We’ve arrived at the first mountain stage of this race and it’s a proper mountain stage! The pack has to climb a total of four category one climbs including the finish up to La Planche des Belles Filles and an additional category two climb is thrown in there as well.
Consequently, there are lots of mountain points to be collected for escapees as one of those Cat 1 summits alone grants as many points as KoM leader Brown currently has to his name - 16.
But maybe more importantly, the GC contenders will have their first outing on longer climbs. Sicard wears the yellow jersey after yesterday’s team time trial, but Phinney (at 22 seconds) and Madrazo (at 40 seconds) are close behind. And some of the contenders who lost significant time yesterday may want to start gaining it again today already.
Mavrikakis and Shalunov are the first attackers. Not the greatest climbers, but certainly capable ones.
They don’t get away and a number of riders try their luck instead. There are some good climbers in there, like Vosekalns, but interestingly also the current lanterne rouge, Vanderpool. Some riders might struggle against the time limit today and he would be a top candidate, so maybe he tries to get a head start.
As we approach the first climb up to Le Markstein, we’re in a weird situation: 22 riders including Brown are some 45 seconds ahead, but the peloton obviously does not want such a big group breaking away. They don’t manage to bring them back either though so the two groups have been entrenched in an almost 15 kilometers long fight now - think of the First Order-Resistance chase in The Last Jedi for an analogue.
Incidentally, just like the Resistance in the movie - spoiler alert -, the escapees eventually break free, though not entirely without losses: Vanderpool falls behind as soon as the road gets a little steeper. There are still 21 men in the group ahead of him with now already around four minute of advance, so let’s have a look at them:
Pernsteiner
Frankiny
Gilanipoor
Lemus Davila
Shalunov
Novikov
Chernetskiy
Menten
Brown
Dees
Novak
Baltazar
Castroviejo
Herrada
Walsleben
Aasvold
Belgasem
Vosekalns
Cataldo
Manulang
Turek
There are some very talented guys in this group. Vosekalns, Gilanipoor and Novikov are possibly the best climbers. Closest in the GC are Chernetskiy at around a minute and a half behind yellow, as well as Dees and Brown at just over two - the latter of course also still in the polkadots.
Two kilometers from the summit, Lemus Davila makes the first move. Baltazar tries to bring him back and the first riders are struggling at the back! We’ll take stock after the climb.
The Mexican could not hold on to his small gap, instead it’s Manulang who scores 16 points and ties Brown, who could not keep up.
In fact, just 12 riders crossed the summit together as the group blew up in the final kilometer there.
7 of the dropped riders would make it back, only Turek and Menten fell back for good. The peloton took it slow and made it over the summit in one piece, and even Vanderpool is still ahead of them as they trail the first group on the road by more than six minutes.
The buildup to the second mountain sprint was calmer, but as soon as Cataldo attacks, the group splits again.
At the last second, Lemus Davila passes him to collect the full 10 points.
Manulang snatched up two points there to take the provisional lead in the KoM classification, but there are still a lot of points up for grabs, of course.
At this second climb, we have the first casualties in the peloton. Vlatos and Frison are currently last on the road, just behind a group with Nelson. These are going to be tough 90 kilometers for them and for many others that have dropped as well.
We’re halfway up the 10 kilometers to the Ballon d’Alsace and the breakaway gets thinner. Walsleben is the first to drop, and he is shortly followed by Brown, whose performance is a bit disappointing here.
They are swiftly picked up by the peloton, which is getting smaller and smaller as Gazelle with Kangert and Bennelong with Bayly are setting a high pace. A few surprising victims include Dekker and Hacecky, among others.
Castroviejo, Belgasem and Pernsteiner were the next that had been dropped from the breakaway group, and then Herrada attacks and really splits the group!
He overexerts a little and only gets fourth across the summit, but still takes the lead in the KoM classification. Only three riders could follow him: Aasvold, Frankiny and Vosekalns. All three are close behind Herrada in mountain points.
In the following descent and flat, the group would get back together and 14 riders make their way towards the Col des Chevrères together, around two and a half minutes ahead of the peloton consisting of 56 riders.
In a stunning development, Schleck gets a punture close to the bottom of the descent! Wirtgen and Goos drop back immediately, but it takes a while for the Luxembourgian to get a new wheel!
We’re in the steepest slopes of the day with inclines up to 15%! Frankiny tries to split the breakaway with an attack, Vosekalns and Novikov are immediately with him.
Meanwhile, Schleck makes his way back towards the peloton, through many dropping riders. But he’s still not quite there yet, just over two kilometers to go on this climb!
Novikov leads Vosekalns - who takes the lead in the mountain classification - over the summit, a few seconds ahead of Frankiny and Aasvold. The rest of the break seems cooked, but the leaders still have more than two minutes on the peloton …
… where it’s Kangert setting the pace again. More and more riders are dropping back, among them Indosat leader Brenes, U25 hopeful Carthy and actual U25 leader Ndayisenga. Lopez might get his jersey back after just one day, he’s still with the other favorites, while Schleck still barely isn’t, as you can see just down the serpentines.
As soon as the leaders hit the final 7 kilometers up La Planche des Belles Filles, Frankiny attacks once again. Aasvold immediately can’t keep up. The other three still hold a lead of 2’30 over the peloton. A few of the other escapees are still scattered in between.
Even with the help of a few other dropped riders, Schleck does not manage to catch up before the final climb. We’ll see how it goes, but this could be a massive blow to his overall chances already! The group ahead of him contains only 28 riders, but all the main contenders are in there, of course.
Looking at that group, Madrazo and Phinney each still have three riders with them, Dombrowski two and Morton one. Other than that, all leaders fend for themselves - depending on how the T-Mobile duo of Henao Montoya and Guldhammer plays this.
Novikov and Vosekalns have left Frankiny behind, but with just under 5 kilometers to go, their advance is dwindling as the favorites are coming closer and closer.
The first attack of a contender comes from Alarcon!
He quickly creates a small gap and rides past Vosekalns and Aasvold, chasing the last escapee standing, Novikov. 3 kilometers to go!
But even before he can get to him, it’s already over for the Venezuelan. Morton brings him back and immediately accelerates himself! Dombrowski is the closest rival.
The first contenders to fall behind are Velits, Machado, Lopez, Galta, Arndt and Guldhammer. But Sicard in his yellow jersey is towards the back of the group as well!
Novikov is caught in a heartbreak, with just over a kilometer to go. Morton sprints past him, Dombrowski not far behind. Next is a group of four that includes Phinney, Madrazo, Alarcon and Denifl.
Sicard tries to save his jersey and goes after them, followed by Lecuisinier, Monsalve, Wellens, Henao Montoya and Barguil.
Sicard catches the quartet within the final kilometer, but the leading duo still has a solid gap!
Morton takes a decisive lead on the final ramp, looking very strong, Dombrowski not so much! Sicard and Alarcon are also slowing down.
And Morton takes it! What a performance by the Australian, underscoring his ambitions at this race! It won’t be enough for yellow, but it’s a strong statement! A four men sprint develops behind him …
… with Madrazo as an easy winner ahead of Phinney and Denifl, crossing the line 11 seconds behind Morton. Dombrowski loses some steam in the finale and finishes fifth, but within the same time.
Sicard and Alarcon also faded and lost some valuable seconds - the French has to give up yellow again after just one day, with Phinney taking over!
Lecuisinier finishes eigth, 1’05 behind Morton, but a few seconds ahead of Henao Montoya, Monsalve and Barguil, who finishes alongside Novikov.
Galta, Wellens and Lopez are the next favorites to finish, then Arndt and Brambilla. Vosekalns and Aasvold save their places in the Top 20.
A grueling five and a half minutes after Morton, a crestfallen Schleck crosses the line. What a horrific stage for him, such bad luck!
No rider missed the time limit today, as Vlatos manages to limit his loss to just under an hour. He’s our new red lantern, taking that title away from Podium Ambition, Vanderpool’s tactic of attacking early worked out well.
After an exciting stage, Phinney is the new overall leader, but both Madrazo and Sicard are within 20 seconds and Morton and Dombrowski are also under a minute down. Those five now constitute the core favorites for the podium places.
Vosekalns is the new man in the polkadots, while Lopez returns to the podium in the white jersey, now with a very comfortable lead of more than two minutes - a great stage for Evonik. Demare still leads the points classification by a decent margin, but the climbers are making their way up that ranking. Lastly, Grieg leads Gazelle by a single second in the teams classification.
Tour de France 
