Good morning everyone, and welcome to stage number three of the 2019 Bayern Rundfahrt! Today will see the sole chance for the climbers to show their talent in the mountains, before concluding the tour with another time trial tomorrow.
For some it will be a question of limiting the damage; for others, it's the possibility to gain a lot of places. And there's always a stage win - and the KoM jersey - at stake, of course!
We'll once again start in Freilassing, and then head southwards. After a first tough but uncategorized hill, the riders will reach the first intermediary sprint in Berchtesgaden after 54.4km - having done almost a third of the stage already.
Soon after, we will have the first category one climb of the race - the only other being at the finish line - up in Hochschwarzeck. 16 points are on offer for the winner, after 74.9km.
Directly after the descent, the riders will cross the line of the second intermediary sprint in Bad Reichenhall, having already passed the half-way mark (96.6km done, 71.6km to go).
We then have a category 2 climb in Scharam, Siegsdorf, meaning another 10 KoM points for the first rider up there. About 40 kilometers to go from this point.
After the last intermediary Sprint in Marquartstein, there are just 25 kilometers to go, containing the final climb. But first, a smaller hill to heat up the legs, and then the "real" climb, just 5.7km long, up to the finish line at Winklmoos-Alm. Although it's just 1,200m high, you can ski there in winter - but well, that's not what we're here for.
Instead, this climb will surely separate the climbers from the pure ITT specialists - the question is just if it's long and steep enough to create large differences. It will surely depend on the riders' aggressivity, so let's hope they won't disappoint us!
The top favorite is obviously Tenorio, but the bookies see good chances for Shikai and Reis, too. Eastman, Choi and Roglic get two stars, while Abal, Schelling, Carapaz and Ratiy complete the Top 10. The most important names to watch are the first five, though, as they're all in contention for the GC.
We're almost sure to see the yellow and white jerseys change shoulders today, as neither Kittel nor Rekita are good climbers. And there are good chances for one of those climbers who did well in the ITT to take over the points jersey from Kittel as well. Gaudu will have to fight hard to defend the polka dotted jersey, as there's a total of 42 KoM points on offer - he has got 20 so far.
But well, let's stop talking now and let the riders ride!
And we arrive just in time; as soon as the race director officially starts the stage, KoM leader Gaudu makes a clear statement about his intentions to hold on to his jersey! He is followed by Carapaz, one of the stage favorites, and U25 leader Rekita, who's fully determined to fight for his jersey, too.
Padun may be far away from winning the youth standings, he's nevertheless trying to have a shot at the stage win from a breakaway.
Of course, the Ukranian isn't the last to attack, as we see Kämna and Finnish champion Lehtinen trying to break free, too.
The first wave of attacks still isn't over, as we have Cherkasov and Bartl accelerating, too.
Amateur team Kofola - maybe inspired by VIP's win yesterday - seem to be full of confidence, chasing these attackers. What could be their plan? They do have a decent climber in Khripta, but he's definitely not among the stage favorites.
Meanwhile, two groups have formed up front: Gaudu, Padun, Carapaz, Rekita and Kämna are leading, whereas Bartl, Lehtinen and Cherkasov are struggling to close the gap, trailing by 33".
The peloton is 43" further behind on top of that first small hill.
Kofola have climbed up this hill really fast, so there's even a gap to the rest of the peloton right now. Only Giogieri and Pomoshnikov are with the Kofola train.
This gap was obviously quickly closed by the pack. Nonetheless, the horrendous speed leads to the chasing trio of Bartl, Lehtinen and Cherkasov being caugth soon after.
The breakaway is still just 1'19" ahead.
Now we get the long awaited attack, and it's indeed Khripta who tries his luck. He's followed by Pomoshnikov - what a duo that would make for ENI - MOL if he could join Carapaz up front!
The pace in the peloton drops instantly, and it's Razumov leading the pack. Rumors are that having to work hard today is a punishment for yesterday's stupid behavior, when he chased after his own teammate...
The leaders are now in the tough uncategorized climb we talked about in the preview, and Kämna struggles a lot to keep up with his companions. His hope may be on Pomoshnikov and Khripta approaching fast, who may help him to find the way back to the front once this climb is over.
And indeed, once the escapees are done with this hill, the pursuers join the leaders and we now have a 7-rider breakaway of the day.
Carapaz is the best climber in this group, and with Pomoshnikov being the second-best, this really is a great situation for ENI - MOL!
Padun shouldn't be ruled out, though, as he's not far away and will certainly fancy his chances as well - if the group makes it, of course! Khripta then is the last one I'd label as "decent climber", but a tad weaker than the three aforementioned.
Gaudu's main goal will surely be to collect enough points to secure his KoM jersey, whereas I don't really have a clue what Kämna is doing in this group - but of course, it's his home race, so he surely wants to make a good impression.
Rekita definitely won't be able to hang on on the steeper slopes, but I guess he's just trying to not fall back too far in the U25 standings. He's the best classified rider (17th, + 1'35"), but Carapaz (67th, + 4'04") should have the biggest chances to make an important jump forward in the GC.
The peloton, now led by Philipsen, is already 3'45" behind. We can see Dillier, Vanderaerden, Verona, Razumov, Vaquera and Cheung taking turns as well.
There's no fight for the points at the first intermediary sprint, with Kämna collecting the maximum.
1. Kämna - 6
2. Rekita - 4
3. Khripta - 2
+ 3'35" for the bunch, led across the line by Dillier.
Now we've reached of the first category 1 climb (the second one being the final climb), whereof you can see the data in the image. It's not a very long nor a very steep one, but the second half of it may already give us a hint who's got the legs today and who hasn't.
Padun does seem to feel good, as he attacks with 1.8km to the top, but Gaudu is very attentive, staying in the Ukranian's wheel. Even if he just takes 2nd, that could be a huge step towards securing his jersey!
The others don't seem to be interested in the KoM points, or they just aren't explosive enough to keep up with this attack.
But the way up was too long for Padun, who fades with several 100 meters to go. Gaudu easily takes maximum points, getting him into a great position:
Gaudu now has a total of 36 points, with 4 riders totalling 12 ( Padun, Reckweg, Nonaka, Bagioli). Khripta with 10 points is the last one to have theoretical chances to win the jersey, given that there are just 26 more points on offer.
The breakaway group has quite much fallen apart on this climb, with surprisingly the two best climbers trailing by more than a minute now!
The peloton reaches the top 4'41" later, with all riders still in the pack.
While we again have a group of 5 ahead, Rekita and Carapaz are still trailing by a minute. Carapaz is doing nothing at all, while Pomoshnikov is taking turns ahead - maybe they could've done this the other way round... But to be fair, he worked a lot before, while Pomoshnikov was just sitting in the others' wheels.
No fight for the points at the second intermediary sprint, either, where Khripta just happens to cross the line first.
1. Khripta - 6
2. Kämna - 4
3. Pomoshnikov - 2
Rekita is struggling to close the gap, as he has to work all alone. Quite the contrary, the deficit has increased to 1'20", with an upward trend.
The pack is 3'34" back, about 70 kilometers to go.
Rekita and Carapaz are somewhere in no man's land - 3 minutes behind the leaders, 1'30" ahead of the peloton. I guess Carapaz is trying to save some energy for the final climb, else his behavior really doesn't make sense.
And they're reeled in with 55km remaining. While Rekita instantly disappears in the pack, Carapaz takes a position among the first 10-15 riders, so maybe he'll just have to help Choi now.
The breakaway still has a 4 minutes lead - but with the last 15km or so mainly leading upwards, that may not be enough.
Here we are at the foot of the 2nd category climb, where Gaudu will probably seal his KoM jersey, given that he'll get at least two points on top.
No decisive attacks this time, all 5 reach the top together. It's Pomoshnikov taking maximum points this time:
Gaudu therefore reaches a total of 38 points, and with Padun as the closest competitor totalling 18, that makes a difference of 20 with 16 still at stake - Gaudu is the winner of this year's polka dot jersey!
The pack, now led by Duarte, is 4'16" back. With a bit less than 40 kilometers remaining, it's still hard to say if the breakaway will have a real chance or not.
Third intermediary sprint of the day, and still no fight for the points. Khripta takes the maximum again.
1. Khripta - 6
2. Padun - 4
3. Gaudu - 2
The peloton trails by 3'23", with just 24km to go - most of them upwards, though.
The final climb is kind of split into two parts, and as soon as we reach the first hill, Khripta and Padun try to leave the others behind!
The bunch is still 3 minutes away, and with just 15km to go, they could have a real chance now!
Pomoshnikov made the jump still while climbing, and Kämna and Gaudu get back to the front on the descent between the two climbs.
The peloton has lost some seconds, trailing by 3'15" now. With just the final climb - and about 7 kilometers - to go, they'll have to hurry up if they want to have a chance now!
Many riders have now lost contact, but there are mainly the expected ones: TTers and sprinters. The yellow jersey is still well positioned in the peloton, though - unlike Rekita, as expected. He'll definitely lose the white jersey today - but to whom?
Hiratsuka is the only good climber spotted behind the pack, but Reis still has Duarte, Figueiredo and Barbio by his side.
With just the final climb awaiting us, let's have a look at the technical data. Again, it's neither long nor particularly steep, but the first kilometer with the steepest slopes provides a good option to attack. It's mainly the first half of the climb that must be used to make significant differences, with the upper parts being flatter. Let's see how this works out.
The breakaway now reaches this categorized part of the climb, and we can see the steep incline up to the 5km arc. How will this unfold?
With the peloton still being 2'50" back, and the climb not being very hard, these 5 men now really have a great chance of suceeding today!
It's Pomoshnikov - the best climber in the group - who launches the first attack just under the 5km road sign! Kämna tries to reply - can the home air give him enough supplementary energy to follow the Russian?
The peloton's gap is down to just over 2 minutes as they reach the steepest ramps. Duarte is leading them, and most climbers still have multiple domestiques left. Even Kittel is holding on without too much troubles until now - if they want to get rid of him, they really have to up the pace now!
We can see Ratiy, Garby, Nibali, Krasnoperov, Carapaz, Giogieri and U25 top favorite Borisavljevic quite far back - can they make their way to the front fast enough now?
Pomoshnikov's move really did some damage, and it seems to leave the others behind rather clueless. No-one seems to be able to lead the chase, so this attack could already have been decisive!
The Russian is leading by 32", with the peloton still 2 minutes behind his former companions.
The peloton has left the steepest slopes behind - and no-one seems to be interested in attacking. The speed really can't be high, given that Tewelde (58 Mo) is still in the first 10 positions... At least, the time trial specialists won't be complaining.
Wow, what a ride by Pomoshnikov! He still seems to have plenty of gas left in his tank, extending his lead meter by meter! The gap to the chasing quartet is already 1'36" now with 3 kilometers to go - the "easier" section.
The pack doesn't get closer, either - no surprise given the images we've just seen.
One kilometer later, the gap has gone up to 2 minutes - even a flat tire probably wouldn't stop Pomoshnikov anymore!
Now, we finally get something like an attack from the peloton! Surprisingly, it's none of the big climbers, but Izagirre who tries to get clear! Given the slow pace until now, could this stage finally even be a huge chance for the puncheurs?
Nazaret immediately reacts, though, with his leader Tenorio not far behind. Figueiredo and Roglic are there, and as well Shirota and Iino. A lot of helpers still present up front, their leaders waiting in the second row.
Pomoshnikov is under the red kite now, and with his huge advantage, he should even be able to enjoy these last 1,000 meters.
The other escapees however don't seem to be safe yet, as the peloton now quickly approaches after Izagirre's acceleration, and they're clearly in sight now!
2 kilometers to go for the breakaway, 1'27" to the pack.
Izagirre is still pushing hard - hopefully he's got enough energy left for the final 1,500 meters! The breakaway is just some meters ahead now, so 2nd place again seems to be possible for the pack!
We can as well see Roglic and Tenorio closing in on Izagirre, with Reis and Shikai not far behind. Abal, Nepomnyachsniy, Schelling and Choi are around as well.
And that's a huge win for Sergei Pomoshnikov! After his awesome ride, he seems to have absolutely nothing left - not even enough to raise his arms. Nonetheless, that was a great show by the Russian!
But who will get the remaining podium spots? Tenorio has now passed Izagirre and launches his possibly tour winning move!
While the remaining breakaway riders are still a few meters ahead, they really have to hurry up now if they want to secure a good place!
Led by Tenorio, the situation in the pack is as follows:
Tenorio
Izagirre
Roglic
Shikai
Choi
Nonaka
Abal
Pozzo
Reis
Matte
Eastman
Nepomnyachsniy
Schelling
Warbasse
Barbio
Nazaret
Duarte
Rolland
Giogieri
Brockhoff
Brozyna
C. Jones
Garby
Domagalski
Now there's a reaction from the breakaway group, as Padun tries to secure at least 2nd place! While Gaudu and Khripta try to follow, Kämna has already been overrun by a flying Tenorio!
There are no other attacks from the peloton right now, everyone seems to have accepted Tenorio's supremacy - but hey, there are still other great results at stake!
The final burst of energy was enough for Mark Padun to secure the 2nd place of the stage, 2'20" behind Pomoshnikov. Once again - what a fantastic ride by today's winner - but a great one by youngster Padun, too!
Justo Tenorio easily takes 3rd, 2'34" back, but gaining some valuable bonus seconds - and with a gap to all other GC competitors!
Behind, we now see other riders attacking on the last 1,000 meters - maybe even fighting for 4th?
Shikai has now passed Kämna, and he's chased by Abal, Reis, Eastman, Nepomnyachsniy, Barbio, Roglic and Choi. Izagirre's paying for his previous effort, losing more and more ground.
Andriy Khripta and David Gaudu finally keep a small gap and take 4th and 5th. While the race is surely a success story for the latter, winning the KoM jersey, the former's teammates would surely have hoped for more, given their huge amount of work in the first hour of racing.
Chen Shikai then leads home the group of main contenders, unfortunately for him not getting a time gap. 6th place for him.
Rafael Reis outsprints Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy for 8th. A great result especially for the latter, as he's definitely not among the best climbers, and now has a great chance for a really good GC result!
Ryan Eastman sprints to 9th, while the judges decide to give the 10th place to David Abal. To me, it rather looked like Antonio Barbio had the edge over the Spaniard, but it's still a great result for him, being definitely the weakest climber in this group!
Ki Ho Choi, Primoz Roglic and BotD member Lennard Kämna are the remaining riders in this group.
Let's take a look at today's Top 20:
1.
Sergei Pomoshnikov
4h33'23"
2.
Mark Padun
+ 2'20"
3.
Justo Tenorio
+ 2'34"
4.
Andriy Khripta
+ 2'43"
5.
David Gaudu
s.t.
6.
Chen Shikai
+ 2'51"
7.
Rafael Reis
s.t.
8.
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
s.t.
9.
Ryan Eastman
s.t.
10.
David Abal
s.t.
11.
Antonio Barbio
s.t.
12.
Ki Ho Choi
s.t.
13.
Primoz Roglic
s.t.
14.
Lennard Kämna
s.t.
15.
Ion Izagirre
+ 3'16"
16.
Mattia Pozzo
s.t.
17.
Lawrence Warbasse
+ 3'25"
18.
Karol Andrzej Domagalski
s.t.
19.
Marc Christian Garby
s.t.
20.
Charles Matte
+ 3'37"
Yellow jersey Marcel Kittel is well accompanied by multiple teammates, but finally loses 7'26", making him drop to 34th - which was to be expected. With just a bit more than 1 minute to the Top 20, a decent GC result is still possible, though.
But before going into details about the GC, let's celebrate stage winner Sergei Pomoshnikov! He was by far the strongest on that last ascent and finally gets a well deserved win!
A lot of pressure was on him before the race, as he was the huge favorite - and he handled that like a champion and took the yellow jersey today: Justo Tenorio!
With today's bonus seconds for 3rd place, and the gap he got to the other GC contenders, he now has a 33" lead over Eastman. The fight for the podium will be really tense, though, as Shikai and Nepomnyachsniy are just 3 and 4 seconds behind the American, and all have really similar TT capabilities!
A bit further behind is Izagirre, who paid for his fighting spirit today. He's just half a minute behind the podium, though - and who knows what can happen on a really great day! But all riders in the current Top 10 are very capable TTers, so there could be a lot of movement - or no movement at all. Let's see tomorrow!
The points jersey is on Tenorio's shoulders as well, but with Kittel being just 5 points down, he should have his chances as well!
As we already mentioned, David Gaudu has secured the KoM jersey today. He wins the standings with 44 points, ahead of Pomoshnikov with 32 and Padun with 30. Congratulations!
As expected, Rekita lost his white jersey today - to Milos Borisavljevic, who takes it over despite a rather anonymous ride, finishing 26th today. He has a 1'49" lead over his surprising teammate Conci, and 2 minutes flat on Kämna. Rekita lost more than 10 minutes and has dropped to 32nd.
And last but not least, we have a leader change in the team standings. ENI - MOL really rocked today's stage, with a dominant win and 4 riders in the Top 20. They have a 1'51" lead over Rakuten, which should really be enough given their TT strength!
That's all from a mountain stage that contained much less action than we all hoped for, but still saw some interesting results and a dominant stage win by Pomoshnikov. See you all tomorrow for the decisive final stage!
Bayern Rundfahrt 
