Sixth and penultimate day in Argentinia and it's most probably the last chance for any major GC-changes.
Another tough hilly stage with a steep but rather short climb to finish off a 163km route. We've seen gaps on all uphill-stages so far, so GC-leader Castano (23" on Nicacio, 32" on Beltran) definitely can't relax here.
5 riders went early into the stage and are allowed a 4'00"-gap quickly (138km to go now):
So Vasquez as the maybe most notable name, who did disappoint his manager so badly so far in the race.
It's also him to take out today's only KoM-sprint (except of the finish):
KoM #1 (Cat2)
Vasquez
Dall'Oste
Bissinger
Halfway through the stage (70km to go), team ONCE starts to keep controlling the gap, which is at 7 minutes in the meantime.
The two Intermediate Sprints go to the breakaway though, where the riders won't challenge for those points/seconds: Menchov and Bissinger take out the two sprints.
Succesfull breakaways have been a real threat in both crucial stages, so ONCE keeps chasing to narrow the gap to 4'20" with now only 28km remaining though. At least, no one in the leading group seems to be dangerous for GC-leader Castano at this point.
And it's looking good for the early escapees to go for the stage honours: except of Bissinger (who tried to escape from the group), there's no more action until the final 7km. The leading five will enter the climb alltogether and their lead looks comfortable.
And now also the peloton reaches the final 7km-mark and we see an ONCE-rider on the attack:
Kulhavy (GC's 21st, + 6.17)
An interesting tactic, to say so. Will he just put the pressure off his team/captain instead of supporting Castano on this climb? Or does he go for his own ambitions here?
His move kicks off the action between the GC-contenders, as more riders jump behind immediately:
Schwab as the first (no GC-threat anymore though), followed by
Jeannesson De Greef, as well as
Nicacio Beltran
So two real threats for Castano in Nicacio and Beltran!
So of course the GC-leader has to react, just like others do 6km before finish:
Castano tries to jump behind group Nicacio/Beltran, accompanied by other contenders like Adamou, Sayar or Ardila!
At this point, the GC-battle may be more of importance in this stage, while the early breakaway still leads by more than 3 minutes on solo-attacker Kulhavy:
E2/ Kulhavy at 3.11
E3/ Schwab at 3.28
E4/ Nicacio Beltran De Greef Jeannesson at 4.04
E5/ Castano Rudaskov Di Gregorio Rodas Sayar McConvey Ardila Rosskopf Kasa Adamou Godoy at 4.44
The bunch comes at 5.35 and looks beaten. GC-leader Castano faces a tough final 3.7km with the gap on Nicacio/Beltran already at 40 seconds.
Back to the front, where the battle for the stage-win comes into it's crucial moments: Menchov, Dall'Oste, Vasquez and Bajadali enter the final 2km, while Bissinger can't follow!
1.8km to go and you may notice the still comfortable gap for the leading group (3 minutes on Kulhavy): Menchov accelerates!
And opens up a 26"-gap quickly! The veteran climber enters the final kilometre solo and might have sealed the deal here..
Back to the GC-contenders. Kulhavy and Schwab still ahead of the further groups, where it's still all open:
Nicacio/Beltran maintain 30"-advantage on group Castano with now 2.6km to fo for those groups.
In the meantime, Menchov celebrates his stage-win! Second win in a row for his team, and again a solo-attempt out of the break of the day!
40" later Dall'Oste and at 55" Vasquez complete the podium, while also Bajadali and Bissinger may be satisfied to finish this stage inside the Top-5!
Kulhavy enters his final kilometre with still a 15"-gap on Schwab and about 30" on group Nicacio/Beltran. The question remains, wether it was a good idea to leave his captain Castano, who's fighting to hang on with GC-threats like Nicacio and Beltran.
Even more, as Beltran, Jeannesson and Nicacio accelerate as they reach the final kilometre!
The gap on the further group grows to 30" again, but where exactly is Castano at this point?
He struggles more and more! Castano is almost a minute behind Beltran/Nicacio, so in serious trouble to lose the GC-lead today:
Beltran Jeannesson Nicacio at 3.34
Rudaskov Di Gregorio De Greef at 4.01
Castano McConvey Ardila Rodas Sayar at 4.28
And another 15" down, a group with Godoy, Rosskopf, Adamou, Safarzadeh or Kasa! So the GC's Top-15 all made it into this groups.
Kulhavy finishes the stage as 6th, with Schwab a few seconds later as 7th today. So at least a sign of strength from the latter, but most definitely too less of gap to make a huge jump today.
The most dangerous and interesting 3-men-group crosses the line 3'34" behind Menchov:
Beltran, Nicacio and Jeannesson did their best to bring Castano into serious trouble. Given the latest gaps, we will most likely see a new GC-leader!
And also some more changes inside the GC's Top-10/15, as another group of three riders will gain some important seconds today:
Rudaskov, Di Gregorio and De Greef cross the line at 4'09". So losing 30 seconds on Nicacio/Beltran, but also finishing comfortable ahead of the next bigger group.
Where 13 riders finish 4'41" behind Menchov and more than a minute behind Nicacio/Beltran! Including GC-leader Castano and all other remaining Top-15 riders. A tough loss for Castano..
..and a huge day for Nicacio! The Brazilian takes over the race-lead with only one flat stage to come. He leads by 9" on Beltran, who also did take over the Points-lead thanks to his strong finishes in those uphill-stages!
Castano at least managed to defend a podium-spot though ( + 0.44). De Greef (1.33) and Rudaskov (1.38) did very well to make the Top-5 though. Close behind are Rodas, Adamou and Godoy, who couldn't really play his strengths today (but Nicacio obviously was more important for the team here).
