Day five here in Austria and today, it's time for the only hilly rated stage of the tour: the 'Sonntagberg' climb to the finish certainly can make a difference - 4.3km in total, with average slopes of 7.8%. The best puncheurs amongst the GC favorites should fancy their chances to maybe gain some time on guys like Henao Montoya or Duarte in particular.
Amador set to defend yellow for another day, but Denifl looked strong yesterday and he's amongst the better puncheurs as well (though lacking the kick). Other strong puncheurs are Sicard, Talansky (though disappointing so far), Roglic and Barguil.
The stage kicks off with a huge breakaway group getting away early - 14 riders leading by two minutes:
Lavery (2nd in KoM, 35pts) Grossschartner Er Rafai Oomen Gillett Jaramillo (15th in KoM, 12pts) Eliad Ebsen Uchima Chamorro (GC's 49th, + 16.13) Walsleben Fernandez (GC's 48th, + 15.12) Simon Stancu (GC's 33rd, + 10.10)
A few moments later though, the peloton would start to chase this breakaway.
And indeed, the group is brought back about 165km before finish. A next group of 6 riders goes clear soon after and they are allowed to go for the break of the day then:
Lavery (2nd in KoM, 35pts) Jones (4th in KoM, 32pts) Konte Öste-Macdonald Fernandez Uchima
With three minor mountain sprints today, Lavery and Jones will definitely fight for the KoM classification, as polka dot leader Izagirre (36pts) is just one point ahead of Lavery and he didn't make it into the break after yesterday's efforts.
Lavery would pretty much dominate Jones at those sprints in the second half of the stage: taking the first, taking the second and also taking the third! Jones came 2nd in the first two, but missed out on points in the last one:
Provisional KoM: Lavery 51, Jones 39, Izagirre 36, Amador 33
17km to go now and the peloton is 1'17" behind the breakaway group. It's a flat sector now and still more than 10km until they reach the final climb. Which does not mean, that no one would attack here:
Barguil (GC's 9th) is on the move! A rather surprising decision in the current situation, but he obviously feels great today!
Team UBS though were in control and so it's been a short-lived attempt from Barguil, who's been reeled in just a couple of kilometres later.
The attacking doesn't stop though:
Polanc and Warbasse try their luck with 14.5km remaining!
The breakaway group is now just 44" ahead and with the current pace in the pack, they are soon to be caught..
Yap, they are swallowed close to the finishing climb 5km before the finish.
The same goes for Polanc and Warbasse, who couldn't stay clear from the pack either. Orange Cycling and UBS were attentive enough to bring back all of the latest attackers..
..but the attacking goes on with now 3.5km left - we're at the bottom of the final climb:
Barguil Denifl Talansky Brajkovic
with a good looking attack! Barguil apparently willing to do something special today and so does Denifl, who's putting some pressure on Amador that way!
2.5km to go and the attackers couldn't yet get away from the bunch.. again, Orange and UBS pulling them back - with also Generali providing a strong support for Roglic so far:
Di Gregorio Saggiorato Molard Thièry
as those domestiques, who were controlling the thing so far into the climb. Credit where credit is due.
Barguil though still at the front with also Talansky, Brajkovic and Denifl hanging on there. Amador not visible, but he's some positions behind, yet not looking too well so far.
And Barguil goes again with 1.5km remaining!
Brajkovic as the first trying to follow, just like Denifl Talansky
Barguil though opening up a gap now, with still Talansky, Brajkovic and Denifl as today's most aggresive GC contenders!
Generali, Orange and UBS with still some support for Roglic, Sicard and Amador, who's not far behind, but again: not looking like he could somehow counter Denifl today!
Let's take a look back further down the climb - the big group begins to split into pieces and group Amador is now at 16 riders only:
Denifl Talansky Brajkovic
Amador Roglic, Molard, Thiery Sicard, Di Gregorio Poljanski Contador De la Cruz Warbasse Zardini Hiratsuka Ivanov
and then, there's already a 34" gap on the next big group, where we do have some GC contenders:
Henao Montoya Van den Broeck Shikai Ratiy Garby Duarte
Van den Broeck maybe as the bigger surprise given his puncheur skills, but while it ain't too surprising to see Henao Montoya or Garby struggling in a hilly stage, it's still no good news for them. This could become a dangerous stage for Montoya's podium ambitions!
Speaking of podium ambitiouns: will Barguil be back in the fight for the podium today? It's definitely possible, as he's leading solo with a 28" gap on group Amador! Just 700metres to go for him now.
The first group is getting smaller now again: 9 riders with a small advantage over the next few riders!
Talansky launching his sprint, Denifl, Molard, Sicard, Brajkovic, Di Gregorio, De la Cruz, Roglic and Amador on the further positions.. Amador still struggling, but at least he's hanging on with the first chasing group so far.
Barguil however is at 38 seconds now, surely the stage will be his:
behind Amador a small gap on a group with Poljanski.. further 47" down the road, the big group with Henao Montoya, Garby and Van den Broeck. Yap, they will definitely lose valuable time today!
Oppposing to Barguil, who's stormed to a great stage-win! Attacking quite early, being caught, attacking again, being caught again and then launching his third and winning move inside the final 1.5km of the stage. A gutsy ride and well deserved victory for Barguil. He will surely move up in the GC as well. But how far?
+ 38" for Talansky and Denifl as 2nd and 3rd
A good result for both and crucial bonifications for Denifl as well. The next few riders finish with the same time then:
Molard, Sicard, Brajkovic, De la Cruz, Roglic, Di Gregorio, Amador (as 10th on the stage), Zardini and Contador
Good news for Amador in particular, as he never looked in best shape today..
..good news for Poljanski as well, as he's eventually given the same time as those riders ahead of him. It looked like there could have been a gap right ahead of him, but he's been lucky today:
Poljanski, Thièry, Hiratsuka, Warbasse and Ivanov finish from 13th to 17th, all with 38 seconds lost on Barguil.
+ 1'59" for the big group with Henao Montoya, Van den Broeck, Garby, Duarte, Shikai and Ratiy
That's more than a minute lost on group Amador/Sicard and almost two minutes on Barguil. This will hurt Henao Montoya and those other few major GC contenders without any question. Of course, this was always a possible outcome for today's stage.
Amador did enough to secure yellow for another day. Denifl did well again, moving up to 2nd with 1'20" on Amador now. Barguil indeed moving up to 3rd with 1'31" behind Amador. What a great day for him in particular!
Henao Montoya dropping to 6th with more than minute disadvantage on the podium. It will be tough to gain back in the timetrial. Poljanski 4th ahead of Roglic. Sicard 7th ahead of Garby, Brajkovic and Van den Broeck now. Obviously, that's still a solid GC place for VdB, but he might have expected more from this hilly stage.
Duarte 11th ahead of De la Cruz, Shikai, Ratiy and Contador - with Talansky moving up to 16th today. It seems like Duarte will be the only possible threat for a Top-10 in the GC, but the timetrial may tell a different story in two days.
