After an eventless opening mountain-stage, today's hilly one could be the toughest of the three. At least some of the better puncheurs amongst the favorites will hope so.
And there's definitely three reasons to believe in a more action-packed race: two 1st-category climbs and a 2nd-category halfway through the stage could lead to some selection. Especially the last climb (approximately 20km before finish) looks quite steep.
So race-leader Markus Eibegger has to be totally focussed on who's going to attack him here, as about 50 riders are only 1'07" behind in GC, and both GC's 2nd Nazar Jumabekov (+ 0.18) and 3rd Sylvain Calzati (+ 0.38) do fairly well on hilly stages, too.
Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (GC's 6th + 1.07) looks like the most dangerous top-favorite and of course David Arroyo has something to prove (GC's 32nd + 1.07). Another real threat could be Blaz Furdi (GC's 10th).
One of the best puncheurs here, Sergio Barrio, lost valuable time on first stage though (+ 2.04).
It took a few attempts and half of the first climb to build a group, that managed to stay clear. 5 riders lead by 3'00" with 135km to go:
Bazhkou (GC + 2.02, KoM-leader with 26 points) Vink (GC + 8.17) Duque (GC's 6th + 1.07) Altur (GC + 1.58, KoM 3rd with 18 points) Fernández Oliveira (GC + 1.07, KoM 2 points)
So KoM-leader Bazhkou is going to defend his jersey, but faces some tough competition in Altur and as we have three "major" climbs, he has to watch out for the others, too.
Duque is an interesting rider as well: as best-placed in GC and being the strongest sprinter here, he's worth looking for.
And it's a great start into the day for Bazhkou, who takes the first mountain-sprint easily:
85km remaining and nothing notable happened so far. Today's only intermediate sprint is from special interest though, as the 6-4-2 bonus-seconds could make a difference here (just remember: about 50 riders finished within same time in opening stage, just 1'07" behind the race-leader).
And it's no suprise that Duque and Fernández Oliveira try to take the 6", as both belong to those + 1.07-riders in GC:
Duque takes it easily, ahead of Oliveira and Altur. That makes both Duque (4th) and Oliveira (5th) jump into Top-5 of provisional GC (given that they finish within a bunch today).
And another KoM-sprint, it's still 66km to go. This time, mountain-leader Bazhkou went far too early:
So again, Altur failed to put pressure on Bazhkou. Still, the final climb will give 16 points for the first on top, so Altur remains the only one, who could equalize the KoM-lead (Eibegger is provisional 3rd with 24 points).
Meanwhile, the peloton started to chase and with now 42km remaining, the breakaway leads by 2'40". Magna does most of the work for race-leader Eibegger. No bigger splits occured in first two climbs though.
Bad luck for Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (22nd in GC), who punctures a few moments later, so just in the worst situation.
Local hero Adrien Niyonshuti won't take care of it, as he attacks simultaneously! The African is the first favorite to try his luck, attacking the pack with 36km to go and today's final climb already within sight!
And more riders followed: Ying Hon Yeung (GC's 14th) and Christiaan Kriek (11th). They caught up to Niyonshuti quickly and all three could be dangerous for race-leader Eibegger..
..who, believe it or not, also attacks now! Just as they reach the bottom of the climb (5km length), Eibegger doesn't give a damn about conventions and takes the bull by the horns.
And that's good for the race itself, as we finally get some action by the top-favorites: Eibegger established a gap quickly, with Niyonshuti and Rodriguez Oliver jumping behind.
A 3rd group of favorites now tries to bridge the gap: Daspuntsag and Furdi, Arroyo, Yeung and GC's 2nd Jumabekov!
As soon as Eibegger caught up to the early escapees, KoM-leader Bazhkou and his companions try to force another attack.
Meanwhile, group Niyonshuti/Rodriguez is down by 44" and group Arroyo by 1'21"! 28km remaining, 1.5km to mountain-top.
Group Arroyo/Jumabekov has to fight hard, as the gap increases to 1'40" now.. meanwhile, a 3rd chasing group is another 30" in arrears, including GC's 3rd Calzati and Barrio.
And today we get everything what we've missed in the opening stage: Niyonshuti and Rodriguez caught up to Eibegger and Niyonshuti launches another attack:
E1
<- 48" ->
E2
<- 1'11" ->
E3
Oliveira
Eibegger
Arroyo
Vink
Niyonshuti
Furdi
Bazhkou
Rodriguez
Daspuntsag
Duque
Jumabekov
Altur
Yeung
Group Calzati is another 55" in arrears.
Fernández Oliveira takes the 16 points for the KoM-rankings, which is good news for Bazhkou, who scores another 10 points and will be Kwita Izina's King of Mountain:
37" behind the new leading three (Bazhkou, Oliveira, Vink) Eibegger and Niyonshuti dropped both the remaining early escapees and Rodriguez, who's 45" in arrears!
The Spaniard joins the chasing group Arroyo/Jumabekov, as we got the following situation with 20km to go:
E4 (5)/ Calzati, Barrio, Yeung, Firsanov, Khalikikhosroshani at 1.56
But 3km later, Eibegger/Niyonshuti are caught by the chasing group, which is narrowing the gap to the leading three as well.
Group Calzati is still 1'00" behind and needs to take all risks in the descent.
15km before finish, the last of the early escapees are caught, too. So we now have a 12-men-leading group, with only one chasing group keeping chances to catch up:
E1 (12)
Eibegger (leader) Daspuntsag and Furdi Niyonshuti Vink Arroyo and Duque Jumabekov (GC's 2nd) Fernández Oliveira and Rodriguez Oliver Altur Bazhkou
So some prominent names and pre-race favorites failed to join the decisive moves and find themselves way behind:
P (32) at 3.30
Moreno Nieve Yasmani Martinez Serry
5km to go and the chasing group with GC's 3rd Calzati still couldn't close up to the leading twelve. But the gap is down to 27", so there's still a chance to finish within same time!
And here goes the sprint for today's win. Not only important because of the stage-win, but also for the Final GC: thanks to the opening stage, most of the 12 riders are + 1.07 in GC, so both bonus-seconds and final position will be crucial here.
Daspuntsag opened the sprint, followed by teammate Furdi, who's going to defend his white jersey, and Niyonshuti!
1.5km: Rodriguez Oliver now kicks, Furdi is still there. And also Arroyo shows himself on the left side of the road.
Rodriguez got a small gap on Furdi, and behind things have changed drastically:
Eibegger moved ahead, alongside GC's 2nd Jumabekov (+ 0.18), who could take the overall by winning the stage and Eibegger missing the podium.
Bazhkou, Vink and a suffering Arroyo are too far behind to go for the victory.
And race-leader Eibegger ain't looking like he will give his lead away, as he's catching up to still leading Rodriguez! Jumabekov tries to hang on, while Furdi struggles.
What a final kick by Markus Eibegger! He wins his second stage here and the overall (plus points-jersey).
Nazar Jumabekov defends his 2nd overall by finishing just a few meters behind Eibegger, while Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver sprints for 3rd and getting some bonus-seconds. Wether he finishes the race on podium or as 4th depends on how Calzati managed to finish today..
..and GC's 3rd Sylvain Calzati just finished in time and is given the same time as winner Eibegger. That means, he also defends his podium in Final GC.
Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ends up 4th thanks to his bonus-seconds. Same goes for Leonardo Duque as 5th and Luis Fernández Oliveira as 6th, who both took benefit from their intermediate sprint's seconds.
Blaz Furdi (7th) and Erdenebayar Daspuntsag (8th) did well for Team Gazelle, while Behnam Khalilikhosroshani and Sergey Firsanov complete the Top-10.
A disappointing race for David Arroyo, who finishes 11th in GC only. At least Duque scored some points as 5th, but the total disaster in opening stage won't be forgotten too soon.
Also Adrien Niyonshuti (12th) and Daniel Moreno (17th) might have expected more here. Iberia can be satisfied even without Moreno finishing high, but MTN can't..
