Talossan Cycling Association Tour Season 4 Leg 3: Torino -> Madrid

[Sir Lüc]

Stage 10  Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva -> El Ferial Larra Belagua

Another "hockey stick" stage, with a steep climb at the end of an (at best) hilly approach. Predictably, everyone wanted to get into the breakaway and as a result it only managed to form 70km into the stage. Initially 30ish, they were whittled down to as few as 10 by the time the final climb began. Non-TCAT Alec Segaert and Pablo Castrillo were the first to attack, but were joined and ultimately dropped by Jay Vine (GHS/DED) who ultimately cruised to the finish to get a second stage win, and retain the lead of the King of the Mountains classification (polkadot jersey).

Behind, in the group of GC favourites, it was surprisingly Joao Almeida who took the initiative and attacked first; at a point, the lead group of GC contenders numbered as few as 5, but some of the dropped contenders were able to rejoin and a group of 10 finished 5th-14th, including Pidcock, Ciccone, Hindley, Jorgenson, Almeida, Vingegaard and Pellizzari. Vingegaard also regained the red leader's jersey. Some other riders finished in the points but lost some time, such as Gall, Bernal and Fortunato; the latter dropped out of GC top 10 as well.

Unsurprisingly, GHST and Dead Last finished on top today because of Vine, with the Belacostan team getting a win thanks to Ciccone, Jorgenson and Vingegaard, while DED had Pidcock and Almeida. Not much movement in the standings, though, but the bottom 4 is separated by just 50 points (and the bottom 6 by less than 250), so big swings seem primed to happen.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4715	+623
2nd	(=)		Dirnalaiset Mortescu (DED)	4050	+530
3rd	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3731	+322
4th	(=)		Maricopa Cabana Boys (MCB)	3558	+343
5th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3412	+270
6th	(=)		Port Maxhestic AC (PTM)	3179	+145
7th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	3118	+395
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	2986	+328
9th	(+2)		Els Talossaes Rexhitais (REX)	2948	+358
10th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	2937	+289
11th	(-2)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	2936	+284

Tomorrow, a typically Basque stage around Bilbao, with many categorised climbs peppered along the course and a final long descent to a slightly uphill sprint. Seems promising for a breakaway, but GC riders may not resist the chance at putting time on each other - if the latter, I strongly suspect Tom Pidcock is the favourite.