Final day in Poland and the stage from Tarnów to Katowice (230km) could become the most challenging: crosswinds up to 50kmh at the start of the stage and a minor difficulty in the finishing circuit, that comes with a short "climb" (and a crucial Cat3 mountain sprint).
Nizzolo took over the GC lead yesterday and (if another bunch sprint decision will happen) it's just Vingerling (+ 0.10) and Krieger (+ 0.19) left in contention for yellow. Thorsen (+ 0.28) not only struggling since two days, but surely no real threat on a profile like today's - and with 25 bonus seconds rewarded for a stage win, he's too far behind anyway.
The first few breakaway attempts are shut down quickly:
as the most notable crash victims.. Hochmann doesn't look good at all and also the others will have to fight hard with still crosswinds blowing and the pace of the pack now going up as well..
Marentes does good things towards a minor GC result, as he takes the next (and final) two intermediate sprints ahead of Mihaylov and Davison! The breakaway's advantage is down to 3'20" with now 78km remaining..
Telia and Wiggle join WCC with the pace making today and the crosswinds (59kmh now) may become a factor indeed. The peloton is 1'43" down on the early breakaway with now 29km to go and there's a first split in the pack with 30 riders being dropped. It's a group with the earlier mentioned crash victims, so that's bad news for Koch, who is likely to lose both a GC result and the U25 lead.
18km to go and the peloton is just a minute behind the breakaway, that is now contesting for the one and only mountain sprint:
Daspuntsag does, what he joined the breakaway for! He takes the sprint ahead of Marentes and will move past KoM leader Gaimon (6pts) thanks to this sprint (8pts in total)!
10km left and the pack has caught the early break! Wiggle's Offredo - Dowling - Selig as the main pace setters now and his team is willing to make it a tough race now:
another split in the pack, where the officials now count 68 riders left in the main group!
Thorsen, Kip and Marentes amongst those, who really suffer at the back of the now 62-men-peloton! No real surprise though and the trio will really have to fight hard to hang on with the main group!
Just like Mihaylov (GC's 14th), who's suffering from his breakaway efforts as well.. he got dropped already, but is still fighting to hang on in a way..
Less than 3km to go for the leading group (64 riders), that has a small gap on a next bigger group (46 riders) with Mihaylov and also Gaimon as the most notable GC riders now..
Wiggle still pacing and setting the train for Haussler:
Delage
Selig
Haussler
Krieger
Cimolai
Brus
Thwaites
Vanderaerden
Castañeda
Andriato
Vingerling
Bar
Nizzolo
Berger
Croket
Bennett
Havik
Selig/Haussler now entering the final 1.5km of the race and Krieger is still at Haussler's wheel..
Cimolai drops back and instead, it's Castaneda moving forward and trying to go past the leading trio!
Nizzolo struggling to make up groun, he's still a few metres behind a small trio with Andriato, Vingerling and Cimolai!
And it's becoming a dangerous situation for Nizzolo, as the 8 riders at the front are opening up a 19 seconds with their sprint:
Haussler leaves Selig's wheel, just like Krieger left his.. Castaneda, Brus, Vanderaerden, Thwaites in the mix.. Cimolai a few metres behind..
Andriato at the front of the next group, as the peloton goes into pieces in this final! Only small gaps yet, but it may be a jury decision eventually. Nizzolo in a group with Bennett/Havik, Bar, Lay, Awang, Andriato and Vasylyuk..
Croket in a next group a few seconds back.. Thorsen/Kip in the biggest group a few seconds behind!
A few hundred to go and now it's Krieger go past Haussler! Castaneda at his wheel.. Haussler ahead of Brus, Vanderaerden, Thwaites..
Krieger looking really strong now, as Castaneda can't follow! Vanderaerden going past Haussler..
Cimolai still fighting, but him and Selig lose ground and that could be good news for the next group, where Nizzolo is finally moving to the front at least.. Krieger though is a real threat for yellow now..
..not only because of the possible gap between the groups, but of course because of the bonifications:
Krieger takes the final stage in style! Quite a dominating victory and he obviously picked the perfect wheel early in the sprint. Well done. With 8 riders in this front group, that's also no bigger bonifications for Nizzolo..
Vanderaerden lungs in for 2nd ahead of Haussler! Both with a great result and Wiggle really put a stamp on today's stage..
Castañeda 4th ahead of Thwaites and Brus...
Cimolai/Brus come in next - as 7th and 8th - with just a small gap on the leading group.. and the next group came somewhat closer as well:
Nizzolo at the front with Vingerling, Bennett, Lay, Bar and teammate Berger around him..
Vingerling finishes 9th though, Nizzolo has to settle for 10th! The good news: no gaps between the first groups, so there's no bigger damage done for those, who couldn't compete with today's very best..
..the bad news for Nizzolo: Krieger has won the stage with him only sprinting to a 10th place..
..it's been a tough stage for Kip (43rd) and Thorsen (45th), but the lack of gaps is still good news for the duo, who eventually finish with the same time as Krieger.. just like Marentes as 60th and Mihaylov or Gaimon.. 110 riders on the same time, so even the second bigger split was not rewarded a gap eventually. Which is kind of a bummer for some riders in those small front groups.
Some of the earlier menioned crash victims and/or dropped riders lost minutes though: Dahlberg, Flaksis, Koch, Valverde, Hochmann.. to name a few.
Krieger does not only celebrate the stage-win, but also the GC victory (and points classification)! A huge day for himself and the team, obviously. A well deserved victory, as he's been one of the most consistent finishers with a couple of unlucky results (like in the opening stage). Today he picked the perfect wheel and played it to perfection then.
Nizzolo finishes 2nd with 5 seconds on Krieger then. He struggled today, but rode a strong tour with a stage-win and a GC podium.
Vingerling as another stage-winner finishing on the GC podium. He should be really happy with his results here.
Just like Haussler, who goes 4th in the final GC ahead of Brus and a rather disappointing Castañeda as 6th eventually. The latter never really got into his best sprint mode here. No complete desaster, but he definitely should have expected more from this race.
Vanderaerden 7th ahead of stage-winner Thorsen, Croket and a strong Cimolai rounding up the Top-10. A kinda great result for Eddie Stobart, who were lucky that we had no gaps today though. Lay 11th ahead of Marentes as the best breakaway rider here! Thwaites, Bennett and Mihaylov complete the Top-15.
Daspuntsag the KoM winner ahead of Gaimon and Mihaylov/Marentes. A nice little bonus in this race.
Chavanne slips into white with Koch losing seven minutes today. He's been quite strong in the sprints and makes for a deserved winner in this category. Of course a really unlucky day for Koch though.
