Third day in the Baltic Chain Tour and we're now heading for Finland: a panflat circuit around Hanko - the only stage going above 200km here. It's raining and we have some minor crosswinds as well.
Cavendish the new GC leader, but Kennaugh took the first sprint with also Van Asbroeck, Holloway and Nelson doing well. Lo Cicero and Vantomme not far behind yesterday, opposing to Goss and Guerao (who was one of several riders crashing early into the stage though).
Opposing to yesterday, the very first news come from the breakaway being formed after a few riders went for a first empty-handed attempt:
Jeandebosbosz, Van Aert, Bico, Meeusen, Lilovski, Mihaylov and Bakari couldn't go clear on first hand.
Instead, we get a breakaway group with 5 riders going clear 13km into the stage:
They are establishing a 3-minutes gap soon after going clear.
The crashes go on though, it just takes a bit more time than it did yesterday:
Lilovski, Yzeiraj, Zhao, Liu, Christensen and Brambilla go down in a first crash 158km before the finish..
Turgot (GC's 13th) hits the turf in a nasty crash with 140km to go (picture above)..
U25-leader Harrison (GC's 19th) is involved in a fall with Würtz and Irvine also hitting the turf..
That's with 84km to go and the breakaway leading by 4'32" on the now chasing peloton..
Just a few minutes later, the next crash with six riders going down on slicky roads:
Appollonio (yesterday's 8th on the stage) as the biggest name, but there's also Daniel (GC's 11th) and Kuboki involved. As well as Rijntjes, Avila and Huynh.
They are quickly two minutes off the peloton, that has uppen the pace in order to catch the early breakaway. That's certainly a tough challenge, but the horrible news for Carlsberg follow soon after the crash:
Appollonio can't continue, he has to abandon from the race! He seriously got hurt in the crash and steps into the team car with tears in his eyes. Another sprinter crashing here. Keukeleire/Van der Sande already lost minutes yesterday.
All other crash victims would have made it back to the peloton with 65km remaining. It's the usual business from this point, but opposing to yesterday, where the peloton looked in control of the breakaway all the time, it seems like it could become a much closer decision between the break and the pack today:
10.5km left and despite Valio, Kraftwerk and Netia sharing the work in the chase, the breakaway holds on to a 1'20" advantage to this point!
Vastaranta and Kulppi now pulling the strings hard..
Vandousselaere is the first escapee sensing a chance to fight for the stage and he tries to go clear from the leading group with 4.2km remaining:
given his solid sprint skills, this move might be questioned, if it doesn't stick to the end. The peloton is still a minute in arrears, yet struggling to finally close the gap!
Less than 3km to go for the pack, the escapees are still a minute ahead with Vandousselaere not really getting away with his solo attempt. The sprint trains have been formed now:
Gaviria
Vinther
Maikin
Peeters
Manninen
Kreder
Van Asbroeck
Lo Cicero
Cavendish
Kennaugh
Castañeda
Nelson
Keukeleire
Franczak
Sobota
Vantomme
Vandousselaere couldn't stay clear and he's getting company with 1.2km to the finish:
Ngandamba and De Haes catch up and they launch their sprint!
There's still a significant gap and since the sprinters only reach the finishing stretch now, the stage-win will likely go to one of those three at the very front:
Cavendish now at the front of the field with still Kreder leading him out. Lo Cicero lost Manninen's wheel, Van Asbroeck is launching his sprint now.
Vantomme with Sobota in front of him, Nelson is still at Cavendish's wheel. Castaneda losing some ground and also Kennaugh ain't perfectly positioned coming off this final corner.
They are coming closer to the front group, but also Zaraliev and Backaert are still ahead of the sprinters:
De Haes sprints to a small advantage with just a few hundred metres to go! The other two struggle to keep his pace..
It's looking good for De Haes, who's indeed getting away!
Kreder still ahead of Cavendish, who's now launching his finishing kick. Nelson, Vantomme, Lo Cicero and Van Asbroeck in the most promising positions to at least sprint to some minor bonifications..
..and he did it again: De Haes takes the stage from the early break! He definitely makes himself a name of a guy, who picks the perfect stages for a succesfull breakaway attempt. No one could match his sprint, surely a nice victory. Given his small disadvantage prior to the stage, the bonus seconds will definitely lift him up in the GC as well!
Vandousselaere holds on to a 2nd place finish ahead of Ngandamba! They all will benefit from the bonifications, even though the sprinters came too close to also get an additional gap rewarded.
Zaraliev comes in 4th with also Backaert narrowly finishing ahead of the first sprinters:
Cavendish now in the leading position with Lo Cicero moving forward past Nelson, Van Asbroeck, Vantomme.. Keukeleire right behind Lo Cicero, recovering well from his problems yesterday..
Lo Cicero sprints to 6th ahead of Cavendish and Nelson! Lo Cicero the strongest sprinter in a stage, where the breakaway takes the line honours. His manager won't like it.
Kennaugh with a fast finish to go 9th ahead of Keukeleire. Vantomme 11th ahead of Van Asbroeck, who lost quite some ground on the final metres. Holloway (16th), Guerao (20th), Rowe (21st) and Goss (31st) as the most disappointing sprinters today.
Cavendish retains his yellow leader shirt and keeps the gap at 11 seconds: De Haes though is the new 2nd in the GC! What a day he had. Ngandamba moving up to 3rd with 16 seconds behind Cav and on the same time as Kennaugh. Van Asbroeck 5th ahead of Lo Cicero and Zaraliev. Wisniowski 8th ahead of Vandousselaere and former GC leader Vermote, who's on the same time as Nelson and Holloway.
The escapees with a big day and the sprinter teams will have to do better tomorrow. It will hurt a few sprinters' chances to improve in the GC and that's not what they came for.
