Welcome to Lisbon Classic, the route will take us northwest up to the coast, before heading inland over some hilly climbs in the area between Tagus River and The Atlantic coastline, before heading back to Lisbon.

We have got a howling winds at the start this morning, the meteorologist expect winds from 50 up to almost 70 km/hour, no doubt that it will affect how this race will be run, not being alert today may be very costly.



The early breakaway is huge today, 11 riders have got 44� even before we get out of Lisbon, they keep it up for more than 20 km, but it gets neutralized and we get another attack by 5 riders, then 6 riders but again it is brought back, now more than 52 km gone by without a successful breakaway, that must have been draining the riders under these difficult weather conditions.

Amongst those most visible in the peloton have been Rovny Barbero Brockhoff Stenersen

The riders participating in breakaways was:
Powless Balloni Fernandes Vogt Watson Krigbaum Ariesen Quevedo Rybakov Toupalik Egidio Petrovski Van Niekerk Rodríguez Azman Takenouchi




Just as we are about the reach the Atlantic coast we get what is to become the breakaway of the day, it is Schreurs, Vogt, Takenouchi and Van Niekerk




They will build up a lead of 6’10�, before we see any reaction from the peloton, at this point we still has about 100 km racing left.

Over this early part of the pursuit most of the work is done by Rovny Barbero, Brockhoff, Bagdonas Ackermann

The pace is high enough to reduce the distance slowly, but even though we have crosswinds at 50-65 km/h not enough to split the peloton.

Next major development comes with 42 km to the line, it is Smukulis attacking from the peloton, with breakaway 2’52� ahead.




Smukulis joins the breakaway with 26 km left, but the peloton is coming closer and we have a last hard hill climb, they won’t get over that before they are caught.

There is no rest for the riders today, just after the morning break is caught, close to the top of the hill another dangerous attack. It is strong puncher/rouleur Gerts.




Gerts got 30� under the 20km banner.

We got one minor hill left Ngamoki-Cameron, Redecker and Budenieks pulling the peloton forward.

14 km left now just 13� for Gerts.
With crosswind at 69 km/hour the inevitable happens and we get the huge split, Van Poppel, Tzortzakis, Serebriakov, Castañeda, Rowe, Aberasturi, Havik, Krieger, Suryadi, Bertilsson, Santos, Avila, Cisse, Thwaites, Perera, Bar and Farrar did not make the cut.




Gerts get caught right after the 10 km banner, and the peloton slows down to around 36 km/h. This might have been an opportunity for those left behind, but it does not happen.

With 5 km left Feng attacks and now it is definitely over for the mentioned riders left behind, the peloton is just 63 riders at this point.




With Smirnovs leading the peloton, we see another attempt, this time from Bellis sneaking off at the left side.

To mention the better sprinters well placed between the first 20 riders, we got Howard, Guerao, Coquard, Van Stayen and
Grosu in this picture.

4 km left.




3 km left
Guardini have lost contact

Up front Feng 5-6 meters in front of Bellis, they got 15�

The peloton very unorganized compared to the usual mass sprint, the crosswind and high pace pursuit have made it impossible to form the standard lead-out trains, it looks something like this:

.	.	.	.	.	.	Smirnovs
.	.	.	.	.	Rowe	.
.	.	.	.	Grosu	Ponzi	.
.	.	.	.	Grosu	.	.
.	.	.	Van Avermaet	Van Stayen	.	.
.	.	Stoltz	.	.	.	.
.	Howard	.	Ignatiev	.	.	.
.	Dzamastagic	Mohs	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	Redecker	.	Ahlstrand	.	.	.
.	Wohler	.	Demare	.	.	.
.	.	Coquard	Silvestre	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	Varga	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	Poljanski	Degenkolb	.	.
.	.	Kristoff	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	Gerts	.	.
Guerao	Vermeltfoort	Jans	Holloway	.	.	.

2 km left, Feng and Bellis are back in the bunch. Even though we are this close no one has opened the sprint, with a pace of just 39 km/h everyone is saving energy.

.	.	.	.	.	.	Rowe
.	.	.	.	.	Grosu	.
.	.	.	.	Van Stayen	Bellis	Ponzi
.	.	.	Coquard	.	Feng	.
.	.	.	Howard	.	Van Avermaet	.
.	.	Kristoff	Demare	.	.	.
.	.	Silvestre	Mohs	.	.	.
Redecker	.		Ahlstrand	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	Smirnovs	.	.
.	.	Dzamastagic	Degenkolb	Lander	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	Wohler	.	.	.	.
.	Vermeltfoort	.	Stoltz	Holloway	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	Roelandts	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.		Varga	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	Kuznetsov	Gerts	.	.	.	.
.	.	Saber	.	.	.	.
Guerao	.	.	Smit	.	.	.
Boivin	.	.	.	.	.	.
.	Edmondson	.	.	.	.	.

Then with 1.7 km left, Van Stayen opens the sprint.

Soon Coquard at his wheel and then moves up by his side – they pace down towards the red kite side by side – not a single spectator takes a breath.




Coquard first under the red kite, less than a cycle length in front of Van Stayen

Grosu first in the next group some 8-10 meters back
Kristoff, Howard, Demare and Rowe in the next line

Then Silvestre, Degenkolb, Mohs

Right behind those Ahlstrand, Ponzi and Van Avermaet

A small gap down to in this ordre: Bellis, Lander, Roelandts, Ignatiev and Holloway




400 meters left, Coquard still in the lead but not by much.

Grosu also still 3rd, but Demare now much closer and Degenkolb have moved fast now side by side with Demare

Behind those Kristoff, Mohs, Silvestre and Ahlstrand.

Rowe a bit further back at the right side.




200 meters left.
Coquard keeps laying distance to Van Stayen it look good for him.

Van Stayen seems to fade,with the riders behind coming closer.

Demare now leads this group in front of Grosu, then Degenkolb, but they are very close together hardly decided between them.

Kristoff at Degenkolb’s wheel with Silvestre at his.

Mohs and Ahlstrand on a line behind Grosu




Coquard wins the 2018 Lisbon Classic in front of Van Stayen 2nd.




Demare takes the last podium in front of Degenkolb 4th, Kristoff 5th, Grosu 6th, Silvestre 7th and Mohs 8th.




Ahlstrand 9th and Rowe rounds of top 10



Another celebration picture here:


Result:

1	Bryan Coquard	Festina - Dexia	5h09'17
2	Michael Van Stayen	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
3	Arnaud Demare	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
4	John Degenkolb	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
5	Alexander Kristoff	Hugo Boss	s.t.
6	Eduard Grosu	eBuddy	s.t.
7	Fabio Silvestre	Berg Cycles	s.t.
8	Erik Mohs	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
9	Jonas Ahlstrand	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
10	Luke Rowe	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
11	Jurgen Roelandts	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
12	Sebastian Lander	Ayubowan!	s.t.
13	Simone Ponzi	Hugo Boss	s.t.
14	Dan Holloway	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
15	Mikhail Ignatiev	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
16	Greg Van Avermaet	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
17	Guillaume Boivin	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
18	Jonathan Bellis	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
19	Mark Dzamastagic	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
20	Lahcen Saber	Philips - Continental	s.t.
21	Leigh Howard	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
22	Gatis Smukulis	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
23	Alex Wohler	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
24	Coen Vermeltfoort	eBuddy	s.t.
25	Bruno Borges	Porto - Prio	s.t.
26	Sven Erik Bystrom	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
27	Mads Pedersen	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
28	Ramunas Navardauskas	Philips - Continental	s.t.
29	Vyacheslav Kuznetsov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
30	Peter Varga	Team Reddit	s.t.
31	Davide Villella	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
32	Yannick Stoltz	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
33	Willie Smit	Team Reddit	s.t.
34	Chun Kai Feng	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
35	Lluis Mas	Porto - Prio	s.t.
36	Heiko Redecker	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
37	Grzegorz Stepniak	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
38	Sarawut Sirironnachai	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
39	Andris Smirnovs	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
40	Anthony Turgis	Ayubowan!	s.t.
41	Luca Wackermann	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
42	Óscar Guerao	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
43	Floris Gerts	eBuddy	s.t.
44	Ivan Rovny	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
45	Jetse Bol	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
46	Alexander Edmondson	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
47	Raúl Granjel Cabrera	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
48	Andreas Stauff	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
49	Roy Jans	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
50	Marvain Tognama Kossouhorou	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
51	Jamalidin Novardianto	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
52	Pawel Poljanski	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
53	Alexander Rybakov	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
54	Andrew Tennant	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
55	Pedro Merino Criado	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
56	Carl Ngamoki-Cameron	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
57	Hamish Schreurs	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
58	Yu Takenouchi	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
59	Raymond Kreder	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
60	Glenn O'Shea	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
61	Kristaps Budenieks	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
62	Sten Stenersen	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
63	Jan Brockhoff	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
64	Antonio Carvalho	Porto - Prio	s.t.
65	Sascha Weber	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
66	Davide Appollonio	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
67	Saulo Lay	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
68	Noam Cohen	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
69	Geert Van der Sanden	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
70	Maxime Daniel	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
71	Felix Grossschartner	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
72	Georgios Karatzios	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
73	Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
74	Ha Jeon Jung	Philips - Continental	s.t.
75	Pedro Sequera	Team Reddit	s.t.
76	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Philips - Continental	s.t.
77	Kasper Asgreen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
78	Niki Ostergaard	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
79	Jaime Roson	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
80	Nicholas Dlamini	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
81	Calvin Watson	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
82	Jeroen Meijers	eBuddy	s.t.
83	Andrea Guardini	Fablok - Bank BGZ	+ 3'53
84	Julien Vermote	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
85	Salem Kemboi	Ayubowan!	+ 4'55
86	Jocelyn Bar	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
87	Scott Thwaites	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
88	Mekseb Debesay	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
89	Marc De Maar	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
90	Sep Vanmarcke	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
91	Issiaka Cisse	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
92	Gabriel Cullaigh	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
93	Michael Faerk Christensen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
94	Gediminas Bagdonas	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
95	Robert Bush	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
96	Amith Udaya Kumara	Ayubowan!	s.t.
97	Emerson Santos	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
98	Daniel Juarez	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
99	Pascal Ackermann	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
100	David Per	Philips - Continental	s.t.
101	Andrew Fenn	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
102	Georgos Tzortzakis	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
103	Ingus Eislers	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
104	Xavier Quevedo	Minions	s.t.
105	Gaëtan Pons	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
106	Mathias Krigbaum	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
107	Matt Rowe	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
108	Sven Nooytens	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
109	William Chiarello	Berg Cycles	s.t.
110	Mario Vogt	Berg Cycles	s.t.
111	Tim Ariesen	eBuddy	s.t.
112	Alfredo Balloni	Berg Cycles	s.t.
113	Shaun Nick Bester	Team Reddit	s.t.
114	Stefan Petrovski	Porto - Prio	s.t.
115	Alberto Bettiol	Ayubowan!	s.t.
116	Bert-Jan Lindeman	Minions	s.t.
117	Timo Roosen	eBuddy	s.t.
118	James Oram	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
119	Johim Ariesen	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
120	Jay Major	Minions	s.t.
121	Jon Aberasturi	Hugo Boss	s.t.
122	Cristian Rodríguez	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
123	Samuel Ssabagwanya	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
124	Freddy Cruz	Team Reddit	s.t.
125	Hsuan Ping Hsu	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
126	Christian Egidio	Porto - Prio	s.t.
127	Aleksandr Serebriakov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
128	Rémi Cavagna	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
129	Morne Van Niekerk	Team Reddit	s.t.
130	Yoeri Havik	Hugo Boss	s.t.
131	Tormod Jacobsen	Berg Cycles	s.t.
132	Luis Afonso	Porto - Prio	s.t.
133	Hampus Anderberg	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
134	Odd Christian Eiking	Minions	s.t.
135	Andres Paez	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
136	Dylan Kennett	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
137	Joseph Areruya	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
138	César Vaquera	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
139	Fabio Felline	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
140	Jan Hopman	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
141	Awet Gebremedhin	Berg Cycles	s.t.
142	Piet Allegaert	Philips - Continental	s.t.
143	Lotto Petrus	Philips - Continental	s.t.
144	Maxim Pokidov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
145	Nikias Arndt	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
146	Christian Bertilsson	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
147	Nur Amirul Marzuki	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
148	Guy Sagiv	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
149	Chris Froome	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
150	Tyler Farrar	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
151	Alexander Krieger	Philips - Continental	s.t.
152	Janvier Hadi	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
153	Antwan Tolhoek	eBuddy	s.t.
154	Bambang Suryadi	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
155	Danny Van Poppel	eBuddy	s.t.
156	Hayden McCormick	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
157	Ruben Guerreiro	Berg Cycles	s.t.
158	Jaime Alberto Castaneda	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
159	Muhamad Zawawi Azman	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
160	Madushanka Perera	Ayubowan!	s.t.
161	Jose Fernandes	Berg Cycles	s.t.
162	Xuban Errazkin	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
163	Lucas Manuel Gaday	Team Reddit	s.t.
164	Marc Soler	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
165	German Nicolas Tivani	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
166	Ivo Oliveira	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
167	Adam Toupalik	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
168	Tadej Logar	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
169	Carlos Barbero	Hugo Boss	+ 7'12
170	Alexander Cowan	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
171	Remco Broers	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
172	Edwin Avila	Minions	+ 8'03
173	Shaquille Sinclair	Minions	+ 9'00
174	Harry Tanfield	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
175	Hersony Canelon	Team Reddit	s.t.
176	Patrick Olesen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
177	Neilson Powless	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
178	Varsham Darbinyan	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
179	Sachin Dulanjana	Ayubowan!	+ 10'02
180	Suranga Ranaweera	Ayubowan!	s.t.
181	Eddie Dunbar	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
182	Nico Schinker	Minions	+ 10'55
183	Shane Archbold	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
184	Javier Aramendía	Hugo Boss	s.t.
185	Damion Drapac	Minions	+ 12'22
186	Manuel Betilson	Porto - Prio	+ 13'07
187	Pim Ligthart	Hugo Boss	s.t.
188	Mario Gonzalez Salas	Hugo Boss	s.t.
189	Fabien Taillefour	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
190	Nipuna Shira Manamalage	Volvo acc. by Spotify	+ 13'52
191	Reda Aadel	Porto - Prio	+ 15'47
192	Adam Roberge	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.