Another day, another cycling race! Goedemorgen and welcome to Rheden for the start of its GP. A very important day for some PCT teams, as well as the PT teams who resisted the temptation of the Tour off the Battenkill and brought their cobblers here.

Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Vanmarcke are named as the favourites of this 185-kilometer “cobbled but then again not so cobbled� race. Cobbled sprinter Kristoff is only mentioned as an outsider.



It took a few kilometers, almost felt like no one wanted to attack, and whenever they did over 20 riders tried to join. But finally, Schachmann became a lone ranger and decided to have a go for it. He quickly gains two minutes and no one seemed to even want to follow him. Weird stuff. Surely there are teams without cobblers who wanted to try something here?



Schachmann knows he has no chance, and doesn't do much to increase the lead two more than two minutes. Meanwhile, Minions (De Haes), sometimes helped by Iberia and Carlsberg, are catching him back. There seems to be little to worry for, honestly. Two minutes with 100-ish kilometers to go is easily bridgable, especially on the cobbles.



And indeed, we can say goodbye to Schachmann's escape attempt with 60 kilometers to go. This is mainly thanks to the hard work of Carlsberg. Most top favourites are already in the top 20 of the pack, so it's time for the grand finale! Will we see any attacks early on?



Well... We should've done some commercial breaks, honestly. But with 8,3 kilometers to go it's outsider Vanmarcke who breaks open the race and has a go for it!



He gains 13 seconds within two kilometers. Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Zepuntke seem to be quite worried about him and lead the chase for him. There're still 62 riders in the pack though, including most favourites, making you wonder if there weren't any teammates to do the job for them.



Vanmarcke gets caught with 3,5 kilometers to go. Nolf is trying to keep the pace high to avoid any more of these attacks. Looks like we're in for a sprint!



And indeed, despite the lack of asphalt we can see some sort of a sprint setup with 3 kilometers to go. It goes something like this:

	Vanmarcke
	Blythe
	Gerts
		Saber
Vanspeybrouck		Rowe
Nolf		Weber
		Holloway (!!!)
Zepuntke

Top favourite Kristoff is between a huge group of outsiders, but should still be able to move ahead if he has the legs today.



Under the red kite it seems like not much has changed here, it seems like the riders ar e too scared to sprint on the cobbles and want to wait for the asphalt. But with that they are giving Vanmarcke a major headstart for the last 500 meters!



'The riders have passed the final corner and indeed I don't think anyone will pass him!



Blythe tries... But falls just short! Vanmarcke wins the 2018 Rheden GP! Another amazing surprise for Repsol, who will get even closer to a double promotion this season.

Behind Blythe, Gerts comfortably moved on t to earn himself the final podium spot.



Vanspeybrouck finishes fourth, I don't think the manager will be satisfied with that given the relegation struggle Carlsberg is in. Pre-race favourite Kristoff couldn't finish it off and ends up in fifth despite the sprint finish. Sprinters Saber and Rowe next then, followed by a surprising little hybrid, Weber.

Zepuntke suffered from the lack of true racing on the cobbles and only got ninth, in front of probably the biggest shocker of this race: Top sprinter Holloway finalises the top 10!



And that concludes the Rheden GP for this year, with an outsider winning and some great surprises in the top 10. But if I'm allowed to go off my script for a little, this race had major AI issues. Riders refused the sprint on the cobbled downhill and whoever gets in front on those cobbles wins the race. So while I do hope for the GP to continue, I do hope we get some actual racing next time. But until now, goodbye and big balls!

Results

1	Sep Vanmarcke	Repsol - Netflix	4h31'49
2	Adam Blythe	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
3	Floris Gerts	eBuddy	s.t.
4	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
5	Alexander Kristoff	Hugo Boss	s.t.
6	Lahcen Saber	Philips - Continental	s.t.
7	Luke Rowe	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
8	Sascha Weber	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
9	Ruben Zepuntke	Minions	s.t.
10	Dan Holloway	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
11	Robert Bush	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
12	Tom David	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
13	Tobyn Horton	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
14	Andrew Fenn	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
15	Sameera Chatarunga	Ayubowan!	s.t.
16	Isaac Bolivar	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
17	David Per	Philips - Continental	s.t.
18	Lucas Manuel Gaday	Team Reddit	s.t.
19	Mads Pedersen	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
20	Cedric Lebris	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
21	Alexandr Nepomnyachsniy	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
22	Scott Thwaites	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
23	Chequan Richardson	Hugo Boss	s.t.
24	Frederik Nolf	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
25	Yves Lampaert	eBuddy	s.t.
26	Ricardo Van der Velde	eBuddy	s.t.
27	Mekseb Debesay	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
28	George Atkins	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
29	Sebastian Lander	Ayubowan!	s.t.
30	Bert-Jan Lindeman	Minions	s.t.
31	Remco Broers	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
32	Niels Albert	Minions	s.t.
33	Sam Harrison	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
34	Julien Vermote	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
35	Bob Schoonbroodt	Team Reddit	s.t.
36	Alexander Edmondson	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
37	Nur Amirul Marzuki	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
38	Ahmad Arissol	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
39	Kenny De Haes	Minions	s.t.
40	Shaun Nick Bester	Team Reddit	s.t.
41	Nejc Kosic	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
42	Evgeny Russo	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
43	Fabien Taillefour	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
44	Yoeri Havik	Hugo Boss	s.t.
45	Leandro Marcos	Minions	s.t.
46	Yu Takenouchi	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
47	Amith Udaya Kumara	Ayubowan!	s.t.
48	Jan Oelerich	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
49	Clenne Morvan Moulingui	Minions	s.t.
50	Jon Ander Insausti	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
51	Hamish Schreurs	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
52	Ramon Sinkeldam	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
53	Nipuna Shira Manamalage	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
54	Andzs Flaksis	Minions	s.t.
55	Gediminas Bagdonas	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
56	Jonas Ahlstrand	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
57	Chun Kai Feng	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
58	Geert Van der Sanden	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
59	Varsham Darbinyan	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
60	Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
61	Ashen Tharuka	Ayubowan!	s.t.
62	Niki Ostergaard	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
63	Julius van den Berg	Ayubowan!	s.t.
64	Rémi Cavagna	Team Puma - SAP	+ 3'23
65	Thomas Vedel Kvist	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
66	Carl Ngamoki-Cameron	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
67	Darshana Prasad	Ayubowan!	s.t.
68	Jamalidin Novardianto	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
69	Paul Junior Maroga	Porto - Prio	s.t.
70	Jocelyn Bar	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
71	Vyacheslav Kuznetsov	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
72	Andrei Nechita	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
73	Samuel Ssabagwanya	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
74	Jonathan McEvoy	Berg Cycles	+ 4'46
75	Yannick Stoltz	Evonik - ELKO	+ 5'27
76	Stylianos Farantakis	Festina - Dexia	+ 7'01
77	Andreas Stauff	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
78	Hsuan Ping Hsu	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
79	Gabriel Cullaigh	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
80	Ivan García Cortina	Iberia - Team Degenkolb	s.t.
81	Patrick Müller	Philips - Continental	s.t.
82	James Piccoli	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
83	Dimitri Claeys	Porto - Prio	s.t.
84	Manuel Betilson	Porto - Prio	s.t.
85	Hampus Anderberg	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
86	Freddy Cruz	Team Reddit	+ 8'53
87	Madushanka Perera	Ayubowan!	s.t.
88	Peter Varga	Team Reddit	s.t.
89	Ian Stannard	cycleYorkshire	s.t.
90	Maximillian Schachmann	Berg Cycles	s.t.
91	Carlos Barbero	Hugo Boss	s.t.
92	Ha Jeon Jung	Philips - Continental	s.t.
93	Loic Vliegen	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
94	Mathias Krigbaum	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
95	Alexander Krieger	Philips - Continental	s.t.
96	Dragan Jasovic	Control Team	s.t.
97	Pascal Ackermann	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
98	Dylan Kennett	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
99	Andrea Pasqualon	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
100	Kamil Zielinski	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
101	Sabelo Mngometulu	Control Team	s.t.
102	Xuban Errazkin	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
103	Sten Stenersen	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
104	Piet Allegaert	Philips - Continental	s.t.
105	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Philips - Continental	s.t.
106	Adam Toupalik	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
107	Sean McKenna	Repsol - Netflix	+ 9'50
108	Steven Lammertink	eBuddy	s.t.
109	Jeroen Meijers	eBuddy	s.t.
110	Miltiadis Giannoutsos	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
111	Stefano Agostini	Repsol - Netflix	+ 11'08
112	Jan Hopman	Nordstrom - BioWare	+ 11'31
113	Noam Cohen	Fablok - Bank BGZ	+ 12'40
114	Shane Archbold	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
115	Pim Ligthart	Hugo Boss	s.t.
116	Jon Aberasturi	Hugo Boss	s.t.
117	Andre Looij	Porto - Prio	s.t.
118	Antonio Carvalho	Porto - Prio	s.t.
119	Ryan Anderson	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
120	Neilson Powless	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
121	Jose Fernandes	Berg Cycles	s.t.
122	Ayden Toovey	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
123	Ran Margaliot	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
124	Amaro Antunes	Berg Cycles	s.t.
125	Getachew Sendeku	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
126	Klever Cuasquer	Hugo Boss	s.t.
127	Morne Van Niekerk	Team Reddit	s.t.
128	Adam Roberge	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
129	Lennard Hofstede	Philips - Continental	s.t.
130	Cristian Rodríguez	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
131	Luca Wackermann	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
132	Jaime Roson	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
133	Sarawut Sirironnachai	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
134	Havard Blikra	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
135	Thomas Lövkvist	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
136	Eddie Dunbar	Repsol - Netflix	s.t.
137	Juraj Sagan	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
138	Antwan Tolhoek	eBuddy	s.t.
139	Ajay Pandit Chhetri	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
140	Odd Christian Eiking	Minions	s.t.
141	Niklas Eg	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
142	Francisco Anton Martin	Team Puma - SAP	+ 14'53
143	Kaspars Sergis	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
144	Fredrik Ludvigsson	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
145	Fabian Lienhard	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
146	Alex Ariya Destribois	Berg Cycles	+ 15'40
147	César Vaquera	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
148	Hersony Canelon	Team Reddit	s.t.
149	German Nicolas Tivani	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
150	Glenn O'Shea	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
151	Pedro Sequera	Team Reddit	s.t.
152	Salem Kemboi	Ayubowan!	s.t.
153	Muhamad Zawawi Azman	SPAR - Shimano - SCG	s.t.
154	Dmitriy Ignatiev	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
155	Nicholas Dlamini	World Cycling Centre	s.t.
156	Alexander Vlasov	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
157	Andrei Sakalou	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
158	Félix Emilio Besada	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
159	William Chiarello	Berg Cycles	s.t.
160	Kasper Asgreen	Carlsberg - Danske Bank	s.t.
161	Ricardo Vilela	Berg Cycles	s.t.
162	Alexander Wetterhall	Volvo acc. by Spotify	s.t.
163	Jasha Sütterlin	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
164	Phillip Gaimon	Nordstrom - BioWare	s.t.
165	Tadej Logar	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	s.t.
166	Alex Wohler	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
167	Jordan Schleck	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	s.t.
168	Colin Stüssi	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
169	Awet Gebremedhin	Berg Cycles	s.t.
170	Dylan Van Baarle	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
171	Yoann Bagot	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	+ 18'19
172	James Oram	Bennelong - Mitchelton	+ 20'29
173	Hugo Nunes	Porto - Prio	s.t.
174	Matteo Fabbro	Festina - Dexia	s.t.
175	Alexander Cowan	Azteca-NBCSN	s.t.
176	Ingus Eislers	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
177	Husain Al Basri	Control Team	s.t.
178	Emanuel Piaskowy	Fablok - Bank BGZ	s.t.
179	Felix Grossschartner	Novatek-Panarmenian.net	+ 22'15
180	Christian Egidio	Porto - Prio	+ 22'51
181	Jacob Salcone	Bennelong - Mitchelton	s.t.
182	Nils Schomber	Xero Racing p/b Octagon	+ 24'27