Rated as flat but the hills on route are not to be underestimated and today will not necessarily be a sprinters paradise.
We started with a 13 rider attack but they were caught and many went off again in a 15 rider attack this time.
8 of the 15 got a gap - including last seasons breakaway King where a breakaway helped him to overall victory in this very country (Giro del Capo) IrnBru's Ivan Seledkov, plus Rooijackers, Vermeltfoort, Tankink, Boonratanathanakorn, Broers, Passalacqua and Machado.
Zaugg, Haueisen, Longo Borghini and Olman then increased the group size to 12 as they build a lead of 1'45
But thats not all. Parra Bustamente, Cardoso and Mares now are attacking
And more 12km later, Dan Martin leads the new attempt to bridge across followed by Vorganov, Ochoa Quintero and Bole
They pick up Cardoso who had lost contact with Parra B. and Mares as the latter 2 reached the front group, and they too make the junction to increase the size of the breakaway group to 19
With so many riders, not all are relaying as we hit the toughest climb of the day, midway through the stage, Zaugg leading the way
Dan Martin takes over the pace setting and some of the weaker climbers feel the pressure. Off the back go Cardoso, Machado, Boonratanathanakorn, Olman and Broers
Martin isnt done though as he continues to set the pace
Parra Bustamente, Mares, Passalacqua and Zaugg are dropped near the top as we head into the descent
Tankink and Ochoa Quintero come to help Martin as these 10 pull away from the other 9
But Tankink is caught out as Martin increases the tempo once again. Only Vorganov, Bole, Ochoa Quintero and Vermeltfoort can follow the Irish champion
Vermeltfoot is then dropped from the front 5 aswell as they take on a long descent
The 10 come back together and most now seem happy to relay - all except Vermeltfoort who seems to be having a hard enough time to keep up as it is, and Longo Borghini who is making no friends with his tactic of joining the relay train until halfway up when he then drops to the back of the line again
Starbucks, BMC and Energie Diesel lead the chase - surprisingly no presence from the race leaders team Wii Racing, but only with 30 km to go are they approaching the capture of the 9 dropped riders
Up front and again Dan Martin is pushing the pace. With a lead of 3 minutes with 25km to go, this is shaping up to be a close one
Under the 20km banner now and theyve only lost about 10 seconds in those last 5km
The up and down nature of the finish is not aiding the chasing pack, unable to get up to full chasing speed and make an impact on the gap
And with 12km to go it seems the break are now turning their attention from survival to stage victory as Tankink attacks
A descent gets in the way of the move making any progress though
LEGO - Capri Sonne are the only team with 2 riders in the break and looking to make use of that, Rooijackers attacks
Longo Borghini has followed him
Unsurprisingly Longo Borghini is able to pull away - not because he is a better rider but because he hasnt put in any serious effort for at least 40km when Dan Martin had split this group of 10 for a few km.
Rooijackers is going to be caught by the other 8
But they seem to be battling for 2nd now, unable to close in on Longo Borghini
The Wal-Mart rider celebrates stage victory
As Ochoa Quintero sprints in for 2nd ahead of Seledkov, Martin, Haueisen and Bole
Due to the split on Stage 1, Ochoa, Seledkov, Rooijackers, Tankink and Vorganov will not move up particularly on GC - but the other 5 will takeover the Top 5 spots.
In the young rider jersey rather than the Cuban one, Granjel Cabrera leads in the peleton just over a minute after the break
