Again, it was a stereotyped scenario with the standard 4-Conti/PT-men breakaway left 2-3 minutes ahead.

Small teams organised the chase and brought the time back, but then Décathlon and FDJ took the lead and the gap stabilised, despite the breakaway having one man (Bouquet🇫🇷 from St-Michel–Auber).

Décathlon tried to create an echelon, but only for half a mile or so. It was enough for a small split at the back, in which Groenewegen🇳🇱, who had been staying at the back since the beginning of the last small climb, was caught, which caused Unibet to stop taking part in the work at the front of the peloton. The split was resorbed, but still...

In the breakaway, about 4 or 5 km from the line, as the gap was stable around 20-25 seconds, Leroux (🇫🇷 Total) couldn't relay any more. As Guégan (🇫🇷 CIC, ex Nantes) didn't cover up for him, Arnaud Tendon (🇨🇭 Roubaix) accelerated to drop them.

Behind, one FDJ crashed into a sidewalk, bringing a Saint-Michel–Auber and another rider with him. I heard the FDJ rider was the one who was supposed to sprint today (Huens🇫🇷).

Finally, sprinter teams came again to chase.

Tendon was only caught 50 metres from the line! That's even closer than yesterday when Vercouillie was caught some 300-400 m from the line. Tendon ranked 13^th^, apparently; therefore only 12 sprinters from the peloton managed to pass him.

3 sprinters arrived together, and it took several minutes to decide which one came first.

There was an attack from the peloton (one Q36.5) that reduced the gap but the breakaway reacted and among it the 2 weakest riders dropped (one FDJ and perhaps a Lotto). Then the peloton regrouped.

There was in the following climbs a succession of attacks/accelerations and resting moments. One Decathlon and one Total joined the breakaway, then this Decathlon left with Unibet's Kopecky. Then there was a global regroup. Kopecky managed again to follow other attacks.

In the end a large bunch of almost 50 riders arrived for a sprint.

Decathlon and FDJ behaved a bit strangely today, once more. Typically, they would attack but then wouldn't quite relay, even when they outnumbered others teams. The result is that after 3 stages, not a single rider from those 2 French🇫🇷 WTs has scored a time bonus. Their 2 leaders are so-so, they sometimes attack, but they can't make a big or durable difference, if any.

Each of the 3 Belgian🇧🇪 teams engaged has won a stage: Flanders, then Lotto, and now Alpecin.

Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) having finished 2^nd^ twice, becomes the leader of the race. Crabbe (🇧🇪 Flanders) started being in trouble as soon as climbs started, and the peloton pushed a little bit.

Louis Hardouin (🇫🇷 Roubaix) did well again, he finished the stage in 3^rd^ position; and so is his ranking in GC.

Victor Papon (🇫🇷 Nice) scored Mountain points today in the breakaway. He's 16 points ahead of 5 followers; there are a maximum of 6 points tomorrow, and 10 on the last day's Time Trial. I haven't got the rules, so perhaps he is already sure to bring the jersey home, or perhaps he will have to score 1 point in the early little bump tomorrow to be safe for the rest of the race.

Unibet, having the GC jersey on Kubish, was ensuring a basic pace.

20 km from the line, was the first passage over this line. A small sunken road climbing from a village up to the country. Retailleau🇫🇷 and Davy🇫🇷 ( Nice, ex-FDJ) dropped the Polti rider🇮🇹 on the top, that they reached 45-50 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Alpecin had joined the head of the peloton and Unibet had pulled back.

Then it was more teams like FDJ leading it with Alpecin.

On the second passage, the breakaway had lost around 20 seconds.

The peloton formed several trains in parallel in places where the road was larger. Again FDJ was there.

Unibet was hiding behind and started coming forward again about 5-6 km from the line.

The breakaway was caught about 2 km from the line, after giving everything they had. 👍 again for breakaway men.

The bunch arrived at a crazy speed inside the village. No crash was however reported. Then there was a succession of acceleration/attacks in the final climb. Décathlon started the climb. Mifsud (🇫🇷🇲🇹) was seen leading, he finished 11^th^.

Then a Roubaix guy placed an attack. Either there was a switch between 2 Roubaix riders, or it was an extremely long attack that brought Heremans🇧🇪 to victory. Nobody manage to take him over, neither Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) who finished 3^rd^ nor Lapeira (🇫🇷 Décathlon) who managed to come back for 2^nd^ place, ultimately passing Kubish and Moschetti (🇮🇹 Q36.5). Early in the climb, Kubish had been slowed down a bit by a hit, when there was too many riders sprinting on the same line.

I spoke about a possible switch because Louis Hardouin (🇫🇷 Roubaix) finished there again in 5^th^ place, so perhaps it was him who launched the Roubaix attack? What a debut in the professional world anyway for this guy!

Costiou (🇫🇷 FDJ) was nowhere to be seen, while Lapeira finally managed to grab a few seconds of time bonus.

EDIT

Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) was put back in 2^nd^ place (therefore Lapeira in 3^rd^ place). It looked so, but as the speeds were different and Lapeira was sneaking through a mouse hole on the right of the road, the original classification made sense as well. So, this is the 3^rd^ time in 4 stages that he finishes 2^nd^ 😀

Victor Papon (🇫🇷 Nice) will go home with the Mountain jersey: none of his followers was in today's breakaway.

A few riders were behind a small split on the line: Teuns, Azparren, Decomble, among others, lost a few seconds.

Before the final TT tomorrow, Kubish is 16 seconds before Lapeira, Costiou is 4 seconds farther; Larsen and Decomble at 23 and 27 seconds from Kubish. I am just quoting those names, there are other riders in between.

Nevertheless, the lack of a good start list didn’t prevent a nice, eventful race on Sunday in Marseille. Let’s hope it is the same this week. The fact that basically no points are given on stages except for the winner may preclude all small teams to ride all day long for a 10th place in a bunch sprint. We shall see.

We saw: nobody tried anything, it was the standard 4-Conti-men & 3-minutes breakaway. Except that the peloton started panicking because the gap left by décathlon and FDJ leading the bunch was still important less than 20 minutes from the line, and wind was helping the breakaway. The breakaway first dropped Hänninen (🇫🇮 Nice), subsequently going faster; then Aebersold (🇨🇭 Elite Fond.) started refusing relay, which slowed the breakaway; he was then attacked by the other two, so he started relaying again and the gap stopped dropping quickly; he was dropped eventually (indicating that his previous refusal to relay was simply because he felt cooked). Huck (🇫🇷 Roubaix) and Vercouillie (🇧🇪 Flanders-Baloise, the man who never rides inside a peloton) made in into the short final climb located inside the last kilometre; Vercouillie who had climbed that climb better in each loop logically dropped Huck, but he soon blew up as the peloton was only a few dozen yards behind him.

Then Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) accelerated at the front of the peloton. Surprisingly, we saw another Flanders-Baloise jersey follow him; and no one else could follow, neither the 2 French🇫🇷 favourites Lapeira (Décathlon) and Costiou (FDJ, ex Arkéa) nor anyone else. At the top of the climb, with only 150 flat metres to go, Tom Crabbe🇧🇪, the Flanders rider which looked easy in Kubish's wheel, simply took him over and won.

Lapeira wasn't really my personal favourite, for I hadn't found his performance great, in his solo breakaway in Marseille 3 days ago: not creating a big gap on favourable terrain, being caught by Mifsud, and not having a second kick later. But everyone and even himself considered him a favourite, so...

Anyway he still made it in the second group after just a minor gap, as well as Costiou, so nothing is lost for any of them.

I see that Hardouin (🇫🇷 Roubaix) made a good 8^th^ place, after his good performance in the last Mifsud breakaway in Marseille.

Many little gaps (according to PCS):

• Larsen (🇩🇰 Unibet) in group 3 with Mifsud (🇫🇷🇲🇹 Polti) and Teuns (🇧🇪 Cofidis) at 5 seconds;
• Delettre (🇫🇷 Total) in group 4 at 10 seconds; that makes a total of only 33 riders within 10 seconds;
• group 5 is already 17 seconds away.

As expected after the lack of difference made during the 4 stages, the favourites won the TT and therefore GC. After having demonstrated absolutely nothing during the week.

Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) was way too thick to climb up to the finish. He gave everything he had, but that wasn't enough to carry his big calves and big thighs and big butt and big shoulders up the hill.

No outsider created any surprise, I think. Basically the only thing not written in advance is that Larsen (🇩🇰 Unibet) did a little bit less good than expected. The first 3 or 4 riders created gaps of a few seconds, but behind them there is a ton of riders packed in about the same times, just 20 to 40 seconds from the winner.

Riders from small teams were crushed. The Nice team had no TT bike. Roubaix guys, including Hardouin🇫🇷 who was 3^rd^ in GC until today, sank, arriving all after 1 minute.

The first non-pseudo-WT Pro Team rider is Brem Deman (🇧🇪 Flander-Baloise), 13^th^ at 32 seconds. The first Conti is Léandre Lozouet (🇫🇷 CIC), 19^th^ at 39 seconds.