The mountains are over for the Volta a Catalunya and there are still 3 stage to go in the Spanish race. The first of those will be one for the sprinters. The riders will come down from the Pyrenees to Lleida, the capital of one of the Catalan provinces. They will have to face the Port d'Ager but the rest of the stage is all in favorable terrain and the teams of the sprinters should have no trouble controlling the pace. It will be interesting to see who among the sprinters is feeling better after the tough stage yesterday.
It did not take long for the break of the day to take shape. It was formed by 5 riders: Christophe Riblon (Cofidis), Samuel Dumoulin (Orica), Daryl Impey (Dimension Data), Romain Feillu (FDJ) and Niki Terpstra (Cannondale). None of them was dangerous in the GC so they had a gap of 3 minutes at the first intermediate sprint, in Tremp. However, they still had 111 kilometers to go and the peloton was not concerned. Ag2r and Movistar were setting the pace in the peloton and Fran Ventoso (Movistar) won the sprint in the group.
Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) jumped at the Port d'Ager to catch the few remaining KoM points ahead of Jonathan Hivert (Sky). Esteban Chaves (Agr2r) and Richie Porte (Movistar) were leading the bunch at the climb not to let the gap grow too much. The break had 5' 30'' over the bunch at the top of the climb, with 76 kilometers to go. HTC was having a very easy stage as the teams that were interested in a sprint were doing most of the job for them. However, the break was going fast taking advantage of the generally favorable terrain.
Sylvain Chavanel did not only attack for the points in the climb but he eventually bridged the gap to the break. However, even though they seemed to have a good chance to make it to the finish, the final push of the peloton meant that with 9 kilometers to go they only had a slim 15 seconds margin. Christophe Riblon was trying to make the break last but it seemed a worthless effort. Movistar was the team that looked most interested in a sprint finish as they had Matthew Goss (Movistar) and Fran Ventoso. The last 15 kilometers heading to Lleida were slightly downhill.
The break was reeled back in and there were 2 sprint trains already set up with 3 kilometers to go. Euskaltel had David Lopez (Euskaltel) as the last man for Elia Viviani, not the best news for the Italian. Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) was on the wheel of Viviani. Meanwhile, the other Spanish team, Movistar, had Matthew Goss ready to be the last man for Fran Ventoso. He was followed by the always dangerous Michael Matthews (Cannondale). Among the rest of the sprinters at the front we could see Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r), Sacha Modolo (Cofidis) and Daniele Bennati (Dimension Data). The sprint today was very organized as there was no difficulties in the run to the finish.
Matthew Goss did a very good job leading out Fran Ventoso but he almost lost him with around 2 kilometers to go. Nevertheless, the Spaniard was in the best position ahead of the last kilometer of the stage and the final sprint. However, Michael Matthews was chasing him very closely. Meanwhile, Elia Viviani had to change sprint trains given that David Lopez could not keep up with a final sprint preparation and had to make way for his teammate to stay ahead. The front of the group was very stretched so not many other sprinters would have a chance for the stage win.
The last corner in the stage was only 500 meters from the finish line. Fran Ventoso was first at that stage but Michael Matthews was starting to come around him and trying to get ahead. It looked a very tight sprint and the worst news for both of them were that Elia Viviani was also slowly coming on par with them. Tyler Farrar was a bit behind and he seemed the last rider that could potentially fight for the win as there was a bit of a gap behind him that Nacer Bouhanni was trying to close. The French always seems to have one problem or another and has shown potential but no wins so far.
Elia Viviani wins in Lleida! The Italian took his second win in the race with a great comeback after being left alone by his team. It is clear that Viviani does not really need a sprint train and can battle with the best on his own. He also took advantage in the Volta from the fact that not many sprinters showed up. Michael Matthews took the 2nd place when he must have thought that he was going to get the win in the stage. Fran Ventoso was third and he was quite disappointed given that he had enjoyed a very good lead out to the last kilometer. The top 5 was completed by Tyler Farrar and Nacer Bouhanni.
The stage was a welcome relief for most of the riders in the peloton after the two mountain-top finishes in the Pyrenees. However, many of the top 10 places in the GC could end up being decided by the stage positions so the favorites should get involved in the sprints, which could be dangerous for them. Nevertheless, they will have a chance tomorrow in Valls to make differences and the last few kilometers of the stage should be interesting to see. It could potentially be the last time the GC changes.
The penultimate stage of the Volta a Catalunya is the last one when the GC might possibly be changed as the riders will have to face the Alt de Lilla, which has 5 kilometers averaging 5.3% gradient, in the last 15 kilometers of the race and it will give them the opportunity to gain a few seconds at the finish line in Valls. The first part of the stage is much more straight-forward but halfway through the day they will face the long climb to the Alt de Prades, which would not be much of a problem for most of the riders.
The first intermediate sprint was placed in Alcarras, only 30 kilometers in the stage. A group of 6 had a small gap of 1' 15'' over the bunch. The group included Matthew Goss (Movistar), Anthony Roux (IAM), Bryan Coquard (Dimension Data), Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Michal Kwiatkowski (FDJ). However, their gap had not settled and Andriy Grivko (Giant) was trying to get to the break as well. Luke Rowe (HTC) was doing most of the job at the bunch as the team of the leader was not happy with allowing a bit break to go. It was quite strange as they should be focusing on defending Juanjo Cobo's (HTC) lead instead.
The Alt de Prades was the first difficulty of the day for the riders but even though it was marked 1st category its climb was quite gentle. Luke Rowe, Michal Golas (HTC) and Janez Brajkovic (HTC) were setting the pace at the peloton but the gap to the break was still increasing. It was 5' 15'' at the top, with 64 kilometers remaining. There was no one dangerous for the GC in the break so they did not really have a strong incentive to go catch them. The riders that looked keen on attacking was Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) as he had been close to the front the whole day.
The stage turned into complete chaos after the Alt de Prades. There had been a couple of attacks in the difficult terrain that followed and Juanjo Cobo crashed in the slippery roads. Worse than that, his teammates did not wait for him and he was in a very difficult position with 30 kilometers to go as Euskaltel was working hard in the peloton to open the gap. The break was still leading, while a group of 4 was chasing 2' 30'' behind, including Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) and Pablo Lastras (Movistar). The group of the favorites was 7' 25'' behind while Juanjo Cobo was already losing 10 minutes.
Julian Arredondo (Orica) was the first at the top of the Alt de Lilla and only had Ivan Basso (Cofidis) with him. They had jumped from the early break group at the start of the climb. They only had 20 seconds over the rest of the group. It looked like one of the riders from the early break would take the win as they had a gap over the chasers of 1' 55'' with only 11 kilometers remaining. Meanwhile, a group of 6 riders, including Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel), Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale) and Mikel Nieve (Katusha), had jumped from the peloton and were opening a gap. Further back Juanjo Cobo had found some HTC teammates but it looked way too late for him.
Rein Taaramae (Katusha) was the strongest in the climb among the favorites and he had a small gap of 20 seconds over Hubert Dupont's group. With Juanjo Cobo eliminated he was one of the most dangerous riders in the GC and he was playing for the overall win. The Estonian was 50 seconds ahead of the peloton with the rest of the favorites. Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery) was working for Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) in the peloton to keep his options alive. Meanwhile, Ivan Basso crashed in the descent and lost his chances of taking the stage win.
Julian Arredondo had to ride alone the last kilometers of the stage and he was eventually caught by the rest of the early break as they were entering Valls. Bryan Coquard took the lead of the group as they started the final sprint. They had just caught Arredondo but Matthew Goss and Jonas van Genechten (Giant) were trailing followed by Michal Kwiatkowski. These riders had fought hard for the chance to get a stage win and they had made it ahead of the bunch but only one of them would take the glory. In principle, Goss should be the strongest in a final sprint but a hilly stage is more difficult to predict.
Matthew Goss wins in Valls! The Australian was the second choice sprinter for Movistar in the race behind Fran Ventoso (Movistar) but he has been the only one to win a stage so far. In the end the final sprint was quite easy for him as only Jonas van Genechten proved to be difficult to beat. The Belgian got the second place in the stage. Bryan Coquard could not even be close to the first 2 even though he is quite fast and took the 3rd place. The top 5 was completed by Michal Kwiatkowski and Jan Bakelants (Discovery).
Rein Taaramae was still slightly ahead of the chasers with 3 kilometers to go for the favorites. The group of 7 was 15 seconds behind. It included Jose Serpa (Ag2r), Laurens Ten Dam, Lars Peter Nordhaug (Ag2r), Mikel Nieve, Hubert Dupont, Xavi Tondo (Lampre) and Vasil Kiryienka (IAM). The other chasing group was still being led by Robert Kiserlovski. They were still losing 1' 05'' against Taaramae but the pace of the group was much faster once they got to the flat section leading to the finish line. Any time differences would be crucial at the finish line.
Rein Taaramae was caught within the last kilometer of the stage and Laurens Ten Dam easily won the sprint in the front group. He was followed by Hubert Dupont and Vasil Kiryienka. There were no differences with the bigger chasing group, which included Jean-Christophe Peraud. Once Taaramae had been caught there were doubts in the leading group and the peloton closed the gap enough to avoid any differences. That means that Hubert Dupont is the new leader of the race but he only has 4 seconds over Taaramae and Mikel Nieve, both Katusha riders.
Juanjo Cobo ended up losing 8 minutes against the peloton and lost his chances of a good result in the GC. This will be a major disappointment for the Spaniard given that he was the strongest rider of the race and has never won a stage race. Tomorrow's stage will feature a circuit around Montjuic but the climb is not hard enough to generate any significant differences. Nevertheless, Katusha should have an incentive to attack as they have 3 riders within 19 seconds of the leader.
There is only one stage left in the Volta a Catalunya but the gaps are so small in the GC that anything could happen in the last race. It will not be an easy one for Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) as he has Rein Taaramae (Katusha) and Mikel Nieve (Katusha) only 4 seconds behind in the GC. The Katusha riders should try to attack the leader in the circuit in Montjuic. It is not a very difficult climb but it might be enough to open a small gap and change the outcome of the race. Other than that the stage is quite straight forward and quite short at only 126 kilometers.
The break of the day was quite settled at the front when they reached the second intermediate sprint of the day, in Castelldefels. The group of 6 included Petr Vakoc (Lampre), Thor Hushovd (FDJ), Mauro Santambrogio (Sky), Luke Durbridge (Cofidis) and Martin Elmiger (Orica). They had a gap of 3 minutes over the bunch but still 79 kilometers ahead of them. Movistar, Ag2r and Euskaltel were leading the peloton but they were not in a rush to bring them back given that the break was not too strong and should be easily caught in the final circuit.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Euskaltel) and Julian Alaphilippe (Ag2r) were leading the peloton at the 2nd climb to Montjuic. They were slowly cutting the lead of the break but with 45 kilometers to go they still had 3 minutes on the bunch. It was not the best terrain for setting up a chase as there were continuous up and downs and changes of direction in the climb. Also, Euskaltel might be better off letting them fight for the stage to avoid bonus seconds being awarded to the favorites at the finish line. Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis) crashed and had to abandon as a result.
The peloton had still not caught up with the break when Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery), Jurgen van den Broeck (Cannondale) and Wilco Kelderman (Giant) attacked. It was the penultimate climb in the final circuit and they only had 13 kilometers to go. Romain Bardet (IAM) was trying to react to those attacks but Samuel Sanchez (Movistar) and David Lopez (Euskaltel) seemed to have everything under control. Hubert Dupont had to be very close to the front of the group because he had to react to attacks from many riders. He was lucky he had Lopez to chase them down for him.
There were attacks and counter-attacks in the last kilometers but none got a big advantage. The break had been caught in the last climb and Jurgen van de Broeck and Vasil Kiryienka (IAM) were ahead as they got close to the top of the climb for the last time. They had 10 seconds over Lars Peter Nordhaug (Ag2r) and Rein Taaramae and 25 seconds over the peloton. David Lopez kept up the pace for Hubert Dupont but Taaramae did not need much of a gap to overtake him in the final classification. With less than 5 kilometers to go the winner was still to be decided.
The gaps were very small in the descent towards the finish line in Barcelona. Lars Peter Nordhaug had taken the lead after getting past the leaders close to the top of the climb. He had 10 seconds over a group of 3: Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery), Xavi Tondo (Lampre) and Hubert Dupont. The leader finally had to take matters into his own hands as Rein Taaramae's attack had been too dangerous. Chris Horner (HTC) was trying to join that group but the peloton was really close behind and chasing quite hard.
Lars Peter Nordhaug managed to extend his lead and entered the last kilometer with almost 20 seconds over Chris Horner, who was slightly ahead of the bunch. The Norwegian was in a very good position to win the stage and that surely gave a bit of peace of mind to Hubert Dupont as he would not have to worry about the bonus seconds for the stage win. The sprint in the bunch started with Wilco Kelderman leading Romain Bardet, John Gadret (FDJ) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery). Some of the riders that are tied 19 seconds behind Dupont in the GC could well use a bonus second to gain a few places in the GC.
Lars Peter Nordhaug wins in Barcelona! The Norwegian took advantage from the fact that he was not a dangerous rider in the GC to open his gap in the last descent towards the finish line and take his first win of the season, the 2nd for Ag2r. He could celebrate as he crossed the finish line as he had enough of a lead. Chris Horner was 2nd only slightly ahead the peloton but there were no differences awarded among the front riders. Nevertheless, those 3 bonus seconds will promote the HTC rider to the 4th final position in the GC. The sprint in the bunch was finally won by Matthew Goss (Movistar) ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich (IAM) and Robert Kiserlovski.
The Volta a Catalunya finished with another overall win for Euskaltel, who are in a very dominant start of the season. Even though David Lopez could not fight for the win they have a very solid rider in Hubert Dupont as well. Juanjo Cobo (HTC) was probably the strongest rider in the race but he could not even hold on with the peloton today, proving that his crash yesterday was a hard one. One of the surprises of the race was the fact that 2 Katusha riders, Rein Taaramae and Mikel Nieve, would be in the final podium of the race. It proves the change in targets that the Russian team has had this season.
It is a very important moment for many cycling fans when the cobbled classics start in the spring. There will only be 3 of those in this year's calendar: Gent - Wevelgem, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris - Roubaix. The Gent - Wevelgem is the easiest and in many occasions it ends up in a sprint of a rather big group. The most interesting part of the race are the three climbs to the Kemmelberg, a very tough cobbled climb were the specialists have to try to break the peloton into pieces. From the Kemmelberg to the finish there will be a rather long flat section to the finish.
Tom Boonen is the rider that has dominated the Gent - Wevelgem so far as he won the races in 2013 and 2014. However, in 2015 he could only be 2nd to Lloyd Mondory. Another Belgian, Bjorn Leukemans, has been 3 times in the podium but could never win the race. It is a race that is difficult for him because he is not that fast as a sprinter. Therefore, even though he is always in the front group he has never won the race. So far all of the winners of the race have been very good sprinters so the chances for a pure cobbled rider seem to be quite slim.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Mondory has been one of the best riders in the start of the season. He won the Tour Down Under and was on the podium in the Paris - Nice, along with 1 stage in the Tour Down Under and 1 in the Tirreno - Adriatico. Therefore, given his form and the fact that he is the last winner of the Gent - Wevelgem he has to be the favorite for the win in Belgium. He is a very good sprinter but he should try to get help from his teammates to get as many sprinters eliminated as possible before the final sprint.
- Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal): Andre Greipel is one of the favorites but he needs to get over the climbs to the Kemmelberg at the front or close to the front group to have a chance. If the cobblers don't manage to get rid of riders like Greipel the chances of the race being won in a mass sprint are quite high. Greipel's season has not been too bad. He was in the podium in the Milano - Sanremo, but on the other hand he has not had any wins so far in the season. He should start winning if he wants to get another 4 wins like in 2016.
- Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff): Farrar is another of the sprinters that should be strong enough over the cobbles of the Kemmelberg so that it will be difficult to get him eliminated. The American is not the dominant rider in the sprints that he once was but still gets a few quality wins every season. It is early in the season but he has already taken a stage in the Tour Down Under and another in the Paris - Nice. In the cobbled classics he was not fighting for the win but still got top 10 results in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Paris - Roubaix last year.
- Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL - Jumbo): Bernhard Eisel is slowly coming to the spotlight late in his career. He has never been a favorite before but the fact that he had a 3rd place in the E3 Harelbeke last year and later won the Tour de Pologne means that his legs might be a lot better than previously thought. His problem for the E3 is that he is not as good a sprinter as many of the other favorites so he would need to eliminate a lot of riders and get to Wevelgem in a rather small group. LottoNL also has Simone Ponzi and they should be attacking to reduce the size of the group to have a chance.
Other riders with a shot at the win in Belgium are Alexander Kristoff and Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal), Mark Renshaw and Tom Boonen (BMC Racing Team) and Simone Ponzi (LottoNL - Jumbo).
The Gent - Wevelgem has had the same route for the last few years. The first half of the race has no difficulties at all as it runs close to the North Sea for a while before heading towards the hills in Flanders. There will be a total of 10 climbs in the route, mainly the Kemmelberg, which will be climbed twice. The last passage will be tackled with 46 kilometers to go and the riders will then head towards Wevelgem in a very flat end of the race. The wind could also be a factor in the race as it is forecast that it will blow quite hard today.
The break of the day was not too strong as only 4 riders made it to the front group: Ben Swift (Vacansoleil), Jan Barta (Katusha), Kenny Dehaes (Discovery) and Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r). With 140 kilometers to the finish they had a gap of 9 minutes over the bunch but even though there were a few teams interested in the race and putting riders close to the front they were not in a rush to bring them back. As predicted, there was quite a bit of wind as they rode close to the Sea after going past Oostende. It was a quiet start of the race.
Lotto was carrying out most of the work at the peloton as Chris Sutton (Lotto) led the way to the first of the climbs, the Casselberg, and Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto) took over through the climb as the Belgian is quite a strong rider over the cobbles. They had cut the gap to only 6' 30'' with 102 kilometers still to race. If they kept this pace in the double climb to the Casselberg they would easily start dropping riders off the back of the group. This was obviously not good news for the riders in the break but they never stood much of a chance.
It looked like Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel) could be one of the favorites for the race but he was working at the front of the group alongside Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel) at the passage through the cobbled climb to the Catsberg. The Spaniard team had a few options in the race and was keen to make the race a bit harder, especially if they did not want a mass sprint. Andre Greipel (Lotto) was also very close to the front as he did not want to get caught behind if the peloton broke. Meanwhile, Mark Renshaw (BMC) suffered a puncture and had to chase hard for the group.
The gap of the break over the bunch dropped quite a lot and by the time they got to the first passage through the Kemmelberg it was only 2' 55''. With 63 kilometers to go they stood few options of making it to the finish line. At the previous climb to the Catsberg cobbled section George Hincapie (Lotto) was very close to be caught out and dropped but he could make it back to the main group in the descent. In the Kemmelberg it was Simon Geschke (HTC) who took the lead of the group with plenty of riders from Euskaltel and Lotto behind.
Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel) was the first serious attacker in the race and he waited until the last climb to the Kemmelberg to do it. Euskaltel could play different cards for the win so it was wise to use them. Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) tried to jump with him but at the top of the climb he was still a bit behind. Meanwhile, HTC had been pushing at the peloton and the group that had 75 riders at the bottom of the climb was reduced to 13 riders at the top. Among those left behind we could see George Hincapie, Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale) and Tom Boonen (BMC).
Bjorn Leukemans caught Greg van Avermaet shortly after the Kemmelberg and they joined forces to work in the final kilometers of the stage. They eventually caught and managed to leave behind the riders from the early break and held a gap of 50 seconds over the chasers with 20 kilometers to go. The chasing group had 36 riders as a couple of groups managed to join the 13 that had gone over the Kemmelberg together. Riders like Johan Vansummeren (HTC), Lloyd Mondory (Eitxx) and Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx) were contributing because the gap of the leaders was getting out of hand.
The leaders were eventually caught by the chasing group but there were even echelons in the last part of the race and its size went down to around 25 riders. There were attacks from Johan Vansummeren and Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) but they were unable to open a gap as other teams like Lotto quickly took the chasing role. With 4 kilometers to go it was Jos van Emden (Etixx) who tried to see if he could find an opportunity and was followed by Chavanel and Jurgen Roelandts (Sky) but other rider quickly answered. Among the sprinters in the group we could see Lloyd Mondory, Alexander Kristoff and Andre Greipel.
None of the attacks was successful and the race was down to a sprint on a group of 24 riders. Lloyd Mondory was the first to start the final sprint and as they got to the last kilometer he had a small gap of 9 seconds over the group. The Etixx rider is one of the best sprinters in the group and did not waste energy in the race. Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) was leading the final sprint in the group and was marginally ahead of Nick Nuyens (Lotto), Alexander Kristoff, Tom Boonen (BMC) and Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL). However, this was not a normal sprint as the race was quite hard.
Lloyd Mondory wins in Wevelgem! Mondory was clearly the best in the final sprint after the 230 kilometers of the race. There was no doubts once the final sprint started that he would be the winner of the race. This is the second straight win for the French, who ties with Tom Boonen as the rider with the most wins in the race. The 2nd place was taken by Alexander Kristoff, while the 3rd was for a very surprising Maxim Iglinskiy (Sky). It is the first time on a podium of a race for the Kazakh and especially surprising given that he was not considered a fast rider in a sprint.
The top 5 of the race was completed by Tyler Farrar and Andre Greipel. It was not such a good race for Lotto in the end as they had many options but they only got the 5th and the 6th position for Nick Nuyens. It is amazing how Mondory and Kristoff are dominating the World Tour this year. They were the top two in the World Tour and they have extended their lead with their results in this race. However, the gap of Kristoff against Mondory at the top is now very slim. The cobbled monuments should give Mondory an edge against the Norwegian.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen is the second monument of the year, one of the key races of the season for many riders that do not have that many opportunities to battle in the cobbled hills of Flanders. The route this season will be the same that we had last year, with the Oude Kwaremont and the Pateberg as the last couple of climbs in the race. The Kwaremont normally separates the best from the rest at the last climb given that it is 1.8 kilometers long averaging 5.1% gradient with cobbles along the way. Other than those 2 climbs the last loop around the climbs includes climbs like the Koppenberg and the Taaienberg making for a very tough last 50 kilometers.
The clear dominator of the race is Johan Vansummeren, who took the win last year with an attack 2 kilometers from the finish line when it was meant to be a sprint of 4 riders at the finish line in Oudenaarde. Bjorn Leukemans, who is always touted as a favorite, has never been able to get the win in his local race. As usual, most of the favorites for the cobbled races are Belgian but this season it is the French Lloyd Mondory who seems to be the bookies favorite. Hopefully we will see an interesting race with a battle between the favorites many kilometers before the finish line.
Favorites:
- Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep): Lloyd Mondory comes from winning the Gent - Wevelgem so he is clearly in top shape this season. Last year he was the favorite after the Paterberg when there was a group of only 4 riders remaining. However, he did not react to the winning attack from Johan Vansummeren. It was probably the first time he was fighting for a win in a monument and he probably lacked the experience. This year it could be very different and if a small group makes it to the finish line he will probably be the favorite.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal): Bjorn Leukemans is the perennial favorite in the Ronde van Vlaanderen but he has never been able to be better than 3rd in the podium. The Belgian has not had great results this season so far but was 5th in the Milano - Sanremo. Nevertheless, even though his season has not been great so far he has been the most successful rider in the cobbles in the last few seasons. His best chance would be to try to break the race in the last climbs to the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg and go solo to the finish.
- Johan Vansummeren (HTC - Highroad): Vansummeren has won the last 3 Ronde van Vlaanderen so he cannot be among the favorites for the race even though his last season was not as good as he expected. He barely had any good results apart from that win but that is a win that can justify whole careers for other riders. During this season he has been doing domestique tasks and the Ronde will be the first real race for him. It will be quite a feature if he can add a 4th win to his tally and get a bit closer to Leukemans' record of 5 monument wins.
- Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel - Euskadi): The only time that Greg van Avermaet has been in a podium of a monument was in the very different Giro di Lombardia last year. He has never been a real factor in a cobbled race but 2 years ago he took the 3rd place in the Gent - Wevelgem. Euskaltel has already said that he will be their rider for the race and the progression that he had in the last couple of years might be enough to fight at least for the podium. The Spaniard team does not have such a strong team in the cobbles but they will surely be a factor anyway.
Other riders with a shot at the win in Belgium are Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL - Jumbo), Nick Nuyens and Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal), Tom Boonen (BMC Racing Team), Gregory Rast (Orica - BikeExchange) and Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff).
The route of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is really tough with 263 kilometers of cobbles and hills including 3 climbs to the Oude Kwaremont and 2 of the Paterberg, both the iconic climbs of the race in the recent years. The last loop between those will be really hard with the Koppenberg, the Taaienberg and the Kruisberg / Hotond in between. Additionally, the weather is expected to be miserable for the riders in this year's race. Heavy rain and strong winds are expected and that could well make the race a bit more unpredictable than in previous years.
It took a long while until the break of the day was settled at the front of the race and at the first passage through the Oude Kwaremont the group of 6 that was ahead had a gap of 2' 30'' over the bunch. It included Nacer Bouhanni (Ag2r), Denis Galimzyanov (Trek), Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Danilo di Luca (Euskaltel) and Gianni Meersman (Orica). Lotto, HTC and Etixx were the teams making a bigger contribution at the bunch and Lotto had even put Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto) and George Hincapie (Lotto) at the front, which proves how strong the Belgian team is for this race.
The early break did not really last long at the front of the race as Sylvain Chavanel (Giant) attacked shortly after the first passage through the Oude Kwaremont and dragged others with him like Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx), Luca Paolini (Astana), John Degenkolb (HTC) or Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale). They were leading the race at the Paddestraat with Geraint Thomas (Tinkoff) close behind trying to join them. Lotto was working hard at the bunch and the group had been reduced to only around 70 riders with 111 kilometers to go. The gap was 3' 45'' at that point. It was going to be a very tough race.
Gregory Rast (Orica) attacked right before the second climb to the Oude Kwaremont. The bunch had taken it too easy and the gap to the break had rocketed to 7' 55'', which gave them a real chance for the race. Alessandro Ballan (BMC) was also on the attack and trying to join Rast while the bunch was a bit behind, 8' 45'' behind the leaders. The hardest part of the race had started but only Lotto and HTC were working at the bunch as most of the other important teams had an option at the front group. If they wanted to chase them back they were going to have a hard time.
Luca Paolini and Marco Marcato (Katusha) were at the front of the break at the Koppenberg, the controversial cobbled climb. The gap for the group was coming down fast but they still had 6 minutes over Gregory Rast, 6' 55'' over Alessandro Ballan and 7' 25'' over the group of favorites. This group only had 14 riders at that point. The most notable absence was Tom Boonen (BMC), who suffered a puncture at the Oude Kwaremont and had not been able to come back. George Hincapie had also lost track of that group but the main favorites were still there.
By the time they got to the Kruisberg the main favorites, Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto), Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) and Johan Vansummeren (HTC) had broken the group of favorites and caught Gregory Rast. The gap for the break was now coming down a lot quicker and they had 2' 20'' with 28 kilometers to go. It was no longer clear that they were going to make it to the finish line ahead. Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL) was trying to get to the group of the main favorites but was struggling to do it. Another group of 6 including Greg van Avermaet (Euskaltel), Fabian Cancellara (Cannondale) and Nick Nuyens (Lotto) was 50 seconds behind Leukemans' group.
Sylvain Chavanel attacked from the break on the descent towards the bottom of the Oude Kwaremont. He opened a small gap but it was closed at the cobbled climb. The 3 main favorites also got to the front of the race and Bjorn Leukemans attacked straight away close to the top of the climb. Luca Paolini, Geraint Thomas and Johan Vansummeren lost contact with the rest of the group and got past the top of the climb with a loss of 35 seconds. The 4th straight win in the Ronde for Vansummeren was getting quite difficult after he lost contact with the head of the race.
Lloyd Mondory tried to join Bjorn Leukemans but he was late to react and he did not look as strong as the Belgian. At the Paterberg it was clear that Mondory was going to have to work hard as the gap had grown to 50 seconds in Leukemans' favor. A group of 6 chasers including Johan Vansummeren, Sylvain Chavanel and Maarten Tjallingii was losing 1' 35'' at the top so they could even get to Mondory. Luca Paolini and Geraint Thomas were a bit more than 2 minutes behind. There was going to be a good chase towards Oudenaarde.
Johan Vansummeren struggled in the climb to the Oude Kwaremont but eventually caught up with the group and left them behind. However, with 5 kilometers to go he was 3rd on the road 2' 20'' behind Bjorn Leukemans and his options for a 4th Ronde were effectively over. Leukemans was already cruising to victory as he opened the gap to Lloyd Mondory to 1' 10'', too big to cut by the French in the last kilometers. Meanwhile, the group following Vansummeren was losing 3' 05'' to Leukemans. There was a tail wind on the road to Oudenaarde so the final kilometers were really fast.
Bjorn Leukemans was already celebrating his first win in the Ronde with 1 kilometer to go. He had maintained his gap over Lloyd Mondory, who was set to take the 2nd place for the second year in a row. The race for Leukemans was a bit more complicated than expected as the break that formed halfway through the race made Lotto work a lot. They had to work considerably through the race but the Belgian team is really a dream team when it comes to the cobbled races. The more difficult the race, the better they normally are.
Bjorn Leukemans wins in Oudenaarde! The Belgian gets his first Ronde van Vlaanderen and the 6th monument in his career. With this win he has become the first rider to get wins in 3 different monuments, adding to the Paris - Roubaix and the Liege - Bastogne - Liege. Reaching the finish line alone seemed his only chance of getting the win as it would have been difficult to beat Lloyd Mondory, who took the second place, in a final sprint. The final place in the podium was taken by Johan Vansummeren so the podium has the same riders as last years although in reverse order. The top 5 was completed by Gregory Rast and John Degenkolb.
The race looked a lot harder than last year. The wind, the rain and especially the attacks in the middle part of the race caused the last kilometers to be really hard and the gaps at the finish line are a proof. While the 10th rider last year lost 59 seconds to the winner this year the gap was 4' 54''. The last of the cobbled races will be the Paris - Roubaix and in that case it is Bjorn Leukemans who has the chance of adding a 4th win to his tally.
The cobbles season is interrupted as usual by the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, which runs between the Ronde van Vlaanderen and the Paris - Roubaix. Not many of the cobblers will be in Spain as they are preparing for the next monument. Many of the hills riders and stage racers will also be at the race as some of them are preparing for the Ardennes classics and others made it a target on its own. The race in the Basque Country is very popular among those riders as there are quite a few stages that are very difficult to predict and they are targets for riders that are not strong enough for other more difficult races.
The defending champion of the race is the local David Lopez, who will be at the start to defend the win. No rider has been able to win the race twice in the story and the Spaniard is the only one that has real chances of taking a 2nd win as Mathias Frank is not racing. Two other Spanish riders have been twice in the podium: Mikel Nieve and Xavi Tondo. The route of the race has not been modified since last year so the key stages will be the mountain-top finish at Arrate and the final time trial finishing in Aia. Nevertheless, at least 5 out of the 6 stages have the potential to make differences among the favorites.
Favorites:
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): This is the most important race of the season for Euskaltel so it is not a surprise that David Lopez has been preparing for it during the spring. He has suffered crashes in his appearances in the Tirreno - Adriatico and Volta a Catalunya but it has apparently not affected the Spaniard. He is the defending champion from last year and it is difficult to find a route that would favor him more. The only stage that he will not like a lot will be the time trial but it is so hilly that he probably has a chance for the win in the stage.
- Laurens Ten Dam (Cannondale - Drapac): Ten Dam has had really bad luck in this start of the 2017 season and he is in dire need of getting results for himself and for the team. He had a very busy start of the season but has not had any good results other than a 5th place in the GC of the Tour Down Under. Therefore, the pressure might start building on the Dutch given that the Cannondale team is completely built around him. It will be interesting to see how he tackles the hilly stages as the race can be quite unpredictable in the Basque Country.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal): Vanendert has only raced the Tirreno - Adriatico before the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in this 2017. He did not have a great race in Italy but with the time trials he did not have much of a chance in the GC. The race in the Basque Country should be his first target of the season but his main targets in the early part of the season will be the Ardennes classics. The Belgian is one of the best riders of the World in the hills so he will be very dangerous in the first few stages of the race.
- Jerome Coppel (Etixx - Quickstep): Coppel also raced the Tirreno - Adriatico and took the 6th place in the final GC. The French has become a rider to follow since last season so he will not have as much of a margin as he had in the past. He will be one of the favorites for the final time trial because even if the stage is quite hilly Coppel has the whole package to be able to do well in a stage like that. It could even be surprising to some that he is considered the leader of the team above Frank Schleck but the Luxembourgish is more of a pure climber.
Other riders with a shot at the win are Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery Channel), Mikel Nieve (Team Katusha), Domenico Pozzovivo (Trek - Segafredo), Davide Rebellin (Astana Pro Team), Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale) and Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep).
There are not many sprinters in Spain. The best are Ben Swift (Vacansoleil - DMC), Simone Ponzi (LottoNL - Jumbo), Michael Matthews (Cannondale - Drapac), Mauro Finetto (Team Katusha), Elia Viviani (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Tony Gallopin (IAM Cycling).
Anyone having a gab on Euskaltel ends up in a crash, i wonder is Euskadi Ta Askatasuna behind all this 
