We have three flat stage left in the race with stage 8 only just creeping over 100kms, this should be an easy enough day for the pack.
We have the last mountain prime today, it would be a surprise to see any changes at the top of the standings with Iglinski looking set to take that crown. Young Aaron Gate moved himself up to third place yesterday and he’ll have to watch out for a few names in order to defend that position.
The sprinters though will be the ones who have slogged their guts out over Genting and the hilly bookends to get here and have their three stage party. Roelandts and Bazajev were in the first large group yesterday and sprinted it out up the front, so they look the freshest over other former stage winners Guarnieri and Lo Cicero.
Oh and it’s a windy day too.
Three riders decide to brave the humid winds today in the break
Cisco and JK Cycling are showing off their colours again through Possoni and Jang. Delgerbayar is the Oz cycling rider, Possoni is 29th on GC perhaps a bit further back than a rider of his climbing skills should be.
The Italian like his breakaway companions don't worry too much about the first two sprint primes these were the results.
Armavia are dominating the chase, you’d think these last three stages are just Lo Cicero’s type of parcours.
Up the categorised climb we go and Possoni as by far the best climber of the three sticks it in a nice gear and lead the trio up it.
This then will have no impact on the King of the Mountains standings and Iglinski who took 2nd in Genting and points thanks to attacking riding in stage 5 will get the jersey for keeps at the end of today.
He sits near the head of affairs in the pack, just behind Castano.
Why might you think are ING leading the pack? Well the gap to the break has grown back out and with 40km to go it is nearly 7 minutes. The wind means the sprinters teams don’t fancy it.
The final hotspot sprint is rolled through by our lead trio with Jang ‘winning’ it over Delgerbayar and Possoni. But the prize for a stage win will surely be fought harder for. Though the three are not yet guaranteed the stage win as their lead has drastically reduced to just over three minutes with 20km left.
The work has been done by Armavia, Bouygues and Vespa with the wind just dropping slightly the three teams decide to give it a go after all.
ING are also helping out in part as the GC leaders team but also for Bazajev.
It’s a pretty tight chase though as with 10km to go the break still have 1.45.
The wind has just eased up again, Possoni knows there is barely any rises in the finale and uses the last softly increasing gradient between 8 and 6km to go to attack Delgerbayar and Jang.
Tony Martin powers at the front of the pack with Roelandts not too far from the front, he will need to launch a long sprint to take this one you think,
3.5km to go and Possoni has 25 seconds on his former breakaway companions and just over a minute on the Bouygues led pack.
Martin and Weylandt are leading out Roelandts with Lorenzetto, Guarnieri and Torckler getting in the wheels.
Crespo, Murray, Bouhanni and Lo Cicero are a bit further back.
Roelandts however has to launch very early with about 2.5km to go, Lorenzetto, Guarnieri look to try to follow.
It’s impossible though surely to catch Possini who is at the kite with nearly a minutes advantage.
Jang goes under the kite now leaving behind Delgerbeyer with less of a cushion to the sprinters
Guarnieri cannot live with Lorenzetto or Roelandts in a long one and drops back as Torckler overtakes.
Possoni though celebrates a stage own as well as a small GC bump.
Jang and Delgerbayar also hold their podium spots with Roelandts staying ahead of his shadow Lorenzetto.
Torckler just beats Bazajev and Guarnieri to the line with Castano and Iglinski not to far away.
A much tougher day than first thought there with the wind really blowing towards the end.
Stage results
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
2h19'44
2
Gyung Gu Jang
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
+ 28
3
Sonomtseren Delgerbayar
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
4
Jurgen Roelandts
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
5
Mirko Lorenzetto
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
6
Michael Torckler
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
7
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
8
Jacopo Guarnieri
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
9
Evgeni Popov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
10
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
11
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
12
Blaise Sonnery
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
13
Adrien Niyonshuti
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
14
Gustav Larsson
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
15
Rick Zabel
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
16
Rafael Andriato
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
17
Wouter Weylandt
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
18
Dimitri Jiriakov
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
19
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
20
Thomas Murray
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
21
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
22
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
23
Simon Gerrans
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
24
Johann Rabie
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
25
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
26
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
27
Ivano Lo Cicero
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
28
Tom David
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
29
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
31
Taiji Nishitani
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
32
Nino Schurter
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
33
Nacer Bouhanni
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
34
Simon Galle
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
35
Simone Masciarelli
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
36
Adrien Petit
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
37
Kin-San Wu
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
38
Eric Baumann
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
39
Anuar Manan
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
40
José Serpa
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
41
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
42
Meiyin Wang
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
43
Heiko Redecker
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
44
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
45
Andriy Khripta
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
46
Mauro Richeze
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
47
Hossein Nateghi
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
48
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
49
Nariyuki Masuda
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
50
Edward King
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
51
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
52
Matteo Priamo
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
53
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
54
Pieter Jacobs
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
55
Roman Kilun
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
56
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
57
Adrian Laidler
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
58
Oleksandr Lobov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
59
Simon Yates
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
60
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
61
Danilo Di Luca
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
62
Craig Lewis
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
63
Chen Shikai
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
64
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
65
Xavier Quevedo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
66
Geert Van der Sanden
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
67
Tom Scully
Oz Cycling Project
s.t.
68
Louis Meintjes
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
69
Mikhel Ronimois
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
70
Suk-Young Choi
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
71
Yeison Delgado
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
72
Daniel Vesely
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
73
Luca Ascani
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
74
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
75
Maxime Daniel
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
76
Aleksandr Bespalov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
77
Joshua Edmondson
Meiji - Cannondale
s.t.
78
Marco Osella
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Sam Harrison
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
80
Roberto Ferrari
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
81
Joost Van Leijen
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
82
Óscar Pereiro Sio
Control Team
s.t.
83
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
84
Daniel Ricardo Diaz
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
85
Kristoffer Skjerping
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
86
Ben King
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
87
Chun Kai Feng
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
88
Daniel Schorn
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
89
Dylan Groenewegen
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
90
David Garbelli
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
91
Ralf Matzka
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
92
Clément Lhotellerie
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
93
Michael Hepburn
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
94
Denis Vorontsov
LukOil-Rostelekom
s.t.
95
Michael Schwarzmann
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
96
Daniele Di Nucci
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
97
Johannes Christofel Nel
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
98
Fabio Aru
ING Cycling - Project
s.t.
99
Georg Preidler
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
100
Josh Atkins
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
101
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
102
Dennis Van Niekerk
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
s.t.
103
Karel Hnik
Cisco Cycling Team
s.t.
104
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
105
James Oram
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
s.t.
106
Nicolas Brolin
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
107
Vassilis Adamou
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
108
Fernando Briceno
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
109
Romain Bardet
Evian-MIAT
s.t.
110
Pablo Andres Alarcon
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
111
Stefano Locatelli
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
112
Victor Shishelov
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
113
Benedikt Mundle
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
114
Hugues Mottin
Bouygues Telecom
s.t.
115
Kenji Itami
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
s.t.
116
Aleksei Bauer
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 4'01
117
Javier Joaquin Navarro
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
s.t.
118
Phan Age Haugard
VolksWagen-Mapei
s.t.
119
Andrea Dal Col
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
s.t.
120
Giacomo Scarponi
Sauber Petronas Racing
s.t.
GC
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
29h04'51
2
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 11
3
José Serpa
Evian-MIAT
+ 54
4
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
+ 2'09
5
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 2'35
6
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 3'18
7
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 5'01
8
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
+ 5'02
9
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
+ 5'07
10
Gustav Larsson
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 5'14
11
Adrien Niyonshuti
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 5'21
12
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Oz Cycling Project
+ 5'52
13
Yeison Delgado
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 6'18
14
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
+ 6'39
15
Andriy Khripta
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 6'41
16
Dimitri Jiriakov
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 9'09
17
Marco Osella
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 9'31
18
Roman Kilun
Oz Cycling Project
+ 11'24
19
Nariyuki Masuda
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
+ 11'36
20
Amir Mustafa Rusli
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 12'06
21
Georg Preidler
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 13'17
22
Denis Vorontsov
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 14'41
23
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
+ 15'26
24
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
+ 16'01
25
Kin-San Wu
Oz Cycling Project
+ 17'05
26
Nino Schurter
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 17'13
27
Craig Lewis
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 18'03
28
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
+ 18'14
29
Louis Meintjes
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 18'57
30
Michael Torckler
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
+ 19'22
31
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 20'06
32
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
+ 20'16
33
Mikhel Ronimois
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 20'23
34
Blaise Sonnery
Evian-MIAT
+ 20'29
35
Simon Gerrans
Oz Cycling Project
+ 20'55
36
Johann Rabie
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 20'58
37
Yousef Mirza Banihammad
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'36
38
Meiyin Wang
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'52
39
Chun Kai Feng
PFG-Armavia
+ 21'54
40
Vassilis Adamou
PFG-Armavia
+ 22'18
41
Danilo Di Luca
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
+ 23'19
42
Edward King
ING Cycling - Project
+ 23'33
43
Chen Shikai
Meiji - Cannondale
+ 24'10
44
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
+ 24'20
45
Jurgen Roelandts
Bouygues Telecom
+ 25'34
46
Simon Galle
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 26'56
47
Nicolas Brolin
Vattenfall Cycling
+ 27'43
48
Stefano Locatelli
Bouygues Telecom
+ 27'46
49
Evgeni Popov
LukOil-Rostelekom
+ 27'54
50
Pablo Andres Alarcon
PFG-Armavia
+ 28'00
Points
Roelandts again the best of the sprinters who in order to make moves really need to be catching the breakaways. Jang moves into 7th.
Rank
Name
Team
Points
General
1
Jurgen Roelandts
Bouygues Telecom
14
113
2
Assan Bazajev
ING Cycling - Project
9
73
3
Jacopo Guarnieri
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
8
66
4
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
5
56
5
Mirko Lorenzetto
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
12
54
6
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
0
52
7
Gyung Gu Jang
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
36
46
8
Tony Martin
Bouygues Telecom
0
45
9
Ivano Lo Cicero
PFG-Armavia
0
45
10
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
6
43
11
Josh Atkins
Cisco Cycling Team
0
40
12
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
0
36
13
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
0
35
14
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
33
33
15
Michael Torckler
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
10
31
16
Gustav Larsson
Vattenfall Cycling
2
30
17
Carlos Alexandre Manarelli
Evian-MIAT
0
29
18
Sonomtseren Delgerbayar
Oz Cycling Project
28
28
19
Jean-Christophe Peraud
Oz Cycling Project
0
26
20
Rick Zabel
VolksWagen-Mapei
1
25
KoM
Congratulations to Iglinski who just has to finish the race to take the mountains jersey.
Rank
Name
Team
Mountain
General
1
Maxim Iglinski
LukOil-Rostelekom
0
30
2
Carlos Castaño
ING Cycling - Project
0
24
3
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
0
16
4
Benedikt Mundle
Sauber Petronas Racing
0
14
5
José Serpa
Evian-MIAT
0
12
6
Dimitri Jiriakov
Sauber Petronas Racing
0
12
7
Stefan Kung
Sauber Petronas Racing
0
11
8
Josh Atkins
Cisco Cycling Team
0
11
9
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
0
11
10
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
0
10
11
Maxime Daniel
Evian-MIAT
0
10
12
Jianhua Ji
Meiji - Cannondale
0
8
13
Alex Ardila Cano
Repsol-Cativen
0
6
14
Chun Kai Feng
PFG-Armavia
0
6
15
Joost Van Leijen
Team UPC - Boehringer-Ingelheim
0
6
16
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
0
5
17
Moris Possoni
Cisco Cycling Team
5
5
18
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
0
4
19
Clément Lhotellerie
Bouygues Telecom
0
4
20
Gyung Gu Jang
Japanese - Korean Cycling Project
3
4
21
Aleksandr Dyachenko
Cisco Cycling Team
0
3
22
Mauro Richeze
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
0
3
23
Johannes Christofel Nel
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
0
3
24
Marco Osella
Cisco Cycling Team
0
2
25
Simone Masciarelli
ING Cycling - Project
0
2
26
David Garbelli
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
0
2
27
Hugues Mottin
Bouygues Telecom
0
2
28
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Aprilia Racing
0
1
29
Adrian Laidler
Oz Cycling Project
0
1
30
Sonomtseren Delgerbayar
Oz Cycling Project
1
1
Youth
Name
Team
General Time
Vadim Ratiy
VolksWagen-Mapei
29h07'26 (1)
Hossein Alizadeh
Sauber Petronas Racing
+ 43 (2)
Georg Preidler
VolksWagen-Mapei
+ 10'42 (3)
Aaron Gate
Team Cadbury - Schweppes
+ 12'51 (4)
Louis Meintjes
MTN - World Bicycle Relief
+ 16'22 (5)
Teams
A small gain for Cisco but not enough to really threaten the top three.