There's lots of hills on the road to Cannes, but a flat finish may mean gaps are hard to come by. Can today buck the trend? And can Trofimov be beaten?
The early Cat 3 climb is a good chance to see who is feeling aggressive today. And the answer is Nico Keinath.
Poor race for B&O so far - time to make amends? Coppel takes 2nd as Milka bid to take something from this race, while picking up some points for 3rd is Deignan - to further extend his big lead in the KoM competition.
As things settle down a little and we reach the intermediate sprint, Keinath has a solo lead of 1 minute.
Chasing him are: Wynants Poels Einsle Van Hoff Craven Vichot
They are a further 40 seconds ahead of the peloton, and so could form a strong group when they link up with Keinath.
But will they catch Keinath? It seems not. As the Dane extends the gap to them, they actually find themselves being caught by the peloton. So a solo breakaway it is.
Keinath may be 7 minutes down, but many teams don't wish to see him in the break and are chasing. Pendleton's, Pearl Adidas, Simply Red Bull and Vueling Airlines.
They're chasing, but its not working. Keinath's lead pushes out to over 3 and a half minutes.
Next up are 4 Category 2 climbs in quick succession. 40 points for winning them all, and suddenly Keinath is moving into King of the Mountains contention. Others attack behind for the points, but don't press on with their moves. (Not necesarilly out of choice either)
The order at those 4 Cat 2s:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Keinath
Craven
Pichon
Serrano
Keinath
Craven
Coppel
Juul-Jensen
Keinath
Coppel
Juul-Jensen
Craven
Keinath
Craven
Coppel
Juul-Jensen
Keinath now moves to 46 points - compared to Deignan's 70. The Irishman could have done with contesting the minor points at those climbs, his lead is not safe!
But it is a constant fight for him to remain clear of the peloton, his gap standing at 2 minutes now - and with various riders attacking from the bunch.
Moinard Bilbao Simon Hivert Geslin Ignatiev Craven
All try to go clear on the 6th categorised climb of the day, but can't manage to make it last. Keinath picks up 6 more points, with Craven 2nd and Moinard 3rd.
We head towards the big climb of the day, the 1st Cat. Col du Bourrigaille. Berthou and Offredo are pounding away at the front of the peloton along with Koenigsegg. Pearl Adidas have taken on a lot of responsibility for leading the peloton in this race - nobody is really sure why.
Ignatiev, Hivert, Simon and Bilbao attack again - this time joined by Mollemma. But again, it seems that only Nico Keinath has that special ability to actually stay clear of the peloton.
Time for the big guns then as Luis Leon Sanchez attacks! 5th overall, he would like to move up to the podium - and while this is the hardest climb of the day, it does seem a little early to be attacking with 60km to the finish line!
Cobo goes after Sanchez, and now the race is really set alight with attacks by Schumacher and Trofimov!
Keinath reaches the summit to collect 16 more points - he is now just 2 behind Deignan.
Spanish duo Cobo and Sanchez trail at 1'40, while surprisingly, Schumacher and Trofimov's attack has not worked. Trofimov being caught when Jerome Coppel attacks past him as the Frenchman, Craven and Juul-Jensen battle for minor KoM points yet again. Coppel crossed 2nd, with Trofimov 3rd, and Craven 4th.
A Cat 3 follows soon after. This gives Keinath the lead in the KoM jersey, while Sorensen has now joined Sanchez and Cobo. They are 1'25 behind Keinath, and 39 seconds clear of the peloton.
They are caught on the descent though. and a short uphill section halfway down the descent allows a new attack to go clear: Roux.
Going alone is the way to do it today, and Roux starts to move over a minute clear of the peloton closing in on Keinath.
Sorensen, Sanchez and Cobo attack again - this time joined by Gastauer and Diggle.
The 2nd intermediate sprint of the day is near. Keinath takes 1st, Roux takes 2nd and 4 bonus seconds that put him on the same time overall as Gastauer - a battle for 9th in GC. Sorensen and Diggle are to battle for the final 2 seconds - seconds that could put Diggle above Monfort and into 6th overall.
Unfortunately for the Brit, Sorensen edges it - not that they will help out the Festina rider too much since his nearest rival in GC, Roux, gained more here.
The relentless pace continues and Diggle and Sorensen are brought back into the peloton. The gaps are ever decreasing: Keinath
+ 30: Roux
+ 50:
57 man peloton
New attacks go and Trofimov is making another move, this time following Margaliot.
But he doesnt seem as dangerous today, and cannot find a way to go clear. Shortly after Luis Leon Sanchez attacks again and does get away, soon bridging the now 40 second gap held by Roux.
Phinney likes the look of that, and so also attacks.
And after a good 160km of solo riding, Keinath finally has company - with just 27km to go. A huge ride by him considering the peloton never let him lead by more than 3 and a half minutes. It is Roux and Sanchez who have caught him, and Phinney makes it 4 soon after.
The final categorised climb is upon us, and just 30 seconds separates the 4 leaders and the peloton (now down to 46 riders).
Four soon becomes three, but rather than Keinath it is Roux who is dropped!
Meanwhile Lotto-Cervelo are shredding the remaining peloton to pieces: Cobo, De la Fuente and team leader Monfort all at the front here - with Cunego and Schumacher both well placed.
Schumacher attacks! Trofimov tries to follow as does Monfort , but while they do gap the peloton, he cannot match the German!
Schumacher closes in on the leaders as we reach the top of the climb. Phinney leads over from Sanchez and then Schumacher.
Fourth over the summit was Trofimov, trailing by 20 seconds, but that is wiped out on the descent, and infact they are all brought back to a reduced peloton of 30.
Siutsou tries to attack away, and before we get a chance to see just which 30 have made it, we are down to 28.
Very embarrassing for Simply Red Bull as their loaned in youngster Bennett has collided with their team leader 14th overall Margaliot.
Margaliot finds himself in a chasing group of 6. Craven and Coppel are here - too much energy expended on KoM point attacks it seems. Also Zahner, Castroviejo and ... Sorensen! The Festina rider had been looking good today, and was in 11th overall but is in trouble now. The only good news for him is that Margaliot won't be overtaking him in GC anymore. The Kiwi Bennett has injured himself it seems and drops further back after the crash.
Back to the front group then. Now 28 - and Siutsou's move went nowhere - and they are: Mollema, Pichon Anza, Danacik, Trofimov Cobo, De la Fuente, Monfort Vastaranta Silva, Siutsou Sanchez, Simon Moinard Keinath, Klemme Bilbao, Roux Lebas, Dekker Schumacher Gastauer Diggle, Ignatiev, Wyss Pinot, Phinney, Summerhill
With 11km to go, Gastauer and Ignatiev try to attack away.
But Trofimov has two teammates here, Anza and Danacik therefore chase it down.
But when Ignatiev goes again, a few kilometres later, he gets a gap! A very well timed move so close to the finish.
And still he leads with 2.5km to go, as team helpers Lebas and Silva open the sprint behind.
It was a good 30 second gap for the Russian, but that has been halved by 1km to go as Phinney and Trofimov charge after him.
If anyone could stay away, surely it would be time triallist Ignatiev - but it seems not as Trofimov closes in on him in his pursuit of 5 in a row.
At 400 metres to go, sure enough Trofimov has reached the back wheel of Ignatiev. But so has the Flying Finn Jukka Vastaranta! Julien Simon is also in the mix.
Ignatiev has ridden aggressively throughout today, and that might just have cost him today as he is caught so close to the line (although infact the finish line is wrongly placed).
And it is not to be a Russian victory today at all, as Vastaranta finally shows us what Pearl have been working for!
Vastaranta won a stage in Paris-Nice last year, and has done it once again. Trofimov must settle for the unfamiliar position of 2nd, while Phinney closes the gap to Schumacher by taking 3rd.
4th for Simon, while Ignatiev must settle for 5th. Schumacher, De la Fuente, Summerhill, Cobo and Wyss complete the Top 10.
All 28 finish on the same time - including, just, Gastauer who had a horrific final 3km sprinting backwards and being close to losing time.
Margaliot and Sorensen's group rolls in at 2'29. Sorensen falls below Lebas and Silva to 13th overall, while Margaliot is now behind Vastaranta at 15th overall.
Nico Keinath is well rewarded today with his brilliant ride. Time bonuses lift him up 5 places to 16th in GC, and he takes the lead of the King of the Mountains competition - 4 points infront of Deignan.
Phinney remains best young rider, but it is all change in the teams classification. Wikipedia, Lotto-Cervelo, Wiggle and Koenigsegg all got 3 riders into the front group and now are the 4 best teams here - with Lotto on top of the standings.
