Next hilly stage, this time a circuit around Izu. An uphill finish today, but the course ain't as challenging as the first hilly parcours two days ago. Still a key day for the GC contenders, obviously:
Denifl leading the GC by just 17 seconds on Sicard - so even with a less selective race, bonifications could do the trick for Sicard. Kwiatkowski as one of the best puncheurs is just 35 seconds behind Denifl - definitely a real threat for yellow. Kinoshita (7th in the GC) probably too far off the podium contention, but surely aiming for his second stage-win and maybe the Top-5 in the GC. Roche (5th) though is almost a minute ahead of him.
An early break of 8 riders is joined by a Novak in the first third of the stage - which gives us a 9-men-breakaway group with 94km remaining and the gap on the peloton being at 4 minutes in the meantime:
Also Ssabagwanya (KoM-leader) tried to join Novak with his late attack, but he couldn't yet bridge across the leading group. No real threat for his KoM lead in the break though - Kamzong takes his first points by winning the first sprint ahead of Reguigui and Krizek.
Feillu takes his first points by winning the second sprint ahead of Rosa and Kamzong - and Fuglsang takes his first points by winning the third sprint ahead of Krizek and Reguigui. That's all good news for Ssabagwanya, as no one goes and dominates the mountain sprints today.
We're jumping straight into the final 25km of the stage, where the peloton has narrowed the gap back to 2'44" with SPAR and Orange showing their colors at the front of the bunch now.
Rolland (GC's 39th, + 9.45) has joined the early break with a mid-race attack. There's surely some hope to snatch a stage win today.
Sinelobov/Feillu (80km before finish) and Rosa (53km before finish) crashed on the tricky descent, but they are all back in the leading group. Opposing to Bauer, who's the first being dropped and soon to be swallowed by the peloton.
Krizek and Reguigui try to go clear from the breakaway group with now just 10km remaining!
The peloton (down to 56 riders in the meantime) is 1'40" behind, but raising the pace once again..
10km to go for the peloton now and Roche attacks at the same point as the two new leaders!
His ambitiouns should be clear enough: at least defending his Top-5 against Kinoshita, but there's maybe some minor hopes to improve in the GC. Also the stage-win is still possible with the gap on Krizek/Reguigui going down to 1'10" now!
No luck for Roche though, as Orange and SPAR would pull him back quickly! 7km to go now, the gap to the leading duo is down to a minute and we see the next attempt in the peloton:
Quintana (GC's 40th) goes! After crashing out of any GC ambitions two days ago, he tries to do something on this hilly parcours today!
Empty-handed attempt though - just like Roche, also Quintana couldn't go clear and he's reeled in by the peloton (47 riders) 5km before finish:
SPAR looking in control so far and with the finish already approaching, Denifl looks well protected to defend yellow: Moazemi and Rodrigues provide some great support for their captain so far.
Krizek/Reguigui couldn't stay clear neither - they have been pulled back by their former breakaway companions and the group is still a minute ahead of the bunch!
Hatsuyama (GC's 17th) as the most notable name being dropped from the bunch..
No further attacks in both the leading group and the peloton - with 2.7km to go and just the final uphill sector ahead, the breakaway attempt is over though! Reguigui as the last escapee being swallowed - 44 riders will enter the final short climb alltogether!
Just 1.4km left and the group slows down a bit, with no one really knowing what do.. the stage contenders are watching each other, waiting for someone to finally kick off the action. The positions in the front rows look as follows:
GC's 12th Ignatiev now struggling at the very back of this main group, that is down to just 35 riders now! He's still hanging on, but he has to fight hard to not get dropped on the final 1.4km!
Dennis and Khederi already lost contact, as they are ahead of a small group that is about 45 seconds behind the leading group!
Sanchez Gil and Cunego a few metres further behind.. no big GC contenders, but a few Top-15 riders really struggling now!
Back to the front, where Kudus has a narrow lead over Kwiatkowski and Kinoshita now! The sprint has been kicked off - a rather messy picture with some hard battles for the best positions inside this final kilometre of the stage!
Final few hundred metres, the uphill sector:
Kudus still holding on to a tiny advantage over Kwiatkowski! Kinoshita can't go past them, it seems..
Roche, Sicard, Roglic/Malacarne, Krizek, Cataldo, Moazemi.. a now struggling Reguigui in the next row then..
Denifl maybe with a moment of panic now, as there's a small gap opening up between Cataldo and Quintana/Denifl!
Kinoshita cracks and no one else can't attack the leading duo: Kudus now with a slightly bigger advantage on Kwiatkowski!
For the win: Kudus takes the stage ahead of Kwiatkowski! That's good news obviously, even though Kwiatkowski could have went past Sicard with a stage-win and those bonifications. Kudus though won't get past Kwiatkowski in the GC this way, so both should be happy afterall..
..and of course.. there's also a small gap opened up between the dup and Roche/Kinoshita and the main group!
Kinoshita takes the 3rd place, but there's no gap rewarded for Kudus/Kwiatkowski! That's good news for Sicard, who struggled on the final metres to finish 11th with the same time!
Roche 4th ahead of Roglic, with Malacarne, Krizek, Cataldo, Reguigui and Rodrigues rounding up the Top-10.
Denifl closed the earlier small gap on the final metres to finish 13th on the stage with the same time as his biggest competitors.
31 riders on the same time eventually..
.. Ignatiev amongst them! The former race-leader did well on the final metres to avoid being dropped from the main group..
..opposing to the other earler mentioned dropped GC riders:
+ 1'08" for Khederi
+ 1'25" for Dennis
+ 1'39" for a group with Sanchez Gil and an again disappointing Cunego
14 riders did not make the time limit eventually - some notable names on the list this time:
Van Heerden Serebriakov Rowe Chen Planckaert Sobota
With Santos already DNF two days ago, the list of possible top sprinters for tomorrow's final flat stage has become pretty short: Lavoine, Tewelde, Lobato del Valle and Giacoppo as the only "real" sprinters left in the race. So despite Kudus big win today, there's also some bad news for Eritel.
Kudus though finally celebrates his victory on the podium then. He kept his 4th place in the GC, but moved up to 3rd in the points classification. Definitely a great day for him and the team.
Denifl secured yellow for another day. Kwiatkowski came close, but couldn't go past Sicard with his runner-up on the stage. Roche still 5th ahead Kinoshita, who moved up to 6th thanks to his minor bonifications as third on the stage.
Khederi (13th), Dennis (18th) and Sanchez Gil (19th) dropped a few places, same goes for Hatsuyama (26th), who got dropped early into the stage.
