After an extremely fast day of racing, the leading peloton reached the final ascent of Monte Castrove at the head of the race, with Movistar and Team Sky setting the pace. There were a number of attacks on the lower slopes of the climb as riders such as Christophe Le Mével (Cofidis), Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano) and Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) tried to escape for stage glory. However the attacks were short-lived as Katusha set a strong pace behind, and it wasn't until Jerome Coppel (Cofidis) jumped costless of the peloton that anyone was able to establish a real advantage.

The peloton settled into a rhythm in pursuit of Coppel but with 3.7km remaining that brief peace was shattered by an attack from Fabio Aru (Astana) who swiftly caught and passed Coppel as he opened a sizable lead. Sitting fifth overall at the start of the stage, Aru was too dangerous a rider for his attack to go unchallenged and it was Joaquim Rodriguez who gave answer, ramping up the pace and dropping all bar Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Chris Froome (Team Sky). With 2.4km to go Froome made his move, breaking costless of the other favourites and joining Aru at the head of the race. The two leaders worked well together and were able to hold off the three pursuers, contesting the stage win between themselves. The honour fell to Aru, the young Italian used the final short ramp before the line for one last kick, pulling away from Froome top add another impressive victory to his blossoming palmares.

It was still a very good day for Froome. He finished 12 seconds ahead of his main rivals, claimed 6 bonus seconds on the line and a further 2 seconds at an intermediate sprint inside the final 10km of the stage; all told he clawed back 20 seconds on Alberto Contador and moved up into second overall. Froome needs to take a larger chunk of time on the penultimate stage if he is to challenge for Contador's Red Jersey, but his aggressive performance today has at least given him a chance of doing just that.

The first hour of racing had been hectic, group after group tried to go clear from the peloton only to be pegged back by teams annoyed to have missed the move, it was Movistar who chased early on, then Garmin-Sharp and Lampre-Merida. The first hour of racing covered a ridiculous 50.5km and the break of the day had yet to escape.

When the days break was finally established it contained just three riders, Johan Le Bon (FDJ), who had been trying to escape right from the start, King of the Mountains leader Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale). However Movistar weren't willing to let the advantage grow out to a significant amount.

The pace in the peloton rose ahead of the first ascent of Monte Castrove, as Tinkoff-Saxo and Team Sky drove them onto the climb. Alberto Losada (Katusha) and Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis) attacked in an effort to bridge to the escapees, but it never quite worked. Losada did join Dupont and Le Bon, but Sanchez had dropped his companions in pursuit of a few more mountains classification points. On the descent all the attackers were swept up by the peloton ahead of the final climb, allowing Froome to steal two extra seconds at the intermediate sprint.

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About the author
Kevin Connaghan
Sports writer covering cycling, NFL and Michigan football, as well as a general sports fan