Last chance for the sprinters in a few days, as we return to the mountains again tomorrow. It's far from a certainty that all riders will survive what's coming up, so everyone capable of winning today's stage are probably very motivated to try to do so.
The favourites remain the same as yesterday and the day before that. Polivoda and Chicchi have won a sprint each, so perhaps it's Belletti's turn? Those three have looked like the best so far, but there are plenty of other contenders.
After some very slow opening kilometers, Johann Christofel Nel attacks and distances the peloton. Nobody else is interested, so he goes up the road all by himself.
The slow opening turns out to be just temporary however, as both Chicchi and Belletti wants the intermediate sprint points.
Boeing and Magna therefore start chasing Nel, whose original three minute advantage drops rapidly.
With a kilometer left to the line, he's just 40 seconds ahead!
An early jump from Belletti surprises Chicchi, but Polivoda is attentive and responds promptly. Nel still leads with 200m left, though.
More than enough for Polivoda to blast by the South African and take the 6 points. Belletti and Chicchi also goes past Nel, taking second and third.
Some meters further back, Ghafari hits the handlebars after realising that his effort was completely wasted.
Nel quickly leaves the rest behind again after passing the intermediate, and soon finds himself a solid five minutes ahead.
Polivoda, Belletti, Chicchi and Ghafari funnily also stay clear of the peloton for a long time after the sprint, simply because the peloton goes just as slow as them when trying to drop back!
Nel on the other hand, finds an excellent rhythm and gains tons of time on the slow peloton with every pedal stroke. With 120 km left to race, he reaches the day's only categorized climb, more than 10 minutes clear!
10'00
50s
Nel
--->
Polivoda, Chicchi, Belletti, Ghafari
--->
Peloton
And the gap just continues to grow. By the time the peloton reaches the same climb, they're over 14 minutes back on Nel!
A little while later, the field finally catches up with the sprinter group, after almost 50 km out front!
As it turns out, that group was what was holding the peloton back. Almost instantly after they're back within the group, the speed increases dramatically.
Unsurprisingly, it's Boeing, Magna and Privatbank who starts chasing. Nel's gap thus shrinks incredibly fast, to just 7'30 with 100 km left to run.
Polivoda beats Chicchi and Belletti once again in the sprint for second place at the next intermediate sprint a little ways later. Nel is just 4'30 ahead.
The high speed pursuit continues, and Nel just about hangs on over the next sprint. Polivoda wins the sprinters battle for the third time today, just holding off a flying finish from an exasperated Chicchi.
The peloton surprisingly slows down again after this. Apparently, the high speed was just related to the upcoming sprints!
Boeing are soon up front again however, as Nel extends his advantage to three minutes again with just 30 km left.
The man from MTN is determined to give it everything, and still leads by a margin of 2'15 as he enters the final 20 km.
He soon starts to lose ground quickly though, as Boeing sends up their two superdomestiques: Parra Bustamante and Colorado, together with Magna and Privatbank.
Game over for Nel with just 7 km remaining. He surely deserved a better fate after such impressive solo run.
Another mass sprint ahead then, and a very interesting one - as Boeing, Privatbank and Magna all form competing trains as the race enters the final 5 km.
Vakoc
Naibo
Colorado
Belletti
Mikhaylov
Hoelgaard
Matzka
Balinski
Lima
Lima
Chicchi
Polivoda
Magna starts to fall back when Gomenyuk makes a big push to the front with just over 3 km remaining, and Belletti starts looking for another wheel.
Mikhaylov and Balinski accepts the challenge, on the other hand.
Privatbank's train is clearly the strongest, and Boeing starts losing ground soon too. Belletti has meanwhile found a new position, just behind Ghafari, who is following Polivoda. Matzka takes place behind Belletti.
Boeing finally gives up with around a kilometer and a half left, and Chicchi is forced to relocate to the back of the line behind Privatbank too.
At the same time, Balinski opens the sprint for Polivoda.
Ghafari tries to catch Polivoda off guard with a slightly early pounce just before the kilometer kite, but the Ukrainian reacts instantly.
Polivoda's speed is too much for Ghafari, and instead it's Matzka who comes up to challenge together with Chicchi and Baumann.
Matzka and Baumann soon start to fall back however, turning this into a head-to-head battle between Chicchi and Polivoda. The latter still holds the lead with 300m to the line, but loses speed with every meter.
Chicchi can't find the necessary reserve tank and has to settle for second place, as Polivoda makes it two in a row!
A different camera angle shows that Baumann nabs third place in front of Matzka. Makino is fifth, a few meters further back, while Belletti can't do better than a disappointing 6th today.
Martinez finishes in ninth place, showing great form ahead of the mountains.
Thanks to beating his rivals at both the intermediate sprints and the finish, Polivoda takes over the green points jersey - taking a total of 39 points today!
Belletti is now second, three points behind. New third place is Chicchi.
