“War!” exclaimed Richie Porte ahead of today’s stage, while Dario Cataldo talked about wanting to destroy the other teams, so you could say this was set to be a showdown from the outset. What ensued may not have been quite so dramatic, but it certainly made for interesting viewing. Astana’s Paolo Tiralongo escaped the breakaway, caught and dropped race leader Tom-Jelte Slagter and cruised the final 4km to a solo win. Meanwhile his team leader Fabio Aru and a legion of Astanites tested all the GC contenders and put significant time into Rigoberto Uran.
