Ciolek leads going into stage 8, no doubt many minds will be on the cobbles of stage 9.
Tanovitchii,
Cataford,
Grashev,
Lampaert,
Kosic,
Alaphilippe &
Kiflay make the break today, all are making at least their second breakaway.
The Moldovan Champ.
Tanovitchii was the only one anywhere near the top in GC, he would move into the top 20 with bonus seconds, however, he would be dropped first and would subsequently be dropped from the peloton today.
The rest of the break would be caught late today. 3 sprint trains (
Meiji - Cannondale,
Quickstep &
Oz Cycling Project) take up the cudgel for this one. The likes of
Castaneda,
Vanderbiest and
Serebriakov are also in the mix-up.
Arashiro blows everyone to pieces. The lead-out trains of
Quickstep &
Oz Cycling Project crumble to nothingness and can only look on. Only
Napolitano and
Lavoine can follow the Japanese's wheel.
Deep into the sprint there is still no sign of yellow jersey
Ciolek in the first 10 riders.
With the road running out
Napolitano loses his sizable advantage to those behind but still has a comfortable lead, with
Lavoine blown out of the wheel.
Ciolek finally makes an appearance in what will be a close finish for the minor places.
No doubt about the winner though,
Napolitano takes his second win and is up to 2
nd in GC, now just '8 behind
Ciolek, who finished very quickly for 2
nd ahead of
Lavoine.
Vanderbiest and
Goss round out the top 5.
Now the question is what effect will the cobbles of stage 9 have on the GC?
