Stage 6 is the race’s second mountain stage. This one is a little more complex, 192k, two Cat 2s and two Cat 3s before an HC climb to the finish at Zoa Peak.
Lunke got the best of everyone on Stage 4 but is third on the favorites list. Today his team will have to control the break, and they aren’t particularly strong.
About 8k gone, 2k to the start of the first Cat 3. Lunke himself, and Ciccone (7th on GC) are among the riders patrolling the front of the peloton, so far they haven’t let many get away, just 7 riders off the front, including Chevrier who will be looking to grab the KOM jersey.
13k gone. 3k left in the first climb which is a fairly gentle 6k at 3.2%. Chevrier is joined by Rochas, Chumil, and Lammertink in the first group. 24-seconds behind them are Mager, Abreu, De Laat. A little further back is another group of 4 that the peloton has only recently let go – in that are Rhim, Bablidze, Serrano, and Adriamihajanarivo. A little behind them is Diaz. 12 riders in all, including a number of strong climbers. The peloton is 2’39 behind the front of the race.
Chevrier takes the points, he is 8 points off the lead of the KOM jersey. Front 7 are together now, the next 5 are at 43 seconds the peloton at 2’33.
All 12 escapees are together as they roll through the first sprint point with 150k to go. They will soon start the first Cat 2 in Shrimpton Forest, it is 7.3k at 4.1%. Peloton at 3’59 with Gjensidige on the front.
Chevrier leads most of the way up the climb but Serrano flies past at the top to maximum points. Chevrier gets 8 points for 2nd which ties him with Lunke for the lead. There are 20 points at the finish so Chevrier needs to maximize his points on these earlier climbs in case the break doesn’t make it to the finish. At 3’35 Mager is the closest man on GC in the break. Peloton 5’38 down right now so he is the virtual leader.
100k to go for the peloton. Young American Bourgoyne doing most of the work for Gjensidige, the lead was up over 8 minutes and is now back to 7’24. Ahead the break is on the 2nd Cat 2 which is 6.4k at 5.7%, but after a mild opening, the last 3k are pretty steep.
Mager takes the points at the top followed by Serrano, Rochas and Bablidze. Chevrier wasn’t as strong on this climb and gets just 5th, 2 points give him the virtual KOM but he will likely need a bigger cushion, and there is just one Cat 3 left before the finishing climb. Peloton at 6’55.
54k for the break. They are on the last climb to Lawless Britton. 9.6k at 4.1%. It does have one very tough stretch with grades up to 17%. Peloton at 5’47, Wandahl on the front now, Bourgoyne, Loland, and Knotten seem to be spent. About 15 riders dropped, nobody of note.
Serrano again shows a nice burst of pace to take maximum points. Mager and Rochas deny Chevrier any points. Breakaway all still together. Peloton at 5’42.
40k to go for the peloton. Just Lunder and Fjellheim left for Gjensidige. Chiarello 3rd wheel the gap up to 6’12.
In about 20k the break will start the climb to the Laurie Guichon Memorial which is 5.5k at 4.4% but carries no KOM points. Then a short descent and the final climb which is 7.1k at 9.2%, with most of the hard climbing in the first 2/3rds before it flattens out, except for a steep ramp to the finish.
22k to go for the peloton, the break is on the uncategorized climb and Abreu has just launched an attack. Gjensidige were unable to get the gap down below 6 minutes so now Crabbe and Podium Ambition have taken over and the lead is 5’42. Some strange goings on for Podium Ambition, 10th on GC Canty is doing the pacemaking and Morales Ortega, Cambell and Hennis are all wearing the same NC jersey.
At the top of the uncategorized climb Abreu, Chevrier and Mager have a 51 second lead over the other 9. Abreu’s first attack was closed down after a few k but his second attack created this split. Peloton another 3’55 behind. Canty has wisely dropped back and now Vanderpool and Hennis are doing the chasing. 70 riders left in the peloton.
On to the final climb now. 6.8k to go for the 3 leaders, 9 chasers at 39 seconds. Peloton at 3’50.
As soon as they get onto the final climb Chiarello (in green) attacks. Roglic, Grmay, Lunke, and Elosegui are the next four. Up front Rhim has pulled De Laat and Serrano up to the leaders. Adriamihajanarivo has been dropped from the chase group. The reporter giving thanks he didn’t do anything interesting that required spelling his name a lot.
Rhim streaks right by the leaders with De Laat and Serrano following him.
Chiarello opens a gap. Lunke leading a 10-rider chase group 37 seconds down. In between is Roglic. Also in the chase group are Grmay, Elosegui, Manfredi, Schelling, Kritskiy, Gall, Iturria, O'Connor, and Lemus Davila. Canty and Ciccone missing among the GC top 10. Rhim, De Laat, and Serrano have 28 seconds on the other 3 and 57 on the remainder of the break. They still have 5k to climb.
Serrano attacks and pulls away from the other two. He has 2’10 on Chiarello with 4.5k to climb.
A push from Lemus Davila brings the chase group back to Roglic. Chiarello still has 31 seconds. They are beginning to pass the stragglers from the break. There is a big group 57 seconds behind this group being led by Schleck. Up front Serrano has a 47-second lead over a 5-rider chase group including Rhim, De Laat, Chevrier, Abreu and Mager.
3.4k to ride for Chiarello, he is looking fresh. He has caught or can see all of the break except for Serrano who is 1’43 ahead. The chase group is 37 seconds behind him with Schelling doing the chasing.
Race situation:
2k to climb for Chiarello. He has ripped past most of the break and the gap ahead to Serrano is 54 seconds. The gap to the GC chasers is 49 seconds. Roglic, O’Connor, Schelling, Manfredi, Gall and Kritskiy have all been dropped from that group. Chiarello started the day 30 seconds down on Lunke so he has the virtual jersey. They are on the flatter sections of the climb now.
Trouble for Lunke now as he is dropped by Grmay, Elosegui, Iturria, and Lemus Davila
Serrano can dream, he has 700 meters to go and Chiarello has faded back to 1’01. The Brazilian’s long solo climb beginning to tell, his lead over the chasers is just 26 seconds. Although he has a much bigger gap over Lunke. Further back Lunke has been caught by the previously dropped riders who were with him. Mannion has bridged over to that group from the next group on the road.
Under the 1k banner Iturria and Elosegui attempt to bridge the last 20 seconds to Chiarello. The Bordeaux man wishes he had this form on Stage 4. Manfredi has attacked out of the Lunke Group.
Race Situation:
Serrano is too tired to celebrate. But is it a great win as he alone among the break is strong enough to hold off the GC riders. He will also move into a tie with Chiarello (assuming the Brazilian finishes 2nd) for the KOM lead. He can thank the rider who shall not be spelled for supporting him earlier in the stage.
Manfredi floats by the remaining breakaway riders and has the GC boys in his sights but he is running out of road. The foursome ahead got within 13 seconds of Chiarello but don’t look like they will catch him.
2nd for Chiarello, 1’14 back, he makes up for his weakness on Stage 4 with a great ride. He will be back in 3 jerseys tomorrow and should have enough cushion to take the race in the team time trial.
Lemus Davila takes the last podium spot, Manfredi finishes strongly to take 4th. Then it is Elosegui, Grmay and Iturria. All those riders lose 16 seconds to Chiarello.
Schelling gets up to take 8th, 1’54 down on the winner and 40 seconds behind Chiarello. Kritskiy and Gall complete the top 10 leading in the next group at 2’02. Lunke is hanging on the back of this group that includes most of the rest of the GC riders and a handful of breakaway riders. He is definitely losing Yellow, he will have to hope there are enough riders to prevent further gaps.
All the riders pictured except the back 4 get the same time as Kritskiy and Gall. But one of the back 4 is Lunke. A bad day for him, those extra losses mean he drops to third on the GC, 1 second behind Girmay. Girmay trails Chiarello by 1’07, so it does look like another stage race win for the Crabbe.
Roglic holds GC 4th. The gap between 4th and 7th is just 17 seconds so that could definitely change tomorrow.
Elosegui holds on to the White jersey ahead of his teammate, Schelling. Simba Cement have a 2’44 lead in the team’s competition ahead of Hilcona. They should win that jersey.
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