Movistar's Benat Intxausti won Stage Sixteen of the Giro D'Italia
Into the final week of this first Grand Tour of the season which next year will have its Grand Depart in Belfast and on Mark Cavendish's 28th birthday, there was the not so small matter of a 238km stage from Valloire to Ivrea for the points jersey leader and race leader Vincenzo Nibali.
As the riders departed France heading back towards Italy, Manuele Boaro of Saxo-Tinkoff and Blanco's Wilco Kelderman tried in vain to attack early.
After 47 kilometres, a group of sixteen riders in Danny Pate (Sky), Wilco Kelderman (Blanco), Eros Capecchi (Movistar), Jose Herrada (Movistar), Grega Bole (Vacansoleil DCM), Tobias Ludvigsson (Argos), Christian Meier (Orica GreenEDGE), Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani), Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini), Jackson Rodriguez (Androni), Emanuele Sella (Androni), Jose Serpa (Lampre-Merida), Rory Sutherland (Saxo-Tinkoff), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEDGE) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp), did escape the clutches of the peloton and had been three minutes clear before they started on the Mont Cenis climb.
King Of The Mountains leader Stefano Pirazzi had made sure he was in that break and also made sure that he was amongst those first over the summit to take his tally to 74 points, well clear of Visconti on 42 points.
Di Luca, Atapuma, Caruso, Chalapud, Zardini and De Greef caught up to the leading group meaning that twenty two riders were now out in front as the gap steadied at three minutes.
Now back on Italian soil, the roads started to flatten out so the gap increased and was 4.30 by the time that the feedzone was reached.
With BMC's Taylor Phinney, suffering from saddle sores, joining the list of those who have abandoned, the race continued at an average speed of 40kmph.
With 55kms to go and the gap having dropped to 2.25, Danilo De Luca took the intermediate sprint.
Team Sky's Danny Pate, Orica GreenEdge's Christian Meier and Rory Sutherland (Saxo-Tinkoff), split the front group with just over fifty kilometres remaining.
The crowds were out to see Sella, Kelderman and Pate lead in to first visit of the day to Ivrea.
Onto the Andrate climb with 23kms to go and this was a tough climb with gradients of up to 13% over 6.5kms. Attacks started to happen all the way up the mountain through Duarte, Pirazzi, Herrade and Navardauskas.
With 20.1kms to go, Pirazzi attacked again, whilst Kangert masrshalled the Maglia Rosa group further down the road.
His lead did not last and it was Carlos Betancur who took maximum points on the Andrate.
Riders continued to attack with the race leader right up in the mix. Into the final kilometre and it was Kangert, Intxausti and Niemiec who went for the long one. He was stopped and it was Movistar's Intxausti who won in a time of 5.52.48 ahead of Kangert and Niemiec. Cadel Evans was fifth.
Vincenzo Nibali continues to lead by 1.26 from Cadel Evans.