If there was a prize this season to the most improved rider of the year it would probably go to Alexander Kristoff. The Norwegian has been one of the most anonymous riders in the international peloton for many years but his arrival to Euskaltel three years ago marked an inflection point in his career. Kristoff had previously been part of the Garmin and Sky structures but he was never more than a domestique with few qualities and spent his days working for others or trying to filter into hopeless breaks that never brought any rewards.
However, the life of the 29 year old changed last year. He had been 1 year in Euskaltel, where apparently he started to believe in himself. His first year there was unremarkable, although he managed to get a 4th place in a stage in Romandie, which was his best result in 4 years as a professional. His destiny was completely changed at the start of 2014 as he departed in the prologue of the Paris - Nice. Kristoff was helped by the changing weather and got the stage win and the chance to wear the leader's jersey for a couple of days.
The year went by with a few good sprints but nothing remarkable until he got to the Tour de Pologne, where he got 2 stages and the points jersey. The race in Poland is rather low key in the World Tour but for Kristoff this was a major achievement. At the end of the year he was no longer one of the rider no one looks at but a promising rider that could make his breakthrough a few years later than expected.
The confirmation of his 2014 results came this year. Euskaltel had no shortage of sprinters, including Fran Ventoso, Sacha Modolo and Lloyd Mondory. However, the decision by Mondory to focus on the cobbles and the bad start of the season by Sacha Modolo meant that Kristoff was not only the reference sprinter for the team but he had one of the strongest support in the peloton. Countless times has Lloyd Mondory prepared the sprint for Kristoff, only leaving the Norwegian to claim the win. This has brought plenty of rewards to him and Euskaltel, as both are leading in the victory count for the season. The highlights of the season were without doubts the two wins in the Tour de France and the win in the Vattenfall Cyclassics ahead of the local Marcel Kittel.
The 2015 World Championships will be also the first edition of the ITT race. This is the only race of the three that will start outside Richmond. The riders will have an almost completely flat race from Doswell to Richmond, covering 53 kilometers. The distance will allow to make considerable differences between the riders. As with the TTT the only hill in the route will be the climb in Governor Street, already inside the last kilometer of the race.
As most of the time trials when both are in the starting line, the gold medal and rainbow jersey should be a battle between Cameron Meyer and Tejay van Garderen. It will be interesting to see which of them has maintained a better peak shape for the end of the season. The American already has a silver medal from the TTT so the pressure should be lower on him than on Meyer.
Favorites:
- Cameron Meyer (Australia): Cameron Meyer had had a disappointing season until the Eneco Tour. The Australian managed to sweep out the competition in the time trial in Sittard-Geleen and it was enough to take the overall win in the Belgian - Dutch race. However, he must be disappointed that he lost out in the Continental Championships held in Colombia to Tejay van Garderen. Meyer will probably arrive in Richmond with revenge on his mind.
- Tejay van Garderen (USA): Tejay van Garderen did not manage to retain his crown in the Tour de France this season after a crash took him out of the equation. However, he has had a very prolific season so far with 5 wins, including the Continental Championships and 4 stages in the Tour de France. The World Championships are held in home soil for Van Garderen, so he will have a huge incentive to try to win the gold medal.
- Michael Rogers (Australia): Michael Rogers is the teammate of Tejay van Garderen during the whole year but in this case they will be rivals for the medals. Rogers' season has not been as good as he would have liked but he managed to get a quality stage win in the Tour de Suisse. However, his results in time trials have not been that good, only with a 5th place in the Continental Championships as his best result.
- Marco Pinotti (Italy): The Italian Marco Pinotti is the fourth favorite to take the rainbow jersey but it seems unlikely that he can beat one of the three favorites for the win. His season has not been bad at all, especially after he finished 4th in the Tour de Suisse after a very solid performance. However, he has stated that his best shape of the year is past and getting a medal would be a surprise to him.
Other riders that might be in the fight for the medals are David Millar (Great Britain), Andrew Talansky (USA), Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Jerome Coppel and Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) and Bauke Mollema (Netherlands).
The day is very nice in the Richmond area for the ITT World Championship but there is quite a bit of wind that could affect the development of the race. The wind will come towards the riders in most of the route so the pace will probably be a bit slower than expected. Cameron Meyer is the hot favorite to take the rainbow jersey but this late in the season the fitness levels might affect the final result.
The ITT European Champion, Jean-Christophe Peraud, was the first among the favorites for the medals to start. He was riding quite early but had the references of Mathias Frank and Lieuwe Westra ahead. However, it was not the best day of the French on the bike and could not improve on the time of Mathias Frank, the provisional leader, and took the 3rd place 26 seconds behind. The total effort was above 1 hour so the gaps in the finish line should be considerable.
Andrew Talansky was the second option for the USA team, behind the current Continental Champion, Tejay van Garderen. The HTC rider was riding quite early, the same as Jean-Christophe Peraud, but had a much better ride than the French and managed to take the provisional lead with a massive gap of 40 seconds over Mathias Frank. The time by Talansky is very serious and could well be close to the medals at the end of the day.
The second Australian rider, Michael Rogers, was racing right behind Andrew Talansky. However, even though he had the time references from the American he could not match his pace and had to settle for the second provisional spot, 35 seconds behind Talansky. The time set by Michael Rogers puts into perspective the great time trial that Andrew Talansky has enjoyed today. Rogers was supposed to be contending for the gold medal and found himself more than half a minute behind at the finish line.
There is a mix between specialists against the clock and Grand Tour riders among the favorites for the medals in the ITT World Championship and Bauke Mollema is one of the latter. However, the former winner of the Tour de France could not even match the pace of his fellow Dutch Lieuwe Westra and could only take the 6th provisional position in the day, 1' 08'' behind the time set by Andrew Talansky. This will probably leave him outside the top 10 when everyone else has raced.
Fabian Cancellara was the Swiss hope to do something relevant in the Championship but he could not be farther away from the pace he was supposed to have. Cancellara clearly was far from his top fitness and had to settle for the 14th best time when he crossed the finish line, 1' 35'' behind Andrew Talansky and losing out to men that should be far behind him in such a long time trial, like Janez Brajkovic and Alexander Kristoff.
Jerome Coppel was the second option for the French team but he did not disappoint at all. The Garmin rider has not really shined this season, although he got good final positions in the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d'Italia. Today was even better and he was only short of taking the provisional lead. He took the second place in the stage, although 31 seconds behind Andrew Talansky. This is a result that will have surprised many people. With only 4 riders to go he will be at least 6th.
David Millar started right behind Jerome Coppel. The British had high hopes for today but it was not really his best performance of the season. He only managed to set the 15th best time when he crossed the finish line, 1' 32'' behind Andrew Talansky. He was at a loss to explain the reasons for his poor performance. Millar will at least finish the season with 1 stage win in the Giro d'Italia, which might be more than what he expected at the start of the season.
The Italian Marco Pinotti was another of the contestants for the medals. He was 3rd in the second intermediate step but did a very good last few kilometers and managed to grab the second provisional place, only 25 seconds slower than the benchmark time, set by Andrew Talansky. The performance of the American was still amazing when only the two favorites for the win were to finish. He had already guaranteed himself a medal in the World Championship.
Andrew Talansky's teammate today, Tejay van Garderen, was supposed to have a great battle with Cameron Meyer for the gold medal and rainbow jersey today. However, his performance could not be more disappointing. The former winner of the Tour de France only managed to set the 7th best time at the finish line in Richmond, 47 seconds behind Talansky. The fitness of Van Garderen was clearly past its peak and he was visibly upset as he crossed the finish line.
The favorite, Cameron Meyer was the last rider on the road today. His target was the rainbow jersey but Andrew Talansky was on his way to the gold medal. However, Meyer proved who is the best time trialist in the World and managed to grab the gold medal with a decent 18 seconds gap over the American rider. The Quickstep rider might have missed on the Continental Championships but he did not fail when it mattered the most.
Cameron Meyer will be the first rider to wear the ITT World Champion jersey. No rider was a better choice to open the palmares of the Championship than the onw that has been dominating the discipline for the last few years. The silver medal went to a surprising Andrew Talansky, while another Quickstep rider, Marco Pinotti, took the bronze.
This is the first time that the World Championship is held in USA soil and what a better place to race the first editions of the TTT and ITT World Championships. Astana and Cameron Meyer have taken the gold medals awarded this week so far. However, the most important race will be held today. It is the first time that a Road World Championship has a few cobbles in the circuit. It will be a small section up Libby Hill but enough to cause some stress to the riders that are not used to them.
The whole circuit is inside Richmond, Virginia. It is quite different from the usual World Championship in that there are lots of changes of direction and in that sense if feels more like a criteruim at times. However, the last part of the circuit is relatively demanding with a few consecutive hills. The last one will be the one that we have already seen in the time trials, Governor Place. Given the characteristics of the circuit, predicting a favorite is even more difficult than normal in a World Championship.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (France): Being classified in this very open race might not mean a lot in terms of probabilities but Lloyd Mondory is the maximum favorite to take the rainbow jersey. The race in Richmond has a remembrance of the Gent - Wevelgem, although with much less cobbles. Mondory took his best win of the season in Belgium and that will probably give him confidence ahead of this race. He should also have good support in the likes of Yoann Offredo and Sylvain Chavanel.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Belgium): The current World Champion is looking for a third gold medal to add to his tally. Belgium has an outstanding team and normally it is an added benefit for Leukemans. Not by chance has Belgium won 3 of the last 4 World Championships, only losing to Alessandro Ballan in Firenze. Nevertheless, Leukemans will need to attack to get the win as in a final sprint he does not seem to be the best prepared to win.
- Alexander Kristoff (Norway): Alexander Kristoff has had a fantastic season and a medal in the World Championship would be the perfect finish for it. The Norwegian will not enjoy the relative surprise factor that he had at the beginning of the season and will also have not much help from his teammates, given that there will only be 4 Norwegians at the start line in Richmond. This will cast a few doubts on his potential performance but he will be a wheel to follow for sure.
- Ben Swift (Great Britain): The last rider among the top favorites for the World Championship is Ben Swift. The British rider might not be the quickest in a pure sprint but he always gets the best of him in more difficult stages, preferably with a few small hills along the way. Great Britain will have a full 9 men team in the USA, which will also increase their chances of a good result compared with previous seasons.
Other riders with a chance to take the rainbow jersey in Richmond are Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel (Germany), Tyler Farrar (USA), Oscar Freire (Spain), Simone Ponzi (Italy) and Stefan van Dijk (Netherlands).
The circuit in Richmond is around 15 kilometers long but it feels almost like a criterium at some points. The final 4 kilometers include at least 10 turns of at least 90 degrees so, unless the peloton is reduced, the crashes could play a role. However, the few hills scattered in these kilometers, including the cobbled climb in Libby Hill park, should prevent a big group making it to the finish line.
Belgium did not allow a big break to be formed in the first laps of the race and in the end the break of the day only had 4 riders. They were Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Great Britain), Igor Anton (Spain), Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) and Ricardo Zoidl (Austria). They were not very dangerous riders in this kind of race. Belgium, France and Italy were leading the main bunch with 145 kilometers to go, when the gap of the break had reached 8' 15''. It will be important to be at the front of the bunch in the last laps to avoid problems.
Some interesting moves were executed around halfway through the race by a few outsider teams. First it was Maxim Iglinskiy who bridged the gap to the break for Kazakhstan. However, two more important riders also attempted to join: Maarten Tjallingii (Netherlands) and Tyler Farrar (USA). Tjallingii was around 30 seconds from the break and Farrar 1' 30'' with 90 kilometers to go. These attacks triggered a increase in the pace of the bunch as Spain started to collaborate with Belgium in controlling the race. The gap from the break to the bunch had decreased to 5' 40'' at that point.
All the escapees eventually joined the front group to make a 7 men break. However, Belgium started to increase the pace considerably and brought the gap down to 2' 10'' with 40 kilometers to go. Philippe Gilbert, Greg van Avermaet and Tom Boonen were working at the front of the pack and making a lot of riders suffer. It will be difficult for other teams to attack with such strong riders leading the bunch. Belgium needs to make the other teams suffer as much as possible as they prepare the race for either Johan Vansummeren or Bjorn Leukemans.
The front group was already about to be caught when Belgium started to move the tree with an attack by Johan Vansummeren with 21 kilometers to go. The powerful rider was followed by Llyod Mondory, while Luca Paolini was trying to bring everyone else back behind Vansummeren. The front group was climbing the cobbled section to Libby Hill park for the penultimate time and had 45 seconds over the main bunch, which was clearly not enough with more than 1 lap to go. The bunch had lost quite a few riders and around 80 survived.
Johan Vansummeren's attack was reeled back in mainly by the effort from France and Italy. The peloton stayed together until after the start / finish line, when George Hincapie attacked for the local team. This attacked triggered another push at the front of the pack by Nick Nuyens and Tom Boonen. The depth of the Belgian team is incredible for this kind of race. With 14 kilometers to go everyone seemed to be eagerly waiting an attack by Bjorn Leukemans.
Bjorn Leukemans did not disappoint and attacked with 8 kilometers to go. He was so fast that he easily cruised past George Hincapie, who was quickly swallowed by the main bunch as they tried to chase down Leukemans. Spain is leading the chase but they are going to need help from other teams if they want to bring everyone back together. France seems to be the only other team willing to collaborate, but it is difficult to know whether it will be enough.
Lloyd Mondory was tired of waiting for his teammates to bring back Bjorn Leukemans and attacked shortly before the climb to Libby Hill. However, Bjorn Leukemans had already built a gap of 35 seconds on the main group and looked very strong. Mondory was making a good display in the cobbled hill but it would take a big effort to bridge the gap. Belgium has been doing a perfect job knowing that they had no options in a sprint of a group. They made the race very hard for everyone involved knowing that they had the strongest riders in the field.
Lloyd Mondory was joined by Oscar Freire and Johan Vansummeren in his chase for Bjorn Leukemans but obviously Vansummeren was not collaborating at all. With 2 kilometers to go Leukemans still had a 30 seconds gap over the trio and was already touching another gold medal with his fingers. Another three riders were chasing behind Mondory's group: Yoann Offredo, Fabian Cancellara and George Hincapie. The bunch disintegrated into lots of small groups in the hills of the last lap.
Lloyd Mondory was the first to start the final sprint for the silver medal as soon as they climbed the Governor Place hill. The French was the best rider over the hills in the three chasers and, actually, Oscar Freire and he managed to leave Johan Vansummeren behind in that last climb. It looks like the two of them will also be in the podium. Yoann Offredo is chasing on his own but it seems unlikely that he catches Vansummeren.
Bjorn Leukemans wins in Richmond! The Belgian takes the gold medal in the World Championship for the third time in his career, the second consecutively. It was expected that Leukemans was the first choice for the win in his team and he delivered with an attack 8 kilometers from the finish line. The rest of the teams were powerless to bring him back. With this win, Leukemans' season is impressive. He took the Liege - Bastogne - Liege, Paris - Roubaix and the World Championship. The rankings can say anything but he is surely the best rider in the season.
The sprint for the silver medal was won by Lloyd Mondory, who even opened a gap to Oscar Freire in the final straight. It was quite a surprising result for the Spaniard, who was an outsider but far from the best. The top 5 was completed by Johan Vansummeren and Yoann Offredo. With today's race Belgium has won 4 of the last 5 World Championships, making it clear that they are the best team for the classics.
The Giro di Lombardia is the only monument that is raced after in the autumn. The Italian race takes place in the region of Lombardy, close to the border with Switzerland. Among the monuments is the only one that features mountains, with the climb to the Madonna del Ghisallo being the most iconic in the race. This year's edition will feature the climbs to the Valico de Valcava, Muro di Sormano, Madonna del Ghisallo and Villa Vergano.
After a very surprising win for Tyler Farrar in 2009 the race has been dominated by riders that have a good combination of hills and mountain skills. Damiano Cunego took the win in 2011 and Bauke Mollema is the defending champion, with Simon Gerrans and Davide Rebellin completing the podium in 2013. Historically, the Giro di Lombardia has not had climbs as hard as Valcava and the routes have varied considerably, so different winners are more common than in other monuments.
Favorites:
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): David Lopez is probably the main favorite to take the win in the Giro di Lombardia. The Spaniard is one of those Grand Tour riders that handles equally well the mountains and the hills, a combination that is very important in the Italian race. Lopez has the win in the Tour de Suisse as his best result of the year but has never been in a podium of a monument.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Belisol): Vanendert has been outstanding this year and not by chance he is leading the World Tour rankings. The Belgian is the quickest sprinter among those that can win the Giro di Lombardia so he might want to play it safe and go for the group finish. The highlights of his season so far are the win in the Paris - Nice and his 2nd place in the Giro with 2 stage wins.
- Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil - DMC): Bauke Mollema is the current defending champion of the Giro di Lombardia. The Dutch might not be the dominant rider he was 2 years ago when he got the win but he was good enough this year to get the win in the Tour de Romandie and get top 10 finishes in both the Giro and the Tour. The long races with many climbs have historically benefited the Dutch against some of his rivals so Vacansoleil should try to make the race as hard as possible.
- Simon Gerrans (Trek Factory Racing): The Australian is a completely different rider to the rest of the favorites for the win. He will have to survive in the long climbs, especially the Valico di Valcava, but if he manages to stay with the best he should be among the best in Villa Vergano. Gerrans is closing his season and he has no wins so far, a very disappointing performance after being one of the stars in 2014.
Other riders with a chance to win the monument are Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale), Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Mikel Nieve (Discovery Channel), Rob Ruijgh (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team).
The route of the Giro di Lombardia is definitely a difficult one. The riders will have to tackle the climbs in decreasing order of difficulty. The route starts with the Valico di Valcava, an Hors Categorie climb, followed by the Muro di Sormano, Madonna del Ghisallo and Villa Vergano. The attacks from the favorites before Villa Vergano are unlikely, given the long flat section between the end of the descent of the Ghisallo and the last climb of the day.
The break of the day was rather small, considering that many teams don't have many options of success at Lecco in the group of the favorites. Euskatel and Trek were not willing to let a big break form and chased down the riders trying to join the break. The group of 4 riders was made of Chris Horner (HTC), Steven Kruijswijk (Belkin), Tom Dumoulin (Vacansoleil) and Giampaolo Caruso (Lampre). They had a gap of 8 minutes halfway through the climb to Valcava. Meanwhile, the peloton was led by George Hincapie but the pace was quite easy.
Halfway through the stage was the tiny climb to the Colle Brianza. With 115 kilometers to go the teams in the main bunch had started to pick up the pace and they put riders like Peter Kennaugh, Dani Moreno and Pierre Rolland to work at the front. As a result, the gap to the break reduced to 7' 20'' after peaking at more than 9 minutes. The Valico de Valcava was raced at a slow pace but it will wear everyone a little bit.
The second massive climb of the day was the Muro di Sormano. This alternative climb to the Colma di Sormano has 2 kilometers averaging almost 16%, a good test to the riders still with 80 kilometers to go. Rigoberto Uran was leading the pace for most of the climb but it was Tejay van Garderen leading the way ahead of Dani Moreno at the top. Most of the favorites had no trouble with the climb but many riders dropped out of the back of the peloton already.
Chris Horner was leading the break at the start of the climb to Madonna del Ghisallo but the hopes of the men in the break had taken a big hit as the peloton started to work hard. They only had a gap of 2' 45'' at the bottom and 52 kilometers to go to the finish line in Lecco. Euskatel and Trek were working in the bunch with the likes of Tejay van Garderen, Igor Anton and Damiano Cunego leading the group, riders that could potentially leave few riders in the bunch.
Euskatel had taken the lead in the second half of the Madonna del Ghisallo as Trek seemed to want to protect Simon Gerrans a little bit in this part of the race. Igor Anton and Dani Moreno were doing most of the job for David Lopez. It was surprising that no rider attempted an attack in the iconic climb but, as we said in the preview, the flat from here to Villa Vergano is considerable. The gap of the break had come down to 2' 10'' at the top and they will probably be reeled back in before Villa Vergano.
Davide Rebellin and Simon Gerrans had tried to attack in the descent of the Ghisallo but were quickly reeled back. The break was, as expected, caught before Villa Vergano and the favorites did not wait to start the attacks in the hill on the outskirts of Lecco. The first rider to attack was Jelle Vanendert, swiftly followed by Simon Gerrans, David Lopez and Andy Schleck. There was not much time for the rest of the riders to wait, as this climb is not that long. Bauke Mollema was soon on the counterattack but it felt like too late already.
The top of the climb to Villa Vergano was only 10 kilometers from the finish line in Lecco. It was Jelle Vanendert who made it first to the top after no one could follow his attack. The leader of the World Tour rankings is one of the most versatile riders in the field. David Lopez was only 15 seconds behind but the rest of the chasers, a group of 7 including Bauke Mollema, Simon Gerrans and Andy Schleck, were 35 seconds behind. It was too much time considering practically all the way to Lecco was downhill.
David Lopez was frantically descending towards Lecco but at the bottom of the descent he was still 6 seconds behind Jelle Vanendert. The two riders are fighting each and every second and seem to be quite similar in energy. With 4 kilometers to go it is difficult to say who is going to take the win. Meanwhile, the chasing group did not agree to collaborate and are 45 seconds behind, already with no chances of taking the win in the monument.
Jelle Vanendert wins in Lecco! The Belgian takes the first monument of his career in the 2015 Giro di Lombardia. It is a great way to finish the year, confirming that he will be the winner of the World Tour rankings. This is the 4th win of the year for Vanendert and the most important. David Lopez was chasing hard but had to let go of the win as he run out of gas in the flat towards the finish. The Spaniard had to settle for the second place in the race, 21 seconds behind.
The chasing group never got to work together and a proof is that they lost almost 20 seconds to Jelle Vanendert in the descent. The sprint for the last place in the podium was won by Andy Schleck, in what is probably his best result of the season. This does not say much of the Quickstep rider this season. Chris Froome took the 4th place while Bauke Mollema was 5th.
The European season has drawn to an end in 2015 and only the Tour de Beijing is left before finishing the cycling season. Jelle Vanendert has clinched the lead in the World Tour this season by taking the first monument in his career. The season by the Belgian rider was outstanding and only Laurens Ten Dam was a threat for his title.
I am actually surprised that Vanendert was that strong this season. Judging him on his stats only he does not look stronger than many other riders. He was not very fit for the Tour and maybe it paid off in other races.
The last race of the season is the Tour of Beijing. This is the second year in a row that the Chinese race has a place in the calendar. The race is again categorized as HC but has attracted a surprisingly good roster, including the winners of the Giro and the Tour. It seems like the popularity of the race has increased since last year among the riders. Andy Schleck is the defending champion and was joined by Laurens Ten Dam and Andrew Talansky in the podium.
The route will be the same as last year. The overall classification will most probably be decided in the climb to the Miaofeng Mountain, in the 4th stage of the race. Other than that last year the rest of the stages were decided in more or less mass sprints. Overall, the route could be more attractive considering the opportunities that the area in the surroundings of Beijing offers.
Favorites:
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): David Lopez was second in the Giro di Lombardia last week, proving that he is in top shape late in the season. He has a good chance of taking the win in the Tour of Beijing. Nevertheless, the opposition is very though and this race will be decided in the only mountain finish in the route. The Spaniard has normally been beaten by this opposition in the high mountains normally.
- Peter Stetina (BMC Racing Team): The American has been almost disappeared since he finished the Tour de France. His season was mainly focused in the early races, when he managed to win the Giro d'Italia. Even though he barely got any results in the second part of the year Stetina managed to keep the 4th place in the World Tour rankings.
- Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale): Ten Dam has had an outstanding season, including the win in the Tour de France and a 3rd place in the Giro d'Italia. He has not had any results since he finished the Tour de France so he has said that he does not feel has the legs to win the race. Nevertheless, Ten Dam is a great rider and can never be discarded for the win.
- Bauke Mollema (Vacansoleil - DMC): Bauke Mollema has had a solid season although slightly underwhelming when compared to the results he got in the past. He managed to get a 5th place in the Giro di Lombardia so it should prove that he still has the legs to be among the best in the mountains this late into the season. Nevertheless, he seems to be a step behind the three other favorites.
Other riders to take into account are Andy Schleck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep), Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale), Juan Jose Cobo and Andrew Talansky (HTC - Highroad), Robert Kiserlovski (Lotto - Belisol) and Cadel Evans (Movistar Team).
The sprinters have a few chances and many strong sprinters will be in China, including Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha), Chris Sutton (Vacansoleil - DMC) and Elia Viviani (Cannondale).
