Izagirre took the lead with a stellar performance yesterday and proudly wears the leader's jersey today. Choi and Brandle are next but there are multiple possible GC contenders within a couple dozen seconds of the leader. Today's stage provides an opportunity to the punchers to either make up some of the gap or to extend their advantage, whatever their situation might be. The profile isn't the toughest, but the final third does have some difficulties which can catch a rider out if they're not careful.
Favourites
MON
HIL
RES
ACC
Sagan
74
83
74
76
Bobridge
69
83
74
80
Lutsenko
73
83
73
81
Bakelants
73
82
75
75
Lopez
79
82
74
78
McCarthy
67
81
75
74
Beltran
79
81
72
76
Izagirre
74
81
72
64
Boswell
71
80
73
76
Borges
70
80
73
81
Paulinho
75
80
72
75
Betancourt
73
80
71
74
Waeytens
71
80
70
73
Prevar
71
80
70
73
Six riders get away early:
Pszczolarski (38" ) Lammertink (20" ) Tennant (29" ) Majoral (32" ) van den Berg (1'17" ) Nareklishvili (1'3" )
Seven more riders tried to join them but after a few kilometers of chasing, they were reeled back in by the peloton.
Majoral makes the move in search of the KOM points but he can't stay at the front till the line. Instead, Pszczolarski wins the first KOM sprint followed by Lammertink and Majoral.
Lammertink wins the first intermediate sprint to move closer to the top of the GC. He posted the fastest time on yesterday's stage among the breakaway riders. van den Berg and Majoral pick up points as well.
Lammertink wins the second KOM as well, moving him to the top of the standings there. Majoral is 2nd with Pszczolarski 3rd.
75 kilometers to go for the peloton where Evonik, Moser and Swisslion are controlling the pace. Polar are there too, mostly protecting Izagirre.
van den Berg wins the second intermediate sprint ahead of Pszczolarski and Tennant.
Tennant wins the third KOM ahead of Lammertink. The top two have a gap to the rest. Majoral picks up points for 3rd.
55 kilometers left. Swisslion, Moser and Evonik have been joined by Popo4Ever, Berg and Indosat at the front. 147 riders remain here. The four dropped riders from the break have already been caught.
Lammertink drops Tennant but the pack are almost upon them both.
The break is caught with 48 km left. That's a relatively early catch.
Ji wins the fourth KOM 'sprint' by virtue of leading the pack. No one really went for it. Nepomnyachsniy and Lutsenko also pick up points.
Gautier is dropped! This doesn't look good for the Valio leader and there's still 39 km to ride.
The gap increases to Gautier with each passing kilometer!
25 km. The peloton has reduced further to 128 riders. Berg and Moser are the ones doing most of the work at the front. Gautier has made it back now.
Fast forward 7 more kilometers and we have splits! The peloton is down to 60 riders.
Betancourt, Turgis, Gautier (again), Gebrezgabihier, Siskevicius and Furdi are among the riders in the next group of 38.
The two groups would make it back together after 2 kilometers.
Once again, no one attacks the final KOM sprint of the day. Rodriguez Galindo takes maximum points, followed by Izagirre and Barthe.
With 10 kilometers to go, it's Moser, Evonik and Polar keeping things under control at the front. 93 riders, including all the favourites, are at the front.
Lutsenko attacks a kilometer later. Furdi chases from the pack with Lopez attentive on his wheel. Guerreiro and Bernas are in the next leading positions.
Lutsenko is caught 2 kilometers later.
The acceleration to catch the King Power leader puts many riders in trouble, including Bobridge, McCarthy, Beltran, Borges, Boswell, Betancourt, Turgis, Waeytens, Gautier, Gerts and Gidich.
The 22 riders remaining in the peloton include Lutsenko, Sagan, Lopez, Yates, Choi, Bakelants, Kangert, Paulinho, Dunbar, Chaves, Izagirre, Prevar, Siskevicius and more.
The front two groups come back together with 5 kilometers remaining.
2 km to go. No further attacks have happened. Guerreiro, Waeytens, Beltran, Izagirre, Choi and Yates are in the leading positions. 93 riders remain in the front group.
Lutsenko moves into the lead again under the Red Kite. Bakelants is on the right, with Lopez in between. Izagirre is on the far right. Beltran and Guerreiro is on the left with Yates on the latter's wheel. Gidich is behind his team leader.
Gidich goes into the lead with Lutsenko fading a little. This climb is steep! It didn't look like that in the profile picture. Chiarello has come past Lopez. Sagan and Squire are making up ground through the middle. Bakelants and Izagirre are still holding their own on the far side. 600 meters remain.
400 meters. We look ahead from Goh...
Lutsenko goes again! Lopez is also on it. Sagan stays in touch in the middle of the road. Bakelants and Izagirre are inseparable on the left. Borges and Beltran are behind Lutsenko. Gidich is still holding on to 2nd.
Lutsenko gets a gap to the next six riders with just 200 meters left to ride. There's a small gap forming after position 7 as well. Sagan, Lopez and Bakelants are battling for 2nd while Izagirre, Beltran and Borges fight it out for 5th. Gidich is tiring.
Lutsenko holding his lead at the front inside the final 100 meters. Bakelants is 2nd. Lopez is coming past Sagan for 3rd.
The top 4 now have a gap. Sagan and Bakelants are closing on Lutsenko with around 50 meters left. Lopez has slowed down a bit.
There's no more race to ride and Lutsenko takes the win. he was the most aggressive all stage and deserves this one!
Bakelants is 2nd ahead of Sagan. Lopez ends up 4th.
Izagirre grabs 5th ahead of Beltran.
Borges is 7th with Boswell in 8th.
Paulinho and Bobridge make up the Top 10, with Yates and Chaves next.
Gidich's slow finish drops him to 13th. Karnulin and Choi come through next.
Geoghegan Hart is 16th and Bettiol is 17th.
Goh is next with Waeytens in 19th.
Dunbar completes the Top 20, edging out Squire, who looked promising for a bit on the final climb.
Today's winner - Alexey Lutsenko.
Lutsenko's win moves him up to 2nd in the GC behind Izagirre, who hangs on to his jersey by a second! Bakelants moves up from 73rd to 14th while Lopez is now 10th in the GC. Choi moves down a spot in the GC to be 3rd after today's stage. Dunbar and Geoghegan Hart complete the Top 5.
Time gaps were awarded after 26th, 39th, 50th, 57th and 93rd places. The big losers on the day are Brandle, Coppel, Dyball, Oliveira, Domagalski and Nepomnyachsniy who fall out of the Top 10.
Izagirre retains the Points jersey as well with Lutsenko up to 2nd and Choi in 3rd.
Lammertink leads the KOM classification with a five-way tie for 2nd behind him.
Dunbar retains the U25 lead ahead of Geoghegan Hart and Gidich.
