Greig Leach

This duo of Jardi Christian Van Der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost) and Luke Burns (Team Australia) had gotten away almost from the very start of the 141 kilometer stage. With another 78 K to ride, Luke Burns jumped away from his break away companion to go over the top of the Fox Creek Climb in first. In so doing, he claimed the virtual King of the Mountains jersey. Later, he went over again, thus ensuring that he will be wearing the polka dots for at least two days. Van Der Lee did take the intermediate sprints. I’ll have to wait and see if he is wearing the red numbers of most aggressive rider in today’s stage tomorrow. The pair had built up a six minute advantage over the peloton, but with 78 to go, their gapped had dropped to just under three and a half minutes.