After yesterday's quiet hilly stage, which saw an escaping duo finishing 24" ahead of the peloton, today's profile (140km) looks way more challenging and crucial for the GC:
The finishing climb in Chernyk comes at 5km in total, featuring steep slopes. Will race-leader Pagoto manage to hang on with top-favorites like Craven, Bilbao or a so far strong looking Ignatiev? Or will we see another breakaway taking it?
An early attempt by three riders (all + 0.50 in GC) and with 10km into the race, the trio already established a 1'25"-gap:
O'Brien, Siskevicius and Firsanov make for a quite decent breakaway group!
They are allowed to stay clear nevertheless and build a 6-minutes gap when reaching the first mountain-sprint:
KoM #1 (Cat3)
Firsanov
Siskevicius
O'Brien
Firsanov as the only one, who seems to care about this sprint. There's actually no chance for any of them to take the KoM-lead over.
The bonus seconds at today's two Intermediate Sprints could be more of interest though, given that those three definitely will hope to hold off the bunch til the end:
Sprint #1
O'Brien
Firsanov
Siskevicius
With now 83km to go, the breakaway group's lead is already going down to 5'00" again, so the pursuit is on!
Of course Kappa is at the front working for that chase, but also Nordeus is showing it's colors quite prominent. With now 57km remaining, the gap is down to 3'10" and the pace is quite high.
So the GC's leading duo Pagoto/Kiserlovski definitely knows their teams working well to keep their chances for a decent GC-placement alive!
Third to last short climb prior to the finishing climb, 49km to go. The trio passes the final mountain-sprint with a lead of still about 3 minutes:
KoM #2 (Cat3)
Firsanov
O'Brien
Siskevicius
Penultimate climb prior to the final one (27km remaining) and both Kappa and Nordeus keep the high pace up to pull the breakaway back:
the gap is down to 1'20" in the meantime and the peloton is quite stretched after this short but steep climb!
The leading trio reaches the final Sprint (22km) with a minute's advantage on the chasing bunch:
Sprint #2
O'Brien
Siskevicius
Firsanov
So O'Brien takes 12 bonus seconds in total. It's also the last short climb before the riders will face the tough finish!
And it's also the climb, where Rogers will lose all (small) hopes for a decent GC-result here! The veteran TT-specialist again with some bad positioning far behind in the bunch, where a group of 25 riders (a few more got dropped earlier) can't follow anymore!
Also in this group: De Greef/Viola, Yatsevich, Fominykh, Zmorka, Hacecký and of course some pure sprinters like Greipel! So several TTlers, who might have hoped to finish in the main peloton today.
The more interesting action happens in this main bunch though: with 16km remaining, we see the first serious GC-contenders on the move!
Konovalovas, Kangert and Der give it a try! The breakaway still a minute ahead.
A yet empty-handed effort though, as the trio is pulled back by the still chasing bunch - now led by Nordeus, Karcher and (once Kangert got swallowed)!
13km to go and the latest attacks played into the escapees cards, it seems: their lead is back to 1'30" for now!
And here they are, entering the final 6km with one minute ahead of the peloton! This ain't a gap to keep it relaxed, given the tough finishing climb.
In the meantime, another attack - this time by Devolder - didn't play out, with now Metinvest joining the chasing teams Allianz and Karcher. Will those teams do better than yesterday's?
Well, at least it will be much closer than yesterday, this is for sure: the bunch (now at 90 riders) enters the final five ascending kilometres being 55" in arrears.
The situation at the front of this peloton looks quite packed, as several domestiques from Allianz and Karcher (in particular) worked til this climb to narrow the gap.
There's still a chance for the first serious attacks on this climb:
Bilbao, Craven and Kangert go with 4.4km remaining! So two of the most promising GC-contenders on the move!
The less stronger TT-specialist (Bilbao) can't follow, as Craven/Kangert bridge the gap to the escaping trio quickly! 4km to climb and the duo is soon to catch up to the leading group!
Craven flies past this trio and also drops Kangert quite easily to keep his attacking going solo with now 3.6km remaining!
He's 12" ahead of the next group (escapees/Kangert) and 33" ahead of the bunch by now!
Of course this is a serious attempt and more top-favorites do have to follow:
Ignatiev and Gerdemann are next in line to attack the bunch, trying to hang on!
3km to go and the duo catches up to group Kangert/escapees, 22" in arrears to Craven though. The peloton another 40" down at the moment.
Will more GC-contenders try to follow? Well, at least Kump does! Not one of those TTlers, but maybe a threat anyway.. 2.5km to go, Kump catches up to group Ignatiev/Kangert easily:
E1 Kangert
E2 at 0.41 Gerdemann Kangert Firsanov O'Brien Siskevicius Ignatiev Kump
P (61 riders) at 1.21 Pagoto Kiserlovski Konovalovas Koren Nepomnyachsniy Durasek Westra Hermans
and more
So Craven keeps growing his lead, while the peloton obviously won't have many teams/domestiques to chase now. No more attacks by any of those GC-contenders yet though.
Craven fights hard and 1.8km to the finish, his lead is up to 47" on the chasing group! The bunch another 52" in arrears..
A few seconds later, Ignatiev and escapee Siskevicius struggle to keep the chasing group's pace, where especially Gerdemann pulls the strings hard now!
Ignatiev in trouble 1.4km before finish, still 30" ahead of the bunch, but 25" down on group Gerdemann/Kangert!
A few moments later, there comes the peloton (still about 70 riders), already 1'57" down on solo-leading Craven! Konovalovas at the front trying to limit the losses, no one else of the most promising GC-contenders to be seen so far!
Final kilometre for Craven now and his lead is a few seconds up to 51" now! His victory seems to be certain..
And now the final km for the next groups, where early escapee Firsanov now is dropped by group Gerdemann/Kangert:
E1/ Craven
E2/ Gerdemann, Kangert, Kump, O'Brien at 0.52
E3/ Firsanov at 1.13
E4/ Ignatiev, Siskevicius at 1.30
P (36)/ with Konovalovas, Nepomnyachsniy, Koren at 2.07
GC's 2nd Kiserlovski got dropped in the meantime (3.42), while Pagoto still fights to hang on with this bigger group!
But first of all, Craven celebrates a dominating solo-victory! His powerful attack, which the likes of Kangert and Bilbao simply couldn't follow, was the key here. But he delivered til the finish.
1'02" later, Gerdemann crosses the line as 2nd today! So Craven with already a nice advantage on this next group.
1'08" for Kangert and Kump. So the stronger TTler Kangert with a minute behind Craven.
O'Brien completes the Top-5, crossing the line 1'28" behind Craven as the first of today's escaping trio. Firsanov comes in at 1'43", so both will make a nice jump in GC.
Now for the most interesting question (maybe): Ignatiev comes in next, losing 1'52" on Craven today! Quite a huge loss, but tomorrow's long and tough ITT will suit him the best.
A few more seconds behind, the last escapee Siskevicius and a very late attacking Bilbao finish as 8th and 9th.. the bunch not too far behind..
But first, we see Pagoto in serious trouble. The GC-leader finds himself back in a bigger group behind the main bunch. So he will also lose some time on those 35 riders ahead. Still a huge fight it was.
And now for the less aggressive GC-contenders, who did just enough to finish 2'23" behind Craven and therefore about a minute behind Gerdemann/Kangert (and 30" behind Ignatiev):
Nepomnyachsniy (10th), Konovalovas (11th), Durasek (13th), Westra (22nd) and Koren (33rd) as the best TTlers in this group will have to rely on their timetrialing to attack the Top-5 tomorrow.
Looking at the new GC, this ain't impossible though:
Craven will be tough to beat now, leading the rankings by more than a minute on Gerdemann and a less stronger TTler in Kump. Also the escapees O'Brien, Firsanov, Siskevicius, as well as Bilbao are likely to struggle tomorrow.
So Kangert (1.20), Ignatiev (2.12) and those last mentioned names like Nepomnyachsniy or Koren (2.43) may have some chances to improve. Even though the latter are most likely out of reach for Craven, it seems.
GC-leader Pagoto lost 3'56" eventually (dropping to 41st in GC) and Kiserlovski more than 4 minutes (55th now). So both chanceless to fight back in the TT.
