The first stage of the Kwita Izina is expected to be the decisive already. The climbers will have to go on the attack, as this may be there only chance to create a gap.
Three major climbs in 102kms only. The first climb is the toughest, but we better not expect any crucial moves there. Taking a closer look at the final climb:
10km long with an average slope of 5.4%. It's not as steep as it may look, but the top-favorites Arroyo, Rodriguez Oliver, Ndbri, Nieve or local hero Niyonshuti can make a difference anyway.
Three riders broke clear from the peloton early: Marcos Altur, Stanislau Bazhkou and Jonas Vangenechten.
And that's today's breakaway, as the pack allows them to stay clear.
They lead by 4'50" as they reach the first KoM-sprint (2nd category), with the following result:
Vangenechten (10 pts) Bazhkou (8) Altur (6)
Daspuntsag (4) Suryadi (2)
We somehow missed to take a screen of today's only Intermediate sprint, but again Vangenechten took it ahead of Altur and Bazhkou.
The peloton is led by Die Berg Komt Er, a clear sign of who's the top-favorite here.
With 40km remaining and the pack nearing today's steepest climb, the breakaway holds on to a 2'55"-gap.
Three more riders go on the attack now: Pieter Serry, Sylvain Calzati and Nazar Jumabekov! So not the top-seeded favorites, but definitely some decent cilmbers/puncheurs.
Markus Eibegger jumped behind and caught up quickly. The now 4-men chasing group builds a 35"-gap on the pack, while the BOTD still is 2'00" ahead.
Ying Hon Yeung now tries to do the same as Eibegger. He attacks the bunch with 34km to go (4.5km to mountain-top) and faces a 47"-gap.
In the meantime, the early escapees sprint for the second mountain-sprint (1st category):
Bazhkou (16) Altur (12) Vangenechten (10)
Eibegger (8) Jumabekov (6) Serry (4) Calzati (2) at 0.37
So Bazhkou takes the provisional KoM-lead (26) ahead of Vangenechten/Altur (18).
This climb also caused a first split back in the peloton (16 riders fell behind). Most prominent names being dropped:
Torckler Golas Boswell
Alongside some sprinters like Rizza, Lequatre, Van der Lijke and Anton Martin, who now have to take care of staying within the time-limit.
Die Berg keeps pacing with now only 14km remaining:
E1 (3) <- 1'00" -> E2 (5) <- 50" -> P (73)
But the gap's decreasing quickly now and as soon as the leading group enters the bottom of today's final climb, the bunch is already within sight.
Altur tries to launch an early attack here, as the chasing group is already going to catch up.
The early escapees couldn't maintain their lead though and with now 6km remaining, the chasing group closed up and attack quickly!
The pack - where MTN and Die Berg still chase - is down by 1'00".
4.5km to go: Jumabekov tries to move ahead of the new leading group and he creates a small gap quickly:
E1/ Jumabekov
E2/ Eibegger, Serry, Yeung, Calzati at 0.15
P/ with Arrayo, Ndbri, Nieve, Rodriguez/Moreno at 0.45
Die Berg's still trying to narrow the gap. Meanwhile, Jumabekov's attack made Serry lose contact to the chasing three.
2.8km left: Eibegger and Calzati caught up to Jumabekov, while Yeung can't follow anymore! The three really set the agenda late in the race, launching yet another attack!
The peloton struggles to hang on now! For a few moments it looked like the escapees were soon to be caught, but now the gap started to increase a bit: 50"!
And it looks like those three will battle for today's win. Eibegger accelerates and both Jumabekov and Calzati try to hang on.
With now only 1.3km to go, the peloton is still 58" in arrears, as there is still no sign of any action/attacks.
It seems like all the other teams left Die Berg alone in the chase (except of MTN at the beginning of the climb) and the dutch teams more and more suffered from the work.
Anyway, there was no more major split and the peloton didn't manage to narrow the gap on this final climb. And why do the top-favorites still shadow each other instead of trying something?
Back to the leading group: Eibegger kicks and leaves Calzati behind. Jumabekov is still within reach, but he has definitely problems to keep the Austrian's pace!
And finally we got some action behind, as a few riders attacked the bunch at "flamme rouge": Carl Naibo, Daniel Moreno and Yasmani Martinez with a very late try to gap top-favorites like Arroyo.
The stage-win goes to Markus Eibegger! The Austrian held off Nazar Jumabekov easily and finishes 10" ahead of him.
A great start for Magna-Ryanair and at least one day in yellow tomorrow. And some sprinters dropped early here, Eibegger has good chances to keep the jersey for one more day then.
26" later Sylvain Calzati finishes 3rd. His team might have expected Nieve to battle for today's podium, but Calzati won't be chanceless in final hilly stage anyway, so his DS may be pleased.
Moreno and Naibo finishes a few meters ahead of the bunch, but they didn't get enough of a gap. Maybe it's better this way, as none of the top-favorites deserved a gap being given.
Martinez, Oliveira, Arroyo, Rodriguez and Ndbri complete the Top-10 as the pack (55 riders!) crossed the line 47" behind Eibegger. A disastrous stage for Die Berg and Arroyo in particular. But none of the favorites haven't exactly covered theirself with glory. A disappointing day.
Some notable names suprisingly dropped (or missed the split) though: Rodas, Morton and Barrio lose 1'44" today.
So, Eibegger in yellow and Stanislau Bazhkou (26) took the KoM-lead ahead of Eibegger (24).
