It's day number four here in Italy, and the stages are getting longer and harder, as two rather long climbs await the riders today.
Well, actually, "Italy" is not quite correct. We have left the region between the two seas, and are starting today's stage in Austria. More precisely in Sillian, Tyrol, a village of 2,000 souls, from where we'll get back to Italy.
The first intermediate sprint - after 69.9 mostly descending kilometers - will take place in Bressanone, South Tyrol. From there, we have 35 more kilometers downwards until the first climb will be tackled.
This climb, culminating in Nove Ponente, is 18.3km long and has a 6.1% average slope, the steepest sections being within the last 3km. 16 points are waiting for the first rider on top.
Before the long descent, there's another hill, but with no KoM sprint. As we have already seen in the last two days, the first crossing of the finish line isn't the last - the riders reach Mezzolombardo, Trentino, after about 175 kilometers - but there's another lap to do.
And today's extra lap contains another 1st category climb - 11.2km long, 7.1% average slope. This time, the final 2 kilometers are rather flat, so we are hoping for some attacks before! Or will we see a decisive move in the final downhill?
And if you think that the stage isn't hard enough, let me just tell you that there are rather strong winds - 20km/h, blowing in South-Eastern direction. This means that during most of the stage, the riders will face crosswinds - something not all climbers are comfortable with!
Finally, let's have a glimpse at the bookies' favorites: Taaramäe, Dombrowski, Spilak, then Herklotz, Morton and Lecuisinier, and finally Denifl, Gesink, Quintana and Hirt. But many more could be in the mix, especially with the downhill at the end. Let's see!
With 32 KoM points on offer, it's not surprising that Uwizeyimana is in the first breakaway attempt, together with Manulang, Andersen and Van Winden, followed by Iturria and Danacik. Bostner is trying to escape as well.
And we already have another group ahead of the actual peloton, containing Poljanski, Serrano, Janse van Rensburg, Betancourt, Ikibe, Lastra, Vliegen, Paprstka and Dal Col.
But many teams were not happy with this situation, and so it's mainly Scully and Kalaba, with some support of Barbier and Martinelli, reeling in all the escapees.
Bad luck for Van Poppel, who had a flat tire and is now chasing the peloton all alone.
Of course, some riders are insisting, and attack again immediately after. We can spot Van Winden, Manulang, Betancourt, Uwizeyimana, Paprstka, Dal Col, Vliegen, Danacik and Lastra.
Kalaba and Spanopoulos insisted for a moment, but then gave up. Just as the speed goes down, Pedrero is the next to attack.
And he reaches the leaders - but so does the peloton. Gruppo compatto again - except for Van Poppel, who certainly isn't happy about the race being that fast.
For some it's already the third try, some others attack for the first time. Here are the names: Betancourt, Van Winden, Vliegen, Danacik, Manulang, Uwizeyimana, Latour, Novikov, Ndayisenga and Paprstka, who has a small gap to the others.
Paprstka hasn't been able to keep up, and is caught by Iturria. Behind, we see Poljanski and Lastra attacking.
Of these four, only Lastra and Poljanski remain ahead, with the breakaway in sight.
Foliforov and Godoy have escaped from the peloton as well.
The pack has now slowed down, and so the gap quickly goes up to 3 minutes. As we now have our Breakaway of the Day complete, let's look at their uphill capabilities:
Ndayisenga should be the strongest, closely followed by Godoy, Poljanski, Novikov and Latour. Foliforov, Uwizeyimana, Danacik, Manulang, Betancourt and Lastra will probably struggle a bit more. Vliegen definitely is no climber, and Van Winden may just have attacked to be sure to make it within the time limit.
The intermediate sprint then is clearly won by Latour:
1. Latour
2. Danacik
3. Uwizeyimana
The peloton is 2'23 back, and Van Poppel 4'01 behind the pack. He should make it back within the next 35 kilometers, else it will be a very hard day for him.
As we reach the foot of the first climb, the peloton has reduced the gap to 1'27 - will the breakaway even get the KoM points on top?
It's Pruus and Pernsteiner going full speed, and they quickly reel in Van Winden, without any surprise.
And they do some damage further behind as well, as all top sprinters have already lost contact - meaning we'll definitely get a new leader today!
More surprising - and disappointing - is that riders like Brenes, Konig, Vosekalns and many other good climbers are in that second group as well! Plenty of time left - can they make it back to the pack?
The breakaway is shrinking in size, too, as they've lost Vliegen and Manulang, who are swallowed by the pack soon after.
Novikov then attacks with 2km of uphill left. 9 riders in the pursuit, just a few seconds back. + 1'30 for the peloton.
Godoy almost beats Novikov for the KoM points, but has to settle for second:
The peloton is approaching Mezzolombardo, and we have Shapira, Salinas and a SPAR trio leading the pack.
The 10 remaining breakaway riders are back together, and still have 1'27 on the peloton.
As the leaders cross the finish line for the first time, Betancourt and Danacik have a small gap, but it's still a long way to go - roughly 12km up and 12km down.
The peloton is 1'31 behind.
Leaders and pack are now in the second climb, with less than a minute separating them. We see a lot of green at the front of the peloton, and especially Bennelong is very present with 5 riders in the first 20 positions. Are they preparing an attack?
The first one to make a move is Lastra, who attacks from the leading group with Latour on his wheel. Poljanski close behind - but the peloton isn't far back, either!
And Latour seems to be the strongest from the BotD, leaving the others behind! Still a minute on the pack - can he stay ahead?
Still no attacks from the peloton, but with their high pace they've now reeled in all escapees but Latour, who's still 30" ahead!
With 4km of climbing left, it's now Denifl who goes all-in! Aru tries to follow, while Latour's advantage is down to just 20"!
Denifl has overtaken the Frenchman and wins the KoM sprint. No more attacks from the peloton, where most favorites now are on their own.
The gap is 36", and there are just 15km left, thereof 12 downhill - has the Austrian got enough power left to stay clear of the bunch? (Well, not really bunch, as there are only 23 riders left)
All stage and GC favorites are still in the first group - but we're missing some second-tier riders like Preidler or Lopez, one of the best puncheurs.
10km to go, and Denifl still has a 25" gap. Karnulin is doing most of the work in the chasing group.
But with just 2 kilometers left, it's game over for Denifl, as Guldhammer, the strongest sprinter among the top climbers, catches him! 24 riders in the mix for the win!
Guldhammer has not just reeled in Denifl, but he had so much speed that he's got a gap, together with Yates!
Berhane and Morton are leading the pack - can they close this 10" gap?
500m to go for Guldhammer and Yates, who now is about to overtake the Dane!
It will be hard work for the others to close this gap! We have the following situation:
Herklotz
Berhane
Morton
Hirt
Taaramäe
Denifl
Velits
Lecuisinier
Dombrowski
Spilak
Formolo
Brambilla
Martin
Gesink
Wellens
Dekker
Kirsch
Karnulin
Quintana
Keinath
Carthy
Ji
With 200m left, Yates has clearly taken the lead and seems to be unstoppable! Guldhammer is still in a good position to secure 2nd, but he's clearly fading!
Behind, Herklotz is still 3rd, chased by Hirt, Taaramäe and Lecuisinier!
And he does it! Adam Yates was smart enough to follow Guldhammer's attack, and then was cleary stronger on the final meters! Great win for the Farfetch Pro Cycling leader!
Guldhammer is still 2nd, but Herklotz is closing in fast, while trying to keep clear of Lecuisinier, Hirt, Taaramäe and Spilak!
He may be slightly disappointed, but it's still a great 2nd place for Rasmus Guldhammer! He made the decisive move, and gets a well deserved podium!
Herklotz seems to be set for 3rd, the others being too far behind. However, the fight for 4th seems to be very close!
Indeed, Silvio Herklotz secures the 3rd place and gains some more bonus seconds!
Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier then edges out Simon Spilak and Jan Hirt for 4th, while Rein Taaramäe has to settle for 8th, right behind Davide Formolo. Joseph Dombrowski and Daniel Martin complete today's Top 10.
In the same group, we have the following riders:
11. Morton
12. Velits
13. Brambilla
14. Denifl
15. Dekker
16. Gesink
17. Wellens
18. Kirsch
19. Karnulin
20. Keinath
21. Berhane
22. Ji
23. Quintana
24. Carthy
While we're waiting for many more riders to arrive, let's head over to the victory ceremony:
Adam Yates is today's great winner! By following Guldhammer's surprise move, he created a great situation which he finished off in style!
Silvio Herklotz was 2nd in the GC before today's stage, and as Coquard was far back today (+ 18'05), he easily takes the lead and switches the white jersey for the GC leader's! But it's still a close race, as he's 15" ahead of Yates and 16" ahead of Spilak. The Top 20 are still within one minute.
Bryan Coquard keeps the lead in the points standings, but Herklotz is just 10 points back. We'll probably have to wait for the last stage to know this jersey's winner.
Again, the jury decides to give the KoM jersey to Uwizeyimana. He's still leading with 24 points, together with Serrano, but Spilak with 22 and Herklotz with 20 are really close.
Aegon - Lavazza then takes the lead in the team standings. With three riders in the Top 20, this is really well deserved!
As the GC leader, Silvio Herklotz of course keeps the U25 leader jersey as well, but it will be worn by Carthy tomorrow.
That's all for today. Unfortunately, we still didn't see a lot of action among the top favorites. The profile with the final descent may not have helped - but that will be very different tomorrow, as we'll have a mountain-top finish! Stay tuned!
And by the way: Van Poppel never made it back to the peloton, and he finished the stage 50 minutes behind the winner. But he made the time limit!
Tirreno - Adriatico 
