Time for the final GC mountains showdown before everything will be decided in the time trial tomorrow!
It's probably the easiest of the mountain stages so far though, as it's all about one climb - albeit a very difficult one. It measures 10 km in length, with an average slope of roughly 7%, but most of it is steeper than that.
The most interesting thing to follow will obviously be watching Rohregger and Martinez go head to head, trying to gain a little advantage ahead of the TT. As they're known to be very equal in the discipline, none of them probably feels safe with the current situation.
Magna and Kenya Air wont tolerate any breaks early on, as the road must be kept clean and open for their two captains. It's yellow vs. green today!
The first intermediate sprint is reached after an easy stroll, and some surprising names sprint for the points. Anuar Aziz is the quickest, knocking Lutsenko into second. Jang also makes a little effort, but is too late.
The second sprint is a carbon copy of the first one. Anuar Aziz takes another six points, just in front of Lutsenko and Jang.
The boring day finally picks up slightly a bit later, as 11th overall Masuda attacks.
The counterattack comes from the man right ahead of him in the overall standings: Kononenko
They're a little too close to the overall lead to be allowed to go, however. Armavia, MTN and Magna chase them down in just a matter of seconds.
Magna seizes complete control of the pacemaking as we enter the final 20 km.
The intermediate sprint right before the foot of the climb is contested by the same guys as earlier. This time Lutsenko is the quickest, followed by Anuar Aziz and then Jang.
They quickly drop back again, as the road starts to hit an incline. Ten kilometers to go, and Magna continues to keep the pace high for Rohregger.
They're caught completely off guard after just a few seconds though, as Martinez goes on the attack!
No panic from Rohregger, and Martinez is brought back by Schrangl and Naibo a kilometer later.
The next attack follows straight away. It's Masuda for the second time today, with response from Mestre, Yeung and Feng.
They fail to catch any wind too, and are soon brought back by Magna's relentless pacing.
Instead a new move, from GC's 4th: Jiriakov!
Yeung tries to tag along, but quickly cracks while Jiriakov opens a gap of around 20 seconds.
Mestre sees this as the moment to go, and jumps across to Jiriakov. More interestingly, he gets company from Martinez - while Rohregger is nowhere to be seen!
No need to worry for Rohregger, as the attackers don't quite have the legs to hold off the pace set by his team mates and it's all back together again.
Just two and a half km remaining, and Boeing tries a team attack of some sort with Colorado pulls away with Parra Bustamante behind him.
Just like all earlier escapees, they fail to break free. As we start closing in on the final kilometer, there's still a practically intact peloton in contention!
The ever aggressive Masuda isn't happy with the idea of an uphill mass sprint and attacks under the Flamme Rouge. Former King of the Mountains leader Suryadi and surprisingly fresh non-climber Chaoufi responds.
A little gap opens up behind them, and Rohregger is forced to shut it himself as the sprint is launched.
The overall leader doesn't seem to have his best legs however, and Alizadeh overtakes him as the road flattens out through the final turn.
And the three escapees are still clear, maintaining the gap in a brilliant way!
The favourites have underestimated the strength of the trio, and the stage win goes to Suryadi! Mr. 63 MO Chaoufi somehow edges Masuda for 2nd.
Alizadeh sprints to fourth ahead of Rohregger, and a small gap emerges behind them!
Martinez desperately throws himself over the line to shut it, and luckily has the jury on his side today. No time gap is registered, meaning that he'll go into the time trial with a 26 second deficit on Rohregger.
Di Luca, Kononenko, Landa and Rusli fill the rest of the top 10 slots.
43 riders are registered on the same time today, which is clear proof of how strange this final climb was. No changes in the GC, but Martinez strengthens his grip around the points jersey, and Suryadi doesn't gain enough points to prevent Landa from securing the polkadot jersey.
