The peloton spent a night at altitude at Roccaraso, but the race is not going to get much easier now that the first Mountain stages have passed. Chieti is the destination, more commonly found in the Tirreno-Adriatico, and it's steep Via del Tricalle climb will be raced 3 times.
Despite his recent time loss, Yuri Trofimov is the obvious favourite to make this stage his 3rd win of the race, and start gaining back that time. It could also be a good opportunity for Riccardo Ricco to regain some time - and perhaps for Simon Spilak to take over from Angel Madrazo in applying pressure on Taylor Phinney at the top of the standings.
And then there is a question of how the puncheurs in the field can do. Is Chieti perfect for them, or will it be too hard? Dimitri Claeys, Aleksandr Efimkin, Diego Ulissi and Damiano Caruso will be eager to find out.
A fast downhill start does not deter the attackers, as Kevin Fouquet is the first to launch a move on the initial steep section.
This led to a further 9 riders joining the move:
Jetse Bol Wes Sulzberger Welle Jallays Martin Hacecký Fabio Duarte Aleksandr Dyachenko Yonathan Monsalve Philip Deignan Daniel Navarro
Theres 2 reasons why this is not going to work though. Firstly because there is too many of them. Secondly, because Sulzberger is here. A sure fire guarantee that this won't be the move that goes clear!
The race has been a let down for Duarte so far as he is not even in the Top 50 GC - and only the 5th best placed rider in this break. His hopes of salvaging this race lie in breakaways from now on.
The best placed rider in here is 27th overall Dyachenko and the Kazakh rides over the second KoM first.
Dyachenko also led through the intermediate sprint as the route hit the coast. There is a strong sidewind present which could cause trouble later in the day in the peloton.
The presence of Chieti will dominate the stage more though and as the breakaway approach the first ascent they hold a 6 minute lead. With 42km to go, that is quite a handy advantage.
Once again Wikipedia have been left to do all the work - so perhaps today will be another win for the breakaway. Although Elissonde, Meyer, Pinot, Mccarthy and Atapuma can't resist applying a little bit of pressure as the peloton takes on the Chieti climb for the first time.
A successful day continues for Dyachenko as he wins another KoM by being first to the top of the climb. The bad news is that their lead has now been slashed to 3 minutes.
Chieti - Via del Tricalle
Total
1
Aleksandr Dyachenko
10
15
2
Fabio Duarte
8
19
3
Petar Panayotov
6
9
4
Philip Deignan
4
11
5
Taylor Tolleson
2
6
The damage has been done at the other end too, with 84 riders being dropped on that 1 climb alone. The sprinters amongst those who decided they had better things to do than match the pace of the leaders today!
Wikipedia arent really chasing, and for the rest of the circuit the gap remains constant. But even with the presence of good climbers in the breakaway group, it does seem a tall order for them to stay clear over 3 ascents up Via del Tricalle.
Wikipedia are certainly earning plenty of plaudits for their riding in the race, but it just got a whole lot more challenging as Yuri Trofimov attacks!
Diego Ulissi is immediately with him, and all hell breaks loose behind as Taylor Phinney is the next man to launch a move.
Riccardo Ricco, Simon Spilak, Markus Fothen, Ryan Eastman, Romain Sicard and Peter Velits all follow.
Meanwhile the breakaway picked up some more KoM points at the summit:
Down the other side of the hill, Yuri Trofimov has come out strongest of the attackers.
Ricco and Sicard are chasing - the Frenchman continuing his impressively strong race - with Velits also clear of the peloton.
Wallays, Phinney, Ulissi and Gastauer try to attack across but cannot get a gap, as Trofimov catches the breakaway and is then joined by Ricco and Sicard.
Two Bacardi and two Pearl Adidas riders in the move could help the pace setting - but it is irrelevant as Trofimov has sat himself on the front, motoring towards the finish line.
Next to attack are Emanuele Sella and Simon Spilak. Together, they bridge across to the front group.
5 kilometres remaining, and chasing a chance to regain time and win another stage, Trofimov is really burying himself on the front of the group. The gap is not huge though, with Nibali and Kiserlovski leading the peloton.
Ben Gastauer attacks from the peloton, and soon after the Trofimov group is caught. The Luxembourger carries through his attack though, and opens up a lead as the final Chieti climb begins.
There's a lull in the action - so perfect timing for Gastauer's move - but then Trofimov does respond.
The Russian glides past Gastauer, and has Riccardo Ricco chasing after him now.
Positioning is vital at this stage, but some of the top puncheurs in the field are poorly positioned at the back of this reduced peloton. Claeys, Betancourt and Caruso are not helping their chances here.
The sprint is off and Ricco immediately looks to challenge Trofimov.
Angel Madrazo is poorly placed here if any gaps can emerge at the front. Beside him is a favourite for the stage in Aleksandr Efimkin, while Dimitri Claeys has started to move up a little too - but surely too late. Some of the leading GC contenders are best placed to take the stage now, rather than the puncheurs.
Sure enough, it is Taylor Phinney who is looking strongest into the final kilometre as he rides past a faltering Trofimov.
Phinney moves alongside Ricco, but so does Simon Spilak - the Slovenian edging in front now.
But coming up fast is Aleksandr Efimkin. Bad position overcome, and he is the next man to move ahead of Trofimov.
But if Efimkin is quick, then what about Dimitri Claeys! From the back of the group right up to the front, the Belgian is flying.
Spilak's lead is going to be shortlived as Claeys storms into first place.
Such an explosive finish by Dimitri Claeys, and he wins his 3rd career Giro stage. More importantly, it is Lotto-Cervelo's first ever Grand Tour stage win!
Claeys was so strong that he is actually awarded a 9 second gap on the line - not that the extra time will mean much to him.
Time is more important for Simon Spilak though, and he reduces Phinney's race lead by taking 2nd place. Aleksandr Efimkin takes 3rd, the best result to date for the wildcard Cisco squad.
4th for Taylor Phinney will give the American the lead in the Points competition, while Riccardo Ricco takes 5th and another fast finishing puncheur Damiano Caruso grabs 6th.
Only 7th for Yuri Trofimov, who perhaps believed his own hype and expended far too much energy for no reward in the lead up to the uphill finish.
There's Top 10 finishes too for López Garcia, Augustyn and Ulissi.
Further back, Sergio Luis Henao Montoya, Peter Velits and Ryan Eastman really struggled, and are caught out by a split in the field - losing 44 seconds.
As mentioned, Phinney now leads the Points competition - 1 point ahead of Ben Swift, with a further point behind in 3rd.
3rd place on the stage brought Efimkin 6 KoM points and he now moves up to 2nd, within 2 points of Riblon. That competition is becoming increasingly close as the race goes on.
Meanwhile, Wikipedia's teams classification lead over Pendleton's has been extended by 3 minutes to 13.
All riders finished within the time limit, and Lotto bookend the day's results after Ciolek punctured some time after already being dropped, and struggled in alone a long time after everybody else.
1
Dimitri Claeys
Lotto - Cervelo
4h31'14
2
Simon Spilak
Aker - MOT
+ 9
3
Aleksandr Efimkin
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Taylor Phinney
Wikipedia
s.t.
5
Riccardo Ricco
Team Bacardi
s.t.
6
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Yuri Trofimov
Koenigsegg
s.t.
8
David López Garcia
Santander
s.t.
9
John-Lee Augustyn
Aker - MOT
s.t.
10
Diego Ulissi
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
11
Emanuele Sella
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
12
Robert Kiserlovski
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
13
Romain Sicard
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
14
Angel Madrazo
Santander
s.t.
15
Vincenzo Nibali
UBS - BMC
s.t.
16
Ben Gastauer
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
17
Gianluca Brambilla
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
18
Gianpaolo Caruso
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
19
Tim Dees
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
20
Nico Keinath
Team B&O
s.t.
21
Markus Fothen
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
22
Bernhard Kohl
Pendleton's
s.t.
23
Thibaut Pinot
Wikipedia
s.t.
24
Leopold König
Milka - AVG
s.t.
25
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Manuel Lloret
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
27
Vitor Rodrigues
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
28
Carlos Betancourt
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
29
Matteo Rabottini
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Ioannis Tamouridis
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
31
Ion Izagirre
Hollister Pro Cycling
s.t.
32
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Milka - AVG
s.t.
33
Petar Panayotov
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
34
Santo Anza
Koenigsegg
s.t.
35
Kristjan Koren
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 53
36
Jelle Wallays
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
37
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
Milka - AVG
s.t.
38
Mickaël Delage
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
39
Johannes Frohlinger
Project 1t4i
s.t.
40
Peter Velits
Project 1t4i
s.t.
41
Chris Anker Sørensen
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
42
Thomas Faiers
Pendleton's
s.t.
43
Kenny Elissonde
Wikipedia
s.t.
44
Ryan Eastman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
Jetse Bol
Wes Sulzberger
Welle Jallays
Martin Hacecký
Fabio Duarte
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Yonathan Monsalve
Philip Deignan
Daniel Navarro
Petar Panayotov
Taylor Tolleson
