Stage Favourites:

Ignatiev, Holloway, Gatto, Trentin & Gasparotto.

This one could end in a big sprint, however, there is a hill to be dealt with in the final kilometre. Hence a range of puncheurs are favourites.



Three riders make the break today, which is the stage for those who want the mountain jersey. Boonratanathanakorn, who wears the KOM jersey, made the break along with Kunitski & Nardin, who notably started the stage just '32 down.


Nardin winning a KOM sprint.

Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn would take less KOM points than his breakaway companions, however, due to the previous KOM points he picked up on stage 2 he would secure the KOM jersey today. Nardin would mop up most of the intermediate bonuses, but the likelihood the break would succeed was always slim.



You know the drill, the sprinter teams would shut the break down, we are all together with 7.5 KM to go.


400 meters to go.

RBC Pro Cycling lead the peloton into the final hill, the sprinters are the best positioned but will they hold off the puncheurs?

Team Puma - SAP bring Ciolek into a great postion as, Aussie champ, Sulzbeger appears towards the front.


280 meters to go.

ATTACK! Sulzbeger puts in a big attack, perhaps a move to disrupt the usual sprint trains in an effort to help out Goss, who can say?

Ciolek and his team aren't ruffled by this move.



Sulzbeger goes backwards, big style as Ciolek puts in a big effort...... and what an effort.

Just look at the gap he pulls out on everyone, the other pure sprinters can't respond on the gradient.


100 meters to go.

Ciolek knows his second win is coming.



Win no.2 for Ciolek, and what a win! He wins with a '14 gap back to the peloton, incidentally that is exactly the same gap which Betancourt won stage 3 with in 2013.



Holloway leads home the large peloton, full of the GC favourites, for second place. Ayoune, suprises many, and comes from well well back to finish 3rd on the stage with his teammate and GC hope, Tennant, right up there alongside Ignatiev.

Cabrera takes fourth on the stage, his team have to be happy with that one.

So Ciolek extends his GC lead ahead of Lo Cicero, with a three way tie for third place.