Who will come out atop of the final stage? The GC - real close. A big break of 9 made it clear:
- Dotti
- Eldridge
- Antomarchi
- Jenko
- Kragh Andersen
- Rocchetti
- Mazur
- Skettos
- Polanc (The only one under 4'00 in GC)
This steep hill had to be dealt with multiple times throughout the stage. Would it cause plenty of damage after such a race?
Peloton down to 38 riders with 15 KM to go.
Damage. Many top riders have been dropped, the most notable: Andriato, Verschoor, Nateghi. That is 6th, 8th and 10th in GC dropped. Also missing is Sobota.
Shortly afterwards we see Rasmussen and Mezgec dropped.
With 10 KM to go there is still a concerted chase as only two from the original break survive.
Antomarchi and Rocchetti have 1'00 over the peloton.
With 7 KM, over the top of the final incline, Rocchetti attacks Antomarchi with a strong move.
Relief for those dropped!
You know that sight! That is right, the peloton ease off the pace allowing the GC men previously dropped to return. Only Sobota, who hasn't sprinted well here, is dropped of the top names. This sight is great for the two men out-front who will contest the stage win.
5 KM to go.
With Rocchetti soloing to a victory behind we see carnage and fireworks erupt!
Kuznetsov
Iglinski
Serebriakov
Matthews
Four riders break clear from the peloton - and get a gap! What a move!
Realising no-one is going to chase this one down, with some 3 KM to go, green jersey, Lavoine attacks. Kuboki, looks to try, but can't close him down.
Meanwhile...
Rocchetti is victorious. His win makes it a good race for Indosat - ANZ. Being one of the top puncheurs here this was always on the cards when he got in the break. Antomarchi would hold on for second place, a good race for Sodexo ProCycling as a result of their breakaway activity. They leave with the KOM jersey.
With his teammates spent, the other sprinters well over 1'00 back and the GC up for grabs Serebriakov starts his sprint for 3rd with a little over 1 KM to go. Matthews, lurks on the wheel. If the Aussie beats the Russian to 3rd they will end up tied on the same time!
Hundreds of meters behind Lavoine, well clear of the pack, has the Novatek-Panarmenian.net domestiques, who themselves are set to vault up the GC, in his sights.
Who will take it!!
Matthews outsprints Serebriakov for third in an incredible finish. You can see the large gaps to those behind. We know what that means. They will finish tied in the GC. But who will be given 1st place?
Kuznetsov and Iglinski, would finish ahead of the peloton, and vault well up into the GC top five. But, somehow they are given the same times as Matthews and Serebriakov.
Anyway who wins the GC?
Lavoine wins the GC!
They are robbed! With a clear 1'00 back to Lavoine, Matthews and Serebriakov must feel robbed. But he was given the same as those two and will take the GC by only '2 seconds in the most controversial of controversial finishes to a race you are likely to see.
Some 1'23 behind this group the peloton come home with Pozdnyakov leading them ahead of Kuboki, who ends up in 6th overall.
Yellow jersey for Fablok - Dunlop!
The final GC shows that this definitely was a sprinters' stage race. The rider who was top of the continental rankings going into the race takes a GC win after his two stage wins which yields neigh on 200 points to cement his position atop. It was a real close one, highlighted by Lavoine and Serebriakov sharing the points jersey.
They may feel hard done by but Novatek-Panarmenian.net end the race with three in the top five in what is to be a humoungous points haul for them - more than 200 points for them here. Yes there were strange selection choices for Compal-Merida but they leave with 2nd in GC and the white jersey.
Forero, Andriato, Kankovský & Verschoor make up the GC top 10, all of those teams can leave with some good points.
If nothing else what an eventful climax!
1
Federico Rocchetti
Indosat - ANZ
2h48'49
2
Julien Antomarchi
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 27
3
Michael Matthews
Compal-Merida
+ 1'09
4
Aleksandr Serebriakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
5
Valentin Iglinski
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
6
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
7
Anthony Lavoine
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
8
Kirill Pozdnyakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 2'32
9
Kazushige Kuboki
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
10
Wilson Marentes
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
11
Chan Jae Jang
Compal-Merida
s.t.
12
David Vitoria
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
13
Michal Golas
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
14
Eros Capecchi
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
15
Mihkel Räim
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
16
Rafael Andriato
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Patrik Tybor
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
18
Jonathan Millan
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
19
Lukas Flückiger
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
20
Peter Kusztor
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
21
Luka Mezgec
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
22
Juan Pablo Forero
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
23
Nikola Aistrup
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
24
Wojciech Pszczolarski
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
25
Trent Lowe
Compal-Merida
s.t.
26
Martin Mahdar
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
27
Hossein Nateghi
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
28
Pawel Franczak
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
29
Kun Hung Hung
Compal-Merida
s.t.
30
Alex Rasmussen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
31
Víctor Hugo Orozco
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
32
Emanuel Kiserlovski
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
33
Lucas Sebastian Haedo
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
34
Eugenio Alafaci
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
35
Martijn Verschoor
Team Type 1
s.t.
36
Yannick Stoltz
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
37
Christopher Stevenson
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
38
Martin Velits
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
39
Alexis Gougeard
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
40
Krister Hagen
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
41
Hichem Chaabane
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
42
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Compal-Merida
s.t.
43
Georgios Karatzios
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
44
Ying Hon Yeung
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
45
Mikaël Chérel
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
46
Juraj Sagan
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
47
Kamil Zielinski
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
48
William Germán Rodríguez Parra
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
49
Wajdi Homrani
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
50
Yin Chih Wang
Compal-Merida
s.t.
51
Carlos Henrique Cancellara
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
52
Jan Barta
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
53
Gabor Fejes
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
54
Niki Østergaard
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
55
Robinson Chalapud
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
56
Siarhei Papok
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
57
Grega Bole
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
58
Asbjørn Kragh Andersen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
59
Alois Kankovský
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
60
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1
s.t.
61
Murilo Affonso
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
62
Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
63
Arman Kharatyan
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
64
Chun Kai Feng
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
65
Ino Ilesic
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
+ 3'47
66
Kristian Sobota
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
67
Robert Jenko
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
68
Timotheos Skettos
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
69
Piotr Mazur
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
70
Jan Keller
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
71
Apostolos Bouglas
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 4'36
72
Andrea Peron
Team Type 1
s.t.
73
Ioannis Drakakis
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
74
Brice Feillu
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
75
Jan Polanc
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
76
Dylan Van Baarle
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
77
Stephen Vicelich
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
78
Dalibor Grželj
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
79
Klemen Stimulak
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 5'07
80
Jaroslaw Dabrowski
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
81
Maarten Wynants
Team Type 1
s.t.
82
Bradley Wiggins
Team Type 1
s.t.
83
Parno Parno
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
84
Martin Mortensen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
85
Istvan Molnar
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
86
Fabio Sabatini
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
+ 5'53
87
Sebastian Tolosa
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
88
Kenny Van Hummel
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
89
Sébastien Turgot
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
90
Laureano Rosas
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
91
Neofytos Sakellaridis
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
92
Blazej Janiaczyk
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
93
Stanislau Bazhkou
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
94
Juan Pablo Dotti
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
95
Mariusz Gil
Netia - Norske Skog
s.t.
96
Pedro Herrera
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
97
Allan Danger
Control Team
s.t.
98
Christian Ranneries
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
99
Adam Pierzga
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 7'00
100
Dmitriy Ignatiev
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
101
Seung Kwon Lee
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
102
Wei Cheng Lee
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
103
Ivan Savitskiy
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
104
Konstantinos Efstathiou
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
105
Aleksei Saramotins
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
106
Georgios Bouglas
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
107
Alexander Foliforov
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
108
Nabil Baz
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
109
Endra Wijaya
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
110
Tomas Swift-Metcalfe
Team Type 1
s.t.
111
Alejandro Duran
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
112
Simon Strobel
Team Type 1
s.t.
113
Nicolas Winter
Control Team
s.t.
114
Joonas Henttala
Team Type 1
+ 9'53
115
Anibal Borrajo
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 14'11
116
Leris Moukagni
Control Team
s.t.
117
Guillaume Blot
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
Final GC:
1
Anthony Lavoine
Fablok - Dunlop
19h18'17
2
Michael Matthews
Compal-Merida
+ 2
3
Aleksandr Serebriakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
4
Valentin Iglinski
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 58
5
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 1'06
6
Kazushige Kuboki
Actavis - DKSH
+ 1'27
7
Juan Pablo Forero
Alpina - Avianca
+ 1'31
8
Rafael Andriato
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 1'52
9
Alois Kankovský
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 2'02
10
Martijn Verschoor
Team Type 1
+ 2'08
11
Kirill Pozdnyakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 2'17
12
Alex Rasmussen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
13
Hossein Nateghi
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
14
Wajdi Homrani
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 2'25
15
Krister Hagen
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 2'28
16
Alexis Gougeard
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
17
Lukas Flückiger
Actavis - DKSH
+ 2'32
18
Grega Bole
Severstal-Mercator
+ 2'33
19
Lucas Sebastian Haedo
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Kun Hung Hung
Compal-Merida
s.t.
21
Pawel Franczak
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 2'35
22
Siarhei Papok
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 2'36
23
Wilson Marentes
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
24
Eros Capecchi
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 2'37
25
Luka Mezgec
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
26
Patrik Tybor
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
27
Wojciech Pszczolarski
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
28
Carlos Henrique Cancellara
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
29
Nikola Aistrup
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
30
Niki Østergaard
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
31
William Germán Rodríguez Parra
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
32
Juraj Sagan
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
33
Peter Kusztor
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
34
Yannick Stoltz
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
35
Jan Barta
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
36
Kamil Zielinski
Fablok - Dunlop
s.t.
37
Eugenio Alafaci
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
38
David Vitoria
Actavis - DKSH
s.t.
39
Mihkel Räim
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
40
Michal Golas
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
41
Georgios Karatzios
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
42
Martin Mahdar
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
43
Gabor Fejes
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
44
Chan Jae Jang
Compal-Merida
s.t.
45
Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
46
Trent Lowe
Compal-Merida
s.t.
47
Víctor Hugo Orozco
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
48
Arman Kharatyan
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
s.t.
49
Robinson Chalapud
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
50
Murilo Affonso
Alpina - Avianca
s.t.
51
Yin Chih Wang
Compal-Merida
s.t.
52
Christopher Stevenson
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
53
Mikaël Chérel
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
54
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Compal-Merida
s.t.
55
Emanuel Kiserlovski
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
56
Hichem Chaabane
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
57
Federico Rocchetti
Indosat - ANZ
+ 3'40
58
Julien Antomarchi
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 3'42
59
Kristian Sobota
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 3'48
60
Jan Polanc
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 4'38
61
Brice Feillu
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 4'41
62
Ioannis Drakakis
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
63
Apostolos Bouglas
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
64
Andrea Peron
Team Type 1
s.t.
65
Martin Mortensen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
+ 5'10
66
Klemen Stimulak
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 5'12
67
Istvan Molnar
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
s.t.
68
Maarten Wynants
Team Type 1
s.t.
69
Blazej Janiaczyk
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 5'56
70
Sebastian Tolosa
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 5'57
71
Laureano Rosas
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 5'58
72
Kenny Van Hummel
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
s.t.
73
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1
+ 6'40
74
Ying Hon Yeung
Actavis - DKSH
+ 6'42
75
Wei Cheng Lee
Indosat - ANZ
+ 7'05
76
Dmitriy Ignatiev
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
77
Nabil Baz
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
78
Piotr Mazur
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 7'25
79
Timotheos Skettos
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 7'27
80
Jan Keller
Actavis - DKSH
+ 7'57
81
Martin Velits
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 8'18
82
Asbjørn Kragh Andersen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
83
Stanislau Bazhkou
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 8'41
84
Dylan Van Baarle
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 8'46
85
Jaroslaw Dabrowski
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 9'17
86
Parno Parno
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
87
Ino Ilesic
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
+ 9'33
88
Neofytos Sakellaridis
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 9'57
89
Mariusz Gil
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 10'02
90
Sébastien Turgot
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 10'03
91
Fabio Sabatini
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
92
Christian Ranneries
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
s.t.
93
Jonathan Millan
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
+ 10'28
94
Chun Kai Feng
Actavis - DKSH
+ 10'38
95
Bradley Wiggins
Team Type 1
+ 10'53
96
Adam Pierzga
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 11'10
97
Endra Wijaya
Indosat - ANZ
s.t.
98
Aleksei Saramotins
Elta-Hellenic Post
s.t.
99
Alexander Foliforov
Severstal-Mercator
s.t.
100
Tomas Swift-Metcalfe
Team Type 1
s.t.
101
Robert Jenko
Severstal-Mercator
+ 11'25
102
Georgios Bouglas
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 11'37
103
Konstantinos Efstathiou
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 12'46
104
Alejandro Duran
SanCor Cycling Team
s.t.
105
Leris Moukagni
Control Team
+ 14'16
106
Juan Pablo Dotti
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 14'30
107
Stephen Vicelich
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 17'15
108
Seung Kwon Lee
Indosat - ANZ
+ 19'31
109
Nicolas Winter
Control Team
+ 20'16
110
Joonas Henttala
Team Type 1
+ 20'17
111
Ivan Savitskiy
Severstal-Mercator
+ 21'13
112
Dalibor Grželj
Severstal-Mercator
+ 22'01
113
Anibal Borrajo
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 24'40
114
Simon Strobel
Team Type 1
+ 27'04
115
Pedro Herrera
SanCor Cycling Team
+ 31'21
116
Allan Danger
Control Team
+ 31'24
DNF
Guillaume Blot
Sodexo ProCycling
s.t.
Final Points:
1
Anthony Lavoine
Fablok - Dunlop
86
2
Aleksandr Serebriakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
86
3
Kazushige Kuboki
Actavis - DKSH
85
4
Michael Matthews
Compal-Merida
84
5
Juan Pablo Forero
Alpina - Avianca
74
6
Rafael Andriato
SanCor Cycling Team
59
7
Alois Kankovský
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
46
8
Martijn Verschoor
Team Type 1
42
9
Kirill Pozdnyakov
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
35
10
Federico Rocchetti
Indosat - ANZ
35
KOM:
1
Wajdi Homrani
Sodexo ProCycling
36
2
Alexis Gougeard
Sodexo ProCycling
23
3
Federico Rocchetti
Indosat - ANZ
15
4
Alejandro Duran
SanCor Cycling Team
14
5
Tomas Swift-Metcalfe
Team Type 1
10
6
Julien Antomarchi
Sodexo ProCycling
9
7
Jonathan Millan
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
8
8
Martin Mortensen
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
5
9
Stanislau Bazhkou
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
5
10
Lukas Flückiger
Actavis - DKSH
4
Youth:
1
Michael Matthews
Compal-Merida
19h18'19 (1)
2
Alexis Gougeard
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 2'26 (2)
3
Pawel Franczak
Netia - Norske Skog
+ 2'33 (3)
4
Wojciech Pszczolarski
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 2'35 (4)
5
Carlos Henrique Cancellara
Alpina - Avianca
+ 2'35 (5)
6
Eugenio Alafaci
Actavis - DKSH
+ 2'35 (6)
7
Mihkel Räim
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
+ 2'35 (7)
8
Georgios Karatzios
Elta-Hellenic Post
+ 2'35 (8)
9
Murilo Affonso
Alpina - Avianca
+ 2'35 (9)
10
Jan Polanc
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 4'36 (10)
Team:
1
Novatek-Panarmenian.net
57h58'33 (1)
2
Sodexo ProCycling
+ 2'04 (2)
3
Compal-Merida
+ 2'46 (3)
3
Fablok - Dunlop
+ 2'46 (4)
5
OTP Bank - Slovnaft
+ 4'09 (5)
6
Severstal-Mercator
+ 4'09 (6)
7
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
+ 4'09 (7)
8
BelarusBank Pro Cycling
+ 4'09 (8)
9
Alpina - Avianca
+ 4'09 (9)
10
Actavis - DKSH
+ 4'09 (10)
*Fablok - Dunlop take the bonus points for 3rd with a much better finishing average of their top 3.