First big stage of the race, with a proper hilly stage between Epinal and Colmar. 192 kms of racing where GC riders like Spilak or Gesink will have to attack to use his better hill stat to their advantage, with top puncheurs as Sagan and Lutsenko likely being involved in the fight for the stage win. Race leader Taaramae and Phinney will have to defend their current top places in GC. The KoM standings will see a big shock in it, as there are 48 points in play today.
Everyone is ready to go, as we see Spilak, Amador, Taaramae, Demare and Lutsenko in the first line waiting for the race director to allow them to race
The race is on! And after only 3 km we have the first crash of the day... Fonseca and Ben Youcef are the two riders involved. Meanwhile, some riders are already trying to escape from the group, including Lutsenko - acting in the same weird way as in stage 3 - but no one has being able to breakaway yet
Finally one rider is allowed to escape from the bunch. ItÂ’s former KoM leader Barbero. He isnÂ’t going too fast now, as he needs to have company to be able to do something with this breakaway
When Barbero is about to start the first climb of the day - a cat.4 climb - he finally gets some company, but he might not like whatÂ’s coming. Lutsenko keeps attacking from the start despite being a stage favourite, and has dragged with him both Hermans and Villella. Pibernik has been left behind, while RBC is putting the foot in the pedal to avoid Lutsenko to breakaway.
Lutsenko takes 5 points on the top of this cat.4 climb, as expected, and puts himself within 7 points of the KoM lead. Barbero in second keeps taking some valuable points here. The gap to the bunch is now over 2 minutes, but this doesnÂ’t mean that the bunch is letting them go
Le Col du Pertuis - Cat. 4
Lutsenko 5
Barbero 3
Hermans 1
And Sagan is attacking now! Van der Haar goes inmediately on his wheel. Really canÂ’t understand why this agressive riding from the two top puncheurs in the race in this stage, but this is going to make this stage and epic one
In the foot of the second climb of the day, which is another cat.4 climb, Sagan has already caught LutsenkoÂ’s group. And whatÂ’s happening in the bunch? Taaramae has decided that these two canÂ’t be let go, and Wohrer had destroyed the bunch, leaving only 6 riders in a very reduced favourites group, which only includes Taaramae, Phinney, Guldhammer and Spilak - and Duschene, a PhinneyÂ’s domestique. They have opened a 45-second gap to the bunch, where nobody is reacting.
Finally we see a reaction in the bunch... and is Evonik working for Van Stayen'Â’s stage win hopes. Nothing on eBuddy for Gesink, or Spotify for Wellens, Aegon for Dekker or Ayubowan! for Yates. This stage is unbelievable.
Totally unexpected performance from Wohrer, who has dropped Guldhammer of this select group, and is making Phinney suffer a lot to stay with Taaramae and Spilak. And finally eBuddy has put a rider to work in the bunch, once the gap is over 1Â’30.
Tete du Champ Carre - Cat. 4
Lutsenko 5
Villella 3
Sagan 1
Both leading groups have joined now, in the ascent of the first cat.3 climb of the day. The gap to the bunch is still around 1Â’30, although thereÂ’s the incertainity of whatÂ’'s going to do Taaramae, if continue with this crazyness or wait to the bunch.
Gesink, Dekker and Amador have decided to attack in this climb, to reach asap to the leading group, leaving Evonik alone to work in the bunch, although the gap is now under the minute
And all are together again! With only team leaders in the first group, except for Wiesenhof, no one was willing to collaborate in the breakaway, and the race leader has smartly decided to wait for the bunch to catch them, and have an easier day
Both Sagan and Lutsenko attack again for the KoM points, and itÂ’s the Kazakh who wins the duel and now is the provisional KoM leader
Col du Mont Fourche - Cat. 3
Lutsenko 6
Sagan 4
Felline 2
Demare wins the intermediate sprint ahead of Van Stayen and Boeckmans, marginally increasing his lead in the Points jersey
Intermediate Sprint - Le Thillot
Demare 6
Van Stayen 4
Boeckmans 2
It seems like Lutsenko canÂ’t stay in the bunch for more than 10 km, as he has attacked in a flat section before the next climb. And you can imagine who is a few metres behind, trying to follow his move, together with Bilbao
But Sagan isnÂ’t allowed to breakaway, and subsenquently, he decided to stop his attack and go back to the bunch, where UBS and Spotify are trying to mantain a high pace during the climb. Lutsenko is in the front, and keeps sweeping all the KoMs so far in the stage. ItÂ’s kinda strange that he'Â’s going for the KoM jersey instead of the stage win, but IÂ’m not the one to discuss the strategies here.
Col de la Grosse Pierre - Cat. 2
Lutsenko 10
Faiers 8
Sagan 6
Borges 4
Pichon 2
ThereÂ’s another move initiated in the top of the previous climb, which includes Borges, Pichon and Bilbao. They are quickly approaching to Lutsenko, while the bunch seems to be happy with this move, as they donÂ’t chase really hard. The main group has been reduced to around 70 riders, with only Tenorio and Nerz missing from the riders that should be there, and we know that both are injured
The three late attackers have caught Lutsenko, but their advantage is only around 30 seconds, as UBS and Wiesenhof are setting a high rhythm to avoid any surprises
And finally someone is able to beat Lutsenko in a KoM sprint today! Actually the Kazakh was beaten by both Borges and Pichon. Lutsenko has done too much efforts in this stage, and now is paying the price, but at least he has secured to be the leader in KoM after the stage.
And in the bunch, Sagan is attacking again, although it seems like it was only for the KoM points, as he stopped after reaching the summit
Col de la Schlucht - Cat. 2
Borges 10
Pichon 8
Lutsenko 6
Bilbao 4
Sagan 2
Pichon and Borges have finally got rid of Lutsenko, as the rider from PendletonÂ’s was able to rejoin the leading group in the descent, but as soon Pichon increased a little the rhythm is this climb, the Kazakh exploded again. These two have a two-minute gap to a bunch where no one seems interested in attacking, as the rhythm is rather low now.
Col du Wettstein - Cat. 3
Borges 6
Pichon 4
Lutsenko 2
Bad news as thereÂ’'s a crash in the descent of the lastest climb. No top favourites involved, but some riders that can finish in the top20 are, like Carapaz, Brambilla or Kangert. Sadly, both Kirsch and Kunshin have to abandon the race with both having collarbone fractures
Schir has gone crazy in the start of the final climb of the day, just to see a couple of kms later an attack from Reichenbach that was neutralised by Taaramäe. Also, the leading trio is about to be caught - again Lutsenko caught the other two in the descent - but despite of that there’s a lot of passivity in the bunch now. This guys are basically handing out the win to either Van Stayen or Demare, as both are in the bunch
Les Mulles - Cat. 3
Borges 6
Pichon 4
Lutsenko 2
In the descent, all riders that were ahead of the bunch are caught, and now a 60-rider group is on its way to fight for todayÂ’s win. If we take a look at the best sprinters in this group, this is what we have:
Not too much sprinters, as expected, here, and both Van Stayen and Demare are very clear favourites for the sprint. Worthy to remember that if somehow Phinney is able to beat both of them, and wins the stage, heÂ’ll become the new race leader
Stybar has tried to make a move in the descent using his incredible downhill abilities, but both Taaramae and Phinney closed any gap that he could have had. Only 10 km left, and those who want to fight for the win must start to place themselves in the first places of the group
Only 6 kms to the finish and look where are the three favourites for the win now. Van Stayen has decided to follow SaganÂ’s wheel, as the Belgian doesnÂ’t have any team-mates in the group, while Demare has gone with the same strategy, but following Van Stayen. In the front, Stybar and Hosek are leading the pack, alledgy preparing the sprint for Sagan. We can see also a couple of Moser riders close to Sagan, ready to bring him to the first places, but the Slovak isnÂ’t making any sign that heÂ’ll follow them
Really smart move of Sagan to get rid of both sprinters, as when Formolo saw a gap in the inside line Sagan went as quick as possible on his wheel, making Van Stayen and Demare to miss that move. Lutsenko also saw Formolo'Â’s move, and placed himself in Sagan's wheel
Two km left and this is going to be a really messy sprint, as all the favourites are around places 10-15. Blikra is leading-out the sprint, ahead of Novak, Stybar, Taaramae and Spilak, while most of the GC riders are in the first places, trying to get some bonus seconds if they are fast enough to finish in the top3
900 metres left, but all riders are waiting as much as possible to open their sprints. This is a very weird situation, as the best sprinters might end up not winning because they run out of space to make up the ground they are losing by their not good positioning
Demare vs Van Stayen was the obvious fight for the win, and with 500 metres to go, both are now in the first two places. There'Â’s a corner right now that might decide the winner, but Demare has a little margin now. No one else can come even close to them, only Blikra because he was leading-out the sprint
Only 200 metres left, and Demare is about to take his first ever stage win in the Tour de France. Van Stayen canÂ’t recover this gap, and the Frenchman won'Â’t fade
Arnaud Demare wins in Colmar! This is a key result for the Green Jersey wearer, as this 25 points will give him some more time in the Points standings lead
Van Stayen finishes second by the second day in-a-row, after losing yesterday to Swift in a flat sprint. Blikra takes a very surprising third place thanks to be leading-out the sprint. Phinney misses out on bonus because of this, which leaves Taaramae as race leader one more day.
The top10 of the stage is completed by Van der Velde, Borges, Stybar, Spilak, Novak and Dekker.
A group with those who crashed in a previous descent, like Carapaz, Kangert and Brambilla, finish around 2Â’30 later than Demare, something that gives them confidence that they arenÂ’t injured
Tenorio ends up losing over 10 minutes, but it seems like heÂ’s slowly recovering from his injuries, as he has done it much better than in previous days, staying with the bunch until there were only 80-100 riders on it
Arnaud Demare goes to the podium to celebrate his first Tour de France stage win!
LutsenkoÂ’s fight today deserved to be rewarded with his presence in the podium as the new KoM leader
And thatÂ’s all from Colmar. Tomorrow weÂ’ll see the first mountain stage of the race, in a stage where Port de Bales will be climbed, and the stage will finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon
