Final stage and the last for Rolland to defend his GC lead. The stage itself does not look too difficult despite the hilly rating. The 2nd half hills are all semi difficult only. The bigger task is the final kilometer, which is completely uphill and could see some gaps. All about positioning today.
Zielinski, Stachowiak and De Greef in todays break. All of them are between 2'45 and 4'07.
Mainly Generali and Compal were working today with some support of Sodexo. With 15km to go the gap is under 1min, which is good for the GC riders.
But also the first attack today. Weiss as 26th almost 2min behind not the most dangerous though.
3km and Cherel only 20s ahead as Generali are taking over. Weiss apparently caught already. Another 44s the breakaway trio, who is still fighting. Soon the finyl climb will decide the stage and GC.
1,2km and they take the corner to the uphill section. Zielinski accelerates immediately and has a small gap.
All 8 Generali riders lead the peloton around that corner. Perfect situation for Rolland. Also De Maar is up there with a team mate bringing him in position while Cherel is still there after he got caught.
400m and the gap not really getting smaller. Zielinski still with a couple of bike lengts ahead.
Generali domination. Rolland though in last position of them and now behind De Maar.
Winner though is Zielinski making it yet another win for him this season. Well done. Stachowiak and De Greef next in this order.
De Maar once more the strongest of the peloton. Behind him Boaro and Passalacqua.
All three get actually rewarded a gap of 14s to the peloton, where Rolland comes in first.
And this is enough for the GC win. Congrats Generali. Also Chiquita with a brilliant race keeping their 2-4 with only Kasa in between.
Some riders lost a couple of positions today as they were gapped behind. Those are Brüngger, Seeldraeyers, Belmokhtar, Choe and couple more. Instead of top15-20 they are now top 30-35.
