Benvenuti a Napoli! Well, it really feels like we're in bella Italia, with today's stage leading from Naples to Italy Hill - but no, we're actually still in the State of New York for the fourth consecutive hilly stage!
Naples and Italy actually are just about 15km apart - but such a distance would not even be enough for a serious time trial, so the riders have to do about 10 times as much today - including 5 KoM sprints and a lot of zigzagging.
Naples is another town that was established on an old Seneca settlement, named Nundawao. After being renamed to Watkinstown, then Middletown, the town got its current name back in 1808. And like its Italian counterpart, there's some good wine produced here, and the annual Naples Grape Festival - taking place in September (hint, hint) - is definitely a highlight.
But now let's talk about the stage. I'd actually label it "Tour of Keuka Lake", as for a big part of the stage, we'll be in that lake's surroundings. I tried to draw the lake on the map - sorry for my poor artist skills.
Naples, however, is closer to Canandaigua Lake, and so the riders first move south to reach Keuka Lake. The road is going uphill right from the start, and we'll have a first 3rd category KoM sprint after 14km already - Knapp Hill.
The peloton then will do some extra miles, following the Cohocton river and passing through Bath, before reaching the Reservoir Hill Road KoM sprint (4th category) after 55km. They'll continue north, and eventually turn east to reach Keuka Lake in the surroundings of Pulteney.
The route then follows the lakeside all the way south to Hammondsport - the southern end of the lake - where we'll get the first intermediate sprint just after the halfway point of the stage. Then it's northwards again on the other shore - which they'll leave for a short trip up to the category 4 KoM sprint at Sturdevant Road (111km), the steepest one of the day.
We'll then reach the northern end of the east branch, with the second intermediate sprint being taken in Penn Yan (129km). The riders then again follow the lakeside of that branch, almost until the separation point of the two lake branches - and on their way back north they'll tackle the last 4th category climb of the day, Brown Hill.
But it's still not over - after the descent to Branchport, marking the northern end of the Keuka Lake's west branch, they immediately start the Italy Hill climb - with another 3rd category KoM sprint just 3km from the finish line! Those final 3km are about half downhill, half uphill - and then we'll know today's winner in Italy!
There's actually not much to say about this small town of just 1,000 inhabitants - except maybe for the obvious origin of its name. Fun fact: Italy was founded from Naples, later becoming part of a different county though. The main sight might be a mighty elm tree, that once was a council site for local natives.
Let's see if deliberations will also be required after the stage - but I guess that would be the race officials gathering around a screen, and not a tree anymore. And then they'll surely crown a stage winner - which could be any rider, seriously. The bookies actually think that it should be someone who's at least a decent puncheur and who can at least decently sprint - so yes, we have quite a different favorites list from the last days.
Edmondson, however, is a name we're used to see on top of the list - not so much Van Asbroeck, though! McEvoy is the third rider getting three stars. Next are McCormick, Eriksson and Vogt, with Rumac, Olei, Hoelgaard and Velasco rounding off the list. Let me just throw in the name of Eislers as well, who was by far the strongest sprinter on the last two stages...
So, let's find out how things unfold! We'll get live coverage for the second half of the stage - here's the recap of the first half:
What happened so far
For once, the sky was rather cloudy than clear, but that shouldn't bother the riders. At least not as long as the roads remain dry.
Guess who was on the move once again? Of course, KoM leader Magnusson! And right ahead of him, the rider who also was ahead of him at the finish line yesterday - Reddish.
Their first chasers were Balmer and Horvat.
You can also see the profile of Knapp Hill - definitely not a steady climb, but no overly hard one, either.
Next up were Croes, Nolf, Joeaar and Kmieliauskas. The former had already been on the move in past stages, while Kmieliauskas was denied when he tried. Not today, though.
And Joeaar might just want to keep his teammate and red lantern Taillefour at bay, as it's hard to imagine to see him keep up with the other lads.
In the peloton, BWT were chasing hard with up to 4 riders - this obviously stopped when Jacobsen finally made his move, trying to catch up with the breakaway.
But before the Norwegian was able to do so, the front of the race had already reached the Knapp Hill KoM sprint - with Magnusson once again extending his lead.
KoM - Knapp Hill (3rd)
1.
Magnusson
6 (31)
2.
Balmer
4 (4)
3.
Horvat
2 (2)
With a 22 points advantage and just 21 points still on offer, Magnusson had already secured his jersey for yet another day. Good job!
As the pack arrived on top, they trailed the front six by 4'03" already. Jacobsen, Joeaar and Nolf had 51" to make up.
Which they did soon after, and so after 25km of racing our breakaway of the day was at full strength:
Reddish
Nolf
Horvat
Balmer
Kmieliauskas
Croes
Jacobsen
Magnusson
Joeaar
Jacobsen is the most versatile rider in this group, with only Croes and Magnusson also being decent on the hills. And as seen yesterday, Reddish is a pretty solid sprinter - at least compared to the other escapees.
In terms of GC, Magnusson is clearly the highest placed rider, being 66th with a 2'23" deficit. At this point, he was riding in virtual yellow - we'll see whether he can keep that until the end of the stage.
As the peloton was approaching Bath, riding alongside Cohocton River, clouds were getting more and darker.
And darker it also got for the breakaway, with the gap pretty quickly shrinking - 3'12" at this point.
On top of Reservoir Hill, Magnusson obviously added five more points to his tally, building up a nice lead before heading into the big mountains in week 2.
KoM - Reservoir Hill (4th)
1.
Magnusson
5 (36)
2.
Balmer
3 (7)
3.
Croes
1 (4)
The pack again lost some momentum on the pretty tough climb, trailing by 3'52" when crossing the line. Now let's join the live broadcast!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
We're about halfway through the stage now, as the riders have arrived on Keuka Lake's west shore. The breakaway is just riding past the "elbow" (which is what Keuka means in the Seneca language), the point where the eastern and western branches separate.
The peloton has been riding really fast lately, reducing the gap by almost half since the Reservoir Hill climb. They currently trail by 2'16" only, 85km yet to ride.
The southern end of the lake is reached - and therefore the intermediate sprint in Hammondsport. And who else but Magnusson could have won it?
Sprint - Hammondsport
1.
Magnusson
10 (35)
-6"
2.
Jacobsen
6 (14)
-4"
3.
Croes
4 (14)
-2"
4.
Joeaar
2 (2)
5.
Nolf
1 (15)
Van Den Bossche is leading the peloton over the line 2'34" later. Other teams contributing to the chase are Pas Normal, Colombini, Philips and Kraftwerk.
It's a tad early with 70km to go, but Jacobsen and Croes are not only leaving behind Hammondsport, but also their breakaway companions! This doesn't look like a smart move, to be honest.
And as they reach the "elbow" on the east shore of the lake, the group is back at full strength. Those unnecessary moves did however cost them a couple of seconds, as their advantage is down to 2'12".
They can already see the 20km banner from here - but the breakaway still has about 60km to ride. A KoM, then to the northern end of Keuka Lake, and then they'll arrive on the peninsula.
And here we go, Sturdevant Road climb is on! It's the one featuring the steepest slopes - up to 23%! Sure, it's just a short section above 10%, but after more than 100km already in the legs that must surely hurt anyway!
Ouch, that's the worst case scenario for Air New Zealand! Reddish was actually the weakest of the trio and lost touch first - and subsequently his teammates dropped back to help him! We'll see if they can come back on the descent - otherwise that would be horrible race tactics!
Which can not be said about Joeaar, by the way - the Estonian was just (expectedly) too weak to keep up.
Surprise, surprise - for once Magnusson doesn't get maximum points! Jacobsen finally lives up to his billing of strongest rider in the breakaway, and takes his first points of the race:
KoM - Sturdevant Road (4th)
1.
Jacobsen
5 (5)
2.
Magnusson
3 (39)
3.
Croes
1 (5)
Kmieliauskas and Balmer don't score, but are still up front.
The Kiwi group is already trailing by a full minute, with Joeaar already dropped from there as well.
The peloton didn't go full gas, losing a couple of seconds and being 2'25" behind.
By the way, Taillefour is extending his lead in the red lantern race, trailing his teammate by 4 minutes and the pack by about 2'40" already. And yes, he's the only rider dropped so far.
It's not raining yet, but it starts getting misty. The riders can still recognize Penn Yan - the northern end of the lake - which is just 10km from here.
They can also see Joeaar trailing the trio Nolf, Horvat and Reddish by 20", with those three in turn 1'15" behind the five leaders.
And the pack? They're 2'16" behind.
After having lost the battle for first on the last KoM sprint, Magnusson is back to normal mode, winning the second intermediate sprint in Penn Yan.
Sprint - Penn Yan
1.
Magnusson
10 (45)
-6"
2.
Balmer
6 (6)
-4"
3.
Croes
4 (18)
-2"
4.
Jacobsen
2 (16)
5.
Kmieliauskas
1 (1)
In the background, we can spot Reddish and Horvat - Nolf lost touch before and has already been swept up by the pack.
The two chasers trail by 44", the peloton is only 1'28" behind now!
And here they are! We still have more or less the same teams leading the chase, with occasional support by BNZ. It looks like Van Asbroeck is feeling really good, just like Eislers - both are in the first 20 positions!
A strong shift by Van den Berg leads to the Air New Zealand duo to be caught. Kmieliauskas has been dropped from the head of the race; he's 48" ahead of the pack and 20" behind the leaders now.
By the way, apparently not all sprinters are having some hopes for a good stage result, as Itami has been working all day long!
26km to go, as Balmer is shaking off his breakaway companions! No-one is reacting right away - could he at least arrive on top of the next climb before being swept up? With the pack just 51" behind, that's far from granted!
Kmieliauskas has already been caught, and under the 20km banner it's almost over for Magnusson, Croes and Jacobsen as well. Balmer still has a small lead and is about to start the second last KoM climb of the day!
Balmer has now reached the foot of the next KoM climb, Brown Hill. With only 2km in length, he might still have a chance of scoring some points there - but the pack, led by Haller, is just 25" back now! The Austrian apparently doesn't fancy his chances today, unlike some other sprinters!
The other three escapees have just been caught, by the way.
But already a couple of meters later, today's breakaway is definitely history, as Balmer is caught as well. So let's watch the fight for the stage win - and the GC lead, maybe?
Unfortunately, there was nothing to see so far. Not even the KoM points are battled out. It might be of note though that Choi and Pluchkin cross the line in 3rd and 4th position, so let's see if they're preparing an attack on the final climb of the day!
KoM - Brown Hill (4th)
1.
Bonello
5 (7)
2.
Giulietti
3 (3)
3.
Choi
1 (1)
With 10km to go, the riders reach Branchport, on the northern end of the western branch of Keuka Lake. And on the other side of Branchport, they can already spot the 5km arc, so it's about time to get some good positions now!
This definitely is the case for Van Asbroeck, but also for Watson, Hoelgaard, Pluchkin, Betancourt, Choi or race leader Moazemi.
We're on the foot of Italy Hill! Don't ask me why this hill got a 3rd category KoM sprint and not some of the others - but what I do know is that from the top of the climb to the finish line, there'll be just 3km left!
Van Asbroeck must be feeling really good, as he's still sitting in 5th position. Ratiy and Eislers are next to him, with all the stage and GC favorites close by as well.
Edmondson gets to the front under the 5km mark, but there are still no attacks yet. 2km to the KoM sprint, but the roads are almost flat now. It's probably too late for an attack then, so this could indeed be one for the sprinters!
Well, at least Moazemi and Betancourt want to prove me wrong, attacking with just 4,500m to go! Edmondson is trying to close the gap, while the others don't look too worried yet.
Edmondson did indeed make the jump, and so we now have three leaders heading onto the final kilometer of Italy Hill! Vogt is leading the chase, followed by Gilanipoor and Van Asbroeck.
The first hold onto a small gap all the way to the KoM sprint, but Vogt has almost closed the gap now! Surely he must get some bonus from the sprinter teams?
KoM - Italy Hill (3rd)
1.
Moazemi
6 (6)
2.
Betancourt
4 (4)
3.
Edmondson
2 (2)
Oh, it looks like Vogt actually did all this work in his own interest, as he only pulls Kritskiy with him as they join the leading trio!
The pack is already 17" down, and we just have a short downhill and the slightly ascending final kilometer left!
2km to go, and still no-one wants to help Moazemi - he's been in the lead since he attacked after the 5km mark!
In the big chase group, it's now Manfredi trying to close this gap for his sprinter Eislers! The Latvian and Van Asbroeck are the only top sprinters left in contention - but they first have to catch those puncheurs of course!
Moazemi is still pushing hard, and it almost looks like he already launched his sprint!
Manfredi is still leading the pack, but Eislers has quite some ground to make up to get to the front of the group, while Van Asbroeck already is in 3rd wheel!
The sprint is definitely on now! Moazemi is still leading, but Betancourt has already left his slipstream and is about to overtake - just like Edmondson! Vogt and Kritskiy still have the last positions in this group.
Behind, it's now Velasco leading the charge, with Eislers and Van Asbroeck both having launched their sprint as well! It's hard to see someone else compete for the win with those two big guns involved - except for those up front obviously!
Just 500m to the line, as Edmondson has taken the lead! Moazemi is still going strong, holding onto 2nd, ahead of Betancourt, Vogt and Kritskiy.
The sprinters are going fast, but Eislers and Van Asbroeck are still 200m behind!
But within just a couple of pedal strokes, the duo has caught up with the group, with Eislers having a slight edge over Van Asbroeck!
The question will be whether the latter can use the slipstream of or rather will be blocked by those ahead of him?
However, Edmondson clearly won't throw in the towel early, and he's even got a slight gap over Moazemi now!
But with 200m to go, his hopes are shattered. Eislers hasn't quite passed him yet, but he and Van Asbroeck are so much faster that they can be pretty much sure to take the first two positions of the stage!
Moazemi really is mighty strong today - with a little bit of help, the group might actually have made it through, but the others probably felt that he would've been too strong for them with some respite.
By the way, Velasco is still sprinting somewhere between the pack and the front group - with Gallopin and Choi leading the charge behind.
100m to the line, as Eislers still has that slight advantage over Van Asbroeck - but it looks like he's slightly fading! Having to launch early due to bad positioning surely didn't help - will that be a decisive factor?
It sure does look so, as Van Asbroeck draws level with only 50m left to ride!
And in the end, Tom Van Asbroeck had a huge speed advantage, so he even found the time to celebrate his 2nd stage win in the race! Who was talking about him losing his jersey today - he is actually extending his lead!
Ingus Eislers once again showed a great performance on a hilly stage, but pays for bad positioning and ends up 2nd. He'll still curse yesterday's bad tactics, as he was the strongest in the pack - but today someone was even stronger.
Joshua Edmondson can pull through and take the top spot from the group of late attackers - who just had to let two top sprinters pass in the end. Still, 3rd place is a good result for the Brit!
GC leader Arvin Moazemi takes 4th place - thereby easily defending the yellow jersey. Carlos Betancourt has to settle for 5th, narrowly edging out a strongly finishing Timofey Kritskiy.
The remaining Top 10 spots go to Mario Vogt, Simone Velasco, David De la Cruz and Ki Ho Choi. Three Philips riders in the Top 10 - hats off!
He came to the race as one of the strongest sprinters - and today Tom Van Asbroeck already delivered his second stage win! He proved that he doesn't need flat stages to be successful - after a 3rd place in the prologue, the stage win in New York he also mastered today's hilly stage! What a great race he's having so far!
Ingus Eislers was just a tad weaker today - or a tad less smart in his sprint preparation - and had to settle for 2nd. First chance for revenge: tomorrow!
Joshua Edmondson was listed among the top stage favorites for the fourth day in a row today - and he finally lived up to this billing, taking the final podium spot! Well done!
However, the Brit's 3rd place was only possible thanks to a massive amount of work by Arvin Moazemi. The race leader had to settle for 4th place today - but at least he easily held onto his GC lead. Lucas Eriksson still trails by 11", Geoffrey Bouchard by 21".
Given that the next four stages are all flat ones, with no gaps expected, it's pretty likely that the Iranian will still wear the jersey on the first mountain stage, which will be on day 11! Until then, we're unlikely to see major changes in the Top 10 - the most realistic scenario would be to see Eislers move up, as he's currently 52" down.
Tom Van Asbroeck's lead in the points standings shrank with every day in the hills - but instead of ending up losing the jersey today, he actually extended his lead again! He now totals 96 points, which is 23 more than Arvin Moazemi, and 28 more than Ingus Eislers.
However, with 200 points on offer over the next 4 days (not counting intermediate sprints), a lot can - and probably will - happen! It's possible that we'll already know the green jersey winner by the end of stage 10 - if he makes it to San Francisco, obviously. But let's hope for a tense race for that jersey!
In the KoM standings, however, we have an even more dominant leader. Kim Magnusson has extended his lead over Matic Groselj to 30 points, while Michael Antonelli and Hayden McCormick still share 3rd place.
Given that a total of 20 points are available over the next 4 days, the Swede's jersey is safe until stage 11 at least! And even there, with "only" 36 points at stake, only a rider having previously scored some points could attack him - a great and truly smart race by him so far!
Just like the GC, the young rider standings didn't see any notable changes today - and probably won't over the next 4 days, either. Which means that Pascal Eenkhoorn still has a 6" lead over Thymen Arensman, with Alex Hoehn being 11" down.
As ever since day 3, the final picture of the day belongs to Cedevita, who still lead the team standings. They're likely to take that 11" lead over Kraftwerk Man Machine and 19" over Assa Abloy into the mountains - where we expect some severe shakeups, though!
So, that 4-day series of hilly stages has come to an end. Next up are just as many flat stages - with lots of sprint points to distribute. I hope you'll join us as well for those rather uninteresting stages in terms of GC - but I'm sure they'll always have some action-loaded scenes on the last 5km or so! See you tomorrow!
Tour of America 
