[19] A long descent towards the midpoint of the stage followed, through Riva del Garda, before the road steadily rose again towards the second categorised climb.
The Passo del Durone summited with around 40 km (24.9 mi) remaining, and after a sharp descent, the road kicked up gradually towards the final, first-category climb to Madonna di Campiglio.
[20] Although only averaging just over 5%, the 11 km (6.8 mi)-long climb was still expected to cause damage within the field, with a false flat run-in on cobbles in the village itself.
[21] The first two categorised climbs would split the break up; Agnoli and Matysiak were dropped on the first, while the Passo del Durone put paid to the chances of Pineau and Pinotti.
[21] Vacansoleil–DCM were attentive on the climb, as two of their riders – Tomasz Marczyński and Rafael Valls – pulling clear of the peloton around halfway up, with Alex Howes of the Garmin–Sharp squad providing assistance.
[22] He was caught inside the final 500 m (1,600 ft), with the reduced group battling out the stage honours in a sprint for the line; ultimately, it was Lampre–Merida's Diego Ulissi who finished strongest, to take the stage victory ahead of Colombia's Darwin Atapuma,[24] and Sørensen's team-mate Rafał Majka,[21] the best placed Polish rider.
[32] Ulissi got into difficulty on the day's second climb,[32] and was soon shelled out of the back of the main group, as the Movistar Team took over pace-setting as the field moved towards the Passo Pordoi.
[32] Quickly gaining time on his rivals, Riblon – only competing in the race following an injury to Jean-Christophe Péraud at the Tour de France[28] – remained in the saddle all the way up the climb, and would ultimately go on to take his second queen stage success in the space of two weeks, following on from his win at Alpe d'Huez.
[30] Team Sky's Sergio Henao and Rafał Majka of Saxo–Tinkoff led the main field home at 1' 35" down,[30] and despite the time bonuses that Riblon and Rohregger received – both for their stage finishes and the "attractivity" standings for the stage – Majka assumed the race lead, by four seconds from Henao,[34] before the race's return to Polish soil,[35] via the rest day.
[40] The quartet were able to build up a lead in excess of ten minutes at one point during the stage,[41] before the teams of the sprinters soon stepped up the pace at the front of the peloton.
[41] Renshaw was able to get the better of Garmin–Sharp's Steele Von Hoff for second place, while Rafał Majka was able to maintain his four-second lead in the general classification for Saxo–Tinkoff.
Starting in Tarnów, the early kilometres of the stage were relatively flat, before some rolling terrain was negotiated in the middle portion of the route; there was only one categorised climb on the day, but this did not occur until the riders had reached Katowice.
Three intermediate sprints were also held during the stage, offering up bonus time towards the general classification; these came at Szczurowa, Olkusz and Siemianowice Śląskie respectively.
[46] Despite this, the peloton did not allow for a substantial gap to be created on the road, with the maximum advantage remaining beneath five minutes for the entire stage.
[46] With the peloton still cutting into the lead that the group of eight riders had held up front, Gradek launched a solo attack with two laps to cover.
[46] After a similar move by Astana rider Valerio Agnoli resulted in a neutralisation as well,[47] Taylor Phinney attacked with around 7.5 km (4.7 mi) remaining for the BMC Racing Team.
A former under-23 world time trial champion, Phinney was able to gain about fifteen seconds of an advantage into the final kilometre, and despite the peloton closing in at a vast rate, he held on to take the first road race victory of his professional career.
[50] The leaders' gap extended out towards five minutes with Tomasz Marczyński (Vacansoleil–DCM) accruing the most points to challenge Thomas Rohregger's lead of the mountains classification.
[54] The breakaway fractured ever so slightly just before the final climb of the Głodówka, with CCC–Polsat–Polkowice's Nikolay Mihaylov being the last of the seven to be caught, with around 20 km (12.4 mi) to cover.
[56] Thor Hushovd followed Henao up the road,[55] and launched his sprint from his rear wheel, and ultimately took the stage honours by a bike length from FDJ.fr rider Mathieu Ladagnous, and Cannondale's Daniele Ratto completed the podium.
[66] The quartet managed to build up a lead in excess of three minutes, but this grouping were ultimately brought back around halfway through the stage, on the third lap of the circuit.
This duo worked together as they closed in on the finish; while behind, Ag2r–La Mondiale rider Christophe Riblon attacked from the peloton, in the hope of acquiring the overall lead from Euskaltel–Euskadi's Jon Izagirre, ahead of the final time trial.
Atapuma and Riblon remained clear of the field all the way to finish,[69] with both riders claiming honours at the line; Atapuma took his – and his team's[66] – first victory of 2013, while Riblon was able to gain 26 seconds on Izagirre (20 seconds on time, plus 6 for bonuses), in order to take a 19-second lead overnight,[70] while also taking the points classification lead.
[16] Starting in Wieliczka, the course went out on a 15 km (9.3 mi) loop around the town, passing through Koźmice Wielkie and Raciborsko, before heading towards the finish in Kraków, and a technical closing kilometre, with several sharp corners.
Thus, Ji Cheng of Argos–Shimano,[65] who, in 113th place, trailed overall leader Christophe Riblon (Ag2r–La Mondiale) by two hours, twenty-six minutes and fifty-four seconds, was the first rider to set off on the stage.
[79] Eros Capecchi (Movistar Team) was able to catch his two-minute man Robert Kišerlovski (RadioShack–Leopard) in the closing stages of the course, and he was able to move ahead of Ag2r–La Mondiale's Domenico Pozzovivo for sixth place overall.
For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and the leader received a yellow jersey.