Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Prague! After the prologue specialists had some fun - or not - yesterday, it's now up to the sprinters to deliver! We have a mostly flat and only slightly undulating transition stage to Karlovy Vary on the menu - and the dessert for one sprinter could be the yellow jersey!
We have three intermediate sprints out on the road today, after 31km, 48km and 110km - given how small the gaps are in the current GC, let's see if some sprinter teams want to keep everything togeter to fight for those smaller points - and some seconds!
Just like yesterday, we have pretty strong winds today, blowing from South-East to North-West. Knowing that most of the stage leads straight West, crosswinds could be a factor as well! We'll have a short additional circuit once arrived in Karlovy Vary - and especially on the final kilometers the riders will face those crosswinds - let's see if sprint preparation goes smoothly nonetheless!
Today's stage arrives in one of the world's most historic and best-known spa resorts, in Karlovy Vary. Let's take a look at which riders are most likely to celebrate a stage win in one of the whirl pools: Coquard and Ewan top the list, as expected, accompanied by Groenewegen. The bookmakers also see Van der Lijke, Van Poppel and Samolenkov quite high up, with Kemboi, Manninen, Lo Cicero and Cullaigh having outside chances.
Yesterday's surprise winner Schäppi will hope for a win of Van der Lijke or Samolenkov, as these two are the only ones of the favorite list being more than 20 seconds behind him in the GC. But it definitely is a more likely scenario that one of the sprinters will take over yellow tonight - all the more given that for some of them even 3rd place would be sufficient.
But before we jump into the action - live coverage will start with about 70km to go - let's take a look at the first 110km of today's stage:
What happened so far
At the start line in Prague, the skies were already cloudy, but it was still dry. This quickly changed, though, and the riders had to face pouring rain - at least that was true for everyone today.
A first group of 4 was quickly established; after just 5km, we had Dekker, Mansouri, Campbell and Bagioli up front.
However, as Leknessund wanted to draw level with Zwift's double representation, the pack - more precisely ELCO - ABEA, ISA - Hexacta and Aegon - Peroni - said no and shut everything down.
Bagioli and Dekker tried again, and this time only were joined by Pszczolarski. Despite the first intermediate sprint being only 10km away, the pack was happy with that.
Swift and Boutopoulos later on tried to join the leading trio, but were instantly denied. So these three riders are today's breakaway of the day!
None of them are very strong on the flat; especially Bagioli would have preferred to have some more hills. Dekker on paper is the strongest sprinter, but only by a slim margin, so daily form should matter more if the race should go down to the wire between those three!
Pszczolarski is the best time triallist among those three - and while that doesn't matter at all today, remember that he only lost 4" yesterday! With 18" available from intermediate sprints, he's in a good position to actually take over the GC lead - at least he'll probably be the virtual race leader until the breakaway is caught!
However, the Pole was surely hoping for more than 3rd places, which he took on the two first intermediate sprints. Both actually had the same outcome - Dekker winning ahead of Bagioli and Pszczolarski.
While points-wise these results don't really matter, they still mean that Pszczolarski is now ex-aequo with Schäppi in the GC - plus the breakaway's lead on top of that, obviously. Besides the sprinters, we might have another candidate for taking over yellow tonight!
By the time the pack reached the second intermediate sprint, they trailed by 3'12". The gap grew to 3'30", but the escapees didn't get more leeway than this. They're now approaching the third and final sprint point, as we switch over to the live broadcast!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
And here they already are! Dekker makes it 3/3 - but behind him the order is reversed, meaning Pszczolarski picks up four more bonus seconds alongside the points, making him the virtual GC leader by as much even if the break should be caught!
Furthermore, this puts some of the stage favorites outside that ominous 20" margin - but that only matters a) if the escapees are caught and b) if Pszczolarski finishes on the same time as the stage winner!
It's still the teams of Coquard, Ewan and Groenewegen who are fully committed to the chase, with some occasional help of De Stijl Cycling. The gap is down to less than 2 minutes now with 60km left.
By the way, yellow jersey Schäppi is currently carrying bottles - the GC lead apparently doesn't impact the pecking order in Team UBS.
The leaders can already spot the red kite - but they now enter the additional circuit, having 35 more kilometers to ride.
That nasty bump will however be part of the final kilometers, and ends with just 2km to go - let's see if it's tough enough to disrupt some sprint preparations!
The peloton is taking the same turn just a minute later - so they have plenty of time to make the catch!
Dekker has already proven at the intermediate sprints that he's the strongest of the group - and he probably feels like he's faster alone on the final 30km than with his two companions! They're indeed looking spent, but fending off the peloton solo for 30km still looks like a very long shot...
Almost 10km later, Bagioli finally catches up with Dekker - who immediately kicks again! Pszczolarski doesn't look very good now - or is he just saving some energy to make sure he can finish the stage inside the pack?
The peloton is still trailing by 52", having gained only a couple of seconds during the past 10 kilometers. They're still not in a hurry, though, there's plenty of time to reel those escapees in.
And indeed, with 18km left, they first catch Pszczolarski, and little later Bagioli's breakaway adventure is over, too. Dekker, on the other hand, is still holding out, and still has a 30" advantage!
But shortly before the 10km mark, the Dutchman is caught as well. It's not "gruppo compatto", though, as Verona has lost touch - one rider dropped, another one caught, not a good couple of minutes for Zwift.
By the way, the peloton was very stretched out for some kilometers, but now has regrouped due to the pretty strong headwind. They're about to turn, though, and pretty much the rest of the course will be exposed to crosswinds!
10km to go, and both sprinters and GC favorites are getting into position. The same three teams are still setting the pace, which is really high now and will probably discourage any potential late attackers!
5 kilometers to the line, and not much has changed in the meantime. Time trial specialists Schädlich and Sergent are setting the pace - no wonder it's so high and steady!
3km left, and the riders will be facing that short, steep uphill section in about 400 meters! No real sprint trains have shaped up yet - it looks like everyone is waiting to get over that bump first!
Most sprinters (and GC favorites) are well positioned by now, with Appollonio, Van der Lijke and - once again - Samolenkov being the furthest back.
Aegon - Peroni are going all-in on that climb, and the other teams are clearly struggling to keep their sprinters in position! However - that holds for the Dutch-Italian outfit as well, as Sergent, Goos and De Kleijn are just pushing, but Groenewegen is only in about 20th position!
However, many other sprinters aren't closer to the front yet, either. Next to the leading trio are Karatzios, Santos, Bouglas, Vlatos, Baska, Kelly... only helpers and leadouts!
The first sprinter is Van Poppel, closely followed by Ewan, Groenewegen and Cullaigh, while Coquard is yet another bike length behind.
But let's wait until they're over the hilltop, and we'll hopefully have a clearer idea of the situation!
It's not very clear, but definitely interesting! Sergent now has a pretty decent lead with 1.5km to go, ahead of teammates Goos and De Kleijn! Karatzios, Kiriakidis and Vlatos are following - but none have their lead sprinter even close to them!
Let's take a look at the situation behind those 6 leaders:
Santos
Bouglas
Van Poppel
Ewan
Baska
N. Oliveira
Lo Cicero
Kelly
Cullaigh
Kemboi
Keizer
Robeet
Groenewegen
Rickaert
Viennet
Bovenhuis
Zmorka
Wirtgen
Philipsen
Foss
Van der Sande
Phinney
Ruiz
O. Goldstein
Dal Col
Coquard
Barbio
Appollonio
Mullen
Malori
As you see - it's a huge mess, with sprinters, time triallists and domestiques all represented - but definitely no real sprint train! And many sprinters aren't placed well at all - are we in for yet another surprise win?
By the way, if you're missing some sprinter names, then that's because they're even further behind - we can be fairly sure that Manninen, Samolenkov or Van der Lijke will be pretty far outside the Top10 spots today!
Sergent is spent under the flamme rouge, but Goos is sensing a great opportunity here and goes all-in!
There's already quite a gap to De Kleijn, who has sat up - that could be a very smart team move!
Behind, Bouglas is now the first of the sprinters - if we can suppose that he once more steps in for Coquard who looks to be too far behind. He's followed by Van Poppel, Lo Cicero, Kemboi, Philipsen and Groenewegen.
Ewan is trying to get Santos' wheel, in an attempt of getting at least somehow similar to a leadout. Cullaigh is following the Australian top-favorite!
Appollonio, Van der Sande, Coquard, Dainese and Manninen look to be out of it, being only around 25th to 30th position!
Sergent looks to have found a second wind, and is now chasing teammate Goos, who looks great with just 900m to go!
Van Poppel has now launched his sprint, followed by Ewan, while Cullaigh has left the latter's wheel already and is pulling Kemboi and Philipsen with him!
Bouglas doesn't seem to be interested in sprinting, thereby potentially taking Lo Cicero out of the game as well!
Groenewegen also doesn't know what to do - probably he's just rooting for Goos by now!
200 meters later - with 700m left - the sprinters look to be approaching quickly! De Kleijn has already be swallowed, and Sergent looks to have given up, too. However, Goos still believes that he can make it, and is moving almost as fast as Cullaigh who leads the charge from behind!
Van Poppel, Kemboi, Ewan and Philipsen seem to be the only other sprinters to be in contention - although Bouglas and Lo Cicero are accelerating as well now!
500m to the line, and Goos advantage is dwindling fast! Cullaigh is now up to 2nd place, but he's already been in the wind for quite some time now and looks to be fading, as Van Poppel is about to pass him, followed by Ewan!
Kemboi is looking good as well, just like Philipsen. Lo Cicero has finally found a way past Bouglas, who doesn't look to have the legs today.
And from behind, Groenewegen is approaching now, while Kiriakidis is rather going the other way.
300m left, as Goos is still leading! Cullaigh has been able to fend off Van Poppel for the time being, but Kemboi is going strong on the other side as well!
Just 200 meters to the line, and Cullaigh is getting closer and closer to Goos - while Van Poppel has almost drawn level with the Brit as well!
Ewan has chosen the right lane, having Lo Cicero and Bouglas in his wheel.
Kemboi is currently about level with Ewan, while Philipsen is about to leave the Kenyan's wheel. And Groenewegen still has that gap due to his initial bad starting position.
Only 100m, can Goos indeed take a huge upset win here? Cullaigh hasn't thrown in the towel yet for sure, but it will be really close - also against Van Poppel, and maybe even Ewan or Kemboi are still in the game for the win!
But the race was a couple of meters too long for Goos, and so Gabriel Cullaigh takes the win in Karlovy Vary! He's been in the wind for so long, but nobody was able to overtake him - fantastic sprint by the Brit, congratulations!
We still have a close race for the remaining podium spots, though...
And it's Danny Van Poppel who claims 2nd place, ahead of Caleb Ewan! It looked like one or both of them would eventually pass the stage winner, but no, they have to settle for the lower steps on the podium. Still a good result for them!
Salem Kemboi then takes 4th, a good sprint by him - but being so close to a potential GC lead probably still stings!
However, the most disappointed rider of the day will probably be Marc Goos, who was leading until just a couple of meters from the line - to finally drop back to 5th. It was definitely worth a try, though - and he somewhat salvages a stage that went completely wrong for his lead sprinter!
That lead sprinter is Dylan Groenewegen, who only takes 9th place today - behind a strong Jasper Philipsen, Ivano Lo Cicero and Georgios Bouglas. Ioannidis Kiriakidis rounds off the Top10 - two Top10 spots for ELCO - ABEA actually sounds nice, but given that Coquard only got 14th, and that their best result was 8th, it's still a huge disappointment for the team!
However, some others did even worse - let's just mention Manninen (19th), Samolenkov (38th) or - worst of all stage favorites - Van der Lijke (59th!). It was a messy sprint preparation for sure, but being completely out of position can't be blamed on the course (only).
Gabriel Cullaigh will definitely blame no other rider and no course selection for winning today, which he did with a real display of strength! He was in the wind under the red kite already, and had enough in the tank to pull it through! Great job by the young Brit!
Danny Van Poppel was very strong, too - but not quite strong enough to gain the final inches to beat the stage winner! Which holds for Caleb Ewan in 3rd as well - the Aussie might just have left the runner-up's wheel too late, and then had a longer path on the outside lane, which might have been decisive.
By the way, both Cullaigh and Ewan have gained enough bonus seconds today to overtake Schäppi in the GC - but who will actually be our new GC leader?
Surprise, surprise - it's none of the sprinters, but BotD member Wojciech Pszczolarski! The 8 bonus seconds the Pole collected today move him 4" clear of Schäppi! Let's see if he can deliver another great TT tomorrow - although it's highly unlikely that he'll keep that jersey.
Stage winner Gabriel Cullaigh is now up to 2nd place, trailing by 2", while Caleb Ewan is another second behind in 3rd place. Schäppi is down to 4th, with Vlatos, Keizer and Ganna still being the top TTers - and GC favorites - in the current overall standings. Let's prepare for a huge reshuffle tomorrow!
He may have lost the GC lead, but Martin Schäppi at least keeps the green jersey for the lead in the points standings! Gabriel Cullaigh now is ex-aequo, with both having 25 points, but the officials sent the Swiss to the stage. Don't ask me what the base for this ruling was...
There are also two riders tied for 3rd place; Panagiotis Vlatos and Salem Kemboi, both on 21 points. The fight TTer vs. sprinter for this jersey is wide open!
We have no changes on the podium spots of the U25 classification, as none of the leaders collected any bonus seconds today. So Stefan Bissegger still leads 2" ahead of Niklas Larsen, and 5" ahead of Emil Dima.
Given that there was just one single rider not finishing inside the peloton today, the team standings remain unmodified in the top spots as well. Team Puma - SAP take a 3" advantage over Team UBS into the probably decisive stage 3, with ELCO - ABEA trailing by 4".
With those pictures, today's live broadcast is coming to an end! We had a very weird and chaotic sprint preparation, an opportunistic (and almost successful) late attack - but still some exepcted names on the top spots. Let's see what tomorrow's marathon time trial brings - stay tuned!
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha 
