Some bumps towards the end will amke this stage interesting. Look for Evaldas Siskevicius to take his chances. The terrain suits him, and he has been looking in good form so far.
Hampton from Halfords takes off alone, and has a nice lead.
Only Ekspla related action is that Mike Firedman is battling for points during the stages sprints. And he manages to pick up some points.
In the stage finale, Evaldas Siskevicius managed to sit with the yellow jersey group.
Slovenian favourite Blaz Furdi manages to take the win in a rather exciting stage finish.
Top 10 and Ekspla-Cision riders:
1
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
4h00'25
2
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 13
3
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
4
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
s.t.
5
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 31
6
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 43
7
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
8
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
+ 58
9
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
32. Alexander Porsev +5'54''
42. Johan Broberg +7'54''
43. Mike Friedman s.t.
44. ANdrei Krasilnikau +8'03''
52. Alex Meenhorst +8'45''
58. Mattia Gavazzi +13'08''
This stage makes big changes in the GC.
1
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
15h39'12
2
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 21
3
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
+ 33
4
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 51
5
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
+ 58
6
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
s.t.
7
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
+ 1'03
8
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 1'18
10
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
Siskevicius is looking good in 9th place and must certainly aim to climb higher.
The start of the argentinian stage race is for the sprinters.
Ekspla-Cision has sent the following riders to Argentina.
161. Sergey Rudaskov
162. Ingus Eislers
163. Logan Hutchings
164. Gert Joeaar
165. Vitauskas Kaupas
166. Algirdas Mockus
167. Aleksei Saramotins
Vitauskas Kaupas is looking to make the race exciting from the start, and decides to take off after a few kilometres. Unfortunately, nobody follows him, so he must make a one man effort.
At the highest point of the stage Kaupas has a lead of more than 4 minutes.
Kaupas is down to 1'30'' when they hit the final sprint of the day, but he bounces back to more than two minutes. Is this meant to be?
As they near the finish Kaupas is down to 10 seconds, so latvian sprinter Aleksei Saramotins places himself for the finish.
300 metres from the finish line Kaupas is overtaken. What an excellent effort from the lithuanian.
Despite the so close yet so far Kaupas effort. Saramotins manages to get a second place for the team. A small consolation for a team that nearly tasted victory.
Top 10 and Ekspla-Cision riders:
1
Mirko Lorenzetto
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
3h41'55
2
Aleksei Saramotins
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
4
Claudio Cucinotta
Rothaus - Aegon
s.t.
5
Honorio Machado
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
6
Luka Mezgec
Sram-Riboxx Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Saïd Haddou
Alstom-RBC
s.t.
8
Vitauskas Kaupas
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Gatis Smukulis
Sram-Riboxx Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Danilo Kupfernagel
AMEX Pro Cycling
s.t.
38. Gert Joeaar s.t.
47. Sergey Rudaskov s.t.
91. Ingus Eislers s.t.
97. Algirdas Mockus s.t.
Excellent effort by Kaupas to still finish 8th.
Saramotins is second and Kaupas third on the GC as well as in the points standing.
Tanguy was away all day in a one man break, and Friedman sprinted for points. Heard that story before?
In the hilly finale, Evaldas Sisikevicius helped put pressure on the leader.
Siskevisius joins and attack to gain time. The stage win is out of reach.
Top 10 and Ekspla-Cision riders:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
3h50'04
2
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 4'09
3
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
4
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
5
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
s.t.
7
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
+ 4'59
8
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 5'14
9
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
10
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
24. Alexander Porsev +6'11''
41. Mike Friedman +6'49''
45. Johan Broberg +7'44''
46. Andrei Krasilnikau s.t.
50. Mattia Gavazzi +10'07''
51. Alex Meenhorst s.t.
Siskevicius moves to 7th place in the GC. 2'02'' behind leader Michael Olsson.
The final stage in Brittany finished with some cobbled climbs. Should be interesting.
Although a breakaway made their mark on the day, Evaldas Siskevicius continued to show good form, and tried to attack for some KoM points.
Siskevicius has proven to be the teams only threat in the hills, and he continues to attack on the stage. Most likely to improve his standing in the GC.
Besides the two men in the break, the peloton surprisingly comes in all together.
Top 10 and Ekspla-Cision riders:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Guytan Lilholt
Vattenfall Cycling
4h36'24
2
Vojtech Hacecký
Kappa-ENI
+ 1'27
3
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
+ 6'40
4
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
5
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
6
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
s.t.
7
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
s.t.
38. Alex Meenhorst s.t.
39. Alexander Porsev s.t.
45. Mike Friedman s.t.
46. Krasilnikau s.t.
65. Johan Broberg s.t.
Final GC:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
29h06'30
2
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
+ 12
3
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
+ 21
4
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
+ 32
5
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 57
6
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
+ 1'58
7
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 2'02
8
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
+ 2'10
9
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 2'32
10
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
+ 2'33
22. Alexander Porsev +7'55''
39. Mike Friedman +10'09''
49. Johan Broberg +14'02''
50. Andrei Krasilnikau +14'11''
54. Alex Meenhorst 17'03''
57. Mattia Gavazzi +19'05''
Another notable result was, that Evaldas Siskevicius finished second overall in the youth competition.
Sergey Rudaskov
Ingus Eislers
Logan Hutchings
Gert Joeaar
Vitauskas Kaupas
