Another flat stage awaits the riders in this crazy Tour of Britain. After three realteively uneventful hilly stages, the return to the flats generated far more action than expected. And guess what? We’re in for another windy day, so echelons are really a possibility to be considered.
The favourites for today shoud be the sprinters, although their teams didn’t seem too eager to work yesterday, but the likes of Peter Kennaugh and Mark Cavendish surely want to avoid failing to score a single podium in their home race.
Surprisingly, we’re 40km into the race, and we have no breakaway yet. Rothaus – Aegon is working hard in the front, and has made sure that no big breakaway gains time. They are probably working with the idea of getting a sprint victory with Vantomme, but will the Belgian deliver?
Finally, a California Giant double attack with Tom Zirbel and Luis Pasamontes go clear, and are joined afterwards by Daniel Schorn, Willem Van den Eynde, Hayden Roulston and Pim Ligthart.
No fight for the intermediate sprint, as probably they’re still tired from their recent attacks. Pasamontes takes it, with Zirbel second and Schorn third. They are more focused now in building a bigger lead.
No fight for the second intermediate sprint either, and Van den Eynde is first there, Roulston second and Zirbel third. They are working well, so their lead has grown and it’s at 4’25’’ now with 70km to go.
50km to go, and the work of the sprinters’ team can be perceived. Proximus - Trek, Rothaus and UniCredit aren’t willing to lose the chance to battle it out in the sprint, and the gap just goes under 4 minutes.
And that was the last intermediate sprint of this Tour of Britain. The order was Ligthart - Schorn - Zirbel, and the gap keeps going down, 1’44’’ now with 25km to go. It looks like we’ll have again a bunch sprint, after 4 stages won by the breakaway or late attackers like Flügel.
With 17km to go, the breakaway is all but caught, so Roulston, Schorn, Van den Eynde and Pasamontes go on the attack, leaving Zirbel and Ligthart behind.
But Ligthart isn’t giving up, he pulls and catches Schorn, Van den Eynde and Roulston, with Zirbel glued at his wheel, but Pasamontes still has 30’’ on this group. Good tactics by California Giant, now Zirbel will sit at the back of the group, leaving all the work for the other 4.
But the peloton is too fast, and the chase group is caught with the 10km banner in sight. Pasamontes still has 40’’, but it will be extremely hard for him to stay clear.
4500m to go, and the sprint preparation begins. UniCredit is trying to set a leadout, but Maciej Ulanowski is trying to disrupt it to get Mark Cavendish in the best position. Pasamontes is still up there, but the gap is minimal, and the peloton will catch him at will.
3300m to go, Pasamontes is caught, and Ulanowski fades with Cavendish still not at the right place, so the Manxman will have to make up for a couple bike lengths. Behind him, we can see Erik Mohs, Maxime Vantomme and Peter Kennaugh.
With 1300m to go, Lorenzetto is done, and Napolitano makes his move.
Cavendish and Mohs try to move round the Italian, but it’s Kennaugh who is coming incredibly fast from behind.
400m, and the Britons have almost overtaken Napolitano!
And Kennaugh takes it! He was truly in a different league today, coming from behind to win by a couple bike lengths. First British win in this Tour of Britain as well, it took a while, but it finally happened, for the joy of the fans here in Colchester.
Napolitano just takes second ahead of Cavendish, and he has the green jersey pretty much wrapped up, while Mohs is 4th, and Vantomme has to settle for 5th.
And what do we have here! The sprinters went so fast, which, combined with the wind, the rest couldn’t follow, so the first 16 riders opened a 31’’ seconds gap on the rest. That’s good for Daryl Impey and Jonathan Bellis, as both open a great gap with their closest opponents, but it’s specially good for Danilo Napolitano, who jumps up to 7th in GC, and could even end up 6th should he get any bonus time in the last stage.
