The race continues with the maybe toughest stage so far: 167km in total, the profile features a long (but not too steep) climb close to a short flat finish.
We've seen some attacks by GC-contenders yesterday, so we can expect the same today. Race-leader Maillet looked in good shape, countering the first attack by Berhane. Will he and his team keep on controlling the race?
Opposing to yesterday, no pure climber managed to join a first working breakaway group. Anyway, the 5-men-group, which establishes a 2-minutes-gap early into the stage, features some well known names:
Lloyd, Hughes, Cieslik, Kelderman and Grabovski!
So especially Lloyd and Kelderman, who both failed to do anything special in the first hilly stage, may aim to show something today. Both are also the two best-placed riders in GC here (+ 7.47), so no real threat this time, it seems. The group would also battle out today's first categorized climb:
KoM #1 (Cat4)
Cieslik
Grabovski
Lloyd
On today's first descent, we see also today's first crash: Schwab! The team's big hope for a good GC-finish is down with still 133km to go.. so the good news is, we won't have any trouble to fight his way back into the peloton.
A few kilometres later, the breakaway group (leading by 5 minutes in the meantime), crossed the first intermediate sprints - unchallenged order:
Sprint #1
Grabovski
Lloyd
Hughes
Schwab not only managed re-join the bunch easily, he's also part of a quite early, but strong looking mid-race attack! Still 79km remaining and 4 riders launch a move:
Efimkin, Niyonshuti, Schwab and Yemane!
This may put some pressure on the GC-contenders, as both Efimkin and Schwab (+ 3.36 in GC) are amongst those, who hope for a decent GC-finish here!
It seems like the teams back in the bunch are well aware of this dangerous move though: Puma, La Vie and also Barcelona lead the peloton into the second half the race and keep the gap to the latest attackers about a minute that way!
Also the gap to the early escapees is down to 4'05" with now 64km to go..
And that's it for the mid-race attackers: 34km before finish, La Vie pulls the 4-men-group back. So obivously, this group was far too dangerous to be allowed a bigger gap or longer ride at the front!
So it's again early breakaway versus peloton - at least for now: the gap is down to less than two minutes and just at today's second intermediate sprint, the riders in the leading group attack each other. Still 28km to go though.
Sprint #2
Kelderman
Hughes
Grabovski
The group goes into pieces and it's Lloyd, who managed to go for a solo-attempt! The Aussie enters the final 20km (uphill from now on) with a 43"-gap on his former breakaway companions, but also the peloton is within sight now.
And it seems like we will see some early action between the GC-favorites - at least some already test each other by keeping a high pace early into the two final climbs:
16km to go, Lloyd remains the only escapee to hold on to a gap (1.15) and some favorites opened up a small gap on the bunch thanks to accelerating once the escapees were reeled in!
Kashechkin, Pedraza, Ochoa Quintero, Nazaret amongst them, as well as race-leader Maillet and yesterday's stage-winner Feillu! Those, plus the former breakaway group, make for an 11-men-group.
But this group is pulled back by the peloton only a few moments later. With 14km to go, the pack is alltogether (78 riders) being 1'08" behind Lloyd.
Nazaret gives it another go now!
He crossed the penultimate KoM-sprint ahead of the bunch..
KoM #2 (Cat3)
Lloyd
Nazaret
Kashechkin
..but it's another empty-handed attempt yet. He's pulled back by the bunch, where the biggest names (like Kashechkin) show themselves at the very front with now 11km remaining.
The pace ain't too brutal though, as Lloyd managed to grow his lead to 1'54" in the meantime!
Nazaret appears to be the most aggressive GC-favorite today, as he leads another attempt (7 riders in total) to attack GC-leader Maillet 10.5km before finish:
Nazaret Kashechkin Pardilla De la Fuente Ochoa Quintero Pedraza Topchanyuk
GC's 2nd De la Fuente as the most dangerous for Maillet, but of course it ain't just him, who will aim to attack the race-leader!
And is this the first sign of weakness from Maillet? Instead of showing himself at the front of the peloton, the GC-leader is to be found rather far behind with now 10km to go! The first time we see him struggling... or is it a "fake"?
Anyway, the attacking group Nazaret/Pedraza/De la Fuente hasn't opend up a huge gap yet and still tries to put more pressure on the other favorites..
8km remaining and the gap is still at less than 30" though.. Eastman, Samwel, Panayotov and also Nerz keep a high pace now, leading the bunch (still 71 riders) back to those 7 riders. At least it looks like they will bridge the gap soon..
Solo-escapee Lloyd now faces a tougher pace of those GC-contenders and his lead is back to under a minute now.
It remains a kinda strange stop-and-go race though: as soon as the bunch managed to reel in group Nazaret (making it 78 riders in the bunch again), the race settles down for a few minutes - with a significant drop of the pace back in the peloton!
This is certainly good news for Lloyd, who's at 1'30" yet again with now only 6.5km to go! Will he benefit from the GC-favorites neutralizing each other?
It does look quite good for the Aussie, who now leads by 2 minutes as we enter the final 5km of the race!
And finally some more attacks back in the bunch: Marzano jumps away from the slow-pacing peloton, which is back at 100 riders in the meantime!
Nerz is next in line trying to launch a late, but maybe crucial move. He faces a 28"-gap on Marzano with 4.2km to go..
..some more riders - Berhane, Topchanyuk or Nazaret - are also on the attack now, but struggle to open a gap on the bunch.
Yes, it's only Marzano and Nerz, who managed to establish a gap yet.. Lloyd still with a comfortable lead, as he already crossed the final KoM-sprint to enter the final 3km:
KoM #3 (Cat2)
Lloyd
Marzano
Nerz
The race-situation is as follows:
E1/ Lloyd
E2/ Marzano at 1.11
E3/ Nerz at 1.35
P/ 76 riders including Maillet and all GC-favorites at 2.11
So there's a decent gap for Marzano and also Nerz may gain some valuable time today, given those two manage to hold on to this gaps on the final downhill-kilometres.
But first, Lloyd celebrates his solo-victory! Taking advantage of some weird tactics and a quite slow pace back in the bunch, the puncheur definitely had some luck here. He won't care anyway and secures Boeing's second stage-win in Tachira, plus jumping onto KoM's 2nd place.
1'29" later, Marzano crosses the line as today's 2nd! A nice achievement, even though a missed chance as well.. will he at least gain valuable time on other GC-contenders? Nerz ain't too far behind..
There was a clear gap, but Nerz finishes with the same time as Marzano! A good podium-finish today, but yet again the question: will he gap the pack, which already kicked off the bunch sprint in the background?
It's a strange decision by the race directors after a day of strange decisions by the GC-favorites: De la Fuente and Sonnery complete today's Top-5 and this peloton (76 riders) also finishes 1'29" behind Lloyd!
So no gaps at all between Marzano, Nerz and the peloton! It ain't the first disappointment today, so maybe it's deserved in a way.
Except of Marzano and Nerz grabbing bonus seconds for now 10th and 11th place in GC, there are no notable changes in the GC today. Good news for Maillet, who looked in trouble earlier in today's final climb. So there's still a nice gap for the french climber ahead of the best climbers, but of course we've still two mountain and one hilly stage remaining!
