The 3rd stage of the Tour of Sochi will prove crucial, with the long uphill finish an important part in any rider's plans to foil the time triallists hopes of glory during the race. A crucial factor though is that some of the best climbers in the race are also very good time triallists, see Kritskiy and Dekker. Thus making it tough for Zabriskie, Boom and co. in their bid for damage limitations today. It's not all about the final climb either, with other shorter climbs to weaken the peloton beforehand.
And it is a sunny day as Lagutin leads the break of 7 over the first KoM climb of the day. Bespalov took 2nd, King 3rd.
And suddenly, it becomes a rainy day. Lagutin remains a winner though, taking the uphill intermediate sprint and second KoM climb. Cardoso took 3rd in both of them, with King 2nd in the sprint and Chacon 2nd in the KoM.
The rest of the break, who as yet have scored no points in any competition, are Zaballa and Lasca.
Hivert and Voss led the peloton up this climb, stretching things out. But there's a lack of attention on the descent from some, and a group of 37 riders has forged a gap. It's not good news for those who had been setting the pace.
Some of those who are in this 37 are race leader Passeron, Gerdemann, Ghisalberti, Betancourt, Bibby, Sanchez, Kritskiy, Zabriskie, Rovny, Hatanaka and Popkov.
Whereas missing out are Dekker, Boom, Konovalovas, Costa, Hoffman, Fonte, Niemiec, Barrio and Izagirre.
Dekker and Boom were so badly placed, they are actually right towards the back of this second 79 man group.
Keen to press home the advantage are Jaguar with Africans Abelouache, Teklehaimanot and Lahsaini leading the relay train. Ianetti, and the Tinkoff pair Rovny and Brutt are also showing an intention to relay too.
Meanwhile representatives from Vueling, Hollister, Privatbank, CSC-Orbea and Credexbank are alternating in their attempts to close the gap. Its only about a minute, but it is holding steady.
Sram are keen to drive the advantage home and send Hudecek on the attack. The breakway were already nearly caught, and the Czech rider attacks over them into the lead.
And their is relief amongst many as Fuglsang, Mandri, Proni, Hivert, Fraile and Lebas reconnect the peloton into one large group after 10 kilometres of chasing.
Hudecek builds up a lead of 1 minute and 30 seconds and leads through the intermediate sprint with 21km to go.
The breakaway mopped up the remaining points before being caught. Hudecek looks to stay away but further attacks are coming: Sanchez, Gerdemann, Ghisalberti and Pakthusov.
The pace of Rothaus stops them getting away.
Hudecek's lead is down to 30 seconds with 11km to go as we near the final climb. Sanchez goes on the attack again, this time with Betancourt.
They link up with Hudecek. Ghisalberti joins the trio while oddly, the person now doing the chasing is oddly Gerdemann.
Hatanaka is the next to attack, and the Japanese rider goes straight into the lead.
But by 5km to go all the attackers have been caught. Undeterred, Sanchez, Betancourt and Hatanaka try again.
Home favourite Kritskiy responds and powers clear.
Gerdemann follows him away from the peloton, but cannot keep up with him. And as a theme for today, Dekker is not ideally placed
Kritskiy is allowed to build a lead of a minute before the next response: Konovalovas, Bibby and Sanchez - although perhaps tired by earlier efforts, the Spaniard cannot follow the other two for long.
And finally, 2km after Kritskiy's move, Dekker responds. Ghisalberti, Costa, Zabriskie and Hatanaka are ready for it and look to follow.
Kritskiy now leads Gerdemann by 43 seconds with 2.5km to go. Bibby is another 20 seconds later, with Dekker and Konovalovas fighting to get away from the peloton still.
Dekker does get away, rides past Bibby and up to Gerdemann.
Looking ahead, there remains a 47 lead to Kritskiy and the final kilometre nears.
Now Konovalovas and Costa have ridden clear of the peloton. The Lithuanian got a gap first, but the Portugese is closing him down.
The final kilometre for Kritskiy. Hold on for the stage and the overall race victory is surely at his fingertips.
But after an initial slow response, Dekker is really on the move. Gerdemann dropped, and the gap to Kritskiy is coming down...
Gerdemann must now worry about Bibby, who has maintained a strong tempo up the climb and is gaining ground quickly now as the German begins to fade. Izagirre is now on the wheel of Konovalovas while Ruijgh and Popkov attack the peloton.
Up front and try as Dekker might, the race may already be lost. The stage certainly is, as the crowd goes mad in celebration of victory for Timofey Kritskiy.
What would have happened if Dekker has followed Kritskiy when the Russian made his move? We will never know that, but what we do know is that he finishes 2nd today, 29 seconds behind. A tall order to make up in the TT, with the extra 8 time bonus seconds too.
Bibby caught Gerdemann, but the Sram-Riboxx rider is able to hold him off for 3rd on the stage, 1'20 behind Kritskiy.
Izagirre outsprints Costa for 5th, 2 minutes down.
7th for Konovalovas, at 2'10.
Pakthusov secures 8th as he leads in the Zabriskie / Boom group of 23 riders at 2'28. Other riders in here are Sanchez, Hatanaka and Ghisalberti - who tried and failed to get away - plus a team leader in Niemiec. Surprisingly absent is Betancourt.
Decisive gaps on today's stage then. Kritskiy will fancy his chances of overall victory, with only really Dekker with any chance of coming close. The race has slipped away from Zabriskie and Boom, just like the Volta ao Algarve did - this time simply because they couldnt climb with the best. 5th in GC could be their highest aspiration now.
Kritskiy also moves into the Points competition lead. Passeron finished 5'19 down today to lose the race lead, but remains King of the Mountains. Jaguar hold a slight lead over Tinkoff in the teams classification, while Izagirre is the best Young rider. Teklehaimanot, Fraile and Lejman trail him by 28 seconds.
