The first stage in line takes the riders from Délemont to Yverdon-les-Bains, on the edge of Lac de Neuchâtel. The rating is flat, but there is definitely some height gained in the early part of the stage. The riders have to climb directly from the start, with a second considerable hill at the midpoint of the stage, followed by some smaller ones towards the finish line. As one of two opportunities for the sprinters, they don't want to let this one go to waste.
Neuman and Marchewka open the attacks today. There is a mountain sprint in ten kilometers, the polka dot would be a nice bonus for some.
Thill and Maccagli join the duo, Sotberg struggles to complete the final twenty seconds. The peloton has backed off, the lead already 1'30.
At the Col des Rangiers of third category, six points to Thill, four to Neuman and two to Maccagli. There is a category two climb later in the stage which awards ten points to the winner.
Sotberg has joined but couldn't participate in the sprint. The peloton follows over the top at three minutes.
The maximal lead the five leaders got was five minutes, one per rider was the outcome of the negotiations. MOL, Mapei, Bakkafrost, Azteca, Berg, Xero and Centovalli are the teams making sure they are caught before we reach Yverdon-les-Bains.
The intermediate sprint in La Sagne is won by Neuman ahead of Maccagli and Thill. Marchewka's refusal to sprint results in a gap...
...which ends up costing him his position in the breakaway. The Pole is caught by the peloton with 90 kilometer to go. The other four still maintain a lead of two minutes and thirty seconds.
The Col des Etroits ends with Neuman taking ten points and Thill eight. It means they are tied with fourteen points, resulting in a match of rock-paper-scissors at the end of the stage to determine who wears the polka dot jersey.
Maccagli six points, Sotberg four. The leader of the peloton will receive the final two...
...which becomes Hussein. Sixty kilometer to go, the gap has gone back up to 3'30 with the peloton taking it easy on the climb. No rider got in trouble at the back as a result.
The final sprint before the actual finish takes place in Cuarny, and Maccagli is the fastest. He beats Neuman and Sotberg while Thill does a Marchewka but without the consequences. The lead over the peloton is only a minute.
Less than twenty kilometer to go and the peloton has split in two parts over one of those smaller hills I warned about in the introduction. All sprinters and main GC contenders are at the front, but yellow jersey Barbio and most of his teammates are left behind.
We still have three leaders heading into the final five kilometer, Sotberg being the quitter, thought their lead is minimal. A group of approximately 30 riders is left as front peloton, including Mezgec, Silvestre, Maksimov, Boivin, Sobota, Guardini and Drapac as sprinters. GC riders who might take some time today are Pomoshnikov, Preidler, Henao Montoya, Bennett, Eastman, Guldhammer, Monsalve and Latour.
Barbio has made his way up to the second group, which contains almost all other riders. The gap is quite considerable though, Duolingo has to work hard to close it in the final five kilometer.
Pibernik continues to lead out Mezgec as the breakaway is finally caught, falling 3000 meters short. Bester and Novardianto behind them, with the other sprinters in the middle of the group. The peloton is given at 40 seconds with Lienhard now pushing hard to get Reinhardt back in contention.
Pibernik has to release Mezgec just before the final kilometer, which might be detrimental for his chances as all other sprinters who had no leadout got onto his wheel. Maksimov, Guardini, Drapac and Boivin right behind the Slovene in prime positions. Clearly Lienhard rode faster than Pibernik, as the peloton is now coming out of the corner, the gap almost nonexistent.
Mezgec still holding out fine with 500 meters. Drapac, Boivin, Maksimov, Novardianto and Guardini the only other contenders from left to right. Sobota and Silvestre are too far back, Monsalve leads the sprint for seventh.
A strong Mezgec today, as the others cannot get past him. Guardini falls back, not having the legs today, but the battle for the other podium positions is still close, Drapac currently having a slight edge.
A dance is appropriate, what a sprint from Luka Mezgec today! He wins in Yverdon-les-Bains and makes the Trans team very happy!
Maksimov finishes in second place, with Novardianto surprisingly taking third against Boivin. Guardini fifth, Drapac sixth as his legs ran out.
The sprint from the rest of the group is won by Monsalve. Unfortunately for him, only the top three receive bonus seconds. Latour, Hardy and Bennett complete the top ten. Silvestre and Sobota didn't get further than sixteenth and nineteenth respectively.
Reinhardt wins the sprint for what is 34th place. However, with some riders in the front group choosing not to sprint, there wasn't a substantial gap to award time differences on this stage. Everyone except eight riders who lost minutes finish in the same time as the winner.
This is good news for Antonio Barbio, as he keeps the yellow jersey. Not much changes at the top of the GC, Novardianto making the biggest jump to seventeenth. The points classification mirrors the stage result, meaning green goes to Mezgec. Thill choses paper and Neuman rock, hence the polka dot jersey goes to the former. The youth and teams classification remain led by Oliveira and Duolingo. Things will definitely change tomorrow, when we head towards the hills!