General Time
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
24h23'55 (1)
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 1'33 (2)
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
+ 2'40 (3)
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
+ 7'24 (4)
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team Privatbank
+ 7'26 (5)
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
+ 7'26 (6)
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 7'26 (7)
Davide Villella
Kappa-ENI
+ 7'26 (8)
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Team Privatbank
+ 7'26 (9)
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
+ 7'26 (10)
Scott Thwaites
ANC-Halfords
+ 8'04 (11)
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 8'04 (12)
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
+ 8'20 (13)
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
+ 9'37 (14)
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 10'44 (15)
Team
Risa return to the top of the team ratings as breakaway experts FC Barcelona drop back down. Privatbank remain in with a shout.
