Annecy is the base for the final stage. Lecuisinier knows what it is like to lose the race lead on the final Avenir stage, can he reverse that this year? Only 18 seconds to make up on Morton. That is just 1 of many close position battles across the board.
A break of 8 gets away and the strongest is a Festina rider. Today it is Herklotz' turn. With him are Potocki, Dzhus, Ikibe, Hoelgaard, Navarro, Manfred and Dieteren.
So Hoelgaard has a chance to pick up the points to win the King of the Mountains jersey, ahead of Kolar. If he tried to persuade the rest of the break to leave him to it though, it did not work. Dzhus won the first climb from Ikibe, and while Hoelgaard should have won the 2nd climb, he slowed near the top only to see Ikibe and Herklotz sneak past.
The Norwegian gave up trying for it after that, he needed to win most climbs to really stand a chance.
Meanwhile Strava are setting a strong tempo in the peloton. They don't really have great climbing support, so are tring their best now to limit the gap of the breakaway to protect Kung's Top 10 hopes - he is just a few seconds ahead of Herklotz, and less than 3 minutes clear of Ikibe.
Descending away from the Cat 3 climbs towards the mid-stage Cat 1 climb, there's a crash in the peloton. 10th overall and key Morton lieutenant Haig is down, as is 22nd overall Robov. Also Baska, Ait el Abdia, Tanovitchii, Zmorka, Jungels and Mullen.
This could really weaken Morton's chances, if Haig can't make it back.
Onto the Cat 1 climb, and an attack goes clear. Strava switch to aggression as Schir follows the move instigated by Borisavljevic. 20th overall Hadi will hope for a lack of chasing peloton to maybe boost his GC position, while Candian champion Cataford completes the move - after showing good form in the time trial yesterday.
The break only led by 3 and a half minutes at this point, and the chasers got to within a minute by the top of the Cat 1 climb. They self-destructed on the descent though.
Strava's Pellaud was still relaying in the peloton, so Schir was sitting on. Cataford went off alone to try to bridge to the break, Borisavljevic tried to follow, while Hadi and Schir just sat up.
Cataford got to within 25 seconds on the flat towards the Annecy-Semnoz climb. But then there is a surprise early move. Herklotz has repeatedly shown on earlier climbs that he is the strongest in the group, yet doesn't even want to wait for the climb, attacking on the flat with 19km to go. A show of force for a rider tipped to challenge for the GC win next year.
Ok, it's not completely flat here as they are only a little hill at this point, but the main climb is still a few kilometres off.
There's something about this hill though as Oz Cycling use it for another sneak 'attack', as seen on Stage 8 - to capitalise on the fact that Lecuisinier always seems slow early on a climb. Clearly Haig was not hindered by the crash, as here he is, digging deep for his leader, with a slight gap opening on the Meiji-led peloton.
For a while it is little more than 15 seconds, and seems to be a wasted effort by Haig. But as he loyally rides hard, potentially sacrificing his own GC position, that gap is sticking and maybe even growing. And now the proper climbing starts, Morton picks it up. 30 seconds clear now!
Up front you might think that Herklotz is riding away to an easy win, with Morton being nearly 5 minutes behind, but that is not the case. Dzhus isn't letting him have it easily, and is trying to regain contact. Hoelgaard best of the rest, but slipping away.
By the time Haig is caught again by the peloton, Lecuisinier himself is relaying, followed by Shikai. Oz were willing to use up Haig, but Festina are apprantely not willing to use up Vasyliv. The gap to Morton is now 45 seconds.
Morton catches up with Navarro, Manfred, Cataford and Borisavljevic. And as he rides past, he gives a little kick. He's really going for it now, and pushing that advantage to over a minute.
Finally an accelerated response. Shikai, Olivier, La Lavandier, Lecuisinier, Kudus and Cort Nielsen.
Shikai and Olivier briefly drop Lecuisinier, but the Frenchman gets back up to them and then attacks away, up towards Dieteren who is falling back from the break.
And we see Mathieu La Lavandier clawing back up to Shikai and Olivier! Impressive by him, leaving no doubt as to who the best twin is in the race, as he looks to gain 20 seconds on his brother.
Morton's lead peaked at around 1'20. Lecuisinier never likes to make it easy for himself. Now he is alone and chasing, it drops to 1 minute.
After a very determined effort, Dzhus finally reaches the back wheel of Herklotz with just 3.5 km to go! Can he recover and challenge for the stage win?
Shikai now drops Olivier, while La Lavandier was only briefly with him. Still, the Frenchman has 30 seconds on the next group on the road. Kudus and Cort Nielsen are caught by Vasyliv - who is only 9 seconds behind Kudus overall. Galta is coming across too, while Pereyra is enjoying his best climb of the race.
The next group contains Carapaz, Kolar, Formolo, Kung and Lutsenko. After them are Haig, Ndayisenga, Heymes and the other La Lavandier.
Dzhus is flat out refusing to relay for Herklotz and they are slowing as a response. Hoelgaard has cut his gap from 1'10 to 50, so the front two need to be careful here.
Meanwhile Potocki and Ikibe have been caught by Morton. Potocki rode as a stagiare for HTC - Nieuwsblad while Morton was there, but no prospect of any help here as Morton is straight to the front.
The Aussie seems to be suffering though, and Lecuisinier is closing in - 30 seconds now. If he can get with Morton, he can apply some real pressure, although the time bonuses seem out of reach.
But just as Lecuisinier catches Ikibe and Potocki, Morton has edged away.
We are coming up to the final kilometre. Herklotz is going to have to lead it out, but must be confident of being able to blow Dzhus off his wheel.
The Ukranian has proved his resilience though, and tries to make a move with 600 metres to go.
He is half alongside with 300 metres to go, but Herklotz just seems to be holding him off.
But at the crucial moment Herklotz falters, and through comes Volodymyr Dzhus for a very impressive stage win!
Certainly disappointing for Herklotz, while Hoelgaard did a top job for 3rd.
Close behind him is Morton, and that is the race win secured! He finishes 13 seconds clear of Lecuisinier. While it can be argued over who was the best climber, there is no doubt that Morton was the best tactician, and he has got the job done.
Ikibe takes 6th ahead of Potocki, 2 minutes behind Dzhus. He will drop below Dzhus in GC, but still might move into the Top 10.
Shikai and Olivier are next, unable to really threaten Lecuisinier or Morton. 3rd and 4th overall is a fair result for them.
La Lavandier hangs on for 10th on the stage to secure family honours. Galta is next, then Cort Nielsen. Amongst the 10 strongest in the race for sure, both of them, yet they miss out on Top 10 places due to various breakaway gains.
Kudus finishes ahead of Vasyliv to maintain their GC order - but not to keep 5th overall, as Herklotz has leaped both of them. A nice stage results for Pereyra. There was a big gap between 19th and 20th in GC before today, so 20th was the best he could hope for in GC - but it will be 22nd. Potocki moves into 20th, ahead of Hoelgaard.
For the Top 10 battles, Carapaz is next in at 5'33, with the confirmed King of the Mountains winner Kolar. Crucially keeping Kung behind him, as they were in the end fighting for 10th position - Dzhus going up to 8th, Ikibe to 9th.
Formolo and Lutsenko complete the Top 20 for the stage.
Lachlan Morton gets to celebrate on top of the podium. Lecuisinier may have beaten him by 13 seconds at the Tour de France over the summer, but he overturned that here for a narrow 31 second win.
Not quite the narrowest winning margin in Avenir history though - see Pluchkin beating Uran by 30 seconds in 2009. If it's any consolation, Lecuisinier does win the Points jersey.
