One of the weirdest races on the calendar may look the most straightforward - the riders take on Mt. Charleston twice, a tough climb, once over 40km, and once 33km, long and averaging a tad over 4%. This will be a survival of the fittest first and foremost - but due to the absolute lack of tougher gradients, it could end up being won by the smartest.
Not a popular breakaway race it seems, Sirica and Kipmasai the two riders "interested" in a move. No prizes for guessing Iten would get to work on the front with occasional help from Rothaus and Mountain Dew.
The foot of the final climb and what appears to be the entire Krka Slovenija team going off the front with a vengeance. Kiprotich and Mbaba seen here looking at each other and laughing. Their domestiques happy to ride the same tempo as the Krka men quickly get a rather big gap - over a minute halfway up the climb but down to just Matejic, Kravos and Batic.
No further attacks on the first ascent but plenty of dropped riders, some pulling out as we swing by Vegas clearly not fancying doing that again. It's 26 degrees here, not boiling hot but a stark contrast to the spring classics.
Sirica, Kipmasai, Kravos and Batic go into the 33km finishing ascent with an advantage of two and a half minutes. Kravos now leading most of the time whilst Batic tries to make the other two agree to pull. Eventually, they do.
Kimani and Kurir going fairly hard for Iten, the Kenyans with riders to burn here. both going off fairly quickly and the gap staying stable with 25km left! Cheruiyot and Kiptoo starting to shed some dead weight - the peloton under 40 riders now. Their countryman Kipmasai now dropped from the break as Kravos fight to hold this gap - now just under two minutes.
Cheruiyot has done his dash but Kiptoo looking to force the point here as the fight for position begins! Battle of attrition here before the road kicks up a bit with 15km to go. No major names dropped at all here.
With 16km left, it's Kiprotich who comes to the front and this could cause some difficulty! The South African surges to the front and icreases the tempo. Kiplagat and Mbaba in his wheel having no trouble, neither some well positioned riders in Siegel, Kent and Rosenkharst. The pack thinned to about 25 riders - and now for the key kilometres in this race. For about 5 kilometres the road averages around 6.5%.
Kiprotich continues to apply some hurt to the field, really taking it to his (or Mbaba's) rivals! No attacks as nobody can come around him, but the field down to just 17 riders now and some - Rosenkharst, LeClerq, Istvan - looking on the edge. Also Kipmasai, Kravos and Sirica has been caught and dropped, with Batic about to be caught as well it would seem.
The riders come out of the section with 7km to go and 14 riders in the group - Batic, Rosenkharst, LeClerq and Istvan not far behind. Make that 13, as Kiprotich gives his last effort and swings off to let Kiplagat try and hold the group together. Nearly instantly we get an attack from Hunter! However it's marked well by Kiplagat, but the Kenyan can't match the counter from Jones! The American riding away, with Simoni in his wheel! The new tempo actually sees Hunter dropped, whilst Rosenkharst and LeClerq have gone clear of their companions and have regained 2 of the 9 seconds lost earlier. Istvan and Batic now caught by Irvine and Pratik as well.
The gap to Jones and Simoni is steadily growing but not a lot of panic as the main players seem happy to let Kiplagat exhaust himself, and leave nobody (bar Sanchez with Simoni up the road) with teammates. Perhaps seeing how this will pan out, Kiplagat tries to wave through the other riders to take some turns. Everybody shaking their head, and Kiplagat swings off! No bluffing here and the group has spread across the road! Rosenkharst and LeClerq are back now.
Now it's Kent taking some initative and attacking! Kiplagat chasing hard... but the elastic's broken! Kent looks behind and doubles down the pressure. Kiplagat still chasing now but Kent has bridged to Simoni and Jones. A quick enquiry from the Aussie merits two nods and off they go!
And that situation hasn't changed for three kilometres now as Mbaba continues to look around and shout at the other climbers. Now Baba going for it himself out of fustration but everybody able to follow. Really not going well for the chasers.
1.5km left and the road ramps up a bit so nothing set in stone yet. More failed attacks coming in from behind but now it's Hummels with a well-timed move who looks like getting a small gap! Siegel accelerates after the American and nobody can respond. Now the chase is on! 17 seconds though for Kent, Simoni and Jones.
Kent being forced to do more work now and he tries to jump clear with 800m left! A risky game played by Simoni and Jones with Siegel and Hummels advancing closer to them. Jones hanging onto the Aussie but Simoni fading a little. Kent is forced onto the front and has to keep going! He slows down to look at his rival and Jones goes for it! The American with a rocket acceleration leaves behind Kent and looks like he'll take the win.
Indeed a well-taken win for Tyrone Jones - a home victor always nice to see and the crowd enjoys it a lot! Kent holds on for second ahead of Siegel, who outkicks Hummels for the last podium spot. Simoni hangs on for an impressive fifth, with Orton the winner of the sprint for sixth ahead of Sanchez and LeClerq. Marton and Mbaba round out the top 10.
1
Tyrone Jones
City of Shaolin - Project 36
Winner
2
Jonathan Kent
AIS Cycling
0:05
3
Jan Siegel
Rothaus - Lindt
0:12
4
Matt Hummels
Somfy Group - Trentino
0:14
5
Paolo Simoni
Real Madrid Cycling Team
0:19
6
Randy Orton
Mountain Dew Cycling
0:27
7
Daniel Sánchez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Kevin LeClerq
Ubisoft
s.t.
9
Hegyi Márton
Videoton
0:29
10
Paulo Pisini
La Pitagora
s.t.
11
Joseph Rotich Mbaba
The Iten Project
s.t.
12
Zachary Leicester
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
0:30
13
Thørstein Rosenkharst
365 - Íslandsbanki
s.t.
14
Jason Hunter
City of Shaolin - Project 36
0:32
15
Kipchoge Kiplagat
The Iten Project
0:37
Best riders for other teams: Batic (18th) and Pratik (16th) both doing well just outside the points, couldn't regain contact with the favourites.
A small, practically harmless early break on the flat stage of the Tour del Norte. They were Cassonne, Theis and Smith. Theis took both early mountain points and second in the Cat.3 climb later on to secure the jersey, one point ahead of Smith. The break were caught fairly easily.
A messy sprint saw a very early launch from an out-of-position Fermi. Although the Italian could still make the top 10, he saw Plesec, Martin, Lafuente and Christiaens go by him in the closing metres. The real battle was Zoltan vs Krka. With Chytil, Plesec and Zepic the Slovenians dominated the sprint, but the Hungarian came around Zepic in the final 40 metres for his first win of the year. Lopez snuck into third via slipstream.
Theis, Alhambo, Gomez and Vertonghen were the breakaway today. Over all of the first four climbs it was Alhambo, on home turf, taking wins on the way to a big KoM lead, with current holder Theis not quite able to stop him. Not too much GC action early but some riders sayiing goodbye to the peloton - the group sitll mostly intact going into the Puerto de Urbasa with 34km left. Over 8km long, some chances to do some damage for those feeling good. Alhambo and Vertonghem still ahead of the peloton as well. And in the first two kilometres of the climb, Kiptoo attacks!
No immediate response really with no teams willing to do lots of chasing. eventually Videoton come to the front but Kiptoo has caught the breakaway riders and has about 14 seconds' gap. Now a counter-attack from Mbaba, looking to join his teammate! Puymbroeck responds quickly, and so does Thorvaldsson. The Icelandic man lost time on the flat stage yesterday but the other two are big GC threats really - Mbaba with his consistent GC showings and Puymbroeck as a top puncheur who doesn't mind these longer climbs at all. Russo takes to the front for La Pitagora but can't stop this trio getting a response.
With a 50km TT tomorrow perhaps the likes of Saunier, Hummels and Andolini are worrying more about each other than puncheurs going for the stage win. Don't forget Kiprotich, who has two teammates ahead and is riding in seventh wheel currently, behind Hummels.
Now it's Kravos who is looking to attack the field! Russo responds and drags Rosa and the GC favourites along with him. Now a big move from Bertlinger across the road, which draws a response from Hummels! Some riders looking at each other, and eventually Rosa tows Andolini, Marton, Brooks, Hunter, Saunier and Istvan along with him up to the duo.
Ahead Kiptoo and Alhambo have dropped Verthonghen but have been caught by Mbaba, Thorvaldsson and Puymbroeck. Kiptoo straight on the front, burying himself for Mbaba. Rosa doing the same for Andolini to try and catch the five-piece escape. However more riders - Simoni, Kravos, Plesec, Jones, Leicester and Diaz - now coming across to this group. A few domestiques here who could help, not all over yet. The next group containing Kripovets among others not far behind either.
Some great co-operation sees the front group, still with Alhambo (who couldn't take first at the mountain point), take a gap of 32 seconds over the top of the climb, onto the rolling next few kilometres to the belated descent. At the bottom of the descent they have 34 seconds, which is coming down gradually thanks to a bit of co-operation behind. Alhambo not working now, in aid of Bertlinger in the next group.
Meanwhile Kripovets is towing some riders dropped on the climb back using his excellent TT skills - Zepic, Pikkula, Batic, Jimenez, Pratik and Munster with him. Not quite back on but still 6km left.
Kiptoo now really giving his all but he's unable to do anymore, so it's Mbaba, Thorvaldsson and Puymbroeck doing the work. All three riders eager to make this move last - Mbaba ahead of Stage 4, Puymbroeck ahead of Stage 3, and Thorvaldsson ahead of today's sprint.
The last few kilometres saw moves from Andolini and Simoni - surefire signs the favourites weren't on the best terms - get shut down. Stop and surge racing doing nothing for their chances of a regroup and so the trio ahead have time to play with in the last kilometre. Puymbroeck leads and coaxes Mbaba's assistance with 700m left. Thorvaldsson, with no GC ambitions, doesn't take a pull. Kiptoo is dropped as well.
Thorvaldsson and Puymbroeck wait for the sprint and despite a good battle from the Belgian, Thorvaldsson's turn of speed and freshness beats Cartamundi into another lost sprint. Mbaba loses a second but will be happy with third and GC time ahead of tomorrow's TT.
Plesec wins the sprint for fifth behind Kiptoo, ahead of Diaz, Brooks, Kravos, Kiprotich and Marton. The Kripovets group tag on in the final two kilometres for no GC losses.
Others as in the stage result, minus or plus any GC bonus/deficit (the Lafuente/third group was 59 seconds behind before the stage) they had to Kripovets.
The beginning of the final stage saw already an attack from Thorvaldsson out of Bilbao. Uphill only Alhambo could go with him and they were away from the pack. They opted to look around at the bottom of the hill for any potential companions. Theis tried and failed to bridge the gap before eventually, the quartet of Kimani, Jimenez, Smith and Puymbroeck broke away. A dangerous move with Jimenez just three minutes down and Puymbroeck within five. With Iten, Real Madrid and leaders 365 in the break it was down to Mountain Dew, Somfy and La Pitagora to chase. Over the rolling terrain of the Basque Country it wouldn't be an easy task as they missed the boat doing it early. The gap never rising above four minutes, but testament to the domestiques for that work.
Alhambo showing his intentions by taking KoM points. Thorvaldsson maybe could've gone for them but obviously focused on making this break work. So the jersey will go to the less well-known of the Basque puncheurs.
On the Goi Bailara climb Puymbroeck took a punt and attacked hard. Thorvaldsson, Jimenez and Kimani tried to follow and all got away, with Alhambo looking tired and Smith with no legs. They wouldn't rejoin despite Alhambo's best efforts. The gap now at 3'22 with sixty kilometres left, which sees Jimenez five seconds away from Kripovets' GC lead.
A lot of conversation between the GC teams chasing. Clearly wanting a way to narrow this gap and to shell Kripovets, Batic and the other TT men.
Up to Asteasu now and Jimenez takes the lead here to neutralise this climb. Some turns from the other three but the Spanish veteran doing his best to make a GC assault here! Real Madrid playing their three GC men well here. Behind in the peloton a steady but high tempo from Russo putting some hurt into riders! Kripovets slipping a little but well supported by his teammates and makes it over alive - unlike many sprinters.
The short, sharp hills near Zarauatz saw Russo of La Pitagora set a super-high tempo, shelling more riders as well as Batic. Kimani attacked on the last, very steep one and made it out with a gap to the other three, who kept the constant pace. 2'38 the gap going into Monte Igeldo.
Only 700m long but very steep, the same hill saw a big move from Brooks at the bottom, which only strung out the bunch trying to follow - Saunier, Simoni and Andolini near the front. In the end nobody could get away, and on the descent 365 attempted to come to the front the set pace.
Monte Igeldo saw again mostly Jimenez leading the others up the climb. The gap still coming down but a break win seems very likely. Puymbroeck will be smarting after his loss two days ago to Thorvaldsson, as well as in the Verviers - Liege classic. Jimenez would logically be out of it, now riding for GC, whilst Kimani showed strength in his attack but has had a quiet season so far working in the Iten train. He could use the strength of his companions to his advantage here.
365 lead going into Igeldo with Viru and Pikkula on the front with the leader's jersey of Kripovets not far behind. They set a steady tempo but La Pitagora were coming up on the other side of the road. Pikkula looked back to Kripovets, who nodded to go faster. Viru upped the pace but was overtaken by a flying Mbaba! No immediate reaction from the Icelandic team but he set off a chain of counter-attacks, namely from Saunier and Rosa! Some very big names going here as Rosa manages to get a gap.
365 keep chasing but the gap grows and now Andolini makes a big move, who can follow? Most of the big names, but not Kripovets! Rosa encourages Mbaba to wait and when the riders behind make the catch the Italian goes straight onto the front to tow these riders away. They are:
Pratik (Antler)
Munster, Leicester (Cartamundi)
Hunter (Shaolin)
Plesec (Krka)
Andolini, Rosa (La Pitagora)
Brooks (Mountain Dew)
Simoni, Diaz (Real Madrid)
Hummels (Somfy)
Mbaba, Kiptoo (Iten)
Saunier (Ubisoft)
Marton, Istvan (Videoton).
A strong group here, but notably Kiprotich, Batic, Jones, Kripovets and Lafuente are all missing. 365 keep their same pace on the front of the next group, but no incentive for Lafuente or Kiprotich to help with their teammates ahead in this chasing group. Kripovetes shaking his head now. He doesn't want to be shelled by his teammates. 15 seconds the gap over the top.
Over the climb the gap comes down a little thanks to the work of Sandevolen but the three groups go into the Monte Urgull all seperate. Kimani immediately goes onto the attack and Jimenez is forced to shut the gap by Puymbroeck and Thorvaldsson, before a big counter from Puymbroeck, catching the 365 man a little off-guard! 700m and Thorvaldsson has to chase! Not much ground being gained with the Icelandic not wanting to sprint, but it'll still be tight!
In the end it's Puymbroeck with a smart and oh-so-strong ride who takes a magnificent win here in San Sebastian. Thorvaldsson dusts off his companions for second but doesn't look too happy about it. Kimani edges out Jimenez for third. He has a gap of around two minutes, which will put him and Jimenez dangerously close to the GC leaders!
In between the stage and GC battles Alhambo rolls in fifth having dropped Smith over Monte Igeldo. The American, not too far behind, holds on for sixth.
With bonus seconds gone Andolini had no problem not going for the sprint here and powers up the climb, with only Hummels, Simoni, and Diaz immediately following. Petit leads the next group for Saunier, with Mbaba also griding next behind. Andolini grits his teeth, what a show from the young Italian! Putting on a climbing clinic, beasting it up this hill. Can he make the 27 seconds up on Kripovets? He's dropped Hummels here, but the group behind, with Marton now leading, is coming up.
Diaz now comes out for the sprint leading out Simoni, but actually wins the sprint for seventh. Simoni takes eighth followed by Andolini a second behind. Now the clock starts ticking.
Marton fares the best of the rest four further seconds down. Mbaba, Saunier, Brooks, Leicester, Plesec all mill in, in the next few seconds. Kiptoo rounds out the group fourteen seconds behind Andolini. Thirteen seconds for Kripovets to come in. Rosa a further ten seconds back. And now we see Kripovets powering to the line... but it won't be enough, he's eleven seconds out of time. A valiant performance, and a handshake for Pikkula for his effort. But another near miss for the young Lithuanian.
1
Pieter-Jan Puymbroek
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
Winner
2
Yeray Inígo Þórvaldsson
365 - Íslandsbanki
0:02
3
David Robiel Kimani
The Iten Project
0:05
4
Antonio Jiménez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Gorka Alhambo
Antler - SAS
1:01
6
Chron Smith
City of Shaolin - Project 36
1:34
7
David Díaz
Real Madrid Cycling Team
1:57
8
Paolo Simoni
Real Madrid Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Andrea Andolini
La Pitagora
1:58
10
Hegyi Márton
Videoton
2:02
GC:
1
Andrea Andolini
La Pitagora
Winner
2
Filip Kripovets
365 - Íslandsbanki
0:11
3
Matt Hummels
Somfy Group - Trentino
0:25
4
Antoine Saunier
Ubisoft
1:02
5
Pieter-Jan Puymbroek
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
1:06
6
Antonio Jiménez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
1:07
7
Allen Jones
Mountain Dew Cycling
1:25
8
Paolo Simoni
Real Madrid Cycling Team
1:38
9
Daniel Kiprotich
The Iten Project
1:53
10
Joseph Rotich Mbaba
The Iten Project
2:05
11
Nagy István
Videoton
2:07
12
Jason Hunter
City of Shaolin - Project 36
2:19
13
Zachary Leicester
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
2:30
14
Milos Pratik
Antler - SAS
2:32
15
Tomasz Batić
Krka Slovenija
2:32
Points: Puymbroeck (Cartamundi) KOM: Alhambo (Antler) Youth: Andolini (La Pitagora)
A flat stage in Northern France for the riders to tackle today, and rain has returned to the rider's schedules after the sunny days in Nevada and Spain to kick off April. The break went with Gebrselassie and Van Alst the young duo who would attempt to fight off the pack, eventually getting caught with a healthy 14km remaining. The Dutchman won the KoM points and took the lead there.
The sprint was controlled by La Pitagora - the Italians on fire as they put together a textbook leadout for Ferrari and ruined a Heintze surge under the flamme rouge. Krka - Slovenija had other ideas as Plesec launched with 400m to go, bringing Zepic, Kristasis and Zoltan with him. Ferrari had to shut the gap himself but Dubois was left to fend for himself, not reacting to follow the Italian. He lead for a bit but it was too early from the Frenchman. In the end a convincing win for Zoltan as he blew the others off his wheel. Zepic came in second ahead of Kristasis and Paxman - the latter two have shown themselves in the classics and could well be hunting for bonuses, so an advantage to the Lithuanian.
Lost another report... I need to stop writing these in daily
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 2
Cartamundi and puncheur teams forced the pace. Van Alst continued to mop up KoMs. Late attack Russo/Istvan caught on the climb. Plesec took a smart sprint to edge out the puncheurs. Plesec takes GC lead, bonuses elsewhere as usual (Berger got 6, De Negri 4, Kristasis 4 on day 1)
A competitive lot of breakaway attempts saw a group go clear after 20kms of tussling. It was Viru, Vertonghen, Cox and Saunier. Not a lot of cobbled teams getting riders in here so Real Madrid can count themselves lucky. Krka and Cartamundi keeping the break within a few minutes given Viru and Saunier are within 40 seconds and especially the latter is a useful all-rounder.
The cobbles only start in earnest with about 40km to go and immediately Krka stringing out the pace with Senekovic looking to drop cobblers. The next 10-12kms are almost all cobbled so this is going to be a hellish time for those badly positioned. Meanwhile ahead Viru and Vertonghen have already dropped their companions but their gap is coming down.
Senekovic meanwhile with the assistance of Mlakar have instantly trimmed the pack of many riders - Puymbroeck, Rosenkharst, Munster, Lopez, Leicester, Brooks and Istvan the biggest GC names. Meanwhile many of the cobbled favourites are near the top of the bunch. About 30 riders off the first sector but the next one is even tougher, and on the left-hand turn a crash in the favourites group!
A touch of wheels sees Lafuente down, taking Duerr and Killings with him and causing a small split as some riders are held up! Noticeably Rodriguez has to put in a burst of speed to catch up to the pace as Mlakar is going for it now! Klasa and Plesec are in the wheel but Furst and Frenay are elbowing their way to sit next to the Krka riders. Hell on wheels for many here and it will only get worse. Ferrari dropped now along with Russo and Kripovets, none of them doing so well on the rougher cobbles and being bumped out of position. Kripovets has Pikkula and Lauriksson with him to nurse him through, though.
Another split has most certainly be made as now just these riders remain at the front:
Kristasis (365)
Paxman, Veni (Antler)
Frenay, Bordui, Kerremns (Cartamundi)
Grice, Diggs (Shaolin)
Klasa, Mlakar, Plesec (Krka)
De Negri (La Pitagora)
Rodriguez (Real Madrid)
Furst (Rothaus)
Tomasson (Somfy)
Cheruiyot, Kemboi (Iten)
Schmidt (Ubisoft)
Peter (Videoton). The Antler duo near the back whilst Kemboi is struggling. Chaos behind as some riders will lose big time.
Grice now goes forward and tries to put some pressure on - this is a proper attack and Grice is rolling his cards! A big effort from Mlakar keeps him at bay for now and nobody else manages to get away over these three cobbled sectors, but Kemboi and Veni are both dropped, whilst the two sprinters in Kristasis and Paxman are struggling a bit. Kerremns and Kemboi is gone too. Viru and Vertonghen have been caught, and both are going to give what they can for their leader
Some paved road now and Mlakar continues to force the pace but is starting to tire a bit. We're coming up to the second five-star sector which twists around a bit. Rough cobbles and Rodriguez takes to the front to drive a hard line. Klasa in the wheel guiding Plesec through. Kristasis takes a different line and makes up some ground - Grice and Tomasson following. Paxman and Vertonghen have fallen off already and now Rodriguez really going for it! He's off the front now with Klasa, Plesec, Grice and Tomasson. Frenay leading the next group which is fracturing.
As we come off the cobbles it's Klasa leading but trying to jockey the others into working whilst Plesec looks a little tired. Some flat now but Grice puts in an attack which the others can't follow right now. The American is into solo mode and now Rodriguez helping Klasa chase. Behind Frenay, Furst, Cheruiyot, Schmidt and De Negri are just 8 seconds behind and may end up catching the quartet with some good co-operation. Diggs, Viru, Peter, Kristasis and Bordui being dropped behind.
Over the next cobbles Rodriguez keeps going and Plesec drops. Klasa checks back and eventually waits to guide him. Tomasson also dropped here so now it's Rodriguez needing to bridge the 7-second gap to Grice. And by the end those five have caught them.
Not much changes to the line as Grice manages to roll across for a powerful solo victory. Rodriguez is nine seconds down whilst Frenay wins the sprint for third ahead of Cheruiyot 23 seconds behind Grice. Next in is Peter and Bordui at 40 seconds, then Kristasis and Diggs at 48. Everybody else is over a minute. The worst off are Lopez, Rosenkharst and Leicester from the front group yesterday, but everybody else is within three minutes ahead of tomorrow's time trial.
This puts Rodriguez into the GC lead narrowly ahead of Plesec. So far it's the cobblers dominating with the hills acting as a form of tiebreak. But with a TT and hills to come it's far from over for any kind of rider.
1
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
Winner
2
Armando Rodriguez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Cedric Frenay
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
s.t.
4
Moses Cheruiyot
The Iten Project
s.t.
5
Nicky Tomasson
Somfy Group - Trentino
s.t.
6
Jure Plešec
Krka Slovenija
s.t.
7
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
s.t.
8
Patrick Schmidt
Ubisoft
s.t.
9
Marco Fürst
Rothaus - Lindt
s.t.
10
Jiri Klasa
Krka Slovenija
s.t.
GC:
1
Armando Rodriguez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
Leader
2
Jure Plešec
Krka Slovenija
0:07
3
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
0:13
4
Moses Cheruiyot
The Iten Project
0:17
5
Nicky Tomasson
Somfy Group - Trentino
0:20
6
Marco Fürst
Rothaus - Lindt
s.t.
7
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
0:23
8
Julianas Kristasis
365 - Íslandsbanki
0:42
9
Robert Diggs
City of Shaolin - Project 36
0:45
10
Cedric Frenay
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
0:52
12
Patrick Schmidt
Ubisoft
0:56
11
Jiri Klasa
Krka Slovenija
s.t.
13
Oliver Paxman
Antler - SAS
1:02
14
Macskássy Péter
Videoton
1:13
15
Davy Bordui
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
s.t.
Fuller update to come post-TT KoM: Van Alst Points: Plesec Youth: Kristasis
Robert Heintze took a commanding win over Kripovets after resting more on the last two stages: but the Lithuanian bounced into the top 10 on GC. The Shaolin duo of Grice and Diggs came third and fourth and move into 1st and 3rd on GC, whilst Tomasson put in a solid ride to move onto the middle step of the provisional podium.
Cheruiyot, De Negri and Berger as the puncheurs withing 3'30 but many more good hill riders in the top 15 will be licking their lips as the race moves to Norway for stage 5 tomorrow. See you then.
Early in the day a very active 365 team trying to get many riders into the breakaway. However the teams of the cobblers not letting any big breakaway away and over the first 50km a lot of riders have been dropped and eventually they, and others, do get away in some form. Lauriksson, Rosenkharst, Tjelvarsson, Lopez, Jadot, Munster, Van Alst, Leicester, da Sousa, and Saunier in the move. All of the top GC teams doing a great job letting none of their teammates - or GC threats within four or five minutes - get away.
An interesting dynamic with the 3 365, 3 Cartamundi and 2 Ubisoft riders in the break. All of them happy to let Van Alst sew up his KoM win. The GC teams keep them on a leash but due to the size and the skill of riders behind I don't think the winner today will come from the pack, especially with Tjelvarsson doing plenty of work towing this group with able help from Jadot.
Over the penultimate Cat.3 climb we see an alliance brewing between Cheruiyot and De Negri as they attack and instantly work together! Fürst, Rodriguez, Plesec and Diggs briding across but Viru is giving his all to shut this down! He keeps the gap under 20 seconds before the final climb where Pikkula takes over. Now an attack from Cheruiyot to stay away which sees De Negri, Rodriguez and Plesec able to follow, but Diggs and Fürst are caught by the 365 train early in the climb. Puymbroeck attacks around, dragging Bordui with him. Pikkula can't match his speed and the Cartamundi duo bridge to this move.
Up ahead it's Munster and Leicester taking turns attacking as the breakaway is trimmed to just them, Rosenkharst and Lopez. Munster now with a very good move which only Lopez can follow! The two working well together and Rosenkharst having to claw his way back, but he can't quite do it. Still some flat kms to go where it could come back together. Unfortunately, Cartamundi's numerical advantage is gone with Leicester being dropped by the Norwegian.
Behind more attacks behind as Berger tows Tomasson, Kristasis, Paxman, Kripovets, Grice, Diggs, and Russo clear of the splitting peloton. Fürst, Schmidt, Peter et al going for it behind but not matching the pace. Mlakar dropped the hardest of the outside GC threats.
Rosenkharst manages to bridge but before he does Munster manages to get away again! Shades of Nordschwarzwaldrundfardt here as Rosenkharst does not want to tow Lopez to a sprint finish! He cajoles Lopez into helping him work. Meanwhile, da Sousa and Leicester are working together but can't quite reach the leaders.
4km to go for the Cheruiyot group and Rodriguez tries to power clear on the flat but Plesec follows and everybody catches up. The time difference is 34 seconds back to the Grice group, which is slowly gaining back the time due to the work of Kripovets and Grice.
At the front though Rosenkharst is edging back the time to Munster but it's not quite enough with 500m to go. Lopez jumps hard and drops to Norwegian, who keeps on going. 200m left and Lopez gets to Munster's wheel but looks tired. He jumps again and Munster holds the wheel... but can't come around as Lopez takes a stunning victory! Rosenkharst almost catches up but can only manage third. Leicester makes short work of da Sousa to take fourth. Van Alst and Saunier are the other two breakaway members who finish ahead of the GC men.
Plesec takes the sprint from the Cheruiyot group ahead of Bordui. But it's not about the order here. It's about what time Kristasis... I'm sorry, it'll be Paxman, stops the clock. It's... 29 seconds! Grice keeps his GC lead but Plesec moves into second, three seconds ahead of Tomasson. Diggs in fourth has a slender one second lead over Cheruiyot.
Schmidt, Fürst, Klasa and Peter lose another 10 seconds - which means all of them will keep their GC spots (bar Schmidt to Cheruiyot) but with Kristasis just one second behind Peter, the Hungarian's teammate Zoltan will be on bonus-second-denying duty tomorrow.
Early in the day a very active 365 team trying to get many riders into the breakaway. However the teams of the cobblers not letting any big breakaway away and over the first 50km a lot of riders have been dropped and eventually they, and others, do get away in some form. Lauriksson, Rosenkharst, Tjelvarsson, Lopez, Jadot, Munster, Van Alst, Leicester, da Sousa, and Saunier in the move. All of the top GC teams doing a great job letting none of their teammates - or GC threats within four or five minutes - get away.
An interesting dynamic with the 3 365, 3 Cartamundi and 2 Ubisoft riders in the break. All of them happy to let Van Alst sew up his KoM win. The GC teams keep them on a leash but due to the size and the skill of riders behind I don't think the winner today will come from the pack, especially with Tjelvarsson doing plenty of work towing this group with able help from Jadot.
Over the penultimate Cat.3 climb we see an alliance brewing between Cheruiyot and De Negri as they attack and instantly work together! Fürst, Rodriguez, Plesec and Diggs briding across but Viru is giving his all to shut this down! He keeps the gap under 20 seconds before the final climb where Pikkula takes over. Now an attack from Cheruiyot to stay away which sees De Negri, Rodriguez and Plesec able to follow, but Diggs and Fürst are caught by the 365 train early in the climb. Puymbroeck attacks around, dragging Bordui with him. Pikkula can't match his speed and the Cartamundi duo bridge to this move.
Up ahead it's Munster and Leicester taking turns attacking as the breakaway is trimmed to just them, Rosenkharst and Lopez. Munster now with a very good move which only Lopez can follow! The two working well together and Rosenkharst having to claw his way back, but he can't quite do it. Still some flat kms to go where it could come back together. Unfortunately, Cartamundi's numerical advantage is gone with Leicester being dropped by the Norwegian.
Behind more attacks behind as Berger tows Tomasson, Kristasis, Paxman, Kripovets, Grice, Diggs, and Russo clear of the splitting peloton. Fürst, Schmidt, Peter et al going for it behind but not matching the pace. Mlakar dropped the hardest of the outside GC threats.
Rosenkharst manages to bridge but before he does Munster manages to get away again! Shades of Nordschwarzwaldrundfardt here as Rosenkharst does not want to tow Lopez to a sprint finish! He cajoles Lopez into helping him work. Meanwhile, da Sousa and Leicester are working together but can't quite reach the leaders.
4km to go for the Cheruiyot group and Rodriguez tries to power clear on the flat but Plesec follows and everybody catches up. The time difference is 34 seconds back to the Grice group, which is slowly gaining back the time due to the work of Kripovets and Grice.
At the front though Rosenkharst is edging back the time to Munster but it's not quite enough with 500m to go. Lopez jumps hard and drops to Norwegian, who keeps on going. 200m left and Lopez gets to Munster's wheel but looks tired. He jumps again and Munster holds the wheel... but can't come around as Lopez takes a stunning victory! Rosenkharst almost catches up but can only manage third. Leicester makes short work of da Sousa to take fourth. Van Alst and Saunier are the other two breakaway members who finish ahead of the GC men.
Plesec takes the sprint from the Cheruiyot group ahead of Bordui. But it's not about the order here. It's about what time Kristasis... I'm sorry, it'll be Paxman, stops the clock. It's... 29 seconds! Grice keeps his GC lead but Plesec moves into second, three seconds ahead of Tomasson. Diggs in fourth has a slender one second lead over Cheruiyot.
Schmidt, Fürst, Klasa and Peter lose another 10 seconds - which means all of them will keep their GC spots (bar Schmidt to Cheruiyot) but with Kristasis just one second behind Peter, the Hungarian's teammate Zoltan will be on bonus-second-denying duty tomorrow.
A very wet day in Norway, the finish particularly so. No news on any neutralisation but it likely won't go ahead unless it gets much worse and riders begin to crash. The break of the day was Lauriksson, Pikkula, Herz and Holmensen. A lot of fight from 365 again, and securing the outside GC threat of Pikkula in the tactical move. However many teams on the case to make sure this wouldn't survive. However they didn't want to risk too much and with 16km to go, as Holmensen dropped his companions round a tough wet corner, they had 1'35.
Not much action but the other trio got caught as Videoton, doubly concerned for Peter's GC and Zoltan's hope of another stage win, turned up the heat. But it all went into chaos again with 6 or 7 km to go, and Holmensen's gap went out to 40 seconds. It could be tight.
Viru tried an attack to continue 365's aggression and, whilst he didn't distance anyone, he did cause a split as some riders were not bothered to risk it in the wet. These riders went with him:
Kristasis, Kripovets (365)
Reed, Grice (Chaolin)
Zepic, Plesec (Krka)
De Negri, Ferrari (La Pitagora)
Fürst (Rothaus)
Dubois, Schmidt, Pisano (Ubisoft). Rodriguez managed to bridge with great effort to protect his GC position and the move stuck, with a few teams working to control the gap withou taking too many risks. Viru lead with help from Pisano but Holmensen, alone and with great handling and power, held his gap well.
Inside the final kilometre Kripovets tried a move but Zepic closed it down, basically sprinting to keep Plesec in touch for the points jersey. Pisano dropped off, as did Viru, as Kripovets instead began a leadout for Kristasis. Holmensen's gap rapidly falling, but still with 15-20 seconds.
Zepic tried to launch with 400m to go but he was tiring from his efforts following Kripovets and it wasn't as good a leadout as Plesec needed as Kristasis, Ferrari and Dubois came past. Dubois had the speed advantage and Kristasis neatly went into his wheel.
Meanwhile ahead Holmensen took the final corner with aplomb, checked back and stuck a fist in the air as he emphatically celebrates a magnificent solo win. He timed his effort well and showed incredible power and technical ability to outwit the peloton. Dubois came in just ahead of Kristasis and then Ferrari. Plesec was fifth, Reed sixth, as the others rolled in safely on the same time. Grice came in 10th to secure the GC win, chapeau!
Zoltan lead in the peloton 13 seconds later, meaning that Fürst and Peter would be the only ones to love a GC spot.
1
Edvald Holmensen
Antler - SAS
Winner
2
Theo Dubois
Ubisoft
0:08
3
Julianas Kristasis
365 - Íslandsbanki
s.t.
4
Valentino Ferrari
La Pitagora
s.t.
5
Jure Plešec
Krka Slovenija
s.t.
6
Walter Reed
City of Shaolin - Project 36
s.t.
7
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
s.t.
8
Filip Kripovets
365 - Íslandsbanki
s.t.
9
Jan Zepič
Krka Slovenija
s.t.
10
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
s.t.
GC:
1
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
Winner
2
Jure Plešec
Krka Slovenija
0:19
3
Nicky Tomasson
Somfy Group - Trentino
0:35
4
Robert Diggs
City of Shaolin - Project 36
0:53
5
Moses Cheruiyot
The Iten Project
0:54
6
Patrick Schmidt
Ubisoft
1:18
7
Armando Rodriguez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
1:37
8
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
1:43
9
Filip Kripovets
365 - Íslandsbanki
1:59
10
Marco Fürst
Rothaus - Lindt
2:11
11
Oliver Paxman
Antler - SAS
2:13
12
Davy Bordui
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
2:17
13
Julianas Kristasis
365 - Íslandsbanki
2:21
14
Macskássy Péter
Videoton
2:37
15
Alfonso Lafuente
Real Madrid Cycling Team
2:45
Points: Plesec KoM: Van Alst Youth: Kristasis
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
A semi-classic profile here, with an uphill and downhill length on each lap, plus a short hill at the top and some short but decent cobbles right as the descent starts. The final hill-cobble punch comes inside the last 10km before the downhill sprint. Not a long race indicates a sprint is likely.
The move of the day was Griffin (Real Madrid), Milan (La Pitagora), and Mizanin (Mountain Dew). Plenty of teams keeping these riders in check for the interests of their sprinters, but they are caught rather early as 365 really step up the tempo on the hill and cobbles sector of each lap. Some riders disinterested in racing or just can't hold on. Meanwhile over the hill it's home rider Tesfaye du Zaio (Iten) who tries to go clear with three laps remaining. 365 not willing to shut the gap to him directly but due to their pace he's recaptured by the pack. Meanwhile Jakab Zoltan is dangling at the back and so the pace increases thanks to Pikkula over the next hill/cobbled sector and he's gone! Two laps to go, or around 35km!
Pikkula and Christiaens of Cartamundi are doing a great job and the pace doesn't let up! The fight for position again going into the penultimate difficulties see Krka, Cartamundi, 365, and Real Madrid especially gathering near the front. Now it's Rodriguez who tries an attack, which could be dangerous! Cheruiyot follows immediately along with Klasa and they stay away down the descent. There's just too many domestiques doing too high a pace for them to stay away though.
Kerremns now takes over going into the final climb with Frenay and Bordui in his wheel. Kripovets, Kristasis, Plesec, Senekovic, Vauner, Lafuente, Zepic, and Peter fighting for position well behind but it's Russo with a big attack here on the hill, which Kerremns tries - and succeeds - to follow! However the field really splitting here, with those riders as well as a few others free. Kerremns blows up a bit but has done his job as Kripovets looks to come through and leads the group over the hill.
Cobbles now and Frenay really going for it! 2km to go and the Cartamundi man is flying with Bordui close behind. Kristasis has found the wheel of the Belgian with the Krka squad and Vauner not far behind. A technical finale sees Kripovets draw level with Frenay with Kristasis in the wheel, but also coming up now is Senekovic who leads out Plesec and Zepic! They're really going for it, not getting too much of an advantage with 700m left but when Plesec goes it's a big sprint! Frenay and Kripovets fall back and it's just Zepic, Bordui, Kristasis, Diggs, Vauner, Tomasson and Peter left in contention!
Kristasis launches early from around 300m through a city corner but leading this one out isn't a bad move! He's basically dropped all but Zepic, Peter and Bordui here. Zepic coming around now as the road straightens a bit whilst the other two have to launch as well. Kristasis leading, leading, leading.... And what a tight finish! Bordui and Zepic sandwhich the Lithuanian, and all three of them too close to call! Peter claims fourth ahead of Vauner, Lafuente, Plesec, Tomasson and Diggs. Russo just overhauls Frenay to round out the top 10. Turner is 12th, Kripovets is 13th, Senekovic 14th. Kerremns rolls in 15th, just ahead of Saunier winning the pack sprint for the minor, but still scoring, places. Schmidt, Vertonghen, Kemboi and Cheruiyot make up the rest of the top 20.
And later the winner is declared after the photo finish... Julianas Kristasis just held off Jan Zepic in second and Davy Bordui in third for the win!
A wet but not too cold day in Krakow for one of our longest races on the calendar. After the recent Tour of Northern Europe it's Grice and Rodriguez who look in fine form over the pave, but bike handling through the city streets and a bit of punch and climbing skills are required to take out the Krakow Cycle Challenge and so a rider such as Plesec, who was second in that race and 7th in the recent Course du Zaio, also presents a challenge.
No massive challenge for the breakaway as Gomez (Real), Saunier (Ubisoft) and Smith (Shaolin) slip away from the peloton. A long day ahead of them. Meanwhile an amicable but slow chase from the peloton shared by many of the teams who are slowly establishing themselves as classics specialists - namely Krka, Cartamundi and Somfy, as well as #Cycling. A few early punctures on the opening circuit but all riders staying upright - a good sign.
The turning point of the race is the first climb (the only time from the tougher side) up to the Fort Skala Observatory, and a fight for position ensues in the peloton. No big names dropped, but on the way back into the city a few riders find their way to the team bus - namely three of the Iten riders. A faster pace now being set down afterwards by the same teams.
Now we come back around to the Fort Skala climb - or as many journalists are calling it, the "Skalaberg" and with 50km to go it's Krka who come to the front, Leveille setting tempo - and it's Mlakar who powers up the hill as the tarmac turns to cobbles! Kerremns instantly marking it from Cartamundi, and Turner of Shaolin as well. However it's not a very big gap that these riders have over the top. But now some drama as Lafuente slides out on the cobbled descent, and now about 14 riders have split off the front of the bunch! By the bottom we can see who they are as they catch the trio:
Tetrick, Larsson, Patrick (#Cycling)
Kristasis, Viru (365)
Christiaens, De Kock, Kerremns (Cartamundi)
Turner (Shaolin)
Mlakar, Leveille (Krka)
Ferrari (La Pitagora)
Irvine (Mountain Dew)
Tomasson, Berger (Somfy)
Pal (Videoton). Immediately some of the domestiques in the move, namely Leveille, De Kock, Viru, Kerremns and Patrick, look to set the tempo.
Behind, Rodriguez and Paxman were the major names taken out in that crash, and looks to chase back on but is a little isolated. A group of about 20-25 left after that ascent, about 14 seconds behind the group of Mlakar as we head back to the old city centre. Pal and Turner dropping back from that group to assist the chase, which sees little co-operation as the gap creeps open a little more.
Only Roy of Ubisoft and Duerr of Rothaus chasing currently, with every other team looking to see how it plays out with riders ahead. A fustrated Grice, receiving no help from his tiring teammate Turner, tries a move from behind but is marked quickly by Plesec as others move up. Interestingly Krka and Cartamundi playing a cool hand with riders in the move ahead, despite them not being their designated leaders - they, of course, being Klasa and Frenay respectively. The riders in this other group not giving up but the cajoling of Grice, Furst and Roy is not helping. Good news though as Turner has found his breath and is helping relay now. Pal though was dropped over the long cobbles in Krakow.
Gomez now going clear in the breakaway as the other two fade away. Or rather, wait for their leaders, who are both in the second main group. Time will tell what value they present. Meanwhile the leader of Gomez, Armando Rodriguez, accompanied by the unworking Paxman from Antler, has fought his way back to the group of Frenay and co.
On to the penultimate ascent of the Skalaberg and Berger, usually seen in the hilly classics rather than these cobbled ones, set a high tempo on the tarmac section, shelling Patrick and De Kock who had been working a lot. Nobody with the itch to attack with just a 42 second gap to the chasers.
Behind it's Fürst who throws down a lovely acceleration which catches a few riders off guard. However Klasa makes a lovely job of stitching things back together and actually accelerates around the German to counterattack. However Bordui and Pikkula manage to bring the group back together, but slim the riders to only around 15 left. Under 30km to go now as Klasa continues to push on the descent, taking a magnificent line which Frenay and Bellini manage to follow. However it is all back together for real now as none of this trio have any real motivation to catch the leaders, who have now caught Gomez.
20km to go and the third-to last cobbled sector sees Tetrick gunning for it as the gap starts to come down to the chasers! Tomasson, Viru, Kristasis, Mlakar, Christiaens and eventually Larsson as well, Tetrick's teammate are alert to it but the latter and Viru are dropped eventually. The American flicks his elbow and finds his companions willing to help him out, and now the race is really on. News must have filtered back to the chasers as Grice mirrors his countryman's move up the road and goes clear of his rivals - though Rodriguez, Klasa, Frenay and O'Fathach latch on.
Ferrari and Viru manage to attach themselves to the Grice group but everyone else from both groups find themselves dropped by the wayside as it comes down to the two groups clashing. The Skalaberg will be key - who has the legs, and who can co-operate well enough? A gap of 33 seconds with 13km left - the win is within reach of either side.
However co-operation is not on the mind of everybody here: Ferrari, Viru, Frenay and Mlakar all not taking their pulls. Onto the Skalaberg and Tetrick leads but none of his companions having too much trouble following. Kristasis at the back looking slightly fatigued but holding the wheel of Tomasson in front. They all know they need to co-operate for the next 10km.
Behind an acceleration from Rodriguez sees Viru, Ferrari and the bulky frame of O'Fathach dropped from the group as the others respond - Grice a little slower, powering rather than punching. And now a very serious response from Frenay, who takes a steep corner by the scruff of the neck and goes for it! Rodriguez can't respond but Klasa brings Grice and himself across. Klasa comes through yet again today to lead the descent, and puts Grice in some strife around a corner, where the American goes rather wide! He powers across at the bottom but wastes some energy doing so.
Now tempers flaring slightly at the front as Kristasis needs a minute to recover from the climb and Mlakar refuses to co-operate. Tetrick giving the both of them an earful as he swings off his pull, but he is in the wind and can't follow a doozy of an attack from Christiaens - and Tomasson goes with the young Belgian! Tetrick now having to power across himself, with no help from the other two still. Meanwhile behind Grice, Frenay and Klasa have just 16 seconds to make up through the streets of Krakow. 6km left.
Tomasson happy to go along with the move here, as is the young Christiaens, who has his leader Frenay chasing in the third group. Further behind it's Gordon and Fürst who are mopping up the likes of Viru and O'Fathach, but they won't contest higher than 10th today.
Now with 4km left Tetrick is coming closer, having left behind Kristasis and Mlakar, and Tomasson attacks Christiaens, who initially responds but decides to sit up slightly and wait for Tetrick. Meanwhile 10 seconds is the gap to the chasers, who have caught Kristasis and Mlakar, the latter now giving his last energy to try and get this group to the front trio! Still co-operation mostly but Kristasis and Frenay aren't helping.
2.5km to go and just 8 seconds as Tetrick catches Tomasson with Christiaens now flailing in no man's land. Behind Grice decides to best way to shut this gap in the next 1.5km to the finish is to go it alone and powers at the front. Mlakar drops off Klasa and Frenay in the wheel but eventually can't hold it himself. Kristasis is attempting to catch back up but not quite making it.
7 seconds, 6 seconds and the catch of Christiaens, and it's just 5 seconds as the riders go under the Arch (in lieu of the flamme rouge) to the steady gradients of the final climb. Not major cobbles - two-star, but not exactly town centre cobbles either. Tetrick setting tempo and it's too hard for Tomasson to follow. The American with 800m to go and 6 seconds on the chasers. Klasa also dropping off a bit as Grice takes the lead. He tries to elbow through Frenay... and the Belgian surges! He halves the gap to Tetrick but can't shake Grice, and now still there's no co-operation.
And Tetrick showing incredible stamina as he continues around the sweeping final corner and the gradient kicks up. 200m left, Grice and Tetrick still setting their own tempo, the two Americans going for it...
But neither of them take victory! Frenay mashing the pedals in a final sprint... and finally a small group sprint that Cartamundi are on the happy end of! He took the inside line - a risk given the gradient - but the young Belgian had the pop at the end to overhaul the two American powerhouses. Tetrick hangs onto second ahead of Grice, while Tomasson comes in fourth. Rodriguez is fifth, Mlakar makes sixth, Kristasis seventh and Christiaens eighth. Klasa really feeling the effects of the 260+km in ninth.
Behind Fürst soloes the final climb to round out the top 10 ahead of Gordon, O'Fathach and Viru. Bordui is 14th after a quiet race, Schmidt beaten into 15 and taking the last points today.
Breakaway of Herz (Rothaus), Masai (Iten) and Russo (La Pitagora). The former took the sole KoM sprint over the Mont des Cats. The course today took in many flat cobbled sectors, many in the 60-30km to go section, before with 17km to go taking on the fearsome Camphin-en-Pevele and Carrefour de l'Arbre sectors, the former being rated 5 stars for difficulty, and then some flat kilometres to the finish.
Not a lot of long-range attacks, Russo dropped Masai in the highly packed 60-30km to go section and they were eventually joined by Viru (365), who attacked the peloton. Some riders tried to follow but intervention by Mlakar, who is becoming renowned as a dangerous man to let go from that distance, put a stop to that. Eventually in the double sector threat at Bourghelles Viru dropped Herz and Russo held on for dear life. The pack got whittled down to around 15, not including Kristasis, who tired at Bourghelles under pressure, and Klasa, who was caught up in a crash.
When the pack hit Camphin-en-Pevele all hell broke loose as just before the sector De Negri put in a massive acceleration nobody could follow. He was flying across the pave and caught Viru (Russo was dropped and tried to hang onto the back of the next group), telling him to hold his wheel. Behind Grice and Tetrick seemed the strongest but thanks in part to a big pull from Christiaens after the sector the groups still in contention looked like:
De Negri, Viru
Tetrick, Grice, Russo, Frenay, Rodriguez, Schmidt, Christiaens (0:12)
O'Fathach, Bordui, Robinson, Gordon, Plesec, Peter, Tomasson (0:21)
Into the Carrefour, Christiaens had given his last and was dropped hard by an instant move from Tetrick. Meanwhile Viru was dropped by the fast pace of De Negri. Rodriguez seemed the strongest in the second group and, along with Tetrick and Schmidt, managed to get a gap after Grice had a scare in the section of the cobbles where the middle is raised 30cm above the ground. They passed Viru and Rodriguez closed the gap to five seconds to De Negri, who elected to sit up for a second and join onto the trio.
And that's... how it stayed. The first group won with a 15 second gap to Grice and Frenay, whilst Peter, Robinson, Tomasson and Gordon rallied the best from the next groups to limit their losses to 34 seconds.
In terms of the order for the stage, Tetrick eschewed that fight to increase the gap, acknowledging his weaker sprint. Schmidt almost took it with a wily classics sprint, but Rodriguez edged out De Negri, found Schmidt's wheel in the last 50m and came around for a dust-soaked win.
1
Armando Rodriguez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
Winner
2
Patrick Schmidt
Ubisoft
s.t.
3
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
s.t.
4
Ali Tetrick
#Cycling
s.t.
5
Cedric Frenay
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
0:15
6
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
s.t.
7
Dion Gordon
AIS Cycling
0:34
8
Nicky Tomasson
Somfy Group - Trentino
s.t.
9
Macskássy Péter
Videoton
s.t.
10
Jack Robinson
AIS Cycling
0:40
GC:
1
Armando Rodriguez
Real Madrid Cycling Team
Leader
2
Patrick Schmidt
Ubisoft
0:04
3
Pietro De Negri
La Pitagora
0:06
4
Ali Tetrick
#Cycling
0:10
5
Cedric Frenay
Cartamundi Pro Cycling
0:25
6
Gary Grice
City of Shaolin - Project 36
s.t.
7
Dion Gordon
AIS Cycling
0:44
8
Nicky Tomasson
Somfy Group - Trentino
s.t.
9
Macskássy Péter
Videoton
s.t.
10
Jack Robinson
AIS Cycling
0:50
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
A little teaser of our full return coming soon, now my exams have died down and MG has started!
New Giro d'Alpi Sestriere Finish Canned!
Some news here during the 2 Days in Hell that the locally controversial planned new Giro d'Alpi stage finish at the Sestriere ski field has been canned after pressure from local officials. Instead, Stage 3 of the prestigious mountain stage race will finish in the town of Sestriere, as per usual - a Cat.3 climb. Fans of hard climbs need not fret - this change brings more spotlight of the legendary Colle delle Finestre, which will now act as the sole kingmaker of the race's opening Alpine stage.
The finish will now be at the 204km mark, just before the second gravel sector on this profile.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
And that's finally the last one I ever try to write in preview post
2 Days in Hell - Day 2
Day 2 of this unique cobbled stage race as we take on the many bergs of Flanders, some cobbled, some less so. The action really kicks off with 65km to go on the Koppenberg, which leads into our finishing circuit - 5x up the Oude Kwaremont and up to the top of the Kruisberg, where we have our finishing line. An interesting finish - do you go on the Kwaremont with another drag to the line after? Herz (Rothaus), Ronui (CYBMP), Pikkula (365) and Kemboi (Iten) were the breakaway today - the former in the KoM jersey. However he was quickly overtaken by the Iten rider. Over the Koppenberg, Pikkula and Kemboi went solo whilst behind Klasa put in an attack, thinning the peloton to around 30 riders after Lafuente stitched it back together.
Klasa would go again on the first Kwaremont and given his many-minute deficit to GC leader Rodriguez, he was allowed to go, followed by Kerremns, giving Cartamundi an excuse not to chase. They caught Pikkula and Kemboi on the fourth ascent and came together on the descent to form a four-man leading group with 1'20 on the GC group.
Fürst attacked from the selection over the penultimate Kwaremont, and on the final one Frenay attacked bringing Tetrick, Rodriguez and De Negri with him. Grice powered across and brought Schmidt with him on the rolling kilometres before the Kruisberg/Hotondberg finish. Up there, Fürst caught Klasa and eventually left him behind, taking the stage win on the slightly downhill finish. First Grice, then De Negri, tried attacks on the Kruisberg, but ultimately it was Frenay who spoiled De Negri's party, overtaking the would-be GC winner in the last 50m to deny him the 6 bonus seconds needed to win the race. The bonuses for the Belgian put him ahead of Grice on GC, whilst Tetrick beat Schmidt in the race behind that quartet to overtake him on GC.
A long route taking us from lovely Newtown across Snowdonia to Anglesey and the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - the second-longest one-word place name in the world. Not venturing into the toughest climbs Wales has to offer (some of which have feautured in past editions and may well return) but still some tough climbs that make for an interesting profile for 2018 with as much vertical metres as a Giro d'Alpi mountain stage but no major climbs in the finale, and so chances of a tactical finish or sprint, which will take more than pure uphill abilty to win. A breakaway of De Cock (Cartamundi), Haimalainen (Krka), Gomez (Real), and Blackery (Great Britain).
365 doing a great job controlling pace throughout the day and the action kicked off with 53km to go over a short, steep climb where Pratik went for an attack. This set off a flurry of counters and in the end the Czech rider, as well as Masters and Joubert, got away. 365 still controlling pace and with 40km left the gap to the breakaway, now joined by those three, was 1'34. On the next climb Batic made a move and Rodriguez, Cvek, and Munster are following! Pikkula stitching things back together but now a split in the peloton and a select bunch follows over the top! A long descent and 2 Days winner Rodriguez looking to push it! Steep but reasonably straight and so most follow it.
Around 40 riders left here, and as we get to the bottom it's Russo and Simoncini who power away togehter during a lull in pace. Queen wants to follow as does Cheruiyot but Sandevolen has them under control. However the Pitagora duo quickly make their way to the break over the next climb - except for Joubert, Haimalainen and Pratik who have gone off ahead. Simoncini bonks as Russo forges on ahead - some great help by the former on that climb though.
Back in the pack over that climb Ferrand-Prevot took the initiative and attacked hard, and now there is some whittling down in the peloton! Munster is right in the Frenchman's wheel, with Puymbroeck, Orton, Thorvaldsson, Kiptoo, Cheruiyot, Diggs and Pennyworth following. Berger brings Petit and Rosa across over the top and we have a group clear. Not much co-operation going on but Munster is a powerful man on any terrain and gets to work for Puymbroeck. That's the last tough climb fo the day done with, though and with 15km to go for the leaders, now Joubert, Pratik and Russo with most of the others caught, and still over a minute ahead, it's looking good for them with just rolling downhill to go until the uphill kick to Llanfair PG.
However that gap does start to fall under pressure from Munster but as Russo attacks with 8km left, it's still 1'14. Pratik was completely ready for the wily Sanmarinese but Joubert wasn't and can't re-catch the wheel. Russo elbows through Pratik and the Antler rider is all-in and happy to help. Not that he has much choice with the favourites bearing down!
Munster doing a great job, impressive for such a great rider but we know the bond he and Puymbroeck have and he's always by his leader's side when needed. And as we've seen on a few occasions this season, he does get free roles as well. A good set-up at Cartamundi for sure. Meanwhile Kiptoo has been dropped
Munster done with 4km to go and we see an attack from Cheruiyot, which everybody manages to follow. Some lulling of pace before a counter from Rodriguez, who's been very active today. This one puts Diggs off the back too. But nobody able to get away and some stop-start racing and so the gap is rising as Russo and Pratik head across the bridge to Anglesey! Just 3km to go for them and still relaying well.
Over the bridge safely with 65 seconds for the duo and with a few lanes to play with here, Pratik accelerates hard on the inside line of the curved motorway, but Russo has his number and manages to stay with him easily before leaving the Czechian behind! However there's just 2-3 seconds so it's by no means over!
Behind Cheruiyot tries again and brings away Thorvaldsson, Puymbroeck and Orton with him. However none of these four want to go too hard yet with 4km to go and Berger and Rosa come across. Rosa hanging at the back with Russo ahead here.
Up ahead Russo is done with the first uphill section and comes off the motorway into Llanfair PG with 600m to go, but Pratik is still chasing hard! Only about 20m seperates the two as they come over the flat and take the final corner back uphill to the line. And now on the uphill Pratik is bearing down, 200m and Russo not giving in, 100m to go and he's nearly in the wheel! Russo sprinting and Pratik in the wheel but Russo is slowing and he's coming around and there's the line! Pratik with a final kick and bike throw secures an epic comeback victory! What a finish, and a first victory for the young climber Pratik! An intelligent race from both parties.
Behind the six riders seem content to settle it in an uphill sprint and it'll be a grudge match for the podium between Thorvaldsson and Puymbroeck, but the Icelander quite easily sprints away from the others for third. Berger actually is fourth, with Puymbroeck fifth and Rosa sixth. Cheruiyot is seventh, Orton eighth whilst Pennyworth comes in 10 seconds later in ninth. Rosa probably quite pleased with his placing but most of these riders won't be. Ferrand-Prevot dusts off Rodriguez for the final spot in the top 10: two riders who lit up the race not rewarded with much here. Diggs in 12th seems tired after a busy couple of months.
Joubert, Kiptoo and Munster were both caught by the peloton, where Paxman edges out Plesec in the sprint for 13th as Nimov rounds out the points in 15th. An interesting race as Pratik and Russo showed great tactical nous to best the other escapees, and use the profile to their advantage by getting a good gap with not too much effort before the rolling downhill.
The first stage of this flat stage race, suited to the sprinters with no TT stage, takes us from Györ to the capital of Budapest. A Breakaway today of Danielson (Mountain Dew), Kalialainen (365), Le Court (#Cycling) and Kemboi (Iten). The latter rider won the intermediate sprints to take a nice GC bonus if he can hold on to the peloton later. Danielson and Kalialainen alternated second and third.
Krka assumed control of the sprint from 7km to go following the catch of the breakaway, but #Cycling stole the show as Duehring made a powerful effort to bring Dunkleman, Larsson and Garner into the final kilometre in a great position. Laporvic went early and caught up with them, but Holmkvist went hard with 550m to go and the peloton mostly bunched behind him. O’Fathach launched the sprint on his terms thanks to that leadout. but it was Damien Wayne who edged out the Irishman at the death to take the opening stage and the yellow jersey. Zoltan third, Zepic fourth, Fermi fifth, Ellice sixth, Dubois seventh, Garner eigth, Vauner ninth and Ferrari tenth. I hope the egos in the field don’t get hurt too much by poor results - this is a very strong field!
Mt. Charleston Challenge
Tour del Norte - Stage 1
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 1
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 2
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 4
Tour of Northern Europe - Stage 5
Course du Zaio
Krakow Cycle Challenge
Newtown - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Északnyugati-látogatás - Stage 1
