Although there's still one more mountain stage left in the race, this is probably the day to try for those who want to deal major damage to the top of the GC.
Four very demanding climbs are on the schedule today, with the final one up to Jebel Shams obviously being the main highlight. Albeit over ten kilometers shorter than yesterday's finish, but a fair bit steeper. In total, the climb measures 24,6 km and averages 7,2%! Not to mention that the final kilometers are more or less only on gradients above 10%, with 14% being the maximum.
Rohregger will surely try to claw back more time on race leader Martinez after managing to drop him yesterday. The fight for overall victory seems to be between them only now, as GC's third; Jiriakov, doesn't seem capable of matching them. The rest are probably too far back.
No escape attempts have been seen as we reach the first climb of the day: Jebel al Akhdar. 6,2 kilometers with an average of 6,3% and a maximum of just under 10%.
Kenya Air leads the field as they turn upwards.
After failing to really break clear midway through yesterday, Landa and Rodas tries their luck again today and attacks in one of the first switchbacks.
They're up on the pedals for most of the way up to the top, and crests the summit a minute and a half ahead of the peloton, with Landa winning the sprint for the points.
The peloton takes no risks in the tricky descent, and the leaders extend their advantage to a full five minutes.
The day's only intermediate sprint comes up, and we see a little acceleration from Lutsenko to take third place behind the two escapees. Perhaps he is eyeing the points jersey with the pure sprinters out of the picture?
Landa and Rodas soon tackle the next climb, Jebel Wijma. The nine kilometers are quickly covered, and the gap just continues to increase with rocket speed.
At the top they're 9'20 ahead, enough to place Landa in provisional second place overall - just half a minute down on Martinez!
The gradient kicks up insanely in the final meters, and Rodas is the stronger one in the battle for points. These 16 points are enough to move him into provisional KoM lead, 3 points up on Suryadi.
Surprisingly, no teams are worried about the size of the gap. Kenya Air continues to do all of the pacemaking with Ghafari and Rijntjes. By the time they hit the top, the leaders have extended their advantage to 12'30!
That's right: Landa provisionally leads the GC by almost three minutes!
The gap has reached it's peak now however, as the chase begins in the descent.
Rijntjes is done for today as they hit the next climb. Ghafari carries on however, and the peloton starts to slim down rapidly. He also takes down the leaders' gap to just under 11 minutes.
Up front, there's again a tough battle for the points. Landa comes out on top, as Rodas went far too early and blew up in the steep finish.
Enough for Rodas to keep the provisional KoM lead, but Landa moves within just 5 points of him.
A quick descent later, they reach the foot of the daunting final climb. Their lead is still well over 11 minutes, which will be hard to shut down in just 25 km.
The peloton only reaches the top of the last climb a little while later! Kenya Air has reduced the size of the group to just 30 riders, but no notable names are missing.
Ghafari pulls aside as they also hit the final climb some minutes later. Camaño takes over, and the speed immediately increases dramatically.
Several riders are immediately unhitched, including former best young rider Lutsenko and 13th overall, Danilo Di Luca.
The gap doesn't really come down as quickly as expected, so the yellow jersey panics and starts pacing himself with more than 17 km to go! He quickly reduces the gap to just nine minutes, while also narrowing down the group to no more than 19 riders.
Still not exactly a clever manouevre, as Camaño starts to struggle immediately, leaving only Ndbri left to help against Rohregger's two domestiques!
Kenya Air's DS luckily manages to talk some sense into Martinez through the radio, and he leaves the front after around a kilometer.
Magna takes over and turns up the speed drastically, causing the group to split in half almost right away! Among those dropped are the following:
Colorado Mestre Kononenko Suryadi
A quick move forward with the motorbike camera gives us a better idea of those present in the Magna-led group. Surprisingly, riders from no more than three teams!
The dropped riders haven't given up however, and the gap is shut by Colorado and Mestre after a few kilometers.
In the meantime up front: Rodas is dropped by Landa's high pace!
They're just under 8 km out from the finish, and still more than 7 minutes ahead. Most likely no leader's jersey for Landa, but the stage win looks more than within reach!
Around a kilometer down the road things really heat up as Rohregger shoots off an attack!
Martinez thinks it's a little too early, so Ndbri stands up on the pedals instead to close down the gap that emerges.
This pushes Suryadi over the limit, causing him to lose contact and most likely wave goodbye to the polkadot jersey he has held for so many days.
Ndbri can't keep up with Rohregger however, and runs empty in just a matter of seconds. Martinez doesn't seem to have the legs to do the work himself, so instead it's Sauber taking the responsibility.
Surprisingly, the better placed Jiriakov sets the pace for his team mate Alizadeh. Anyway, the higher pace shatters the group, and six riders go clear:
Apart from Ihlenfeldt, no surprises at all. What's more interesting is that the yellow jersey appears to be under a lot more pressure than in previous days!
Rohregger is just a handful of seconds ahead, and even Rodas and Landa comes into view in the very steep section. It's an illusion created by the gradient though, as Landa is still more than four minutes clear.
Colorado can't quite close the last couple of meters on Rohregger, so Mestre decides to leave the others and do it by himself.
Alizadeh is swiftly up on the pedals in response.
Mestre clearly underestimated the distance and has to sit down just halfway, allowing Alizadeh to light the afterburners and jump around.
And finally, a reaction from Martinez!
Rohregger slows down when Alizadeh catches up with him, and the rest comes back too. The stop-go riding has really stretched some legs though, and the green jersey of Jiriakov seems to be in trouble.
A new attack from Rohregger just moments later, and only Alizadeh seems to have the legs to follow.
Only for a little while though, as Rohregger is clearly incredibly strong!
This move is much more seriously meant and he soon starts catching up with Rodas as they enter the final steep section with 2,3 km to go.
Landa is also within sight, but still with an advantage of more than two minutes.
In the group chasing Rohregger and Alizadeh, Mestre is setting a pace that's causing everyone to suffer. Especially Martinez, who has dropped to the end of the group!
Mestre soon breaks everyone and sets off after first and foremost Alizadeh. Rohregger has gone berserk and is already half a minute up the road.
Flashback for Rodas as Rohregger catches and drops him when the gradient really hits a serious level. Landa also starts to nervously look back when he sees the Austrian coming up, now just a minute down!
A few hundred meters further down the road, Martinez has found a reserve tank and now leads the pursuit behind Mestre and Alizadeh.
The road flattens out a little inside the final kilometer, and Rohregger realises that Landa is actually much further ahead than he thought.
The road steeps up again in the finale, but Landa maintains his rhythm all the way, and wins the stage in an impressive way!
Now to the other interesting thing, and the clock starts...
A tired Rodas is caught also by Mestre and Alizadeh under the kilometer kite.
Behind them, Martinez sheds Colorado, Ihlenfeldt and Jiriakov as he desperately tries to save as much time as possible.
39 seconds after Landa, Rohregger goes over the line. He takes a quick look over his shoulder and realises that there's no one in sight, which shows how dominant he was today.
Rodas sprints surprisingly well after the long day and manages to hang with Mestre and Alizadeh all the way to the line.
They're almost two minutes down on Landa, and thus over one minute behind Rohregger! Time is running out for Martinez!
He buries himself completely in the finale to limit the losses, but another 30 seconds have already passed since Mestre's group finished - meaning that Rohregger takes over the race lead!
Colorado, Jiriakov and the amazing Ihlenfeldt loses another 12 seconds.
Over five minutes after Landa's victory, Masuda reaches the finish for 10th.
A group with Sarmiento, Naibo, Kononenko and a disappointing Ndbri are another minute down.
Rusli and Schrangl are the next to reach the finish, and a little while after them also Suryadi, whose KoM reign ends today.
Just like yesterday, several riders fail to complete the stage within the time limit. Rohregger and Martinez both lose a domestique each, alongside some more sprinters:
Daniel, Gougeard Hofer Lima Makino Perry Rijntjes
As mentioned, Rohregger takes over the yellow jersey after today's obliteration on the final climb. It's incredibly close though, as Martinez is less than half a minute down. They're likely to be quite equal in the final time trial, so it could very well be decided on tomorrow's final MTF.
Alizadeh is new third, just four seconds in front of team mate Jiriakov. Colorado is fifth, two minutes behind them. He'll have a tough task of defending against Mestre tomorrow, as he is just six seconds further down.
Landa is now back inside the top 10 in 7th, in front of a slightly disappointing Ndbri. Ihlenfeldt and Kononenko complete the top 10.
The polkadot jersey meanwhile changes hands, as Suryadi has to leave over for Landa, who has enough of a lead to likely hold it for the rest of the race. Unless Rodas surprises on tomorrow's finish, that is!
