The 4th stage has not the hardest finish but we have 3-4 really difficult climbs over the route. Some of them have tough slopes up to 18%.
After 3 stages it`s more or less about bonus seconds. Will there be bigger selections today?
5 riders successfully attacked at the early climb and got a 2'30 gap. Smukulis Jeandesbosz Njoroge Sohrabi
Some managers surely won`t be impressed by their riders avoiding any breakaways.
For Sram it`s a perfect situation. Wegmann and Duggan easily sitting in the peloton while Smukulis is a great rider in the breakaway. He hasn`t lost any time yet and is 18th with +20s. Definitely a dangerous rider but the peloton seems to be fine with him.
There`s no real fight at the first Cat.3 climb and so it`s Njoroge taking points for the CT team. Sohrabi and Smukulis are coming over the line next.
The climb definitely wasn`t easy. Up to 16% here but yet the pace isn`t too high. Later on the riders should have more trouble.
HTC is doing the pace. Mainly Van der Lijke and Van Asbroeck have to work and with 82km left and a gap of more than 5min it`s time to do so.
This Cat.3 actually made some riders struggle. 36 riders are behind the favourite group containing 78 riders. Some of those are decent riders next to almost all sprinters. Pranata, Wang.
So in especially PFG Armavia wasn`t concentrated enough.
No surprise that Smukulis is going for the bonus seconds. Just like Kadri on the last stage he has good chances to improve his position.
Jeandesbosz and Njoroge are next without fighting.
The next climb 57km ahead of the peloton isn`t the hardest in comparison to the next climbs. The breakaway is already going uphill while the peloton is crossing one of those massive bridges here.
And good news for Armavia. Wang and Pranata found contact again and we have a group of 113 rider 3min behind the breakaway.
The Cat.3 here is a bit weird as it`s almost going downhill again. This might be the reason why Smukulis is fighting for it. He might have thought it`s an intermediate sprint with bonus seconds.
Jeandesbosz and Njoroge are directly behind him.
Still led by HTC we go over the first of these long and steep climbs. Several fans are here from all over the world.
2min are left for the group. Meanwhile several riders lose contact again. Within those several sprinters such as Vingerling, Lo Cicero, Schorn or Bozic. 100 riders left though.
Not much happened until the next climb where 3 riders attack out of the reduced 62 rider peloton. Montaguti Kump Alizadeh
The biggest favourites are still waiting while more riders were dropped: Kennaugh, Burlutsky, Kangangi, Grychenko, Vasylyuk, Hushovd or once again Pranata, who is not having his best day.
The 3rd Cat.3 was again quite contested. Njoronge wins ahead of Smukulis and Sohrabi while Jeandesbosz lost contact to the group. With 32km left they only have a 50s gap to the 3 latest attackers and another 18s to the peloton.
New situation. Group Kump joined the breakaway but the WWE rider, who was caught already. They lead with a small 47s gap.
And the selection continues on the easier climbs now. Preidler, Pagoto, Hugentobler or Van Hummel as last real sprinter are dropped but still we have a 50 rider favourite group with lots of helpers.
25km and two more attacks. It`s Grygorenko and Meintjes.
Metinvest had a pretty anonymous tour so far and surely are happy with a bit more presence.
De Greef also followed them but this now is a bigger attack. Flügel lost his GC chances on the 2nd stage but still he is one of the best puncheurs and so he attacks. Gautier, Taborre and Pakthusov immediately follow.
The attackers around Flügel are caught but the attacks don`t stop. With 20km to go we reached the easier climbs and actually the last chance to create a gap. Ben Nasser attacks which is a strange move as Kump is still ahead. He is joined by Chaoufi. Kenya Airways really shows great spirit here and is always in the attacks.
Last mentioned is back in the peloton but Ben Nasser is not giving up. 38s ahead of him the Grygorenko group and 16s ahead of them the six riders around Kump.
14km left and we almost reached the "top". Kump, Montaguti and Alizadeh are the last riders left but the peloton is coming now.
A few riders accelerated and created a gap on this last climb and also the yellow jersey of Sander Armee in there.
Peloton (45)
Salerno
Alizadeh
Wegmann
<32>
Flügel
<28>
Kump
Reimer
Hoogerland
Montaguti
Dowsett
Ben Nasser
Gautier
Armee
…
Froome
Pineau
Alizadeh surprisingly takes the 6 bonus seconds ahead of Kump and Montaguti. These bonuses might be the main reason for the latest attackers, but they just missed them by a some 100 meters.
6km left and the two groups fusion. 12 riders in front now with a 40s gap as also Gautier and Schurter jumped to them.
Sram missed the split here with Wegmann. Also Vueling for Reimer weren`t expecting this attack while most other teams have their leader in there. Unlucky guy is Dowsett of course. He was always strong but with Froome in the front group he can`t chase behind.
Hoogerland starts the sprint with 2,4km to go with Kump being behind him. But also the second group is coming.
Kump can`t keep Hoogerland`s speed and falls back. His long attack doesn`t pay off now. Flügel, Pineau, Armee and Ben Nasser are in the first line behind him with Salerno, Schurter and Gautier behind. Froome definitely isn`t the best sprinter and Dowsett might have done better here.
Flügel is fast. Very fast. Easily he goes around Hoogerland, but also Armee and Salerno do well coming from behind. Can the Belgium take another win?
The other riders look beaten but what`s that?
Dowsett definitely would have been the better option for Jaguar to send into the group. From far behind he started the sprint but is already on one level with his team mate.
But it`s Flügel taking the win. At least a small compensation for his manager. Hoogerland also very strong today keeping his 2nd ahead of Salerno in 3rd. Important bonus seconds for these two, while Armee is the unlucky 4th but he will stay in the GC lead.
Pineau as 5th ahead of the strong Dowsett, who might have missed a big chance to win today and maybe even the GC lead. Behind him his team mate Froome, Gautier, Ben Nasser and Schurter.
But what a disappointment again. 47 riders finish together as the final climbs are just not hard enough to drop riders.
Another great success for Kenya Airways. After yesterdays stage win Njoroge collected enough points to be in the KoM jersey tomorrow and also they keep their lead in the team rankings.
