One of rest and now we are right back into the thick of things. Last time the riders were in the altitude it was amidst the Canadian Rockies. This time they are tackling the Cascades, with several shorter climbs before heading towards a summit finish. That final climb is split by a short descent, with the riders first making their way up the Coquihalla Highway (5.5km @ 4.4%) before turning off towards Zoa Peak (7.1km @ 9.2%). In what should be a surprise to absolutely nobody, chasing duties were delegated to Newton. They were content to let a relatively strong breakaway get up the road, so long as nobody in it was a threat on the GC — just who one the stage was at most an ancillary concern.
We will be tuning in on the approach to the Coquihalla Highway, with the breakaway mostly still intact. The names to look out for are Mike Aaron EGGER, Patrick BEVIN and Joel YATES. They have picked up 20, 16 and 18 KOM points respectively throughout the stage thus far.
The full list of riders in the break were:
Spoiler
Nick REDDISH
Connor BROWN
Evgeny SHALUNOV
Mike Aaron EGGER
Uga RYUKI
Miori KAWASAKI
Jhonatan RESTREPO
Lukas POSTLBERGER
Igor ARRIETA
Patrick BEVIN
Miles SCOTSON
Dillon GEARY
Ion IZAGIRRE
Lewis STROLL
Giorgi NAREKLISHVILI
Magnus SHEFFIELD
Joel YATES
As seems inevitable at this point. A bit of a mess has developed at the back. The peloton is 7½ minutes behind the breakaway, the leash being just the right length to avoid offending Matteo JORGENSON. Another 1'42" behind is a group of 21 that includes Harm VANHOUCKE, Lucas HAMILTON, Ziga RUCIGAJ, Viktor VERSCHAEVE, Kent MAIN and Genii Hyundai's leading trio. They were poorly positioned over the preceding climb and are now being punished for it. The peloton they are chasing has been reduced to just 50 riders, with many lesser riders also having been dropped.
Again JORGENSON is hitting the slopes with a much reduced squad of domestiques — only Angel MADRAZO is still with him — but again Zain - Omantel are willing to cooperate with them, sending the LA LAVANDIER twins to the front. There is also a little bit of interest from the lads at Simba Cement - Tanga Fresh, although they haven't committed themselves just yet.
Things are heating up at the front of the race though. Now that he doesn't need to concern himself with anymore flat kilometres, IZAGIRRE wants to light things up. SHALUNOV is first to react and quickly jumps on his wheel, but it is more difficult for KAWASAKI and EGGER to latch on. At least they've made it all the way across, poor Patrick BEVIN has stalled halfway through. Now he is stuck between the leaders and the YATES-lead chasers.
BEVIN isn't one to give up easily. He is slowly clawing his way across. That just won't do. The Coquihalla Summit is quickly approaching, the riders will have a short descent before turning on to the climb to Zoa Peak. SHALUNOV wants to hit that descent all on his lonesome so he is making his move. IZAGIRRE is tired from his attack and KAWASAKI had to work to just barely keep the elastic from snapping. That means only EGGER is able to follow; he is locked in, refusing to give an inch.
It is time for the final climb. It is rather steep for the most part until it fades off in the final third, only to ramp up again right at the finish. Mike Aaron EGGER (+ 6'02") and Evgeny SHALUNOV (+15'35") are the first to hit the climb. Two minutes behind them is Joel YATES, who caught and attacked the others from the breakaway. They're clumped together in a group of 8 only a couple of bike-lengths away.
The peloton is sitting at 4'52". Its numbers have been reduced right the way down, only 39 riders remain now. Other than those previously mentioned, no new riders from the GC Top 25 have been dropped. Instead most of the casualties have been domestiques. Matteo JORGENSON is all on his own and Richard CARAPAZ now has both Mathieu LA LAVANDIER and David BARTL on the front, there are no reserves.
Evgeny SHALUNOV doesn't want to stick around, he is already up and out of the saddle barely 1½ kilometres into the climb. It isn't like they were being put under any pressure, there is still a gaping gulf back to the chasers. Maybe he is worried about taking on EGGER in an uphill sprint? Whatever the reason, for now it looks like it was the right choice.
In keeping with the attacking spirit that made him a household name in the ProTour, it is Dion SMITH (+ 1'24") who kicks of the action amongst the favourites. He doesn't pose too much of a threat to CARAPAZ and JORGENSON, even accounting for the potentialities presented by tomorrow's TTT, so they are content to let him go. Nobody else has any domestiques readily available and it is quite possible they are already at their limit as they're just emerging from a slope of 15.1%. As a result SMITH is just riding away.
Antoine DUCHESNE is replaced at the front by Kristoffer SKJERPING. Nobody is eager to see the pace drop. Seeing SMITH breezing through most of the breakaway is making them realise that the stage podium is not completely out of reach.
Daniel MUNOZ is particularly eager. He sweeps up SMITH with a powerful attack that draws him, Frederico FIGUEIREDO and Bakhtiyar KOZHATAYEV clear with about 3½ kilometres still to come. The incline levels out significantly after this point so both CARAPAZ and JORGENSON are attentive to it.
Thymen ARENSMAN is not happy about the group that has just got away. He works hard to bring them back in short order. It jumps the pace up a notch though, and as we reach the kinder slopes of ~6% there are only 13 riders strung out in the favourites group. They are (in reverse order) Miori KAWASAKI, Richard CARAPAZ, Valerio CONTI, Frederico FIGUEIREDO, Pierre Paolo PENASA, Cristian RAILEANU, Jaka PRIMOZIC, Luis Enrique LEMUS DAVILA, Thymen ARENSMAN, Daniel MUNOZ, Dion SMITH, Matteo JORGENSON and Bakhtiyar KOZHATAYEV.
One man who won't care how many riders are or are not remaining in the favourites group is Evgeny SHALUNOV. That is because he is already crossing the line to secure the stage win, not another soul in sight. He definitely wasn't one of the favourites when the breakaway formed, but he had the help of his Air NZ teammates and avoided wasting energy on superfluous intermediate contests. An excellent ride and a well-deserved victory.
CARAPAZ has cracked. We are coming under the red flag and CARAPAZ's head has dropped, his tongue is lolling, his bike is swaying side-to-side. The contest for the overall might end here and now, I can't see him coming back from this. The only good news is that JORGENSON looks like he is also struggling, although not quite as much. ARENSMAN and KOZHATAYEV are leading the line; MUNOZ and RAILEANU are also among those being dropped.
ARENSMAN clearly saved energy for the final kick upwards, whereas most everybody else did not. The exceptions are SMITH, PRIMOZIC and PENASA; all of whom are progressing forwards as well. Mike Aaron EGGER is well within reach, desperately trying to cross the final few hundred metres to the finish.
EGGER does manage to hold on to second. He might have managed more if he hadn't been so interested in picking up KOM points. He can, at least, take solace in the fact that he will be wearing the polkadots tomorrow; even though JORGENSON has clinched the classification.
The fight for the final podium spot comes down to who can keep themselves out of the saddle for the longest; that award goes to Dion SMITH. Unfortunately for him, his profits are limited by the fact that the adjudicators don't award a time gap to ARENSMAN in 5th.
CARAPAZ tried to limit the damage as much as he could, but he still ended up losing more than a minute. That is already enough to drop him down to 4th and he'll be expecting to suffer even more tomorrow. JORGENSON, on the other hand, still holds on to all four classifications, although his lead to ARENSMAN has been reduced to just 28".
