It might be the queen stage in this year`s Tour of America.
Similar to the double Alpe d`Huez the riders have to ride the Mount Palomar twice. A bit different that the slopes are much tougher and the finish isn`t right after the climb. Instead the riders need to ride a bit on slower slopes on top.
So here might be the best chance for the GC riders to do something against Kashechkin and also the podium in general.
Definitely a deserved HC category here. The red and black tinge shows the high percentages here. Almost no easy parts on the whole climb and in addition it`s on gravel roads.
The first KoM is reached before the breakaway is really formed.
Kung as 5th in the KoM is obviously interested and takes it ahead of Baez and Kinoshita.
KoM leader Devine also wanted in todays breakaway just like Boeing stage winner Bucciero.
But as Khripta as 16th in the GC also tried it a few times, those had no chance and missed the right attack.
11 riders in todays breakaway. That`s a huge group but no real GC danger as Vital as 34th and almost 35min back is the best placed. Kinoshita Williams Kung Dieteren Mangel Schelling Baez Zabel Vital Laidler Kaisen
The pace in the begin was very fast as several more riders wanted to attack. Repsol had quite a lot to do to get the situation under control.
At the sprint they finally made it as the group is up to more than 4min.
2nd KoM and Dieteren is annoying Kung a bit here. The Amex rider has not really a chance to climb that much with only 10 points on his account. Still he is taking the points here ahead of Kung.
63km left when the breakaway starts the first climb. They can already see where they have to go now.
With Briceno, Agudelo and Galviz Kashechkin sends his strongest helpers to the front. They have a 8'30 gap but going down now.
So more or less most of the top sprinters here. They will really struggle if they are dropped that early.
More sprinters like Keough, Mezgec, Vesely, Bouhanni, Cooke or Eefting stay a bit longer but are also dropped soon.
So 46 riders already behind in two groups now.
Close fight for the big points but again Dieteren takes the points away from Kung, who takes 2nd. Schelling, Baez, Vital as next. But most of them don`t care.
The peloton has gained a bit more than 1'30 only in the end. Still it`s down to 46 riders but no top30 rider was surprised and all have been concentrated.
Best placed rider behind is Zaini, but he surely had no GC ambitions or is a climber.
Repsol still with several helpers left and none of those looks very exhausted actually. Strong team performance.
Already before the descent the first GC attack! Krasnoperov goes with 46km to go as 13th in the GC.
Shock for Alstom - RBC. First Gadret punctures and has to stop at the road side.
Then Rollin crashes further behind in the descent which is always dangerous.
Gadret still staying? It seems as if he will have to abandon!
The French climber, 11th in the GC, is always looking at his leg: patellar fracture and he is out. Huge bummer for the team.
Being isolated early is never a good thing in the mountains. And with Lowe surely not having as good support as the other teams he is already doing the work on his own to bring Krasnoperov back, who is a danger for him.
Actually this wouldn`t even be needed that much as Volkswagen with Brändle and Repsol are also doing it.
https://imageshack.us/a/img585/8742/wlng.jpg
He rarely had more than 30s and so Krasnoperov is caught after the descent again.
Together with Kaisen, who was dropped from the breakaway. Same goes for Laidler. The Oz rider is still ahead but also not longer part of the leading group.
Anton and Kiserlovski attack right ahead of the final climb. This is early. Then again it might be the only chance to gain as much time as they need to beat Kashechkin.
But despite having strong helpers, Kashechkin decides to go the safe way and follows himself together with Lowe.
And of course this only leads to more attacks: Krasnoperov Nicacio Ratiy Vrecer Pellizotti
A bit later also Peraud.
All those attacks more or less neutralized the situation and so Anton goes again.
Also in front the selection starts with Vital obviously being the strongest being a bit ahead of Schelling. The rest already follows with a bigger gap.
Look at those slopes. Terrifying.
And the groups is splitted into two halfs. Most mentionable names being dropped there are
Cabreira and
Khripta
25 riders in the front group and Krasnoperov attacks again with Anton right behind him. Those two look very strong today and don`t give up.
And look at this last rider in the group. Before the split 5 Oz riders were in that group. Now there are only 2 and the later one is Peraud in huge problems. Lewis though looks much stronger today.
Kashechkin himself decides to do the pace behind those two attacks.
This leads to the next split with only 7 riders being in the front group: Kashechkin Kiserlovski Ratiy Ardila Ochoa Quintero Pellizotti Vrecer
Huge performance once again by Vrecer always being well placed and trying to follow the better climbers.
WWE and Hollister continue to impress with their team strength.
Behind them it`s Lowe, Nicacio and Stetina looking the strongest while Peraud and GC surprise Sousa struggle a lot.
Anton and Krasnoperov are caught. But instead of seeing who attacks next, Kashechkin fools the other riders and accelerates a bit to jump to them and opens a gap to the next riders. Smart riding by the Kazakh here.
Anton and Krasnoperov know that they can`t ride for the GC win here with Kashechkin that strong. But both can improve a lot in the GC and so they are continue riding and help Kashechkin, who isn`t doing anything now. But the gap becomes bigger and bigger.
The group Nicacio, Stetina, Lowe, Dyachdenko is trying to come back to the Kiserlovski group in front.
Peraud is not in this group neither is Sousa. And it`s surely not helping that Lewis is trying to go on his own today and keeps the pace high.
Vital and Schelling are caught. So the breakaway once again without luck today.
Kiserlovski waited quite some time until he decided to accelerate. But as soon as he did it the group was reduced to Ratiy and Ardila only with Pellizotti, Vrecer and Ochoa Quintero being dropped.
And Kiserlovski is not stopping now. Still 3km to climb and he is already ahead of Krasnoperov and closes the gap to Kashechkin. No one was able to follow him and Ratiy and Ardila are solo behind.
And 500m later he made it. So we have a new situation:
Kashechkin, Kiserlovski, Anton
<28s>
Krasnoperov
<32s>
Ardila
<25s>
Ratiy, Vital
<44s>
Vrecer, Pellizotti, Stetina, Ochoa Quintero, Nicacio
<39s>
Lowe, Lewis, Schelling, Dyachdenko
<38s>
Peraud, Briceno, Agudelo, Sousa
Kashechkin takes the KoM ahead of Anton and Kiserlovski. Since last mentioned is back in the group, Kashechkin finally is doing something again. As if he wanted to wait for him.
The gap of course is becoming higher now.
Meanwhile Stetina attacked and is solo behind Ratiy while Nicacio is a group behind Vrecer and Pellizotti now.
Last kilometer and those 3 are fighting for the stage win.
And who else but Kiserlovski after this strong 2nd half of the mountain?
He even opened a gap in the sprint after starting it as last of them.
8s later Anton takes 2nd ahead of Kashechkin, who did not look super strong today. And with time bonuses and gap, Kiserlovski at least gained a bit.
Anton in the fight for the podium with a strong sign here.
Krasnoperov was also very strong and comes in 4th. But already 1'28 behind, which shows how big the gaps are here. So the biggest winner surely is Anton as the top2 was more or less decided already.
Ardila as 5th already 2'27 behind. So Anton looks to be the new 3rd in the GC as Sousa is still far behind.
24s later Ratiy as 6th today. He will also improve.
Stetina, Pellizotti and Vrecer next. Strong WWE team performance today with two riders already in. But it`s almost 4min already since Kiserlovski finished.
Behind Ochoa Quintero, Nicacio also comes in now. This is quite some time in the fight for a top5.
Lewis, Lowe and Vital as next.
Dyachdenko as good 15th today ahead of the strong Repsol helpers Briceno and Agudelo. Then Peraud, one of todays losers even though most guys ahead are better climbers. At least the time trial might help him just like with Nicacio.
But Oz team tactic was pretty weird today.
Stage wise a loser I guess as Sousa loses his podium spot. But actually he is still a winner after his coup. He stays in 5th behind Anton and Ardila. Much better than expected.
Krasnoperov, Nicacio and Ratiy come next and might hope for a good time trial to improve more.
Vrecer and Peraud as next also with chances in the time trial. But the next mountains must be better for Peraud at least as Pellizotti is coming closer from behind.
Also mentionable that many top sprinters did not make it in the time limit as they were more than 30min over the limit:
Greipel
Serebriakov
Castaneda
Farrar
Chicchi
Haidar Anuawar
Teruel
So the best sprinters left now are Mezgec, Keough, Sieberg, Manan, Cooke, Vesely, Salleh, Santos, Eefting...so still a decent competition without the biggest stars of course.
