Time for Willunga Hill! Two times the riders have to climb Willunga before they reach the finish. Van Stayen so far was very dominant and was able to counter all attacks or even gained time with bonus seconds or gapping stronger puncheurs.
Today though will be his biggest test as it`s the longest and hardest climb. The likes of Ulissi, Froome, Dowsett etc. are still dangerously close and surely are capable of doing better today. So it might be their last chance to win the GC or improve their position.
7 riders hope to surprise the favourites just like they did on stage 3. Santambrogio Mancuso Devolder Mandri Walker Grygorenko Jensen
Some pretty solid puncheurs in there without too much time loss yet. In especially Mancuso is an interesting tactic as he is one of Ulissi`s top domestiques, who might become important later today.
Karcher and Allianz with huge interest in today stage. Both are doing the main work, while Venchi can wait a bit behind them. So what is their plan?
Karcher with McEvoy not too bad but definitely not one of the top favourites and Allianz with Talabardon, who is a huge outsider today and Roy, who did not find his form yet it seems.
Santambrogio easily takes the first sprint ahead of Walker and Jensen.
Higher pace behind now and responsible for it surprisingly Allianz with most of their squad working for their leader. It might have been smarter to let the other teams with better GC riders work instead, but at least a team who is trying something.
Also the second sprint is one for Santambrogio with Jensen and Walker following next.
After that sprint we saw a huge selection in that breakaway and it`s not really covered why it happened.
Devolder and Mandri are in pole position with Mancuso trying to bridge up.
Santambrogio, Walker and Jensen a bit behind while Grygorenko is almost caught already. 1'14 only for the peloton though.
Attack out of the peloton!
It`s Serry and Jiao. Not the very best puncheurs yet but two riders, you mustn`t underestimate.
So also Quickstep sending one of their co-leaders highering the pressure on other teams like Venchi or Jaguar.
The top duo starts the first climb on Willunga Hill. Behind them the splitted breakaway and 1'30 to the peloton with the recent attackers somewhere in between.
Who is going to attack already on that first pass?
Except for Devolder, Mandri and Mancuso all are being caught again during the climb and now it`s time for the favourites to take over. Ben Nasser attacks first with 1,1km left until the top. He is followed by Shushemoin.
Immediately other puncheurs follow them and within those the leader jersey of Van Stayen, who looks pretty fresh actually. Ulissi Van Stayen Visconti Froome Trentin.
Last one though looks not powerful enough as he barely can create a gap.
Mandri is the first on top and takes the KoM here ahead of Devolder.
As Mancuso is caught as well now, the 3rd is a bit surprising as Shushemoin takes it. That said CSC in person of De le Fuente has caught all recent attackers again and so there was no gap any longer.
Well. Here clearly is a gap. Mandri attacked again and is going solo now with a huge gap. 1'40 again up to the peloton, that slowed down a little bit after catching all favourites.
But Mandri also is just +1'32 behind, so they can`t just let him go.
A huge split in the back of the peloton. Most sprinters can`t follow and also some better placed GC riders such as Talabardon or Oelerich can`t follow. Also surprising but seeing his form so far not the biggest one Weening, who missed the split.
That said with 13km to go a group of still 74 riders led by Quickstep is trying to chase down Mandri, who has a 1'40 gap.
In the 2nd peloton Allianz is trying to come back and not giving up yet. Their top sprinter Richeze now is working for Talabardon trying to rejoin the first group. But as the pace in front is fast and the riders there look less exhausted it`s not looking too well.
At least Roy is still in front for the team that did so much work in the beginning.
All 3 top puncheurs from Quickstep, Bacardi and Jaguar send their teammates to the front with Mancuso still having enough energy to work after his breakaway appearance. Mandri`s gap is down to 50s with 4km to go. But the next climb will surely favour the favourites more than the soloist.
Froome realizes that he has to go early if he wants to catch Mandri.
So right in the beginning of Willunga Hill he attacks.
A lot of riders follow him immediately and within them also the race leader, who still is on a good way to defend his GC lead. Ben Nasser Ulissi Gautier Van Stayen Bilbao Rabon
Bacardi with two riders here surely are less exhausted due to Mancuso`s effort.
But to win the GC they first need to get rid of Van Stayen.
More riders follow, that have missed the first move. Efimkin Visconti Simon Hermans Ventoso Betancourt
So who is mainly missing here? One name for sure. Last year`s winner Dowsett is still in the peloton.
Also Mehr-Wenige, Haas, Vastaranta, McEvoy, Roy, Kump or Barrio are still behind. In case of Roy this is surprising seeing their early work. Barrio did not try anything at all yet. And the others probably aren`t strong enough to go with the best.
Mandri is caught by Froome, who has created a decent gap already. Van Stayen and co need to close this one. Still 1,2km to go.
Ulissi, Ben Nasser and Gautier all look stronger than the race leader. But Froome is above all. We are already in about that area, where Van Stayen`s GC lead is in huge danger. But still 700m for the Brit in front.
Froome not slowing down in his typical I don`t go out of the saddle and look on my bike computer every 0,5 seconds. But it`s working for him as the gap widens.
Behind him lots of splits and small groups. Every rider on his own now going up as fast as possible.
Big win for Froome and Quickstep, who get their first win in 2014 and a first sign of what to expect this season. Everything but promoting and several stage wins would be disappointing.
18s later Ulissi leads the next group containing Ben Nasser as 3rd and also Gautier as 4th.
But there surely is another gap to Van Stayen and actually Gautier can be happy to not get a gap as well!
Great ride though by Van Stayen, who comes over the line as 5th. Behind him a strong Rabon and Bilbao. But what about their time?
+38 so with bonus seconds this means a 18s lead by Froome in the GC over Van Stayen, who is the new 2nd.
18s. Also interesting as tomorrow there are -20s bonus for the stage winner and Van Stayen already has two of them.
Betancourt and Efimkin as next with +53s couldn`t totally follow the best. Behind Julien Simon with another great performance as 10th of the day 1'04 behind but staying in a good GC position. Also Visconti, Mandri, who actually takes the KoM jersey with his solo in the end and Ventoso also in that group while Hermans lost a little bit more.
But he still was ahead of Dowsett, who must be named as the biggest disappointment today not even having a top10 GC after today.
Vastaranta, Mehr-Wenige, Haas, McEvoy, Kump, Roy and some more within him today.
So the top10 got a huge mix up today and we have a new race leader for the first time. But tomorrow will be very interesting now as it can change again.
