Sirionnachi was so comprehensively beaten at the first intermediate sprint by the two others he didn't even bother to catch back up to them, he would drop back to the peloton, '2 seconds better off.
So we would have a two man break of the day of
Barclay and
Ghafari, both starting the stage at '24 seconds down in GC.
You would have thought that the sprinters would have contested the third place at the intermediate sprint points with 55 KM to go and with 35 KM to go. Well, they didn't. The domestiques of the chasing teams mopped up the points and bonus seconds.
Lander was 3
rd at the intermediate with 55 KM to go, a move which would see him move into the white jersey.
Modolo was 3
rd at the intermediate with 35 KM to go.
A good show from Barclay.
Barclay was the last of the break to be caught with 10 KM to go. He had a good day out in the break, finishing 1
st at all three intermediate points.
400 meters to go.
Team Puma - SAP set up the early dominant sprint train today.
| | Bar | |
| | Giaux | |
| | Ciolek | |
|  Vantomme |  Hoffman |  Kankovsky |
|  Lavoine |  Vanderbiest | Thorsen |
| Modolo |  Greipel | | Cavendish |
| Napolitano |  Goss | |  Awang |
| Lo Cicero | | |  Serebriakov |
 Castaneda | | |  Meyer |
Maksimov is the one who is well out of the mix-up today.
250 meters to go.
Team Puma - SAP's leadout went too early and
Meiji - Cannondale
(left) and
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
(right) come charging through.
For the first time the continental teams are really mixing it up in the sprint with
Awang and
Serebriakov right up there.
170 meters to go.
We are going to have a blanket finish today.
Serebriakov marginally leads the race, but who wins from here is anyone's guess.
Stage win
Lavoine! The Frenchman wins the blanket finish with
Cavendish in second and
Ciolek rounding off the podium.
The tightness of the finish shows it could have been one of many taking the win today,
Team Hornbach can now be happy with this Tour of Taihu Lake.
Vanderbiest, 6
th, takes no bonfications today, but remains in the race lead.
With the top 5 separated by only '4 seconds worth of bonfications this race is still wide open with 3 stages down and 3 to go.
| 1 | Anthony Lavoine | Team Hornbach | 2h30'19 |
| 2 | Mark Cavendish | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 3 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 4 | Maxime Vantomme | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 5 | Matthew Goss | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 6 | Romain Vanderbiest | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 7 | Aleksandr Serebriakov | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 8 | Nolan Hoffman | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 9 | Cameron Meyer | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 10 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 11 | André Greipel | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 12 | Jérome Giaux | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 13 | Daniel Thorsen | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 14 | Danilo Napolitano | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 15 | Azizulhasni Awang | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 16 | Jaime Alberto Castañeda | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 17 | Alois Kankovský | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 18 | Roman Maksimov | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 19 | Sascha Modolo | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 20 | Damion Drapac | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 21 | Ricki Nelson | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 22 | Jesus Del Nero | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 23 | Siarhei Papok | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 24 | Jocelyn Bar | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 25 | Sebastian Lander | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 26 | Boy Van Poppel | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 27 | Bryan Coquard | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 28 | Sonomtseren Delgerbayar | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 29 | Anuar Manan | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 30 | Sung Baek Park | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 31 | Alex Wohler | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 32 | Peter Hawkins | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 33 | Sébastien Minard | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 34 | Hugo Houle | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 35 | Claudio Cucinotta | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 36 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 37 | William Ford | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 38 | Oleksandr Polivoda | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 39 | Gianni Meersman | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 40 | Wes Sulzberger | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 41 | Geert Steurs | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 42 | Adam Petrie-Armstrong | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 43 | Francisco Lasca | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 44 | Dan McLay | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 45 | Arnaud Coyot | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 46 | Nikolas Maes | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 47 | Giorgio Brambilla | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 48 | Maarten Wynants | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 49 | Pieter Serry | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 50 | Mohammed Zamri Salleh | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 51 | Tobyn Horton | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 52 | Enrico Franzoi | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 53 | Hayden Roulston | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 54 | Oscar Gatto | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 55 | Timothy Gudsell | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 56 | Ermin Van Wyk | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 57 | Klaas Sys | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 58 | Andrea Pagoto | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 59 | Saulo Lay | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 60 | Davide Viganò | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 61 | Ho-Ting Kwok | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 62 | Benedikt Mundle | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 63 | Roberto Traficante | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 64 | Anthony Giacoppo | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 65 | Tim Declerq | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 66 | Kenji Itami | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 67 | Mohamed Harrif Salleh | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 68 | Yoeri Havik | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 69 | Gil Suray | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 70 | Roman Van Uden | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 71 | Cristiano Salerno | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 72 | Andriy Vasylyuk | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 73 | Tom Scully | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 74 | JÃri Hochmann | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 75 | Simon Clarke | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 76 | Eliot Lietaer | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 77 | Chan Jae Jang | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 78 | Geert Van der Sanden | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 79 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 80 | Paidi O'Brien | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 81 | Kenny Van Hummel | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 82 | Victor Shishelov | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 83 | Sergey Nikolaev | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 84 | Ahmad Haidar Anuawar | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 85 | Willie Smit | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 86 | Tyler Day | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 87 | Kanstantsin Khviyuzau | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 88 | Heiko Redecker | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 89 | Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 90 | Yamato Shirota | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 91 | Khayabkhyrvaa Uugunbayar | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 92 | Sarawut Sirironnachai | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 93 | Kevin Barclay | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 94 | Nandra Eko Wahyudi | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 95 | Tom Veelers | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 96 | Michael Vanderaerden | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 97 | Maciej Ulanowski | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 98 | Christoff Van Heerden | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 99 | Harry Kraft | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 100 | Jan Polanc | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 101 | Ajay Pandit Chhetri | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 102 | Dainius Kairelis | Control Team | s.t. |
| 103 | Bambang Suryadi | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 104 | Kyriakos Skettos | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 105 | Aleksei Schmidt | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 106 | Zhihui Jiang | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 107 | Dominique Rollin | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 108 | Shaquille Sinclair | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 109 | Ivor Bruin | Control Team | s.t. |
| 110 | Robert Gavenda | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 111 | Volodymyr Dzhus | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 112 | Costa Seibeb | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 113 | Tomasz Zywer | Control Team | s.t. |
| 114 | Eugert Zhupa | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 115 | Wen Chung Huang | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 116 | Stefan Petrovski | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 117 | Giacomo Scarponi | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 118 | Valentin Iglinski | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 119 | Lukas Postlberger | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 120 | Anatoliy Sosnitskiy | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 121 | Antoine Duchesne | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 122 | Lawrence Warbasse | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 123 | Thanawut Sanikwathi | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 124 | Mihkel Räim | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 125 | Arman Kharatyan | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 126 | Vahid Ghafari | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 127 | Christian Meier | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 128 | Ryan Roth | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 129 | Dario Antonio | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 1 | Romain Vanderbiest | RBC Pro Cycling | 8h18'20 |
| 2 | Mark Cavendish | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | + 4 |
| 3 | Anthony Lavoine | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 4 | Maxime Vantomme | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 5 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 6 | Kevin Barclay | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | + 6 |
| 7 | Ryan Roth | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 8 | Vahid Ghafari | Compal-Merida | + 12 |
| 9 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | + 16 |
| 10 | Roman Maksimov | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 11 | Sascha Modolo | Meiji - Cannondale | + 22 |
| 12 | Sebastian Lander | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 13 | Sarawut Sirironnachai | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 14 | Matthew Goss | Oz Cycling Project | + 24 |
| 15 | Danilo Napolitano | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 16 | Aleksandr Serebriakov | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 17 | André Greipel | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 18 | Jaime Alberto Castañeda | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 19 | Jérome Giaux | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 20 | Cameron Meyer | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 21 | Ricki Nelson | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 22 | Alois Kankovský | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 23 | Azizulhasni Awang | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 24 | Daniel Thorsen | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 25 | Damion Drapac | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 26 | Nolan Hoffman | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 27 | Jocelyn Bar | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 28 | Boy Van Poppel | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 29 | Jesus Del Nero | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 30 | Bryan Coquard | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 31 | Siarhei Papok | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 32 | Sonomtseren Delgerbayar | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 33 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 34 | Geert Steurs | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 35 | Sébastien Minard | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 36 | William Ford | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 37 | Gianni Meersman | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 38 | Maarten Wynants | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 39 | Peter Hawkins | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 40 | Pieter Serry | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 41 | Claudio Cucinotta | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 42 | Hugo Houle | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 43 | Enrico Franzoi | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 44 | Nikolas Maes | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 45 | Adam Petrie-Armstrong | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 46 | Mohammed Zamri Salleh | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 47 | Arnaud Coyot | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 48 | Giorgio Brambilla | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 49 | Oscar Gatto | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 50 | Francisco Lasca | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 51 | Andriy Vasylyuk | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 52 | Tobyn Horton | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 53 | Anuar Manan | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 54 | Kenji Itami | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 55 | Cristiano Salerno | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 56 | Sung Baek Park | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 57 | Dan McLay | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 58 | Ermin Van Wyk | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 59 | Roberto Traficante | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 60 | Wes Sulzberger | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 61 | Timothy Gudsell | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 62 | Benedikt Mundle | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 63 | Kenny Van Hummel | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 64 | Hayden Roulston | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 65 | Yoeri Havik | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 66 | Gil Suray | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 67 | Ahmad Haidar Anuawar | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 68 | JÃri Hochmann | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 69 | Tyler Day | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 70 | Tim Declerq | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 71 | Oleksandr Polivoda | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 72 | Ho-Ting Kwok | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 73 | Mohamed Harrif Salleh | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 74 | Roman Van Uden | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 75 | Davide Viganò | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 76 | Klaas Sys | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 77 | Simon Clarke | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 78 | Saulo Lay | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 79 | Anthony Giacoppo | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 80 | Chan Jae Jang | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 81 | Victor Shishelov | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. |
| 82 | Andrea Pagoto | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 83 | Heiko Redecker | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 84 | Willie Smit | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 85 | Tom Scully | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. |
| 86 | Yamato Shirota | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. |
| 87 | Kanstantsin Khviyuzau | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 88 | Geert Van der Sanden | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 89 | Christoff Van Heerden | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 90 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Quickstep | s.t. |
| 91 | Michael Vanderaerden | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 92 | Maciej Ulanowski | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 93 | Stefan Petrovski | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 94 | Tom Veelers | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 95 | Harry Kraft | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 96 | Sergey Nikolaev | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 97 | Dominique Rollin | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 98 | Bambang Suryadi | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 99 | Paidi O'Brien | Bank of Ireland - Irish Cycling | s.t. |
| 100 | Aleksei Schmidt | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 101 | Eliot Lietaer | Kappa-ENI | s.t. |
| 102 | Jan Polanc | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 103 | Costa Seibeb | Project: Africa | s.t. |
| 104 | Khayabkhyrvaa Uugunbayar | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 105 | Valentin Iglinski | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 106 | Ajay Pandit Chhetri | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 107 | Antoine Duchesne | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 108 | Volodymyr Dzhus | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 109 | Robert Gavenda | Fletcher - Garneau | s.t. |
| 110 | Christian Meier | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 111 | Eugert Zhupa | Team Hornbach | s.t. |
| 112 | Nandra Eko Wahyudi | Sauber Petronas Racing | s.t. |
| 113 | Mihkel Räim | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 114 | Anatoliy Sosnitskiy | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. |
| 115 | Arman Kharatyan | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 116 | Zhihui Jiang | Siam Cement - Lenovo | s.t. |
| 117 | Shaquille Sinclair | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 118 | Tomasz Zywer | Control Team | s.t. |
| 119 | Lawrence Warbasse | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 120 | Wen Chung Huang | Compal-Merida | s.t. |
| 121 | Thanawut Sanikwathi | Siam Cement - Lenovo | + 3'17 |
| 122 | Dainius Kairelis | Control Team | + 3'25 |
| 123 | Kyriakos Skettos | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | + 3'38 |
| 124 | Dario Antonio | Team Ameriabank-Novatek | s.t. |
| 125 | Lukas Postlberger | Siam Cement - Lenovo | + 3'49 |
| 126 | Ivor Bruin | Control Team | + 5'17 |
| 127 | Alex Wohler | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | + 6'17 |
| 128 | Giacomo Scarponi | Sauber Petronas Racing | + 6'54 |
| 129 | Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri | Sauber Petronas Racing | + 6'58 |
