One of the hardest stages of this Giro on the 18th day. First the Passo Gavia (16,2km, 7,9%) with only a Cat.1 rating followed by the Passo Dello Stelvio (21,7km, 7,1%) with the HC rating and last but not least the finish on the Val Martello Martelltal (22km, 6,4%).
That`s some heavy amount of uphill kilometers on just 138km in total in especially!
Amador in a decent position after yesterdays ITT, though only 6s ahead of Schleck, who was the better climber so far and might still have best chances.
Dombrowski, Morton and in especially Alarcon are the top climbers under pressure when they want to improve their GC position!
Vosekalns was one of the most active riders on basically every uphill stage. So far he got a stage win and a comfortable lead in the KoM ranking. Having some more points scored today, the jersey should be guaranteed.
And so it`s no surprise to see him yet again in the attack. With him Quintana, who sits in 15th GC a bit under 15min down on Amador but a lot less on the late top10 riders, which is most likely his aim.
Behind the ITT winner Fraile also trying to join them but is the weaker climber.
Boom and Koep were chasing a lot in the early kilometers and the reason is simple. Dekker as 13th in the GC was afraid of Quintana and more important wanted to attack as well. With him Choi as GC`s 19th.
A bit behind them Smith on the KoM hunt but he is not strong enough to join!
And in fact also Fraile and more important Vosekalns are neither as strong as the other three. That`s a small hit in the attempt to secure the KoM jersey today but all the attacks so far and also the climbing skills in general are in favour of the trio ahead.
Behind Pantano Gomez, who had a anonymous and weak race so far was working a lot for Henao Montoya (12th GC) as the trio in front is a threat for his GC position. And with Fraile being dropped, also Nibali himself chasing now as GC`s 14th.
This leads to a small favourite group only with 23 riders around Amador and just 1:45 gap for the break.
Most big names around the top riders with Preidler, Ricco, Kruijswijk etc. being the ones being dropped for mid 20`s or 30`s GCs.
Nibali is a great descender and with support of Pantano Gomez they are flying down the descent with Amador sitting right behind them.
The gap down to 1'10 now.
The Stelvio just started only but on the early sections already Dekker proves to be strongest today. Quintana as best on paper actually got dropped earlier already but is now back with Choi a bit behind the Dutch. 86km would be a long solo though.
But the "peloton" seems to catch them anyway. Nibali going really crazy today having now passed the two dropped riders and just 40s to Dekker!
It`s 18 riders only with them as more have lost contact such as Vosekalns, Chamorro, Goos, Fraile!
This means basically most GC riders are isolated here! Philips with 2 surely and also Morton seems to have a helper left.
But easy to see, that the pace was really slow once Nibali stopped working! With no team mates around the GC riders decided to wait and allowed ~60 riders to re-join making it a group of 82 riders and Ivars/Schir moving to the front to work for Amador.
It`s Dekker again to attack with 7,5km to the top!
Behind him a trio of Figueiredo, Bartl and Teklehaimanot.
Then Giogieri and Choi, who is struggling though.
Oliveira immediately chasing again for Desigual as Dekker is not the rider they want in the attack. Maybe they then shouldn`t have send Teklehaimanot into the group as well in first place though.
Out of nowhere Choi did attack again and passed the Dekker group to get the big points, which means he already collected 36 pts today in addition to 38, he already had. He is into 2nd in the KoM ranking now but still 62 pts behind Vosekalns, who attacked for 3rd here with 12 points behind Dekker.
Wow. That`s some attack. Amador must feel great today and the descent is a big advantage over Schleck and with just 6s advantage, he decides to attack on the long way down with 65km to go.
Behind him Nibali and Quintana. Later a horrible descender though.
Van der Velde and Majka immediately higher the pace behind as they appear stronger than Vesuvio`s support today.
Amador, Dekker and Choi are together now with Nibali and Vosekalns following 40s later. Quite surprising as the Italian is the better descender but also has worked a lot already on the Gavia.
They have almost 2min to the group of 70!
But the flat section then was not to their favour. With Vesuvio and eBuddy working with several riders, it`s 75 riders together in the first group with 30km to go!
Bad luck for Dekker/Choi, who have tried twice today but were victims of bigger GC attacks.
And with 18km to go, which is basically the start of the final climb, it`s the big guys making their moves now and not giving them a chance to attack a third time.
Dombrowski first and joined by Schleck.
Then Amador and Lecuisinier with Bongiorno, Formolo, Henao Montoya, Machado, Hirt, Alarcon all attacking as well now.
Amador not able to close the gap to Schleck and Dombrowski, while Lecuisinier actually is!
The GC leader now in a sixtett aroudn Henao, Alarcon, Bongiorno, Fromolo and Hirt and having a 33s gap.
Same gap to the next solist in Machado and then another bit to the peloton.
And now the Costa Rican also losing contact to the other riders and is slowly dropping back! Wow. That`s some heavy throwback for him.
Mainly Alarcon did lead the groups together but it`s not all riders. Formolo and Bongiorno couldn`t follow and are back in the pack but biggest news that also Amador is dropped! Either a really bad day or his earlier attack now comes back to him. Maybe also forgotten to eat on the descent?
Lecuisinier and Henao Montoya look really good today with following Alarcon instantly while the others having a small gap.
Morton and Guldhammer missed the first attacks and now chasing while also Cattaneo and Abal follow. Those two might become the big winner in the fight of Dekker/Nibali/Choi/Quintana today as those 4 all seem too tired to attack.
Just like Amador, who is sitting with them in the peloton, though as first rider trying to chase! No team support with him that could help out really.
At least Dekker and Bongiorno regularly are able to help out.
6 riders in front, behind them Morton and Guldhammer that have bridged up to Machado now. Still 50s though for them. 30s later Abal/Cattaneo and already 3'17 in total for Group Amador! That might be the end of his GC dream!
Quintana actually already behind those after his attacks today.
Alarcon and Schleck now want to get the decision. Both accelerate and Dombrowski can`t follow! He really isn`t looking good and neither Lecuisinier/Hirt/Henao are able but those are looking a lot better in fact.
And there it is. Attack #3 on the 3rd mountain as well. Dekker had a good day today but missed out on the big move, mainly due to Nibali and later Amador`s attack.
Now he attacks those 2 that are behind and tries to "close" the gap to Henao, Cattaneo, Abal, who are his main rivals.
For Schleck and Alarcon it`s the final kilometer already and with a 37s gap to the next group, it`s a 1 on 1 for the stage win, while the Vesuvio rider at least should be guaranteed as GC leader and maybe winner?
400m and Alarcon from the front. Perfect position for Schleck to get another win? Or next one for Alarcon, who couldn`t show his big climbing skills yet and "only" was best in the MTT but not on a road stage yet.
It`s Alarcon! No chance for Schleck, who is fully exhausted behind as 2nd of the stage but still a big winner today. Great performance by both!
Hirt also very strong as 3rd 37s behind and gaining a few seconds on Henao Montoya and Lecuisinier!
Next Morton already at 1'10 which is 8s ahead of Dombrowski and Guldhammer. A big hit as well for eBuddy as it`s not his best day and losing that much was not to be expected. Machado next at 1'36 neither as strong as he probably would like. Apparently slowly his recovery is working against him while Alarcon though as similar one is not feeling the effects yet.
Cattaneo and Abal both with decent ride up but not as strong as very similar riders! 1'50 for them and almost up to Machado actually. And it`s the first 11 riders who all are within 2 minutes, which was it for quite some time. Huge gap to the next.
Dekker as best of the rest but already 4'50 down! Huge loss on Abal and co.
Behind at 5'17 then the GC leader. Amador with a day to forget! Worst moment for such a loss. Just one day after passing Schleck. With him Choi, Faiers, Preidler and Kolesnikov. Not the kind of riders, he is used to ride up the mountain together.
GC wise he even drops behind Dombrowski, who despite not his best day neither is gaining a spot!
Even Morton is closing to him and sitting in 4th just 55s behind. Lecuisinier as 5th at 6'43 already but being threatened by Alarcon in 6th and Hirt in 7th. Those positions 3-7 fights should still be interesting.
Machado in 8th a bit ahead of Guldhammer and Henao with Abal, Cattaneo both just outside but with a comfortable lead over Dekker as next now.
And such a day was expected to be difficult for many riders. 17 in total didn`t finish and it`s some interesting riders. Bertillsson as stage winner the biggest probably as also some time trialists such as Kittel, Salas, Van Winden, Sütterlin.
Aegon hit hard today. Now with Groenewegen being a favourite for the 21st stage, he is losing his support riders Sbaragli, Martinelli and Dumoulin.
