It was one of two mountain top finishes in this year’s Sibiu Cycling Tour, with riders tackling the monster Balea Lac climb (22.75 km at 6.1%). Despite its relatively low average gradient, the climb is hard enough to create significant gaps thanks to steeper sections.
The American lightweight climber Matthew Riccitello attacked 17 minutes into the climb after Christopher Clive Froome finished his pull. Only David De La Cruz and Odd Christian Eiking followed the Israel–Premier Tech rider, others likely thinking the move came too early, with more than two-thirds of the climb still to go. Later on, Riccitello attacked again and dropped both companions, winning the stage by 20 seconds over De La Cruz and 29 seconds over Eiking. The next group, including Harm Vanhoucke, Nate Pringle, and others, lost more than two minutes to the winner.
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Matthew Riccitello climbed Balea Lac in 54:33, producing 5.82 ᵉW/kg, which translates to 6.12 ᵉW/kg at sea level, as the summit sits at 2,034 metres above sea level. A very strong performance for a UCI 2.1 race. De La Cruz and Eiking did 5.75 ᵉW/kg and 5.73 ᵉW/kg, respectively.