Today it`s becoming harder for the favourites. It`s the first hilly stage and so it will be intereting to see if some GC riders struggle.
A few of them are pure climbers and really hate riding those shorter but often steeper climbs.
I think in especially Krasnoperov and Stetina fear those stages the most.
Also we have some good puncheurs here only focussing on these stages like Zaini, Jiao or Schurter.
One thing you can`t really see on the profile but the last ~300m are a very tough uphill. Also the second last climb is really steep, so those two should be able to make some damage.
5 riders try their luck in the breakaway. Bucciero Galta Kung Pineau Baez
All of them are at least 2min behind race leader Serebriakov, who might lose his jersey today.
~80km are left and so far it was totally flat.
Hollister is controlling everything keeping the gap under 5min maximum.
With the hills starting on the last third it should become more interesting.
As said. Those 5 are not really a danger. Still Bucciero and Galta are going for the bonus seconds with Pineau crossing the line as 3rd.
The first of 6 more serious climbs ahead and we also see the first attacks in the peloton as the gap is down to ~1'40. Anthony Paulinho Hudecek Kinoshita Criel
Interesting moves there. Two riders by Sram show their will to get more stage wins after Mezgec delivered the first.
Paulinho is interesting as his leaders Pellizotti/Ardila are solid GC riders.
Also nice to see Kinoshita trying it again. Yesterday he had really bad luck when he was caught with less than 500m to go.
Criel is holding up the CT flag. 3 CT riders in todays breakaway and here is the fourth. Very active riding by them so far.
But Hollister with 3-4 riders always at the front are bringing them back pretty quick.
In the background you see the first dropped riders such as KoM leader Devine or some sprinters like Farrar, Awang, Salleh, Haidar Anuawar.
On top Pineau takes teh 6 points ahead of Galta and Baez.
The French was also the only rider in there to have already collected some points and is at 13 now.
Next KoM and the peloton is coming pretty close already.
Bucciero ahead of Kung and Pineau as last one is not really aiming the points.
With the first of the two higher hills we also see more attacks. And still the same guys but Anthony. Paulinho Hudecek Kinoshita Criel
Pineau takes more points ahead of Galta and Baez but the gap to the recent attackers and the peloton is small.
Onto the downhill we see Jiao joining the latest attackers.
45s to the leading group and 30s to the peloton.
Riders like Mezgec or Greipel lose contact now as the pace is too high. Race leader Serebriakov though is still fighting sitting in the 64 rider peloton.
Almost reaching the next Cat.2 and third last hill in total. And here the first real GC attack. It`s the 2011 winner Franco Pellizotti.
You have to love those American highways going up the hills. Enough room for everyone.
Pineau and Kung are the last ahead with Pellizotti, Hudecek and Criel being the only late attackers left joining the rest of the breakaway.
But look at who is winning the Cat.2 on top! None of those riders as the peloton catches them before.
It`s Jiao who attacked another time.
Behind him we see Dyachenko also in the attack.
Paulinho, Zaballa and Marentes cross the line next.
Jiao has a nice gap already and Paulinho with the 3rd attempt, while Dyachenko obviously just went for the KoM points as he waited for the peloton afterwards.
Cabreira losing contact now but he wasn`t the first. A bit before him we already saw some huge names dropping on those hills: Stetina Osella Lewis Ochoa Quintero.
Last one though not because of the profile. He is instead waiting for race leader Serebriakov, who also couldn`t follow.
But a big problem for Meiji, who lose their GC rider here.
Paulinho is caught again but Oz Cycling is really active in that late phase. Peraud attacks on the smaller Cat.3 to improve in the GC after failing on the 2nd stage. His team mate Jiao is still ahead and could wait eventually.
But it doesn`t really look like it. The stage win seems to be his goal and behind those two Oz riders Briceno for Repsol takes the last points. Obviously Kashechkin is a bit worried and so he sent a team mate to the front.
This short but steep hill splitted the peloton into to halfs of ~20 riders each.
Let`s check the names:
First half (21 riders) including Briceno Kashechkin Kiserlovski Marentes Anton Dyachenko Lowe Pellizotti Txurruka Paulinho Ardila Schurter Jiriakov Hudecek Nicacio Vital Vrecer Leijman
This means in the 2nd half we have big names: Ratij Krasnoperov Zaini Gadret Agudelo Danielson
But ahead of all those there is still the Oz duo Jiao and Peraud, who just joined him with the final climb ahead. And what a climb this is! It`s more than a normal wall and can break some riders` neck for sure.
You gotta need enough energy left to avoid losing tons of time here.
Peraud quickly goes into the lead but they have just ~20s to the peloton and the climb might not look long. But due to the almost 25% steep slope it definitely feels long.
Kashechkin and Anton are the first coming from behind and it definitely looks faster.
Peraud still in the lead with 300m to go but Kashechkin coming strong being already ahead of Jiao with Anton and Nicacio fighting hard.
Also to mention that this is only the first group of favourites and the 2nd isn`t even around the corner yet.
120m and Kashechkin is in the lead while the Ratiy group also sees that crazy wall now.
Unlucky Oz today as they don`t look to get a stage win. But still Peraud has quite a gap to the next and here every small gap is a few seconds time.
In the end Kashechkin takes the win by quite a gap as he looked the strongest. This is a big sign of him. So expect him to be a big contender for the overall win here. A pity that his Repsol manager is just out of the house at the moment. But I guess he will enjoy seeing that win when he is back.
Peraud with a great 2nd 9s behind the Kazakh. It might have been the best season performance by the French.
Nicacio as 3rd also a bit surprising but it shows his ambitions in the GC and it might also be a late rush for Prio in the promotion fight.
Zaini as 4th might have been expected to be strong today but actually he didn`t look well during the stage so it is a bit surprising as he was one of just two riders to make it back from the 2nd group before the climb.
Also in that 9s group is Kiserlovski, last years winner. But judging on this screenshot it shows that he was very fast in the end.
Behind Kiserlovski we have a group of 6 being 36s behind including Lowe, Anton, Jiano, Ardila, Marentes and Schurter. Gaining time on the rest is obviously good. But in especially for Anton. Losing time on 4 GC riders is not ideal neither.
54s back the next group including Vrecer, Txurruka, Pellizotti, Gadret, Lejman and Dyachenko. So the WWE riders still doing well with 3 riders already in the finish, which brings them the team ranking lead. Also mentionable are Dyachenko, who could deliver some nice and unexpected points for Cisco as he is still doing fine in the GC. Also Gadret a positive surprise for his manager as he was in the 2nd group and was next to Zaini the other guy coming back.
The top20 are completed by some helpers or outside favourites.
But it takes incredible 2'20 until Ratiy is in the finish together with Krasnoperov or Agudelo. Huge loss for them and they really need to be much much stronger in the mountains. They even finished behind Marcel Sieberg, who was the strongest sprinter today as 27th.
Stetina loses even more than 6min and so the GC might already be gone now, which could give him the freedom for a long attack.
GC wise we obviously have lots of changes today as Kashechkin takes the lead ahead of Kiserlovski and Nicacio.
Marentens, Ardila and Pellizotti follow next.
Then already Peraud, who makes a huge jump today followed by Briceno. Vrecer as 9th as best CT rider ahead of Dyachenko.
Unfortunately PCM didn`t export the stage....so here just the screenshot version. Hopefully this will work again for the next stages. Can`t say as I haven`t played them yet.
