The third stage of the 2013 Glava Tour is only moment’s away .Today is once again a flat stage, which should finish in a bunch sprint. That most definitely favors the biggest sprinters who have performed well on previous days like Sutton in the yellow jersey, Dekkers and Lay.
As the riders pull out of the start it is raining, which could favor the tougher sprinters. Straight away two riders attack, namely stage 1 attacker Fouche and ageing Astarloza.
And the pair are let go, with the peloton seeing no danger in either of them. Astarloza is the closest GC-wise, but is the same as most riders as he is 24 seconds back on Sutton.
They pull out a 2’24 gap relatively quickly over a relaxed peloton which has Mobil and Risa at the helm. They aren’t too worried at this stage.
20 kilometers later, the gap has gone out to 4’03. Gazelle has joined Mobil and Risa on the front but the pace has not increased as a result. There is still 130 kilometers left though, so that is expected.
Back at the front the two riders have reached the first of two sprints. Fouche takes it comfortably ahead of Astarloza.
With 80 kilometers left the bunch decides it wants to start chasing. BNCR move to the front to inject some pace, and have started to claw back some time. The breakaway duo only has 3’18 to play with from hereon in.
The pair of attackers hold that lead for 30 kilometers, and still have 3 minutes moving into the last third of the race. That still probably won’t be enough though with the sprinters’ teams wanting a massed finish so their men can have a shot at a stage win.
Approaching the second and final sprint, Risa and Credexbank have both drastically raised the pace. They look to be trying to make the catch so their fast men can battle out the major points. The gap has been lowered all the way to 1’13 in the last 12 kilometers.
With 1200m left to the sprint, the catch has almost been made. The two breakaway riders are trying to hang on and the fast men are coming out of the peloton. Who will take the honors?
Due to the sprint, the break was caught earlier than usual. Will that change the rhythm of the last 30 kilometers?
Obviously not. Under the 20 kilometers to go banner BNCR and Credexbank are both on the front keeping the pace high. Another bunch sprint seems inevitable.
Nothing has really changed 10 kilometers later apart from Credexbank disappearing from the front. BNCR have full control and are keeping the pace high ahead of the final sprint.
4500m left and BNCR have been joined by Ibeira at the front. Here is how their trains look:
With 2000m left though the Costa Rican has lost Morales’ wheel and has moved backwards. That is strange behavior from BNCR’s leader.
Lay meanwhile has fought his way through, and is getting back into Blasquez’s wheel. Crespo and Ciocan are both well positioned just behind the Spaniard as well.
It is also worth noting that a group of riders including puncheurs like Grau and Gingsjo has been distanced from the back of the peloton! The high pace seems to be too much for them, which should really hinder their GC chances if they can’t hold on.
Meanwhile, back at the front the riders have gone under the flammage rouge. Mountains leader Veilleux has jumped into a surprise lead, while Lay has started sprinting behind but Blasquez is still ahead. Westling, Lequatre and Uwimana are all also in contention.
Both Ibeira riders fade though and with 600m to the line Lequatre has moved into the lead with a massive kick! Veilleux is going backwards in second and Uwimana is riding well in third.
300m left now. Lequatre is just about hanging on to the lead, with Eskpla riders Meenhorst and Porsev occupying the other podium spots provisionally. Yesterday’s winner Dekkers is the fastest rider coming from behind, but he is a bit far back…
Meenhorst!
The Eskpla rider takes it after an explosive final kick! A great win for him and his team. Porsev then makes it an even better day for the Lithuanians by grabbing second, making it a 1-2. It was sprinting domination from them today.
Argentinian Crespo just edges third for Vattenfall, ahead of long-time leader Lequatre who is just squeezed out of a podium in fourth. Ciocan manages to get another top 5 for Mobil which proves his consistency. Lasca also gets another high finish in sixth. Uwimana, Tianen, Westling and Dekkers then round out the top 10 in that order.
That was a very strange sprint in the end. BNCR and Ibeira both set up trains to see their leaders totally fail and the smaller sprinters enjoyed the chaos grabbing loads of surprise results.
Looking at the GC fight, the Gingsjo and Grau group is given a gap of 1’34 to the peloton. A dent in their GC chances for sure, but they aren’t really the biggest favorites and could be allowed some leeway to attack as a result.
In the overall at the end of today Sutton keeps his lead thanks to winning that intermediate sprint. On tomorrow’s hills he will have a 30 second buffer to the puncheurs. Meenhorst moves up into third, 10 seconds back on the Australian thanks to his win.
