Thanks to hoyle for gaps table inspiration, sorry for green circles, just looking for feedback to see where I'm at so I know where to go from here before applying

World Championship RR 2018

Welcome everyone to the main event of 2018 UCI Road World Championships, the Elite Men Road Race. Considered for lot of people as the hardest route ever in a WC, the 265-km race which ends in Innsbruck should favour the climbers. Three-times reigining World Champion, Peter Sagan, is here to defend his title and win a record fourth title, but it's very unlikely that we will be able to do it.



And the race start in Kufstein!



We already have the first attacks of the day. Five riders have attacked and have opened a gap with the bunch.

Vanmarcke
Enger
Shushemoin
Kuznetsov
Golas



A few kilometers later, another five riders are also in the attack, including local rider Matthias Brandle, and with the former 5, all have formed a group who already has 5 minutes on the bunch. The new riders are:

Brandle
Degenkolb
Kung
Terpstra
Houle



When we arrived to the first climb of the day, which is the only one who will be climbed once today, the escapees have a 9-minute gap on the bunch, where riders from , , and are take pulls, with their leaders (Froome, Quintana, Valverde/Contador, Aru/Nibali) being the big favourites today.



The breakaway is now inside the circuit, and is starting the first climb to Igls, the main climb of the day. The gap is now around 8 minutes



In the descent of the climb we have the first crash of the day, with 4 riders involved. The most important of them is Louis Meintjes, with the other riders being Jan Hirt, Tiago Machado and Erik Baska. All four can continue in the race without any problem, apparently.



A lap after we have another crash, this one involving a few more riders. None of the riders who crashed could do anything in this course, although last year's Silver medal, Kristoff, is involved



Big news! Peter Sagan has been dropped with 90 km to go. The reigning WC is having a hard time now, and although he might rejoin the bunch in the descent, that early sign of weakness is a clear indicator that he won't fight for a fourth WC in a row. Btw, the gap between the head of the race and the main peloton is under 5 minutes now



The first circuit is over now, and now we're heading to the final circuit, which includes the hardest climb of the day, apart from Igls climb. Despite having less than 100 riders left in the bunch, no possible contender (MON > 76) has been dropped. The hard rhythm that riders as Gasparotto or Gorka Izagirre has reduced the gap to the breakaway to only 1 minute.
The bunch have the race controlled, and the best climbers in the world will fight for the Rainbow Jersey



55 km to the finish and we are in the penultimate climb to Igls. In this very moment, the breakaway has been caught, thanks to Ion Izagirre's effort in this climb.
But look now at the job that Sergio Henao is doing. He has teared the peloton in pieces, with only 40 riders left in the main group. Still no big riders being dropped, but some possible top10 contenders, like Gesink, Konig, Lopez, Gallopin or Reichenbach are in the second or third group



Oh no! Terrible crash in the descent of Igls... and is in the first group! Those who have crashed are Uran, Van Avermaet, Van Garderen, Aru, Dumoulin, Alaphilippe, Kreuziger, Costa and Bardet.

There's no mercy in the Worlds, as Poels and Martin have being forced to abandon due to the crash



The leading group reaches now Hungerburg climb. 3 km at 11% which should destroy what's left in the 25-men group. And there's still another pass to do of this climb.

Adam Yates is pacing now the group in the first slopes, but will we see attacks from the favourites already in this climb? Or we will have to wait until the last climb to see that?



The climb is as terrible as expected. Several riders are been dropped from the group, but still no real favourites. Also, Adam Yates is looking really strong in his domestique job, is that an indicator of Froome's condition?



Might be the first favourites to be dropped today, but both Bob Jungels and Mikel Landa (although Landa might have been acting as a domestique today) are suffering and have been dropped from the now 16-men group



16 riders, 3 medals, 1 Rainbow Jersey. Which rider will take the biggest price in Cycling?

Ulissi has made a impresive effort, but now it's Geraint Thomas turn to work for his leader, and he is doing real damage. Only 8 riders have been able to follow the Welshman, and Zakarin is already fading, so make that 7.

Froome
Nibali
Quintana
Pinot
Contador
Valverde
Kwiatkowski

The Pole is the big surprise here, as he is not a pure climber. If he can hang with the group until the end, he is the big favourite, together with Valverde, for the sprint



Anyway, still half of Igls climb and Hungerberg climb left, and now Thibaut Pinot is on the attack. All riders seems to follow him easily, but Kwiatkowski has cracked! Six riders left for the win today



And Froome counter-attacks once Pinot is done! Quintana seems to be the one with most problems to follow the rhythm now



Valverde has blown up! The Spaniard won't be able to add a Golden medal to his record-six medals in WC this year. And it seems like Pinot and Quintana have quite a gap to close now



In the front, Nibali, Froome and Contador seems to be working together, but behind them, neither Pinot or Quintana have given up. They have a 23-second gap, and with the descent coming up, they might rejoin the leading group for the final climb.

The next riders are almost 3 minutes back, so they don't count for anything today, they will fight just for seventh place



They are closing in, but it's not enough to be with the leading group at the foot of Hungerberg. The leading trio still have 15 seconds of advantage, and they have already proved to be stronger than them, so it's unlikely they'll have the chance to catch them



Contador on the attack! The Spanish rider has been unnoticed until now, without any attacks, and now that he sees the chance is going for it. Also the gap to Quintana, Pinot and Valverde has grown to 40 seconds, so the medals are pretty much decided. It's only a matter of who will win the race



That attack was really long! And now is Nibali suffering at the back of the group! It looks like it will be a Froome-Contador battle for the win. And the gap to the second group is already over a minute



At the end Nibali was able to hang with the other riders, so we will have an epic three-way sprint for the win today!



Valverde and Pinot have dropped Quintana, so these two riders will fight for the fourth place



2 km to go, and Froome seems to be leading the sprint. Not the best tactic if he wants to win



Behind the missing flame rouge, Froome starts his sprint, with Nibali on his wheel and Contador at his right side



Contador seems to be quicker than Froome, as he has quickly placed alongside him with 500 metres. Nibali hasn't started his sprint yet, is he waiting for the final 500 metres to finish with a bang?



But Contador is not quick enough to keep him in contention for the win, and Nibali coming from behind really strong, Froome doesn't have the win yet



Chris Froome is the new World Champion!!



Vincenzo Nibali takes the Silver medal and Alberto Contador the bronze one. What a race, and a really deserved champion



Valverde takes fourth place after dropping Pinot in the descent, with Quintana finishing sixth



Dumoulin wins the sprint for seventh to Thomas and Kwiatkowski. What could he have done if he didn't crash? We'll never know



Diego Ulissi completes the top10 of the race



Thanks to all for following the coverage of the race, and see you next year in Yorkshire!

1	Chris Froome	Team Sky	7h05'46
2	Vincenzo Nibali	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
3	Alberto Contador	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
4	Alejandro Valverde	Movistar Team	+ 1'17
5	Thibaut Pinot	FDJ	+ 1'40
6	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 1'53
7	Tom Dumoulin	Team Sunweb	+ 4'51
8	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	s.t.
9	Michał Kwiatkowski	Team Sky	+ 5'06
10	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	+ 6'39
11	Bauke Mollema	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
12	Warren Barguil	Team Sunweb	s.t.
13	Richie Porte	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
14	Ilnur Zakarin	Team Katusha - Alpecin	+ 7'00
15	Rafał Majka	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 8'14
16	Bob Jungels	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
17	Adam Yates	Orica - Scott	s.t.
18	Esteban Chaves	Orica - Scott	s.t.
19	Mikel Landa	Team Sky	s.t.
20	Diego Rosa	Team Sky	s.t.
21	Sérgio Luis Henao	Team Sky	s.t.
22	Luis León Sánchez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
23	Samuel Sánchez	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
24	Wilco Kelderman	Team Sunweb	+ 9'06
25	Rui Costa	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
26	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick-Step Floors	+ 9'37
27	Romain Bardet	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
28	Tim Wellens	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
29	Philippe Gilbert	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
30	Miguel Angel Lopez	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
31	Andrew Talansky	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
32	Rigoberto Urán	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
33	Steven Kruijswijk	Team Lotto NL - Jumbo	s.t.
34	Roman Kreuziger	Orica - Scott	s.t.
35	Tony Gallopin	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
36	Tejay Van Garderen	BMC Racing Team	+ 10'34
37	Jarlinson Pantano	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
38	Nathan Haas	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
39	Lilian Calmejane	Direct Energie	s.t.
40	Stephen Cummings	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
41	Daniel Moreno	Movistar Team	s.t.
42	Ion Izagirre	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
43	Ben Hermans	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
44	Simon Yates	Orica - Scott	s.t.
45	Alexis Vuillermoz	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
46	Sébastien Reichenbach	FDJ	s.t.
47	Robert Gesink	Team Lotto NL - Jumbo	s.t.
48	Leopold König	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
49	Zdenek Stybar	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
50	Tiesj Benoot	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
51	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
52	Patrick Konrad	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
53	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
54	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
55	Peter Kennaugh	Team Sky	s.t.
56	Primož Rogli�	Team Lotto NL - Jumbo	s.t.
57	Ben Gastauer	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
58	José Mendes	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
59	Rohan Dennis	BMC Racing Team	+ 11'17
60	Jan Polanc	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
61	Gianluca Brambilla	Quick-Step Floors	+ 11'51
62	Peter Sagan	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
63	Fabio Aru	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
64	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
65	Ondrej Cink	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
66	André Cardoso	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
67	Louis Meintjes	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
68	Tom-Jelte Slagter	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
69	Tomasz Marczyński	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
70	Przemysław Niemiec	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
71	Michał Gołaś	Team Sky	s.t.
72	Ben Swift	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
73	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
74	Sergey Chernetskiy	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
75	Michael Matthews	Team Sunweb	+ 12'32
76	Jan Barta	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
77	John Degenkolb	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
78	Michael Woods	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
79	Tony Martin	Team Katusha - Alpecin	+ 13'01
80	Michael Albasini	Orica - Scott	s.t.
81	Brent Bookwalter	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
82	Grega Bole	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
83	Carlos Betancur	Movistar Team	+ 13'54
84	Petr Vako�	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
85	Hugo Houle	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
86	Simon Spilak	Team Katusha - Alpecin	+ 14'38
87	Martin Elmiger	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
88	Sonny Colbrelli	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
89	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar Team	s.t.
90	Rodolfo Torres	Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec	s.t.
91	Paul Martens	Team Lotto NL - Jumbo	s.t.
92	Oliver Naesen	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
93	Simon Clarke	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 15'08
94	Nicolas Roche	BMC Racing Team	+ 15'23
95	Philip Deignan	Team Sky	s.t.
96	Mikel Nieve	Team Sky	+ 15'43
97	Daryl Impey	Orica - Scott	+ 15'50
98	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
99	Sondre Holst Enger	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
100	Maciej Paterski	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
101	Georg Preidler	Team Sunweb	s.t.
102	Gianni Moscon	Team Sky	s.t.
103	Tiago Machado	Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.
104	Lawson Craddock	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
105	Mathias Frank	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
106	Julien Simon	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
107	Yury Trofimov	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 16'18
108	Jay McCarthy	Bora - Hansgrohe	s.t.
109	Christian Knees	Team Sky	s.t.
110	Michael Valgren	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
111	Alex Howes	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
112	Dylan Teuns	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
113	Alexey Lutsenko	Astana Pro Team	+ 16'55
114	Sep Vanmarcke	Cannondale - Drapac	s.t.
115	Luka Mezgec	Orica - Scott	s.t.
116	Matthias Brändle	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.
117	Vyacheslav Kuznetsov	Team Katusha - Alpecin	s.t.
118	Ian Boswell	Team Sky	s.t.
119	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Orica - Scott	s.t.
120	Silvan Dillier	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
121	Stefan Küng	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
122	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Aqua Blue Sport	s.t.
123	Simon Gerrans	Orica - Scott	s.t.
124	Dylan Van Baarle	Cannondale - Drapac	+ 17'49
125	Simon Geschke	Team Sunweb	s.t.
126	Sergey Firsanov	Gazprom - RusVelo	+ 18'07
127	Larry Warbasse	Aqua Blue Sport	s.t.
128	André Greipel	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
129	Niki Terpstra	Quick-Step Floors	+ 18'30
130	Emanuel Buchmann	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 18'47
131	Michael Gogl	Trek - Segafredo	+ 19'15
132	Andrey Zeits	Astana Pro Team	+ 19'33
133	Luke Durbridge	Orica - Scott	+ 19'52
134	Marcus Burghardt	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 20'00
135	Alexandr Shushemoin	-	s.t.
136	Odd Christian Eiking	FDJ	+ 20'56
137	Fernando Gaviria	Quick-Step Floors	+ 21'40
138	Lars Ytting Bak	Lotto - Soudal	s.t.
139	Heinrich Haussler	Bahrain - Merida	+ 21'53
140	Stefan Denifl	Aqua Blue Sport	+ 22'24
141	Alexey Tsatevich	Gazprom - RusVelo	s.t.
142	Luke Rowe	Team Sky	s.t.
143	Arnaud Démare	FDJ	+ 25'18
144	Jan Hirt	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
145	Ian Stannard	Team Sky	+ 27'13
146	Alexander Kristoff	Team Katusha - Alpecin	+ 28'04
147	Nikias Arndt	Team Sunweb	+ 28'51
148	Magnus Cort Nielsen	Orica - Scott	+ 29'25
149	Maxim Iglinskiy	-	+ 29'32
150	Sven Erik Bystrøm	Team Katusha - Alpecin	+ 30'10
151	Rasmus Guldhammer	Team VéloConcept	s.t.
152	Matti Breschel	Astana Pro Team	+ 31'13
153	Jempy Drucker	BMC Racing Team	+ 31'42
154	Antoine Duchesne	Direct Energie	+ 34'36
155	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Cycling Academy	+ 35'42
156	Borut Božic	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
157	Sam Bennett	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 37'42
158	Matthew Brammeier	Aqua Blue Sport	+ 39'09
159	Juraj Sagan	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 48'04
160	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Astana Pro Team	+ 49'23
161	Erik Baska	Bora - Hansgrohe	+ 50'39