Let's get the climbing going! Schleck vs Pluchkin... vs Cunego vs Alacorn... and many more!
The first breakaway attempt by Sortveit, Kvasina and Bablidze already led to the first group being allowed to stay clear.
Those three were later joined by Serrano, Lewis and Belkov with their gap growing to 5'20" with still 150km to go!
Halfway through the race (112km remaining), the peloton (126 riders left, with Antón as the most notable name being dropped) is down by 7'25", but already started to chase. Vesuvio as the most prominent team at the front now..
..and also amongst the teams, which go for the first serious attacks: Velits, Taaramäe, Henao and Schleck try to go clear with still 43km remaining! A rather early move, that could make for some thrilling action today.
The breakaway's advantage is down to just two minutes, while we've seen the peloton going into pieces already: just 25 riders remain in the first bunch, most notable names being dropped are
Kritskiy Samwel Monsalve Dombrowski
Schleck and Velits opened up a 30"-gap thanks to their attack, while Henao and Taaramäe couldn't hang on:
they find themselves in between another group of attackers: Pluchkin, Alacorn and Cunego with a small gap on those two!
Another 25" in arrears the 19-men-bunch with most of the remaining favorites..
34km to go and while Pluchkin/Alacorn/Cunego managed to join Schleck/Velits, a new chasing group with 9 riders has been formed:
Machado, Nibali, Taaramäe, Sella, Tenorio, Contador, Martin, Denifl and Henao are already 51" behind the 5-men-group Schleck/Pluchkin!
Other riders like Vd Broeck, Dekker, Kritskiy (another minute behind) or Keizer/Marchante (another minute) are most likely out of the mix for a Top-10/15 today!
So back to the very front, where the two last escapees (Belkov, Serrano) are caught by the first group of favorites:
26km to go and Schleck/Alacorn launch their next moves!
It's just Schleck, who opens up a gap on this group though! The Tour-champion establishes a 45"-advantage quickly!
And this looks quite promising for him with now 20km remaining: group Alacorn/Pluchkin already a minute behind, while Sella attacked the next bigger group to bridge across the first chasing group.
Taaramäe/Henao struggle to stay with group Machado/Nibali and the further gaps behind keep growing..
Last year's 4th Nibali and the 6-men-group trying to follow solo-chasing Sella on today's final descend prior to the tough summit finish. With already two minutes on group Pluchkin, those riders most probably won't fight for a Top-5 today..
Schleck keeps pacing and enters the final 9km with still a minutes-advantage..
..so will this be the group fighting for the runner-up only? Cunego, Alacorn, Velits and Pluchkin are almost two minutes ahead of Sella, but struggle to narrow the gap to Schleck..
Sella enters the final 8km with a notable gap on group Machado/Nibali, but he looks more and more exhausted. Ain't looking like he will catch up to the group ahead..
About 5km to go and Schleck definitely on a very good way... Taaramäe/Henao fought back to group Machado/Nibali in the meantime.. like all other riders, who are still in the race, it's more fighting than pacing/attacking now.
Schleck can already see the finish and the fans go crazy.. will he add another huge victory to his palmares after his impressive Tour de France?
The first chasing group has nothing left to be of any danger for Schleck.. Cunego now sitting at the front there, while Alacorn now struggles to stay with those three!
Again, a class of his own: Schleck crushed the competition today. Attacking already 40km before finish and launching his winning move about 25km to the line, this is not only a deserved, but also special victory. This guy is truly on fire.
So Cunego won't repeat last year's win, but at least looks like he will be the strongest in the 3-men-group fighting for the podium.. he attacks with less than a kilometre to go..
..and takes a clear 2nd that way:
+ 1'43" Cunego
Velits and Pluchkin to fight for the final podium spot.. it ain't a sprint, it's just about reaching the line..
+ 2'16" Velits and Pluchkin
+ 3'05" Alacorn
So Velits completes the podium, as Pluchkin once again had no answer on Schleck!
The next group would finish almost six minutes later! Former solo-chaser Sella totally collapsed on the final kms and had nothing left to hang on with the bigger group Machado/Nibali!
+ 5'47" Contador
+ 5'57" Machado, Tenorio, Martin
+ 6'10" Nibali
+ 6'19" Taaramäe
+ 7'07" Sella
So Nibali grabbing the last Top-10-spot and Sella dropping outside this Top-10 eventually. He might have went too fast on his attempt to join group Cunego/Pluchkin..
Henao got dropped again and has to settle for a 13th place ahead of Denifl.. both might have hoped for more, but with 9 minutes down on Schleck, they simply had no chance today..
..just like Van den Broeck, who couldn't repeat last year's Top-10-result as 16th today - finishing behind Pinot, who did quite well!
Kritskiy (19th) hadn't his best day either, finishing behind teammate and early escapee Belkov.. in between him and Van den Broeck, a struggling Dekker as 17th..
A tough day for the likes of Marchante (21st) and Keizer (24th), too. The duo finishes amongst a small group of premium domestiques, already more than 20 minutes behind Schleck! Antón with a notable result (23rd) there, as he actually managed to fight back from his earlier moment of shock, when he got dropped as the first premium climber.
Opposing to other team leaders like Samwel (38th), Ratiy (40th) or Faiers (43rd), who were never a factor today and may just be happy to forget this race as soon as possible. In other news, only 131 riders managed to finish this classic, see the list of DNFs below..
