Only a couple of days after the race in Quebec, the second Canadian race in the World Tour calendar takes place in Montreal. This will be the last preparation for the World Championships in Qatar but the route is completely different that the Worlds this year. The circuit around the University of Montreal will feature the climb to Camillien-Houde. There will be 17 laps to a circuit 12.1 kilometers long, which will make for a bit more than 200 kilometers of racing.
The favorites have to be riders that go well through the hills but the fact that the climb is early in the circuit means that it is more likely that a small group makes it to the finish than a single rider winning. In terms of previous winners, all of them were good classics riders. Bjorn Leukemans took the win in 2014 from a rather big group while Alessandro Ballan and Janez Brajkovic had been the previous winners. Leukemans is again among the favorites and he is aiming for at least a podium finish.
Favorites:
- Simone Ponzi (Team Katusha): Simone Ponzi comes from being 2nd in the GPC de Quebec, which proves that he is in good shape in this part of the season. However, he trusted his final uphill sprint and let go of Tony Gallopin in the closing stages of the race. The route in Montreal will be a bit trickier as there are quite a few flat kilometers between the last climb and the finish line and Katusha does not seem to have a team to control the race.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal): Leukemans is the defending champion of the race in Montreal as he took the win in 2014. Lotto had skipped the race in Quebec so we do not know what is their fitness but the roster they brought is outstanding as it also includes Michael Matthews and Jelle Vanendert. They have a range of strategies they could play to grab the win. Given that he is not the best sprinter Leukemans will need to attack in the hill and hold on to the lead until the finish line but two years ago he defied logic and won from a rather big group.
- Philippe Gilbert (Trek Factory Racing): Trek did a very strange thing in not riding for Gilbert during the race in Quebec. In principle he should be the leader for the team in Montreal but he will also need to attack and make the group considerably smaller if he wants to have a chance for the win. On paper he is the slowest in a sprint among the favorites. Cameron Meyer and Simon Gerrans should be the best helpers for him.
- Joost van Leijen (Team Giant - Alpecin): Joost van Leijen was a bit disappointing in the race in Quebec but in theory the route in Montreal favors him better as it is considerably tougher. His speed in a sprint is something that will play in his favor but the lack of helpers from his team means that he will have to respond to many attacks on his own not to lose track of the race. His season has been quite good so far and he will be looking to add another good result.
Other riders with a chance are Michael Matthews and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal), Tony Gallopin and Emanuele Sella (BMC Racing Team), Rui Costa (Ag2r - La Mondiale) and Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep).
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal is a bit different to the race in Quebec. It is a bit harder as the hill at the University of Montreal is much harder than the Citadelle de Quebec but the climb is done at the start of the circuit instead of the end. That means that if the hills riders want to play for the race are forced to attack from at least 10 kilometers away. The 17 laps around the circuit should be hard enough to make a good selection of riders in the end.
There was a big fight to get the break of the day but in the end it was not too strong. The group of 6 included Romain Feillu (FDJ), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Marcus Burghardt (Giant), Nicolas Roche (Cannondale) and Mauro Finetto (Katusha). With 115 kilometers to go they had built a gap of 6 minutes but the peloton did not seem too worried about it. Lotto, Trek and Quickstep were the teams setting the pace but it was not a chasing speed so far.
Before the favorites started to play for the race there was an attack with 60 kilometers to go of a group of riders that made it to the early break rather quickly. They were Oscar Freire, Gregory Rast, Xavi Tondo, Alejandro Valverde and Chris Anker Sorensen. With 50 kilometers to go the front group had 11 riders and 2' 50'' over the bunch. That triggered an increase in pace at the bunch as the group was suddenly much more dangerous. At least Trek had it clear today that they should not make Philippe Gilbert work. Also, shortly before the attack Bjorn Leukemans had crashed but he was able to quickly make it back to the peloton.
BMC put half the team to work at the front to bring back the break and the gap soon started to come down. They had Dries Devenyns, Tony Gallopin, Eros Capecchi and Marco Marcato at the front, which reduced the gap to 1' 10'' with 30 kilometers to go. Katusha was also collaborating but the head wind in the climb was going to make the attacks difficult. It would be difficult to open a gap for a lonely rider. Meanwhile, Lloyd Mondory was starting to get to the front as he might be one of the candidates if a big group makes it to the end.
The break was finally caught in the penultimate ascent to the hill and others attacked straight away. Joost van Leijen and Simone Ponzi did in in the descent and quickly opened a small gap led by Peter Sagan. The group had begun to lose riders and was very stretched. Given that they still had 20 kilometers to go it did not seem like many riders would be there in the last climb. Meanwhile, Rui Costa, who was one of the favorites, had crashed a bit before and gave up on trying to rejoin the group of the favorites.
A group of 6 riders made it to the front of the race at the top of the hill in the last lap of the race and it included most of the favorites: Joost van Leijen, Philippe Gilbert, Bjorn Leukemans, Emanuele Sella, Simone Ponzi and Jelle Vanendert. Lotto was the only team with two riders so they might need to sacrifice one of them to work for the others but that is a good tactic advantage. A group of 4 was chasing 35 seconds behind: Miguel Angel Rubiano, Frank Schleck, Dries Devenyns and Johan Vansummeren. The rest of the field had dropped too far back to be a factor.
With 3 kilometers to go it was clear that the group of 6 that was leading would fight for the win. They had a gap of 45 seconds over the chasers, which was more than enough. In principle, Simone Ponzi should be the clear favorite in a sprint although others like Joost van Leijen and Jelle Vanendert will also have a chance. Nevertheless, in a race that has been a bit tougher than expected the fitness levels and the energies they used would also play a role.
Jelle Vanendert attacked from the group and with 700 meters to go he had opened a gap and looked set to take the win in the GP Cycliste de Montreal. Philippe Gilbert tried to follow but Bjorn Leukemans was covering him. They were already sprinting, probably for the 2nd place. Simone Ponzi and Joost van Leijen were trailing with Emanuele Sella was a bit further behind. The energies spent to get in this group were clearly playing a role as Ponzi was far from being the strongest in the final rush.
Jelle Vanendert wins in Montreal! The Belgian was unstoppable once he attacked with 2 kilometers to go and there was no option for the others. This is the 6th win for Vanendert this season, including other classics like La Fleche Wallonne and the Liege - Bastogne - Liege. His season has been outstanding so far and he still might have a chance in the Giro di Lombardia. The podium was completed by Philippe Gilbert and Bjorn Leukemans for an all Belgian top 3. Gilbert could have been way better in Quebec had Trek raced for him.
The top 5 was completed by Simone Ponzi and Joost van Leijen. It was clear that Ponzi was too tired when they got to the final kilometers and could not show his speed in the sprint. All in all, it was a very interesting race and the wind was not a factor in the end. BMC was probably the team that worked the most and in the end had 3 riders in the top 11 but the best rider was Emanuele Sella in the 6th place. Lotto dominated again with 2 riders in the podium, which shows again how good they are in the classics.
One knows the end of the season is close when the World Championships arrive. The venue of the races will be Doha, Qatar. It is a very unlikely place for the cyclists as most of the riding is done in Europe during the season with only a couple of escapes to Australia and China. The race will be quite flat, given that the landscape of the Middle East country does not have any hills worth the name. Therefore, the time trials will benefit the pure specialists.
This will be the 2nd time that we have a Team Time Trial. Last year it was surprisingly won by Astana, who did not have any stars but a well rounded team of competent riders against the clock. Trek had to settle for the second place of the podium when they were the favorites. It is difficult to name favorites for today's race but HTC and Trek are apparently a step ahead of anyone else. In the startlist we can find the World Tour teams but no Pro Continental team signed for the race.
Favorites:
- HTC - Highroad: HTC are the favorites to take the win in the Time Trial as they have a well balanced team and riders like David Millar, Andrew Talansky and Levi Leipheimer. The American team has had quite a good season so far with 8 wins, mainly from David Millar, who took 4 wins. They also won the opening Team Time Trial in the Giro d'Italia so they proved that they can be a team to beat in this type of races.
- Trek Factory Racing: Trek was the favorite to take the win last season but had to settle for the 2nd place in Richmond. This year they come back with 3 really good time trialists in Tejay van Garderen, Cameron Meyer and Michael Rogers. However, the team is really unbalanced and that could potentially be a problem. They also won a time trial this year in the Tirreno - Adriatico, which also proves their quality.
- Lotto - Soudal: Lotto was one of the poorest team when it came to time trials last year but the signings of Tony Martin and Bradley Wiggins have put them in another level, letting them even win the TTT in the Vuelta a España. Nevertheless, today's route will be very different to the one they had in Spain, where it was a constant change in direction and little hills. Lotto might consolidate their lead in the World Tour rankings today.
- Tinkoff - Saxo: Tinkoff has been terrible this year and only a very good end of the season could save a little bit the season. Their main riders will be Tiago Machado and Geraint Thomas, both capable time trialists but far from the top. Nevertheless, their group is very solid and that allowed Astana to take the title in 2015. They have only had 2 wins in the whole season, a rather poor result for such a team.
Other teams with a chance are Ag2r - La Mondiale, Etixx - Quickstep, IAM Cycling, Astana Pro Team, Vacansoleil - DMC and Team Cannondale - Garmin.
Al Wakrah, a town south of Doha will be the host for the start of the Team Time Trial in the World Championships. The route is, as usual in the country, completely flat and will take the riders to the Old Airport before heading to Ar-Rayyan, in the outskirts of the capital. The riders will then go to the Road Race circuit for the last of the 47 kilometers that make the test. The finish line will be placed, as with all the rest of the races, in the Corniche of Doha, in front of the Persian Gulf.
Trek was not very lucky with the draw as they had to start 2nd in the order. The American team was one of the favorites to take the win with riders like Tejay van Garderen, Cameron Meyer and Michael Rogers. They were clearly faster than LottoNL, the only team to finish ahead of them and took the provisional 1st place with a gap of 20 seconds. They had been much quicker in the first stint of the race but their performance seemed to have decayed a bit as the team was quite imbalanced.
IAM Cycling was the next team among the favorites. The Swiss team had one of the sensations of the season with them: Jerome Coppel. The French has been one of the most improved riders of the season. In the TTT they were really close to Trek, only losing the first place by a margin of 2 seconds. Being so close to one of the top favorites means that they might be close to the podium places at the end of the day. The Swiss team was one of the worse in the World Tour a few years back but slowly climbing to the middle class.
The biggest favorites for the race, HTC - Highroad, also started rather early in the day. They had the European Champion, David Millar, alongside others like Levi Leipheimer and Andrew Talansky who should make a difference. They did it by taking the 1st provisional place at the finish line by being 11 seconds faster than Trek Factory Racing. That was quite a big difference considering the other gaps we saw among the rest of the teams.
Vacansoleil had a good team for the Team Time Trial but they were not really favorites for the win. The Dutch team has had a rather difficult season, especially as Andy Schleck underperformed massively. Their only riders doing something decent were Bauke Mollema and Ben Swift. Today was no different to the rest of the year and they could only be 4th provisionally at the finish, 16 seconds behind HTC, who still looked strong at the front.
Cannondale - Garmin was more or less in the same position as Vacansoleil before the start. They would be happy with a top 8 finish or something along those lines. In the end they tied with the Dutch team 16 seconds behind the leaders. Their year has been pretty solid, especially as they took the overall win in the Giro d'Italia with Laurens Ten Dam, the rider that has held the team together on 2016. However, they should be looking to add some other riders that can have results alongside the Dutch.
Ag2r was one of the outsiders for the podium as they had a very well rounded team that had riders like Rui Costa and Robert Gesink but they exceeded all the expectations when they crossed the finish line with a better than the current leaders, HTC. The difference was only 2 seconds but the fact that HTC had been beaten was already an achievement. They had to be the candidates for the win after beating HTC, although some other teams will still have something to say, like Lotto and Tinkoff.
The conditions had clearly changed for the teams starting later in the day as Tinkoff improved massively on Ag2r's and clocked a time 18 seconds faster, which was a gap we had barely seen throughout the day. However, there were other teams also improving in the intermediate checks, which suggested that the wind might have changed direction. Tinkoff had as best riders for the day Tiago Machado and Geraint Thomas but no one thought about such a good performance.
The defending champions were next and while they did not have a team that should fight for the win neither did they last year. They lost 2 of their key riders from last year: Tony Martin and Anthony Roux. However, even though they did not beat Tinkoff they managed to take the 2nd provisional place in the race only 7 seconds behind. This was a proof that the conditions were much better for the teams running in the last stages of the day.
Lotto was a team that was discarded without even thinking for a win in a Team Time Trial but that improved their roster considerably. They now had Tony Martin, Bradley Wiggins and Michael Matthews among others. In fact, they improved so much that they got to the 1st provisional position with only a couple teams remaining to run. They were 4 seconds quicker than Tinkoff and were in a great position. Tony Martin might be the rider that takes the win in the first two TTTs in the Worlds.
Etixx - Quickstep was the last team to start the race and, even though they were not among the top favorites they had a team with Marco Pinotti, Janez Brajkovic and Maxime Monfort. However, it was not enough to grab a podium as they got the 4th final time, 11 seconds behind Lotto and with the same time as Astana, although the Kazakh team will be in the podium. The better conditions towards the end of the day benefited teams like Euskaltel and Giant, both in the top 6 of the day.
In the end it was Lotto that took the win in the Team Time Trial in Doha. They were joined in the podium by Tinkoff and Astana. The conditions apparently changed quite a bit as the teams that started towards the end had a much better performance and other favorites like HTC and Trek barely made it into the top 10 in the end. The course was also what it promised: a purely flat track with long straights fit for specialists in a scorching hot weather.
The World Championships week continues with the Individual Time Trial. This year's test will be a fight as much against the clock as against the heat in Qatar. The route will take the riders from the Lusail racing circuit to Doha, where the finish line for the three races is placed. It will be a 41.5 kilometers route starting in the middle of the desert before heading into the city for a route around the University before drawing to the city centre. It will only be the 2nd time the ITT will be raced in the World Championships.
The defending champion is the favorite for the win again this year. Cameron Meyer will get to Doha well prepared but threatened by the good performances of David Millar earlier in the year. Last year's podium was completed by Marco Pinotti and Andrew Talansky, both of them at the starting line again this season. The wind will also be a factor in today's race so any change of conditions might affect the final outcome as we saw in the Team Time Trial a couple of days ago.
Favorites:
- Cameron Meyer (Australia): Cameron Meyer is the defending World Champion but he is not as clear as favorite as he was last year in Richmond. He has won 3 time trials during the season: in the Dauphine, the National Chamionship and the Vuelta a España. However, he missed in many other races during the year. Australia also has another very good candidate in Michael Rogers in the fight for the medals but Meyer will be disappointed if he does not get the gold.
- David Millar (Great Britain): David Millar has become the main threat to Meyer's dominance in the time trials in the last few years. The British has won 4 times this season but the last time he won before the National Championships was back in early May in the Tour de Romandie. His first part of the season was way better than the summer so that has casted a few doubts as to whether he can regain the form. He is looking for his first medal in a World Championship.
- Tejay van Garderen (USA): Tejay van Garderen has sacrificed in the last few years a bit of his time trial abilities to be able to race for the win in Grand Tours, which led him to the win in the 2014 Tour de France. Nevertheless, it would not be a surprise at all if he managed to get a medal in Qatar even if his season has not been the best that he could have hoped for. His Grand Tours were a bit disappointing with 8th places in both the Giro and the Vuelta.
- Tony Martin (Germany): Tony Martin has made a huge step forward this season when it comes to time trials. He was in the mix in some of those he raced individually and got a bronze medal in the European Championships. He has prepared with much care this World Championship in a bid to grab a medal. As a side effect, he will probably be a great domestique when it comes to the road race on Sunday as the route is also completely flat.
Other riders with a chance are Marco Pinotti (Italy), Jean-Christophe Peraud (France), Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), Michael Rogers (Australia), Andrew Talansky (USA) and Rui Costa (Portugal).
The time trial between Lusail and Doha could not be flatter, so the pure time trialists have everything on their side to fight for the rainbow jersey. The race starts by the motorsports circuit and goes South towards the Doha Golf Club. It then takes the riders onto the Education City before joining the road race circuit and finish at the Corniche. The wind was meant to be a factor in the race but the day is quite calm and it should not affect the riders.
The first rider among the favorites to take the medals to start was Andrew Talansky. The American has combined good results with mediocre time trials lately but last year managed to get the silver medal in the Worlds. The early pace had been set by Tiago Machado and Talansky easily improved on his time by a huge 54 seconds. This would already be a very good reference for all those riders behind. Talansky needs to get a good result to improve the perception over his season and he might have it with this time.
Michael Rogers has not really had a good season so far and today was not really different. The Australian was given a leading role in Trek at the start of the season but his performances have been well short of deserving that kind of status. Even if at some races he had to help Tejay van Garderen his overall performance was quite poor. Today he took the 2nd provisional position behind Andrew Talansky but with a gap of 32 seconds between the two.
Rui Costa is one of those not too common riders that goes well in the Ardennes and also in time trials. The Ag2r rider had a very good start of the season with a podium in the Paris - Nice and a top 10 in the Basque Country but has faded in the second part of the year. Today was again proof that he is not in his best shape in this part of the season as he took the provisional 6th place when he crossed the finish line, 1' 01'' behind Talansky.
Fabian Cancellara is another rider that has been very disappointing this year. His only decent result was the 5th place in the Paris - Roubaix but he did not get anything else out of the cobbles season. He has neither been very good in the time trials this season so far. However, his performance today was a bit better than that and he managed to grab the 1st position as he crossed the finish line, 14 seconds faster than Andrew Talansky. This put him in the chase for the medals.
Jean-Christophe Peraud was the ITT European Champion in 2015 but he could not renew his title this season. However, he has done much more than time trialing as he took the win in the Criterium du Dauphine. He was also 6th in the Giro. Today he proved again that he was up there with the best riders against the clock in the World as he improved on Fabian Cancellara's best time by a tiny margin of 2 seconds. Still, he was very much in the mix for the medals at the end of the day with only 5 riders still to finish.
Marco Pinotti already knows what getting a medal in a World Championship is as he got the bronze last year. This season he managed to win in the time trial of the Giro d'Italia, which was a very important result for him and for the team. Italy was again putting their hopes on him to get a good result. However, today he was not as good as expected and only managed to grab the 3rd provisional position as he crossed the finish line 10 seconds slower than Jean-Christophe Peraud.
Tony Martin massively improved this season over 2015 and he is the only rider to have won the Team Time Trial in the Worlds twice, last year with Astana and this year with Lotto. He has not had that many good results this season but he has had a few good results in time trials. This race was his target for the season and he improved quite considerably on Peraud's time as he crossed the finish line. The German was 14 seconds quicker and could well be the World Champion if one of the 3 riders remaining is not quicker.
Tejay van Garderen has been a bit on and off this season. He combined very good stages, like his wins in the Paris - Nice and the Vuelta a España. However, he only got 8th places both in the Giro and the Vuelta, which is rather disappointing for a winner of the Tour de France. Today was again one of his off days as he only managed to get the 6th provisional place, far behind the medals. He lost 58 seconds to Tony Martin, a very big gap.
The defending champion, Cameron Meyer, was the second to last rider to start the race. He has already won a few times this season and today he was great again. He took the 1st provisional place ahead of Tony Martin with a gap of 13 seconds. The Australian was well ahead and looking good for the World Championship. Only David Millar could now prevent the Australian from getting the win in the race. That would be his 4th win of the season.
David Millar was the last rider to start the time trial. The British had been the best time trialist in the first part of the season but he had faded a little in the second part. Nevertheless, the got 4 wins during the season, all in time trials. However, outside the speciality he could not deliver much to the team and was rather anonymous. His performance today was great but not enough to strip Cameron Meyer from the World Championship. The British had to settle for the silver medal after crossing the line 12 seconds behind Meyer.
It was not an unexpected result at all. Cameron Meyer took his 2nd rainbow jersey in the time trial and was joined in the podium by David Millar and Tony Martin. It had been said early in the season that David Millar might be on his way to taking over the title of best rider against the clock but he will have to wait one more year to prove it. On the negative side, Tejay van Garderen had to settle for the 8th final position, much worse than expected. This settles a rather bad year for the American, who will have one last chance to shine at the Giro di Lombardia.
The big race in the Worlds is as usual the road race. The circuit in the city of Doha is really flat and only the wind and the heat could cause some troubles to the riders. To get an idea of how flat the circuit is, the cumulated climbing in the 255 kilometers is only 487 meters, which amounts to only a few meters per lap. Therefore, the race will be one for the pure sprinters. The riders that are typically favorites is a race like Vattenfall Cyclassics should be the ones to fight for the rainbow jersey.
In terms of gold medals, Belgium is the clear dominator. They have 4 wins, 3 by Bjorn Leukemans and 1 by Jelle Vanendert out of 7 editions of the Worlds. However, it would be very difficult for them to get another win this year as they do not have a sprinter that is up to the job. Only Lloyd Mondory, silver medal in Richmond last year, has a medal among the favorites for the win this year. Germany should be the team to watch with Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel, although others like the Netherlands will have several options.
Favorites:
- Marcel Kittel (Germany): When he has a good day, Marcel Kittel is probably the rider with the fastest sprint in the peloton. However, he has not had that many days this season and has only 3 wins in the year, although all of them in Grand Tours. Nevertheless, the German will have a great team at his disposal. However, Andre Greipel will also be in the team so if Kittel is not up to the task the Lotto rider might also be a factor.
- Alexander Kristoff (Norway): Norway is not a great team and Alexander Kristoff will only have 3 not very good riders as teammates. Therefore, he will have to fight on his own for the win at Doha. On the bright side for him, he is the sprinter that handles the kind of stage length of today's race better among the favorites so that might give him an edge in the end. Winning the Milano - Sanremo earlier in the year should be a big enough credential for him before the race.
- Lloyd Mondory (France): Mondory has been one of the revelations of the year. The French signed for Etixx - Quickstep at the start of the season and managed to get 7 wins so far, including the Tour Down Under, E3 Harelbeke and the Clasica de San Sebastian. That proves his versatility and a classic finishing in a sprint should favor him against many others. The only negative point for him is the lack of any difficulty whatsoever.
- Ben Swift (Great Britain): On the other hand, Ben Swift is a pure sprinter and will be grateful to have such a flat route in the Worlds. The Vacansoleil rider has had 4 wins this season, most notably a stage in the Giro d'Italia. The British will enjoy a few riders that are very capable in the flat and the UK team also has another alternative in Mark Cavendish. However, in a fight for the medals Swift should be much better.
Other riders with a chance are Tyler Farrar (USA), Kenny van Hummel and Theo Bos (Netherlands), Andre Greipel (Germany), Elia Viviani (Italy) and Mark Renshaw (Australia).
The route of the Road World Championship barely goes out of the city of Doha. The profile of the route is completely flat and that should mean that a sprint finish is the way to go in the race. The finish line will be placed in the Corniche of Doha, next to the sea of the Persian Gulf. The final few kilometers are not even tricky as the last corner is placed 3 kilometers from the finish line. Therefore, the teams of the sprinters will have a lot of time to prepare for the sprint.
There was a big fight to get the break of the day because Germany did not want it to be too big. In the end 5 riders went away but they were not too strong for a flat race: David Lopez (Spain), Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain), George Hincapie (USA), Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) and Miguel Angel Rubiano (Colombia). With 139 kilometers to go they had built a gap of 4' 30'', not too big so that the peloton could control them. France and Switzerland were helping Germany set the pace at the bunch.
There was not much of a story in the race until Belgium decided to try to mix things up a little with 40 kilometers to go. Tom Boonen and Jurgen Roelandts both attacked for the peloton as they did not have a sprinter that could fight for the medals. However, they had riders that could ride in the flat and they were going to use them. With less than 2 laps to go they were trailing the early break by 1' 10'' and the peloton was 1' 45'' behind the leaders. Andre Greipel, Jerome Coppel and Mathias Frank were among those working at the back.
Germany and France were controlling the pack once the attack by the Belgians and the early break had been reeled back in. They were not willing to let anyone win from a break. The Germans had clearly decided that Marcel Kittel would be their man as Andre Greipel had been working at the front of the bunch. With 20 kilometers to go other riders like Anthony Roux, Gerald Ciolek and Tony Gallopin were increasing the pace at the front. The wind, that could have been a factor was practically non-existent at the start of the last lap.
Fabian Cancellara was one of the dangerous men in this kind of circuit and he attacked with 12 kilometers to go, dragging Johan Vansummeren, Kenny van Hummel and Yoann Offredo with him. That was a very dangerous group as they were great in the flat but instead of letting Germany do the job it was Jens Debusschere who started to chase even with another Belgian in the break. That was a very weird move as the Belgians had nothing to do in an eventual mass sprint.
Fabian Cancellara's group was eventually reeled in with 5 kilometers to go even though Germany completely disappeared from the front of the race. They had done a good job but in the key moment of the race they had left Marcel Kittel alone. With 3 kilometers to go Gregory Rast tried to gain from the chaos at the front. He was followed by Kenny van Hummel, Johan Vansummeren, Tom Boonen and Simone Ponzi. However, the bunch was right behind led by Norway, with Lars Peter Nordhaug ahead of Alexander Kristoff.
Norway did not do anything during the whole race as they only had 4 riders but Lars Peter Nordhaug managed to get to the front of the pack and deliver Alexander Kristoff in the first position to the last kilometer. He was followed by Lloyd Mondory and Marcel Kittel. On the left hand side of the road Matthew Goss and Jose Joaquin Rojas were trying to make a surprise attack but they were probably starting their sprint from too far out. The rest of the riders seemed already too far back to fight for the gold medal.
Jose Joaquin Rojas was leading the way with 600 meters to go as he got a tow from Matthew Goss, who was 2nd at the time. The favorites were starting to come back and Alexander Kristoff was ahead of Lloyd Mondory and Marcel Kittel. Kristoff did not seem to be at his best and Mondory was starting to gain on him and would probably get ahead before the finish line. It was a very open sprint and even Rojas seemed to be capable of winning.
Jose Joaquin Rojas wins in Doha! This was a massive surprise at the World Championships as Jose Joaquin Rojas wins the rainbow jersey by a tiny margin ahead of Lloyd Mondory. The tail wind in the finish straight and the tow that he got from Matthew Goss meant a lot to the Spaniard and gave him the gold medal. Mondory had to settle for the silver medal, the same result he had last year. The last medal went to Marcel Kittel, slightly disappointing after his team worked a lot for him.
The loser of the day was Alexander Kristoff, who did not manage to grab a medal and had to settle for the 4th position, ahead of Matthew Goss. It seems that the fact that he had a very weak team hurt him in the end, even if Lars Peter Nordhaug did a great job to deliver him to the last kilometer in a great position. To sum up, Spain did not have any hopes of getting anything out of the World Championship in Qatar and they left with an unexpected rainbow jersey. This is the first for Spain.
