After another stage with no gaps yesterday, it's time for the stage which will put some time between the riders and will be one of the decisive stages here in Japan. It's an 11.8km ride straight up Mount Fuji which will really challenge the riders and very much favour the climbers.
Unsurprisingly, it's all of the top Climbers listed as the stage favourites. The real question is whether Quintana can live up to his favourite tag.
Andy Schleck may not be quite the rider he used to be but he passed 5 riders on the way up and sets a time of 44'30 which is no less than 5 minutes faster than the rider currently in 2nd.
Pantano Gomez puts in a strong time but is still + 15" to Schleck.
Amezawa is + 44" for provisional 3rd on the day.
Carthy is expected to do well here and he does just that! The Brit sets a new best time of 43'25 which is more than a minute faster than Schleck.
Manfredi puts in a respectable time too as he is + 1'01 which puts him 2nd.
Bonnin will be fairly happy too as he is + 1'12 for 5th.
Alarcon is one of the big favourites today but he is only good enough for 2nd so far as he is + 39" on Carthy. His time looking even better as we go on.
Quintana powers past 6 riders on his way up and he does live up to expectation! It's a time of 42'37 for the Colombian which is 48 seconds quicker than Carthy.
Warchol is a very capable climber and it's 4th for him at + 1'33.
Padun is strong but not strong enough today as he is + 1'13 which is good enough for 3rd as it stands.
Another Colombian, on the younger side though, is Bernal but he can only manage 8th at + 1'52.
Shikai is a man on a mission here as he even catches Dunbar in front of him. However, in the end he's 3rd on the stage 1'10 behind Quintana.
Kennaugh with a very strong ride today! He is provisional 5th at + 1'18.
Brandle is a strong TT rider but not quite as strong on the climbs. It's 13th on the stage for him. He is the last of the climbers today.
To recap, Quintana does win this tough ride up Mt Fuji and in style as the was the only rider to go sub 43 minutes. Carthy was then a comfortable 2nd. Shikai came 3rd but the gaps become smaller to Padun in 4th and the surprise of the day being Kennaugh in 5th.
For the GC, this means Quintana goes into the final 2 stages with a 54 second lead over Shikai. Kennaugh in then in the final podium spot ahead of his team mate Carthy. Padun and other pre-race favourites populate the rest of the Top 10 other than Brandle in 7th.
Tour of Japan - Stage 4 Report 
