Lots of things have happened since the previous flat stage in the race, only 4 stages ago. The race leader crashing of the lead, a new race leader, several crashes in descents, a couple of big surprises in the Pryrenees and even a top sprinter out of the race.
TodayÂ’s stage might perfectly end up as the first breakaway win of the race, being placed after a really tough couple of mountain stages in the Pyrennes, and with Swift out of the race and waiting on DemareÂ’s condition after his crash in the last stage, leaving only a couple of teams like Evonik or Nemiroff with the responsability to chase any breakaway attempts. Anyway, the finish in Lavaur isnÂ’t as flat as most sprinters would hope, playing perfectly into Van StayenÂ’s hands. Not winning today would be seen as a disaster for the Belgian, still win-less in the race
As expected, lots of riders tried to enter the breakaway, but Nemiroff and Evonik were attentive enough to shut down every attempt in the first kms.
Finally three riders were able to escape from the bunch, given that both Evonik and Nemiroff agreed with this.
Bystrom Stybar Fenn
Neither of them had any KoM points before the stage, but this didnÂ’t stop Bystrom from sprinting for the points in the top of the first climb of the day. He would get easily the 6 points.
Cote de Tonnac - Cat.3
Bystrom 6
Stybar 4
Fenn 2
Meanwhile, in the bunch were very calmed, as they were allowing the gap to rise around 5 minutes. ItÂ’'s important to point out the very windy conditions that we have today, as depending on the wind direction on the final part of the stage, some teams might have some fun today
No one cared about the intermediate sprint which was placed 80 km away from the finish, so Bystrom took the points just because it was his turn to relay. The gap was stable around 5 minutes, with Puma having joined briefily the teams in front to help with the chase
Intermediate Sprint - Gaillac
Bystrom 6
Fenn 4
Stybar 2
Echelons? As we said before, the wind is still very strong with 35 km to go, and with Strava setting the pace in the front, around 50 riders are breaking away from the big group, with only a handful of riders of those placed in the top15 in GC, like Phinney, Spilak, Gesink, Amador, Wellens, Dekker, Taaramäe and Yates. The rest, as well as sprinters like Demare or Keukeleire, are in the second group
20 km to go, and although the gap between both groups is very short, Strava doesnÂ’t look like theyÂ’ll stop any time soon. And now Dekker is also in the second group, after both group joined for a short amount of time, and then spitted again
Bystrom goes again for the KoM points in the final climb of the day, only 15 km away from the finish in Lavaur. And this time it looks that itÂ’s also a move for the stage win. The gap between the two groups behind keeps increasing, as it seems like Demare, Sagan and Dekker, to name the strongest riders there, lack the domestique strenghts to bring them back to the bunch
Cote de Puylaurens - Cat.4
Bystrom 6
Stybar 4
Fenn 2
Only 10 km left, and while in the front there are still three riders, with Bystrom being 1Â’15 ahead of the bunch - Stybar 15 seconds behind the Norwegian - it might be time to watch who is exactly in the front group and who isnÂ’t. The second group is losing now 1Â’30
Strava ridicously having their 8 riders in the 43-rider group
Amador gets dropped! He was in one of the last places in the group, and with the rhythm not being decreased, and a couple of riders ahead of him being dropped also, he will end up losing time too. The question now is if Reinhardt, his only team-mate in the group, will wait for him or will go for the stage win in the sprint
Only 5 km for Bystrom to get the stage win, but unfortunately for him, he has almost no energy left, and will quickly be caught by Strava incredible train. In the back of the group, most of the GC riders are suffering, like Guldhammer or very surprisingly Phinney.
Also, Amador just gave it all he had to come back to the group, in one of the most brutal accelerations for a climber that iÂ’'ve ever seen in a flat road
StravaÂ’s gone wild! Why wait for the sprint if you can just break away from the group? Just in the moment Stybar was caught with 4 km to go, Hermans, Boeckmans and Vanendert have broke away from the remaining bunch. If they can win this way...
2 km to go! Bystrom still has a 20-second lead, but is very likely that he wonÂ’t make it to the end in the front. Evonik did what they had to do, reacting to StravaÂ’s move with Dzamastagic and Van Stayen. Only other rider was able to follow the two sprinting duos; Reinhardt. Everyone else is out of the fight for the win, as these riders even have now a big gap to PhinneyÂ’'s group
Boeckmans launches his sprint from really far, even considering the uphill final km that is awaiting them. Van Stayen follows him, but not quite on the BelgianÂ’'s wheel, while Reinhardt has sticked to Van StayenÂ’s wheel and isnÂ’'t moving from there. Bystrom is done
Boeckmans has clearly mis-calculated his sprinting distance, and with 800 metres left heÂ’'s already fading, allowing Van Stayen to pass him by his right side. Also Reinhardt canÂ’t follow Van StayenÂ’ anymore and is fading like Boeckmans. In the back, Reimer is going really quick and might end up fighting for a podium.
And we have some news about the second bunch! Without having in count that with the likeness of riders coming in groups of 2-3 riders will neutralise any gaps, Sagan and Dekker have attacked from the now-destroyed bunch and have almost caught PhinneyÂ’'s group
Van Stayen goes past Boeckmans with 500 metres left, and takes a lead that isnÂ’t going to lose
Michael van Stayen wins in Lavaur! He was the top favourite for the win today, and he didn'Â’t disappoint, taking the 4th TDF stage win of his career, and the first this year. He might even become the new leader in the Points classification, depending on Phinney'Â’s stage result
Boeckmans gets a well-fought second place. Strava used the force of the wind to destroy the race, and maybe if the finish hadn't been in slight uphill, they would have got away with the win today. Chapeau for them!
Reinhardt finishes third after being the only one able to follow Strava'Â’s and EvonikÂ’'s trains in the final kms
Awesome result for Bystrom, who after being caught with less than 2 km to the end, was able to finish in fourth place, just ahead of Vanderbiest. Yates beats the other GC favourites for the sixth place in the stage, finishing ahead of Spilak, Phinney and Taaramae.
Will that be considered a gap? If so, Amador could end up losing more than a minute today, just like Sagan, who is the other end of AmadorÂ’'s group
What is certain is that Dekker'Â’s group, with riders like Demare, Lutsenko, Nibali, Hirt, Formolo and Schelling on it, will lose over 2 minutes today
And somewhere in this group, who has finished 4 minutes after Van Stayen, is the 9th in GC and U25 contender Jack Haig, who will surely lose today his top10 spot
There'Â’s only one change of jersey wearer after this crazy stage, and is that Taylor Phinney is now the leader in the Points classification. The American is the reigning champion in that secondary classification, and will be looking to equal Tom Boonen as the only rider to have won twice the Green Jersey in TDF in MG-era
At the end jury considered that there wasnÂ’t enough distance between first group and Amador and Sagan'Â’s one, so they get lucky as they'Â’ll get the same time as Van Stayen and Phinney. But the other groups, like DekkerÂ’'s and Haig'Â’s defenitely got gaps. This means that Taaramae is back in the top10, although the top8 in GC remains unchanged, as well as their gaps with Phinney
