The Tour of Bulgaria concludes with a mountain-stage, which comes at 168km featuring two long climbs and a long descend close to the finish.
The GC's Top-10/20 is dominated by sprinters, escapees and a so far comfortable race-leading Eichler.. will all those non-climbers do stand a chance today or will the best climbers crush the competition?
First of all, there's some notable news regarding the KoM-competition: Altur (5th, 28 pts) attacked the peloton early into the stage, eventually becoming one of five riders to build the break of the day: Acevedo, Hermans, Hesjedal, Egger.
And Altur would score enough points to take the provisional KoM-lead: Altur 42 Dowsett 34 Manfred... with still one Category 1-climb on the menu today, this battle ain't over though.
Those escapees would also be caught by the bunch prior to this final climb, we now have 37km remaining and the riders still have about 12km to climb. The first serious moves:
Hirschlein, Kashechkin and Devolder! A few moments later, also Nieve will join this attacking group..
..and more to follow: Ghisalberti, local hero Panayotov, as well as Topchanyuk, Earle and Marzano!
Cataldo jumps behind this second group another moments later: with Ghisalberti struggling to follow group Panayotov, Cataldo already faces a minutes-gap on the leading four!
4.2km to the mountain-top, have we seen the crucial moves here?
Maybe... the race looks settled at this moment, where the attacking groups more and more give a clear picture, of who may be in the mix for the stage and GC-contention today.. 2.4km to the mountain-top, Kashechkin drops his companions easily:
Most notable names being dropped: GC's 5th Ulanowski, 7th Drujon, 15th Breschel... and as Kashechkin and the chasing groups would take the last mountain-points, there was no chance for Dowsett to re-take his lead.
Kashechkin kept growing his lead to about a minute on the first group... Marzano though won't give up yet, soloing away from group Panayotov/Topchanyuk, facing a 36"-gap with still 21km to go!
Back to the pelotn, which enters the lond descend with a 3'47"-disadvantage on Kashechkin! Race-leader Eichler survived this climb just like the mentioned names.. at this point, he will lose his yellow to Kashechkin though, as the 9 riders in front of the bunch all rank about + 1.30/40 in the GC..
13km remaining and it's Kashechkin versus Marzano for the stage-win... the latter is still 28" in arrears, with the next group (with Cataldo catching up) still at 1'10" on Kashechkin..
And Kashechkin holds on to a comfortable gap on solo-chasing Marzano, who finishes 48" behind today's solo-winner eventually. Given the latest gaps (the peloton did narrow the gap to about 3 minutes), this is likely to be the GC-win for the Kazakh. Well done!
+ 59" for the chasing group Topchanyuk, Nieve, Panayotov, Hirschlein, Devolder and Cataldo!
They will all hope for the bunch struggling to keep the gap under 3 minutes, as Eichler could well defend a Top-5 in GC that way...
+ 2'42" for the bunch, where Grosu wins the sprint for 9th place today (teammate Ghisalberti was swallowed on the descend)!
One of today's biggest news: Eichler, Guillén and Manfred finish safely in this big group. So some way better climbers like Cobo, Navarro or Eltink clearly missed a chance to go for more selection here..
..and this gap on Kashechkin and the chasing group in between... well, things will be interesting..
As already said, Kashechkin wins the Tour of Bulgaria 2014! A well deserved victory after his effort today.. Marzano also did well to finish as runner-up.
Topchanyuk "lungs in" for 3rd overall, just 7" ahead of sensational 4th Eichler, who held off today's attacking climbers by one second in the final GC: Cataldo completes the Top-5 ahead of Panayotov, Nieve, Devolder and Hirschlein. What a close decision this was.
Just as surprising as Eichler's 4th place: Guillén completes the Top-10! Two stage-wins and finishing 10th in a mountainous/hilly stage race... well, he just secured himself a contract for next year.
Dowsett, who did gamble for the hilly stages to be more selective, has to settle for 15th.. Acevedo 23rd.. Cobo 31st.. Skujins 32nd.. Choi 59th..
Drujon secured his points-win todayy, even though Grosu yet again did well (also for a nice GC-result).. as already said: Altur wins the polka dot, while Topchanyuk grabbed the white from Manfred (who also finished with a great GC-result)!
Final Results Stage 6/
1
Andrei Kashechkin
Repsol-Cativen
4h13'30
2
Marco Marzano
Kappa-ENI
+ 32
3
Artem Topchanyuk
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
+ 59
4
Mikel Nieve
FCB - Polska
s.t.
5
Petar Panayotov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
6
Ole Hirschlein
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
7
Stijn Devolder
AMEXpc
s.t.
8
Dario Cataldo
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
9
Eduard Grosu
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 2'42
10
Andrii Bratashcuk
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
11
Jan Dieteren
AMEXpc
s.t.
12
Hussein Manfred
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
13
Daniel Navarro
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
14
Alex Dowsett
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
15
Juan José Cobo
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
16
Lachlan Norris
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
17
Yoann Offredo
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
18
Chu Thien Sinelobov
Compal-Merida
s.t.
19
Vitaliy Popkov
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
20
Jure Kocjan
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
21
Nathan Earle
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
22
Marco Guillén
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Toms Skujins
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
24
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Compal-Merida
s.t.
25
Miguel Angel Benito
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
26
Jake Keough
AMEXpc
s.t.
27
Markus Eichler
Team Hornbach
s.t.
28
Manuel Belletti
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
29
Theo Eltink
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
30
Boy Van Poppel
Team Hornbach
s.t.
31
Bassirou Konte
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
32
Matthew Busche
AMEXpc
s.t.
33
Daniel Turek
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
34
Carl Naibo
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
35
Davide Formolo
Gazelle
s.t.
36
Janvier Hadi
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
37
Mike Aaron Egger
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
38
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
39
Pieter Weening
Gazelle
s.t.
40
Mathieu Perget
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
41
Geert Van der Sanden
Team Hornbach
s.t.
42
Momchil Robov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
43
Martin Grashev
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
44
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
45
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
46
Warren Barguil
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
47
Eduardo Gonzalo
FCB - Polska
s.t.
48
Ki Ho Choi
Compal-Merida
s.t.
49
Robert Vrecer
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
50
Sergio Ghisalberti
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
51
Steven Cummings
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
52
Janier Alexis Acevedo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
53
Anders Ekh Dahlberg
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
54
Jan Oelerich
Team Hornbach
s.t.
55
Ryder Hesjedal
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
56
Oleksandr Grygorenko
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
57
Eduard Vorganov
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
59
Michele Scarponi
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
60
Thomas Bonnin
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
61
Ben Hermans
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
62
Paavo Paajanen
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
63
Matteo Trentin
Team Hornbach
s.t.
64
Andrea Zordan
Gazelle
s.t.
65
Fabio Taborre
AMEXpc
s.t.
66
Valentin Stoenchev
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
67
Jan Tratnik
Gazelle
s.t.
68
Santo Anza
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
69
Sergey Nikolaev
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
70
Francisco Anton Martin
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
71
José Antonio Redondo
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
72
Taylor Newton
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
73
Stefan Hristov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
74
Marcos Altur
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
75
Honorio Machado
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
76
Soufiane Haddi
FCB - Polska
s.t.
77
Jordi Simon
FCB - Polska
s.t.
78
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Gazelle
s.t.
79
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
80
Erick Rowsell
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
81
Dainius Kairelis
Control Team
s.t.
82
Eliot Lietaer
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
83
Graham Briggs
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 7'44
84
Kiril Yatsevich
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
85
Rafael Andriato
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
86
Fredrik Ludvigsson
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
87
Konrad Dabkowski
FCB - Polska
s.t.
88
Davide Appollonio
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
89
Marco Benfatto
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
90
Isaac Speirs
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
91
Jesus Merino Criado
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
92
Maciej Ulanowski
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
93
Carlos Barbero
FCB - Polska
s.t.
94
Jose Luis Cano
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
95
Mattia Gavazzi
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
96
Mathieu Drujon
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
97
Nikolay Mihaylov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
98
Theo Reinhardt
AMEXpc
s.t.
99
Matti Breschel
AMEXpc
s.t.
100
Giuseppe Fonzi
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
101
Roman Senyenov
Gazelle
s.t.
102
Andreas Hofer
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
103
Arjen De Baat
Team Hornbach
s.t.
104
Nejc Kosic
Gazelle
s.t.
105
Krzysztof Marchewka
FCB - Polska
s.t.
106
Eugert Zhupa
Team Hornbach
s.t.
107
Tomasz Zywer
Control Team
s.t.
108
Ivor Bruin
Control Team
s.t.
109
Kim Marius Nielsen
Repsol-Cativen
+ 11'56
110
Truls Engen Korsaeth
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
111
Stanimir Cholakov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
112
Till Drobisch
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
113
Owain Doull
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
114
Daniel Eliad
Compal-Merida
s.t.
115
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Compal-Merida
s.t.
116
Sung Baek Park
Compal-Merida
s.t.
117
Shaquille Sinclair
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
118
Daniel Ruiz
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
119
Max Walsleben
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
120
Po Hung Wu
Compal-Merida
+ 18'42
Final GC/
1
Andrei Kashechkin
Repsol-Cativen
20h31'41
2
Marco Marzano
Kappa-ENI
+ 48
3
Artem Topchanyuk
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
+ 1'19
4
Markus Eichler
Team Hornbach
+ 1'26
5
Dario Cataldo
Magna - Ryanair
+ 1'27
6
Petar Panayotov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
7
Mikel Nieve
FCB - Polska
s.t.
8
Stijn Devolder
AMEXpc
s.t.
9
Ole Hirschlein
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
10
Marco Guillén
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
+ 2'28
11
Hussein Manfred
Jaguar - Eritel
+ 2'42
12
Eduard Grosu
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 2'46
13
Yoann Offredo
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
14
Matteo Trentin
Team Hornbach
+ 2'50
15
Alex Dowsett
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
16
Andrii Bratashcuk
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 2'54
17
Boy Van Poppel
Team Hornbach
+ 2'56
18
Jan Dieteren
AMEXpc
s.t.
19
Nathan Earle
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 2'58
20
Marcos Altur
Team CSC-Orbea
+ 3'00
21
Bassirou Konte
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
22
Manuel Belletti
Magna - Ryanair
+ 3'02
23
Janier Alexis Acevedo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
24
Ben Hermans
Swedbank - PEAB
+ 3'04
25
Mike Aaron Egger
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 3'06
26
Martin Grashev
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
27
Pieter Weening
Gazelle
+ 3'08
28
Santo Anza
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
29
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
30
Francisco Anton Martin
Team CSC-Orbea
+ 3'10
31
Juan José Cobo
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
32
Toms Skujins
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
33
Sergey Nikolaev
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
34
Jure Kocjan
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
35
Honorio Machado
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
36
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
37
Eduardo Gonzalo
FCB - Polska
s.t.
38
Mykhaylo Kononenko
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
39
Carl Naibo
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
40
Eduard Vorganov
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
41
Geert Van der Sanden
Team Hornbach
s.t.
42
Dainius Kairelis
Control Team
s.t.
43
Mauricio Soler
Repsol-Cativen
s.t.
44
Theo Eltink
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
45
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
46
Vitaliy Popkov
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
47
Taylor Newton
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
48
Daniel Navarro
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
49
Jan Oelerich
Team Hornbach
s.t.
50
Ryder Hesjedal
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
51
Anders Ekh Dahlberg
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
52
Paavo Paajanen
Swedbank - PEAB
s.t.
53
Jake Keough
AMEXpc
s.t.
54
Michele Scarponi
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
55
Fabio Taborre
AMEXpc
s.t.
56
Abolfazl Gilanipoor
Compal-Merida
s.t.
57
Warren Barguil
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
58
Jan Tratnik
Gazelle
s.t.
59
Ki Ho Choi
Compal-Merida
s.t.
60
Momchil Robov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
61
Lachlan Norris
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
62
Robert Vrecer
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
63
Eliot Lietaer
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
64
Davide Formolo
Gazelle
s.t.
65
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Gazelle
s.t.
66
Matthew Busche
AMEXpc
s.t.
67
Thomas Bonnin
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
s.t.
68
Oleksandr Grygorenko
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
69
Mathieu Perget
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
70
Andrea Zordan
Gazelle
s.t.
71
Sergio Ghisalberti
Metinvest-Emirates
s.t.
72
Steven Cummings
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
s.t.
73
Chu Thien Sinelobov
Compal-Merida
s.t.
74
Daniel Turek
Bacardi Limited
s.t.
75
Valentin Stoenchev
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
76
José Antonio Redondo
Kappa-ENI
+ 5'46
77
Erick Rowsell
Jaguar - Eritel
+ 5'50
78
Soufiane Haddi
FCB - Polska
+ 6'18
79
Jordi Simon
FCB - Polska
+ 6'28
80
Maciej Ulanowski
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
+ 7'48
81
Mathieu Drujon
Magna - Ryanair
+ 7'50
82
Matti Breschel
AMEXpc
+ 8'04
83
Nikolay Mihaylov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
84
Kiril Yatsevich
Bacardi Limited
+ 8'08
85
Rafael Andriato
Repsol-Cativen
+ 8'10
86
Theo Reinhardt
AMEXpc
+ 8'12
87
Isaac Speirs
Magna - Ryanair
s.t.
88
Konrad Dabkowski
FCB - Polska
s.t.
89
Davide Appollonio
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
90
Jesus Merino Criado
Team CSC-Orbea
s.t.
91
Roman Senyenov
Gazelle
s.t.
92
Miguel Angel Benito
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
+ 10'01
93
Janvier Hadi
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
94
Stefan Hristov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
+ 10'16
95
Andreas Hofer
Magna - Ryanair
+ 11'30
96
Arjen De Baat
Team Hornbach
s.t.
97
Carlos Barbero
FCB - Polska
+ 12'00
98
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Compal-Merida
+ 12'20
99
Daniel Eliad
Compal-Merida
+ 12'24
100
Jose Luis Cano
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
+ 12'35
101
Graham Briggs
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 12'47
102
Ivor Bruin
Control Team
+ 13'55
103
Fredrik Ludvigsson
Swedbank - PEAB
+ 15'03
104
Kim Marius Nielsen
Repsol-Cativen
+ 15'04
105
Eugert Zhupa
Team Hornbach
s.t.
106
Sung Baek Park
Compal-Merida
+ 15'42
107
Stanimir Cholakov
Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling
s.t.
108
Marco Benfatto
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 16'05
109
Krzysztof Marchewka
FCB - Polska
+ 17'33
110
Nejc Kosic
Gazelle
+ 18'45
111
Tomasz Zywer
Control Team
+ 19'15
112
Mattia Gavazzi
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 19'44
113
Giuseppe Fonzi
Kappa-ENI
+ 19'45
114
Max Walsleben
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
+ 20'17
115
Shaquille Sinclair
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
+ 21'45
116
Owain Doull
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
+ 23'15
117
Daniel Ruiz
Team CSC-Orbea
+ 24'05
118
Till Drobisch
Jaguar - Eritel
s.t.
119
Truls Engen Korsaeth
Swedbank - PEAB
+ 25'33
120
Po Hung Wu
Compal-Merida
+ 34'42
Points/
1
Mathieu Drujon
Magna - Ryanair
0
70
2
Marco Guillén
ONCE-Eroski Cycling Team
0
67
3
Boy Van Poppel
Team Hornbach
2
67
4
Eduard Grosu
Metinvest-Emirates
7
65
5
Maciej Ulanowski
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
0
50
6
Matti Breschel
AMEXpc
0
46
7
Markus Eichler
Team Hornbach
0
44
8
Andrei Kashechkin
Repsol-Cativen
25
41
9
Rafael Andriato
Repsol-Cativen
0
35
10
Hussein Manfred
Jaguar - Eritel
4
32
KoM/
1
Marcos Altur
Team CSC-Orbea
14
42
2
Alex Dowsett
Jaguar - Eritel
0
34
3
Hussein Manfred
Jaguar - Eritel
0
32
4
Markus Eichler
Team Hornbach
0
30
5
Jan Dieteren
AMEXpc
0
30
6
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Compal-Merida
4
20
7
Jan Tratnik
Gazelle
0
18
8
Andrei Kashechkin
Repsol-Cativen
16
16
9
Janier Alexis Acevedo
Repsol-Cativen
16
16
10
Nathan Earle
Eddie Stobart Pro Cycling
0
14
Young/
1
Artem Topchanyuk
Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team
20h33'00 (1)
2
Hussein Manfred
Jaguar - Eritel
+ 1'23 (2)
3
Eduard Grosu
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 1'27 (3)
4
Matteo Trentin
Team Hornbach
+ 1'31 (4)
5
Andrii Bratashcuk
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 1'35 (5)
6
Jan Dieteren
AMEXpc
+ 1'37 (6)
7
Marcos Altur
Team CSC-Orbea
+ 1'41 (7)
8
Mike Aaron Egger
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 1'47 (8)
9
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Metinvest-Emirates
+ 1'49 (9)
10
Toms Skujins
Swedbank - PEAB
+ 1'51 (10)
Team/ *with stage results of 3 best in every stage