Another day for sprinters in Mallorca. Van Asbroeck won yesterday but given how close the final sprint was, it is really hard to say who will be the favorite today, with the Belgian surely looking to keep the leader's jersey at the very least.
Vanderbergh and Kwiatkowski switch places in the Etixx train following yesterday's lead out problems, hoping that this time it will work out better for Matteo Trentin.
And it did as this time the last man in front of Trentin in the Etixx train, Yves Lampaert managed to put Trentin in a perfect position for the final sprint.
Under the flamme rouge, Trentin was leading the sprint quite comfortably, with only Edward Theuns looking to be strong enough to match the Italian's sprint.
Could it be the second victory of the season for Trentin?
But the final kilometer proved that both Trentin and Theuns launched their sprints way too early as they drowned in the sea of sprinters that came behind them.
Giacomo Nizzolo proved to be the fastest in the end and took the stage win in front of Daniele Bennati and yesterday's runner - up, Sam Bennett. Van Asbroeck missed out on the top 10 today, allowing Nizolo to take the lead in the general classification.
No one was able to match Nizzolo's speed in the final meters
It's time for the queen stage of the race in Mallorca, with a very hard climb that ends with less than 20 kilometers before the finish line. Given the profile of the last kilometers, this stage seems to be perfect for someone like Vincenzo Nibali.
Sky did an amazing job controlling the race on the final climb, with Swift, Roche and Porte actually distancing themselves from the rest of the pack at some point. Astana were careful though and quickly brought the British trio back.
Still, when it was time for the attacks, no one had a match to Richie Porte's acceleration, who seems to be in some good form after his win in the Aussie Championships. The Sky rider was first at the top of the climb.
Richie Porte preparing to descent
Kwiatek felt good on the last climbs and he was the third best rider at the top of the climb, behind Porte and Laurens Ten Dam, with a deficit of almost one minute to the Aussie Champion.
The World Champion is a better descender than Ten Dam and he soon caught the Dutch rider. But with Ten Dam clearly not enjoying today's final kilometers, Kwiatkowski was soon force to take the chase on his own.
Kwiatkowski wasn't the fasters rider on the descent though. That award went to Thomas De Gendt, who seems to have recovered very fast from his trip back from Argentina. The Lotto rider caught Kwiatek in the closing kilometers of the stage.
Mad descend skills for De Gendt
Richie Porte didn't descend too bad either and he managed to keep some of the lead that he had at the top of the climb to claim the stage victory and the leader's jersey.
Plenty climbing in the last day of racing in Mallorca, but with the last climb being place at more than 50 kilometers from the finish line, it is very unlikely we will see any moves from the GC contenders, which is more than great news for the current leader, Richie Porte.
Despite putting up a great fight, the breakaway was caught in the closing kilometers of the stage, leaving the stage win to be decided between the approximately 30 riders who survived in the pack the hilly terrains of today's stage.
Kwiatkowsi and Trentin were among them so it was the Pole who tried to but Matteo in the best position possible for the final sprint. Kwiatek had such a strong rhythm that only LL Sanchez, Swift and Nizzolo were able to keep up with.
This was great news for the World Champion as it meant that not only he was not only fighting for Trentin's stage win but for himself as well, with the overall win now very much in his reach.
Five riders to sprint for today's win
The trip back from Argentina seems to have affected Trentin's legs, who wasn't able to get the speed that was needed for the stage win, which was going to be decided between Ben Swift and Nizzolo.
Stage win number two for Nizzolo or for Sky?
Despite a strong effort from Nizzolo in the closing meters it was Ben Swift who was celebrating the victory on the finish line, with both Etixx riders missing out on the stage's podium behind him.
Swift proving that Sky are not all about the mountains
The gap between the leading five riders and leader's group was only 31 seconds, which meant that Kwiatkowski came 7 seconds short of winning the overall. Would have been a lovely start of the season for the current World Champion.
Richie Porte looking at his team - mates, who were celebrating in the crowd
After failing to win the opening World Tour race in his home country, Michael Matthews is back in Europe and he looks like a huge favorite to win this year's GP La Marseillaise. The Etixx line-up reminds us that it won't be long until we will kick off the northern classics season with Terpstra, Boonen and Stybar all riding here.
Etixx
1. Zdenek Stybar
2. Tom Boonen
3. Maxime Bouet
4. Gianluca Brambilla
5. Iljo Keisse
6. Nikolas Maes
7. Niki Terpstra
8. Martin Velits
Race
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Category
1.1
Info
Our Tour Down Under squad is still in Australia for this one day race, which doesn't have a lot of important names at the start, giving us a good chance to put another win in our basket.
With the road constantly going up and down, it was quite a nervous race in France which brought the inevitable crashes in the pack. The most important victim was the race's biggest favorite, Michael Matthews, who hit the tarmac with 20 kilometers to go.
Matthews' race was ruined by a crash
On the last uphill section of the day, a group of 5 riders got clear of the pack: Meintjes, Vuillermoz, Pinot, Navardauskas and Terpstra. Behind them, Stybar, Adam Yates and Boonen were also making a break for it.
The strongest men of the race, led by Meintjes
Navardauskas was clearly the best sprinter in the group and he knew that. Knowing that he is so much faster than the others, he even put himself in the most dangerous position - leading the group as they approached the last kilometer.
Navardauskas leading the sprint, with Terpstra in his wheel
Terpstra tried to follow Navardauskas, but the former Dutch champion had no chance to match Navardauskas' acceleration, who claimed his first win of the season.
At flat race at the first sight, but the sprinters won't be very pleased when they will see the very short climbs, but steep on the route.
It was on one of those climbs where Alaphilippe managed to get a gap to the rest of the pack, despite not making an acceleration and just climbing at his own pace.
Orica trying to bring Alaphilippe back
As he was about to enter the last 5 kilometers of the race, the Frenchman caught Tiesj Benoot, who had attacked previously. Benoot didn't seem to have a lot of energy left as it was only Alaphilippe who was working for the next kilometers.
Still, with the flamme rouge in sight, Alaphilippe let Benoot take the lead of the group, while the Etixx rider patiently waiting in the second position.
Let the games begin!
Benoot sensed the danger though and he slowed down as he dragged Alaphillipe to the right side of the road, near the barriers. This proved to be bad game of cat and mouse as it allowed the guys behind them to gain back the deficit they had.
Movistar's Fran Ventoso was flying in the closing meters of the race
A very bad move indeed as Ventoso had a fantastic sprint in the last kilometer and had no problem in catching and overtaking the leading duo to claim yet another win for Movistar in Australia, following Valverde's success in Tour Down Under.
Kittel, Cavendish, Sagan and Hofland are the biggest names on the startlist, which means that we are in for some very interesting sprints. Despite not having Tony Martin here, Cavendish will have a very strong train with Renshaw, Boonen, Terpstra and Stybar.
As it turns out, I still have no idea how to play team time - trials. And instead of having my team break apart during the stage and finishing last 2 minutes behind the winner or so, I'd rather simulate these stages.
And it worked out quite well for Etixx in Dubai, who won the stage and with some quite big time gaps to the other teams.
A mass sprint finish was inevitable in the second stage of the Dubai Tour and everybody was keen to see the battle between Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish, the fastest guys in the pack at the moment.
After Van Keirsbulck and Terpstra's effort, it was time for Stybar to do his job and the Czech national champion did not disappoint putting our train in a perfect position, despite Giant's Koen De Kort trying mess around.
When Tom Boonen started the sprint with 3 kilometers to go, only Ben Swift was able to stay in Cavendish wheel, with the Giant train caught a meters behind.
Sinkeldam did an amazing job making up the lost ground. It came with a price though as Marcel Kittel lost his wheel, putting Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish in a great position under the flamme rouge.
Kittel was desperately trying to get back in contention and eventually he did, but it was too late for him to beat the Etixx duo who were storming towards the finish line.
And it was a fantastic double for Etixx, with Cavendish first and Renshaw second, with the Brit also taking over the race lead from his team - mate, Tom Boonen.
Today's stage seems to be the hardest one of the race with uphill sections along the way, including one at the finish, which means Mark Cavendish might have a much tougher time winning that he did yesterday.
At the top of the only categorized climb of the day (and of the race) an interesting group of riders got clear off the pack. It included names such as Sagan, Kittel, Vanmarcke and Swift.
Kittel was able to follow the strongest riders in the race on the third category climb
With such a long way until the finish, it wasn't a hard task for the peloton led by Etixx to bring them back and have the stage end in the much expected mass sprint.
But the race proved to be very hard to control in the final kilometers and despite having control of the pack, only Stybar and Boonen were there with Cavendish inside the final 5 kilometers of the stage.
This was definitely not good news for Etixx more so as neither Cavendish nor Boonen seem to have a good day, which allowed Giant to put Kittel in the leading seat with 1 kilometer left.
Sagan loves this kind of finishes though and he managed to gain back the meters he had lost due to bad positioning inside the last kilometer giving Kittel a real sweat for the stage win.
Kittel trying to hold on for the stage win
But it was more than just a sweat as the Slovakian managed to grab the stage win, overtaking Kittel right on the finish line. They were't awarded a time gap though, which means that Etixx retain the first 8 places in the GC going into the final stage.
Sagan winning, something you don't see happening a lot lately
The Dubai Tour will end with a short flat stage, which should be heaven for sprinters such as Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish. While the later has already got a stage win and holds the leader's jersey, the German is still in search for a stage win, having finished third in the second stage and second yesterday.
With such a short distance (slightly over 100km) it was a very nervous race and it was not easy to find a good position in the pack. This was perhaps best shown by the fact that Renshaw and Cavendish were caught behind, while their team - mates were trying to set up the train at the front of the pack.
Stybar pulling for... well, no one, apparently
Stybar, Terpstra and Boonen had to drop back and regroup, which allowed Kittel's strain to take over the pack and give the German the first option for the stage win.
Inside the last kilometer, it was clear that Cavendish will not be able to contest the stage win as we has caught too far behind from Kittel who seemed to have no opposition today.
And Kittel finally got his stage win, followed by Blythe and Farrar. Despite being on the podium in all three stages except the opening TTT, Kittel failed to break into the top 20, taking home the points jersey as a consolation prize though.
Cavendish was only 10th today, but that obviously didn't stop him from winning the general classification. In fact, it's a fantastic result for Etixx, who take the first 6 places in the GC due to their TTT performance. After 3 days of hard working at the front of the pack, Sabatini and Vermote weren't able to keep up the pace in the final kilometers today and dropped way down in the overall rankings.
Kittel, Cavendish and Hofland stay in Asia for another race filled with sprint opportunities. A few more quality sprinter joined them for this in Van Poppel, Nizzolo, Demare and Kittel's team - mate John Degenkolb.
The first of many completely flat stages in Qatar. It won't be easy for the sprinters as the wind is known for causing trouble in this part of the World.
Terpstra did an amazing job pulling the Etixx train and with 5 kilometers to go, a gap was created between a group of 8 riders and the rest of the pack. The group was made by Terpstra, Stybar, Boonen, Renshaw, Cavendish, Bennati, Farrar and Hofland.
Having Terpstra and Stybar in the front with such a short distance before the finish line, allowed Boonen to start his sprint later than originally planned.
This meant that Renshaw started his work only in the last kilometer and the Aussie had a fantastic sprint, being hard even for Cavendish to overtake him.
And in fact, Cavendish did not overtake him. Not strong enough or just gifting the stage win? Doesn't matter, what matter is that Renshaw takes the stage and the leader's jersey. No time gap was registered between the front group and the pack though.
