As dawn arrives in the Balkans more than a few team managers will have suffered sleepless nights fretting over whether letting Zico Waeytens get a 2’22 lead in the break on stage 1 was a stupid idea. But the DS riding in the Lierse team car will be bright and fresh knowing Waeytens has not only survived in one of the toughest climbing stages in the race but thrived, finishing 10th and losing only time bonuses. On top of that the team tactics were spot on in stage 3 and Josef Cerny was a hero.
But there are still 5 stages to go so Lierse can not be too comfortable. Stage 4 also has a lot of climbing, travelling 170 km from Sarajevo to Bileća, about as far south as you can get and still be in Bosnia. But the last big climb, the Cat 1 to Ravna Greda, summits 57 km from the end and it is mostly downhill from there. So maybe a day for the breakaway. But if it is contested here are the stage favorites:
The points and KOM competitions are both very close so those jerseys are definitely in play today. In addition to the Cat 1, there are 2 Cat 4s, a Cat 3 and 2 Cat 2s on the menu for the climbers and also a single sprint point. For the first time all the leaders will be wearing their own jerseys.
Three riders open the attacks as we leave Sarajevo. It is worth noting that we have a 35km wind blowing as we hit open country.
The first attack includes Barrio, Scheit and Brozyna.
Surprisingly given the parcours and all the mountain points on offer we get no further attacks and 10km in those 3 are almost 3’55 up. That wind will be a headwind much of the day so maybe the riders are worried about that.
The riders reach the Cat 4 KOM at Ilovice with 147km to go and while Brozyna led them out, Barrio and Scheit come around him to take the points. None of these riders had scored previously. Scheit is closest on GC, almost 8 minutes back.
As they go over the top the lead is 4’40. They have just under 8km to the base of the Cat 2 climb to Paljika.
The lead spikes up over 6 minutes but then Isostar, Evonik, Bennelong and Air France begin to chase. It has taken 3 stages but Hagen has finally persuaded his teammates to do something.
The leaders reach the base of the climb with 4 minutes on the peloton. The climb is 4.9km at 6.3%. Barrio attacks first and opens up a small gap with just over 1k to the top of the climb.
And he is able to hold it to the top. Brozyna is second and Scheit third.
While we were watching the battle for the KOM Phelan attacked the peloton he crosses in 4th 1’30 ahead of the peloton. But there are still points left so we will see if we get further attacks. But the peloton just rolls across.
The full mountain order is: Barrio 10 (15) Brozyna 8 (9) Scheit 6 (9) Phelan 4 (15) Riesebeek 2 (2)
The current leader has 30 points so these riders have a shot. The peloton slowed on the climb and the lead is back to 6’24 with the front group back together. Phelan is 4’56 behind the leaders. But he was only interested in the mountain points and drifts back to the pack.
But the same 4 teams chase hard on the downhill and when the break rolls through the sprint point, without contesting it. With 100km to go their lead is down to 2’55.
The next climb goes to Vjetrenik, it is a cat 3, 7.5k in length at 5.3%. As the leaders start the climb they have 2’24 on the pack. This time the peloton doesn’t relent and less than 2ks into the climb Vermote has cut the lead to 1’32.
A kiliometer from the top Brozyna attacks the break. The lead over the peloton is down to 49 seconds and a few riders have been dropped from the peloton.
With the KOM line in sight Phelan attacks out of the peloton again.
Up front Scheit and Barrio have overhauled Brozyna.
Barrio gets first again, he is now only 6 points from leading the KOM.
Phelan grabs fourth. The full list is: Barrio 10 (25) Scheit 8 (17) Brozyna 6 (15) Phelan 4 (19) Riesebeek 2 (4)
The lead is 56 seconds as the peloton crosses the KOM. Up ahead Brozyna has a small gap to close to get back to the other two.
With 74km to go the peloton just has the break in sight and the 5k marker for the next climb, a Cat 3 at Planinica. The lead is 1’33 and Brozyna has rejoined his companions. Air France have decided they have done enough for the day and are leaving it to the other 3 teams.
With 2km to the top of the climb and the lead down to 53 seconds Scheit attacks
Scheit takes the KOM, but only just, the peloton is right on top of them and Barrio is caught. He doesn’t take any points and becomes one of many riders just behind the leader, Calmejane.
Points go to: Scheit 6 (23) Brozyna 4 (19) Becis 2 (2)
As we start the biggest climb of the day to Ravna Greda the remaining two breakaway riders have 24 seconds. This climb is by far the hardest on the day 5 km at 9.5% with some very tough sections near the top and the bottom.
On the early slopes with grades over 11% the breakaway is done. We have 62 km to the finish. This is not the race Lierse was hoping for. But with 1km to the summit the yellow jersey remains well placed and no significant riders have been dropped. Becis has set a solid pace for most of the climb.
They roll over the top with 128 riders in the peloton and nobody contests the KOM points, they all go to riders who haven’t scored previously. Becis takes the 16 first place points. There is one cat 4 climb left, most of the rest of the stage is flat or downhill. There are a few gaps in the peloton early in the downhill but they are closed quickly and none of the contenders are distanced.
With 30km left the peloton has grown to 146 riders, the wind is causing some issues but they aren’t going fast enough to do any real damage. There are 2.5km to the last KOM point. This would seem to be a prime stage for Kump but he has been delivering bottles so seems likely that Isostar is focused on Mohoric.
Phelan makes a late move and grabs 3 points at the KOM sprint. The other points go to riders riding tempo.
With 26km to go Barbin attacks, you have to give him credit for courage.
His lead peaks at 18 seconds but he is soon back in the pack. With 10km to go Evonik, Bennelong, Isostar and Air France (generously one of their riders takes a turn every now and again) seem happy enough to set up for a group sprint. Nearly all the recognized sprinters are among the handful of riders off the back so expect to see the puncheurs going for it.
With 2km to go we begin to see some action. On the far left Hagen is on Edet’s wheel. Behind him are Lutsenko and Skujins. To their right Seibeb has Beltran on his wheel with Moazemi behind him. The Yellow Jersey is to his right. The riders to the far right are Lane and Roman.
With 1k to go most are in similar positions but just left of center Stuyven has brought up Schreurs with Van Garderen behind them and on the far right Palini is leading out Kelderman
0.5 km to go, the sprint is on. Palini is sprinting for Phillips, Kelderman is further back. Roman and Kalaba are sprinting for Isostar, Mohoric is in the 3rd row. Kalaba is an excellent sprinter.
0.3 km to go, Kalaba has a clear lead. In the next row, left to right we have Hagen, Moazemi, Stuyven, Roman, Waeytens, Beltran and Palini
0.2 km to go and it looks good for Kalaba, Bobridge has popped up on the far right.
Kalaba can celebrate winning Stage 4 of the Balkans International for Isostar-Limebike. Their work paid off today and they have a stage win in their home tour, although not from the rider they expected.
Beltran 2nd, Hagen 3rd, some bonus seconds for both of them.
In the GC battle the bonus seconds move Beltran into 5th 1’58 behind Waeytens. A few seconds lost in his lead to the first of the big favorites but Lierse will be happy with another stage checked off. Calmejane, Schreurs and Denz, the other survivors from the day 1 break, are still in 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Waeytens 6th place finish was enough to retake the points jersey. Beltran is in second and will wear it tomorrow. No change in the other jerseys.
One reporting note - during the work week will be going back to one stage a day, posted at around this time, so we will wrap by Thursday evening, or early Friday in GMT terms.
Balkans International 
