Today will be the decisive stage in the race, as tomorrow is completely flat. For some riders it might look familiar, that is because it is the exact same route as the second stage of the Scandinavian Open Road Race. McCarthy finished second then, and is one of the favorites for the stage win. If the previous race is any indication, it will end in a reduced sprint between the puncheurs. Another battle of interest will be Wisniowski versus Bewley. Hills are neither's specialty, so it will be interesting to see how they handle. Summerhill is third but has Boom and Oliveira not far behind him. A lot of points available for the mountain classification today, which Summerhill cannot defend from the inevitable break.
The full breakaway would consist of twelve riders: Sagiv Kortsidakis Sulimov Schreurs Riesebeek Katrasnik Nooytens Oelerich Puccio Delgerbayar Vanendert Paprstka
Evonik up to something with four riders in the break. Riesebeek is 21st in the GC at fourteen minutes.
Sulimov wins the category two climb, netting him ten points. Riesebeek, Kortsidakis, Sagiv and Oelerich take the remaining points. The Russian is now up to 13 points, factoring in the three he scored yesterday. For reference, Summerhill has 29.
Evonik obviously setting the pace in the break, Oelerich wins the intermediate sprint ahead of Riesebeek. The lead of the breakaway has a maximum of 3'30 in the early stages. Kamyshev punctured but returned to the peloton.
A long line of riders wishing to help in the chase. We see riders from ISA, Grieg, Indosat, Generali, and Aegon. The gap to the breakaway is kept between three and four minutes, nothing more and nothing less.
Oelerich and Riesebeek teaming up at a category three climb, the Dutchman winning. Sulimov takes the remaining two points. Sulimov now has 15 points, but Riesebeek has 14 and Oelerich has 10.
Sulimov and Riesebeek a step above the others, the Russian just wining the sprint for the category two which brings him within four points of Summerhill. Oelerich third, Kortsidakis and Sagiv a distant fourth and fifth. The gap went up to 4 minutes with 110 to go. The remainder of the stage is an exact replica of what we already covered today.
Ghyselinck and De Buyst leading the downhill for Generali quite fast. Wisniowski not in danger amongst the front positions but there is a split behind him. Summerhill, Walsleben and Kruijswijk are behind it, as are Oliveira and Kung, so an odd move from Generali. P10 Theuns is near the front.
Slightly surprising, its Kortsidakis versus Sagiv for the next mountain sprint, the former winning. Riesebeek third, Sulimov fourth, Oelerich fifth. Sulimov is now tied with Summerhill at 29 points, but Riesebeek is at 28 with two more climbs today. The gap is down to 2 minutes due to the mad descent, 60 to go.
The peloton is already picking up Schreurs, Puccio, Nooytens and Delgerbayar. The split on the downhill was overturned, all important players a back. Bewley is at the front but Wisniowski not far behind. A lot of Aegon working for Boom's GC or De Bie's stage, same story for Gazelle with Kruijswijk and Bibby.
The climb reduced the peloton to 70 riders. Cataford (15th) is the biggest name behind, as are Senechal, Ringheim and Trentin from the GC top 20. Bush (25th) is a few groups further down the road.
A group of 20 riders gets back, including Cataford. For the others it will be more difficult, as they are a considerable distance behind. 50 kilometer to go, still two minutes between the peloton and the now six leaders, Katrasnik and Oelerich in between.
Sulimov attacks right before the intermediate sprint, followed by Vanendert, but Riesebeek led the entire group back. Katrasnik and Oelerich have been caught, with the peloton only 1'10 behind. A group with Senechal, Ganna and Hadi a minute behind the peloton, Ringheim/Trentin another minute behind them.
Riesebeek then attacks, but the only effect this has is dropping Paprstka. Grieg, Gazelle and Fablok have brought the peloton at a minute, three kilometer to the next mountain sprint.
Sulimov blows up one kilometer before the top and is immediately caught by the peloton. Riesebeek currently in fourth position, and needs third or better to take the virtual jersey.
The entire break was caught before the line. Benoot attacked to take the six points, with Bibby and De Bie second and third over the line but without attack. Bewley in fifth position with Wisniowski right behind him. Summerhill is a bit further down the group but not in danger of falling off yet.
Benoot decides to continue solo on the downhill. He is 24th in the GC at 15 minutes, fourth in the young rider classification at four minutes. He has seventeen kilometer to go.
Some mad descending by Wirtgen and Kristoff brings at least part of the group back. The group is down to 45 riders, Cataford behind again together with Russo (17th), Polanc (18th) and Van der Poel (22nd, 3rd -25).
Potts, Mas, Trondsen and Vermeltfoort leading the yellow jersey group towards the final climb. Ten kilometer to go, two to the foot of the climb. The puncheurs are moving forward, and Wisniowski, Bewley and Summerhill are all near the back. Group Cataford at a minute and not closing in.
Bibby slightly increases the pace which troubles some riders, but no one worth mentioning. Cataford has gone solo in an attempt to catch up with the lead group again. Six kilometer to the finish, three to the mountain sprint followed by three more slightly uphill kilometers.
Riesebeek's breakaway appearance comes to haunt him, he is dropped and will lose out from 21st GC. He will also not be able to battle for the KoM, but with Sulimov dropped earlier it is all for Summerhill to reclaim, unless Benoot wins, in which case the Belgian can take the jersey.
And Benoot attacks one kilometer from the top, either for the points or the stage. De Bie responds together with the other stage favorites, Gastauer and McCarthy.
Benoot picks up the ten points, ahead of McCarthy, De Bie, Gastauer and Bibby, with the 30 remaining riders following as well. The remaining kilometers are still somewhat uphill but it is not a climb. With no more mountain sprints today, Benoot takes the jersey by three points over Sulimov and Summerhill, and four over Riesebeek.
Two major victims though, Walsleben (6th) and Bolivar (9th). Oliveira (5th), Kruijswijk (7th) and Kung (8th) at the tail end of the group as well.
2.5, to go Benoot still with a small gap but De Bie has almost closed it. Bewley, Wisniowski, Summerhill and Boom together around tenth position.
Pedersen working for Wisniowski, catching Benoot. Gerts positioned behind the Pole followed by Bewley and Boom. It is set to become a sprint of 25 riders, with Bewley, Kristoff and Theuns as best sprinters in the group.
Wisniowski leads the sprint going into the final kilometer. Gerts, Bewley and Summerhill behind. The rest of the groups does not seem interested.
The numbers one and two going head to head for the stage win. Gerts looks solid for P3, Summerhill has been passed by Kruijswijk and is falling back down the order. Kristoff and Theuns too far back.
Sam Bewley wins a hilly stage, something he is not known for. He might get time gap over Wisniowski, but it is by far not enough to claim the yellow jersey.
Wisniowski second, with the gap set at 12 seconds. With eight additional bonus seconds for the New Zealander, the lead in the GC is now 2'37, down from 2'57. With the final stage being flat, Grieg can start a cautious celebration.
A close sprint for third won by De Bie. Oliveira finishes fourth from far down the group, with Bibby fifth and Furdi sixth. Theuns disappointing seventh, Gerts falling down to eighth, Gastauer ninth and Per tenth, defending his white jersey. Further down in the group we find Becis, Barbero, Kruijswijk, Boom, Kireva, Kristoff and McCarthy. The group is given the same time as Wisniowski, losing twelve seconds to Bewley.
Summerhill really blew up in the final kilometer, as he does not finish in this group. He loses an additional half a minute together with Vanmarcke. His margin to Boom in the GC was 43 seconds, so he still has third place but only just. Boom stays fourth, Oliveira fifth.
Kung also got in trouble in the final, finishing at a minute together with Pedersen, Benoot and Lane. The consequence is that teammate Theuns passes him in the GC, but with Walsleben behind him he might stay eighth.
Here is Walsleben, in a group with Bolicar and Polanc. They finish at 1'54, 54 seconds behind Kung, so Walsleben stays ahead of the Swiss in the GC but does lose a place to Kruijswijk. Kruijswijk sixth, Walsleben seventh, Theuns eighth, Kung ninth. For Bolivar, the damage is a bit bigger as he drops out of the top ten. Per takes that top ten place with the same time as Gerts, with Bolivar now twelfth ahead of Vanmarcke, Pedersen and Polanc.
Cataford finishes in the group behind, he played all-or-nothing to get back to the lead pack and got nothing. He drops from 15th to 16th in the GC. Kireva with a strong performance moving up from 26th to 17th, Benoot from 24th to 18th, Kristoff from 28th to 19th, and Russo salvaging twentieth by a second over teammate Feng. De Bie up to 22nd, but did not gain as much as he might have wanted today. Riesebeek's breakaway costs him two places in the end, from 21st to 23rd.
Summerhill is all but mathematically secured of the points jersey, but has conceded the mountains jersey to Benoot today. There are still 24 points up for grabs tomorrow, so anyone down to Sanogo in tenth could theoretically win it, though it will likely come down between Benoot, Sulimov and Riesebeek. Per extended his lead in the youth classification over Pedersen to 1'27, with Benoot now ahead of Van der Poel for third. Generali stays ahead in the teams classification, leading Aegon by 5'31 going into the final stage.
