00:00The penultimate day of this the 48th tour of the Alps. Pensive mood at the start, not least
00:26because it's the Queen stage and also the weather was coming in. Very cold, lots of arm warmers
00:32and gloves on display as you can see, leg warmers too and no surprise it was nine celsius at the
00:39start and I've got to tell you some rain came in as well. It did not dampen the enthusiasm of a
00:45breakaway however, a whole sequence of them but ultimately it was going to take yet again a bit
00:50of fortitude and that was displayed by Thiemann Ahrensman. He rocked off the front and as the
00:56very select band of brothers started to fracture Bauman and Derek G teamed up as well in hot
01:02pursuit. Who else was going to be out there? That was the big question. Max Paul rolled the dice,
01:07Zangala as well, young riders with big ambitions but time was starting to run out. Another day of
01:13high altitude, 3,370 meters in total in the second longest stage of this year's race,
01:20destination Obertiliac. The climbs though in the last sector, the big loop had been completed and
01:27the run for home was just around 32 kilometers in length after this peak. Well, wherever you climb
01:34you have descents as well and it had a wearing down effect on just about everybody and suddenly
01:39the realization that those up the road may well indeed take the lead and it was left to Michael
01:44Storer to extricate himself from the chase and start to close down himself. Oh my goodness,
01:50what a task at hand with 33 kilometers remaining. Ahrensman up front had a deficit at the beginning
01:55of the day of a minute and 18. Storer was at 3 minutes and 10 with the climbs and the descents
02:00constantly coming like punches to the solar plexus. Ahrensman was out there, a time trialist.
02:06Likewise, the chaser, Derek Gee of Canada, also a time trialist. The ability to park pain is part of
02:12what they do extremely well and the man who'd taken on the task of trying to wind them in was of course
02:19our leader, Michael Storer. Behind him, the likes of Paul, of Bardet, they all regrouped together,
02:26couldn't decide on who was going to be the main man of their group. Giulia Ciccone in the red
02:31points leader's jersey was also part of it. Baumann was tagged by Storer but up ahead is where his mind
02:38lay. Derek Gee of Canada and of course Thiemann Ahrensman, could they hold on? And indeed what
02:43would be the margin at the end of the day? Storer knew that he had an advantage but you had to factor
02:48in bonuses and in this race time bonuses at the line. 10, 6 and 4 seconds available. They count for an awful
02:54lot. It's been decided by a handful of seconds in the past. Would that be the case indeed by the time
03:01we finish duties at Leeds tomorrow? This the big day however that could set your stall out and indeed
03:07how you're going to approach the remainder of the race. Constantly they were attacking each other.
03:11It was just one blow after another. This time it was Felix Gall that went off for Decathlon 82 on the
03:18Mondial and still out front Ahrensman was paddling away. 28 seconds back to Gee and a minute and 41 at
03:26this point. Cut to a minute and 23 by Michael Storer. That would be just about enough for him to hold on
03:32to the green jersey. A minute and 18 all of a sudden it was going his way and then of course the news got
03:39through to Ahrensman. He had to dig very very deep and that's precisely what he did. He was starting
03:44to rock and roll as the green meter markers were there into the hoarded section and when he crossed
03:50the line after four hours and 17 minutes the clock started to count back. How would it be? Derek G was
03:57coming in and his margin. Well it was to be a minute and 18 seconds for him and six bonus seconds to be
04:04taken off his tally and then finally Storer across the line but he knew he'd lost the leader's jersey
04:10and by a margin of just 11 seconds. Can you believe it? Then it was a battle for points of course that
04:16was rocking into our consciousness. Felix Gall the Austrian wanted to make a statement and did so at
04:22the line. Just edged Giulio Ciccone who stays in the red jersey. Oh my life what a day we have had.
04:30Amazing racing. Max Paul taking over the young rider's jersey. Pickering still in blue but into green.
04:37Tieran Ahrensman our leader overall with just one day remaining of this fabulous race. We head to Leintz
04:45and he has a margin of 11 seconds so if he wins tomorrow he'll get 10 bonuses as well. He needs to
04:52just keep an eye on Michael Storer who trails him. Very modest margins here with a great day still to
05:00come. Always fabulous racing at the Tour of the Alps. The finale tomorrow.
05:05You
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