Lutsenko's win yesterday pushed him up to 2nd in the GC, just a second behind Izagirre who held on to his advantage from Stage 1. Choi is now 3rd, ahead of two Dunbar and Hart. All three of them are not the strongest punchers and will need to pull out all the stops to defend their position. Some interesting names remain in the Top 10, 15 and beyond, a fallout of the advantage the Time Trial provided them and the fact that yesterday's stage wasn't overly difficult.
Today is another opportunity for the punchers to move up. Will Lutsenko strike again to prove that he's the best puncher in the field or will someone else stake their claim on the Stage and GC? And will Izagirre muster enough strength to hang on to his lead once again and secure the GC?
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
Just three riders get away in the early going - Prevar (1'59" ), Kung (1'21" ) and Portela (3'31" ). Prevar is among the Top 10 favourites for the stage win, so this could become interesting.
Prevar wins the first intermediate sprint ahead of Kung and Portela.
Nine more rider felt that joining the breakaway would not be a bad idea on a stage like this. Perhaps they remember the break winning this stage in last year's edition of this race. They join up with the leading trio soon after. The new joinees are:
Portela and Pszczolarski do not continue in the break for too long. They're dropped just a few kilometers later, making it ten riders at the front of the race.
Prevar wins the first KOM sprint ahead of Gunman, Hirschlein, Habtemichael and Kung.
The break split up on the climb. Pszczolarski has been caught by the peloton already.
The break comes back together, except Nareklishvili who's been dropped for good. Portela has also been caught by the peloton now.
120 kilometers to go for the peloton. No team has really taken charge yet, although they are stretched out a bit. Their deficit is 4'3".
Prevar wins the second KOM sprint as well. He is now the virtual KOM leader. Omarsson is 2nd, Gunman 3rd, Habtemichael is 4th with Kung in 5th.
Prevar extends his lead in the KOM standings by winning the third sprint as well. Habtemichael and Hirschlein pick up the rest of the points. Their lead is down to 3'33". Kung has been the virtual GC leader for quite some time now.
Krizek wins the second intermediate sprint ahead of Prevar and Hirschlein.
The peloton has sped up considerably now. They have 70 kilometers left to ride. Sirironnachai, Kangert and Hofland are doing the work at the front for the moment. There's a big Evonik presence at the front, but they're not really helping at the moment. 129 riders remain in the pack including all the favourites. They trail by 2'53".
Omarsson wins the fourth KOM sprint ahead of Kung and Gunman.
Prevar and the above three riders get a gap to the other breakaway riders on the climb. Krizek is further back.
Krizek manages to close the gap a few kilometers later.
With 40 kilometers to ride, The front group of four have a 1'44" gap to the next group and a 3'16" lead over the peloton.
The five man dropped group is caught by the peloton 7 kilometers later.
Gunman is the only one who makes a dash for the fifth KOM sprint. Omarsson is 2nd, Kung is 3rd and Prevar is 4th. Lopez takes 5th from the pack. This moves Omarsson to joint top of the KOM standings with Prevar. Kung is up to 3rd.
Behind, the climb has broken the peloton into pieces!
A look at the dropped riders and their deficit to the peloton is given below:
A1 and A2 come together after the KOM. Turgis is falling further back!
McCarthy is the next to go backwards even more. Turgis has ended up in Boswell's group. 18 kilometers to go.
Waeytens is the first to get dropped from the lead group.
10 km left. The peloton extend the misery of the breakaway, keeping them on a short leash of 28 seconds but not catching them yet.
Waeytens is at 1'12". Meurisse, Goh, Dyball and Rosskopf are at 1'38". De Plus, Rodriguez Galindo, Dunbar and Brandle are at 3'21". McCarthy, Boswell, Turgis, Betancourt, Paulinho, Siskevicius, Furdi and Konrad are at 4'35". Gautier is at 5'42".
The same gap remains for the breakaway with 5 km to go. Waeytens has been caught by the Meurisse group in the meantime.
The break is finally caught with 3.5 km left. Choi leads with Izagirre on his wheel followed by Bettiol. The riders are on gravel roads for the conclusion of this race.
Prevar, Geogeghan Hart, Chiarello, Omarsson, Kung and Kangert are dropped.
Beltran accelerates a kilometer later. Gidich and Lutsenko follow closely.
Bobridge, Bettiol, Borges and Gerts cannot keep up any longer. 1500 meters to the finish.
Izagirre takes the lead under the Red Kite. Lutsenko is next, followed by Lopez. Beltran looks to be tiring. Choi and Sagan are on the left.
Lopez and Sagan move up with 700 meters to go. Bakelants is on Sagan's tail. Bobridge is trying to get back to the lead group from behind.
GC leader Izagirre looks to be tiring. Lopez and Sagan are contesting for the lead now. Lutsenko is in 3rd and Bakelants is up to 4th.. 400 meters remain.
Lopez makes his move with 200 meters left to ride. Lutsenko looks to be tiring now. Teammate Gidich is making up ground. So is Chaves. Bobridge has moved past Beltran.
A look back shows us Bettiol, Gerts and Borges in the next group. They trail by 1'30".
Behind them, visible in the picture above is the group of Prevar, Kangert, Chiarello, Geoghegan Hart, Omarsson and Kung. Gunman is following a few seconds later. Then comes the group of Meurisse, Goh, Rosskopf, Dyball and Hirschlein.
Lopez has a gap at the front. Sagan is next on the road. Yates, Bakelants, Gidich and Lutsenko are in the next row.
Lopez wins with clear daylight! We have to wait to see if gaps are given and how far this takes him up the GC.
Sagan takes 2nd, a step up from yesterday's 3rd place. This should move him up the standings too.
Yates takes the final podium spot ahead of Bakelants, Gidich and Lutsenko. The latter could not repeat yesterday's heroics but this is still a good result. His teammate looks to have made massive gains in the U25 competition though.
Choi finishes 7th, ahead of Yellow Jersey Izagirre. Will he get to take the jersey home is the question! Karnulin is 9th.
Chaves edges out a recovering Bobridge and a fading Beltran for 10th.
400 meters to go for the next group where Bettiol is leading them to the line.
Bettiol brings out a fast finish to claim 13th.
Gerts and Borges make up the Top 15.
Chiarello is 16th with Kangert next.
Dyball is 18th.
Geoghegan Hart is 19th, ahead of Meurisse and Kung.
Omarsson is 22nd. Prevar is next. The breakaway has been relatively fruitful today.
Rosskopf is 24th.
Hirschlein is 25th, ahead of Gunman.
Today's winner - Miguel Angel Lopez.
Some of the losers in the GC today include Brandle, Waeytens (both 5'34" ), Rodriguez Galindo (5'54" ), Konrad, Betancourt, Guerreiro, Dunbar, Boswell, Siskevicius, Turgis (all 6'31" ), Paulinho, Nepomnyachsniy (both 8'12" ), McCarthy, Gautier (both 8'41" ).
Lopez's win takes him to the top of the GC and he claims another win in this superb season. Izagirre loses the jersey after holding it for two days and ends 2nd. Lutsenko is 3rd, meaning the three stage winners finish on the podium in the GC. Choi and Yates, not the most obvious names for a race like this, complete the Top 5.
Izagirre wins the Points classification after finishing consistently on all stages. Lopez and Sagan are on the podium.
Prevar and Gunman tie for the KOM win, ahead of Omarsson, making today's breakaway particularly successful in this regard, and also in the GC, to some extent.
Gidich romps home to the U25 win, with Hart in 2nd. Dunbar loses a lot of time today and ends 3rd.
King Power also win the Team classification ahead of Gazelle and Farfetch.
