We're in Canada for this year's edition of the Apex Mountain Classic. The 227.9 km course will take the riders twice over the Orofino before they tackle the beast that is - Apex Mountain. The race will end at the end of the lengthy descent of Apex Mountain. Who will take the honours this time?
Favourites
MON
STA
RES
ACC
DHL
Tenorio
84
78
76
67
68
Kudus
82
79
77
70
67
Cattaneo
82
76
80
70
64
Eastman
82
76
75
69
66
Seboka
80
63
70
67
84
Latour
79
80
78
74
73
Choi
80
77
76
68
71
Carthy
81
77
76
69
65
Padun
80
72
74
75
70
Beltran
79
73
72
76
74
A spate of early attacks sees Hermans and Archibald get away first from the pack.
They are soon joined by Knox and Vila.
Finally, Fedeli gets away on his own.
These five riders form the break for today's race.
With 170 km remaining, Fedeli and Archibald are in trouble on the first ascent of Orofino.
They would make it back however.
120 km to go. The peloton trail by 4'39". The gap had increased to more than five and a half minutes. Repsol, Desigual, MOL and Farfetch have taken up chasing duties.
85 km to go. The break are on the descent of the Orofino in the second pass. Hermans is a minute behind, with Archibald even further back.
Kolar attacks from the pack and has caught Archibald. They trail the leading trio by 2 minutes.
Kolar and Archibald are caught by the pack with 70 km left.
Knox attacks from the front. The peloton are just 37" behind.
Fedeli has dropped Vila, who is caught by the pack, which is reduced to 106 riders.
We are starting Apex Mountain!
Knox leads Fedeli by 21 seconds with the peloton a further 14 seconds back. 49 kilometers remain.
Fedeli is caught a kilometer later.
Knox is caught another 2 kilometers later and that's the end of today's break. Berg, Azteca, Repsol, Desigual and Farfetch are controlling the pace of the pack.
More riders are dropped now. The peloton has 79 riders.
34 km to go. The peloton have started the harder part of the climb with averages of 7%.
27 riders get a gap at the front.
Choi, Pomoshnikov, Ratiy, Abal, Ablenado, Senni, Stancu, Nazaret, Mannion, Giogieri and Soler make up the third group on the road.
Some action at the front as Beltran launches the first attack. Henao Montoya follows. Kudus, Cattaneo and Eastman try to close the gap. Tenorio is just behind them.
Some re-organizing at the front over the next couple of kilometers:
E1 -> Kudus, Eastman, Henao Montoya, Beltran, Cort Nielsen
E2 --(34" )--> Tenorio, Carthy
E3 --(48" )--> Latour
Peloton --(58" )--> 58 riders including Cattaneo, who has lost a good position, Padun, Intxausti, Marquez, Kuss, Lunke
Carthy and Tenorio catch up to the five riders at the front. Latour trails at 52 seconds with the pack a further 18 seconds behind.
Latour is caught with 28 km to go.
The leaders have reach the small summit before the main one on top of Apex Mountain. 26 kilometers remain.
The chase group has split. Eight riders form the first group among them - Choi, Padun, Kuss, Senni, Potocki, Scarponi, Grmay and De Plus.
Cattaneo, Latour, Intxausti, Marquez and Lunke are among those in the next group.
Choi is dropped from E2 a couple of kilometers later. MOL are not having a good time with Cattaneo already in the later group!
Kudus attacks! The two groups behind have merged again.
Lunke, Figuereido, Guerreiro, Squire, Destribois and Krizek are dropped.
More bad news for Tryg as Cort Nielsen is dropped from the Tenorio group.
15 km to go. Kudus is on the descent already. The situation is as follows:
10 kilometers to go for the chase group. The gap to Kudus is 29 seconds with Cort Nielsen another 58 seconds back.
The situation remains the same further back.
Kudus has increased his lead to 48 seconds over the last 5 kilometers!
Scarponi has attacked from the third group and built a 19 seconds lead. The group itself consists of Choi, Latour, Padun, Kuss, Senni, Potocki, Grmay and De Plus remain in the next group.
Cattaneo, Intxausti and Marquez are the survivors in the next group.
3 km to go for the chase group. The gap is still around 50 seconds.
Choi is dropped from the Latour/ Padun group and has fallen back to the Cattaneo group.
Kudus leads by 52 seconds with 1 km left.
Kudus wins at a canter after a well-timed attack and a wonderful descent.
Final kilometer for the chase group now too. Beltran leads them while Henao Montoya is just getting distanced.
Beltran still leads with 400 meters remaining. Tenorio is making up distance.
100 meters to go and Beltran looks safe for 2nd. Its a close battle for 3rd between Carthy, Tenorio and Eastman.
Beltran takes 2nd!
Eastman finishes 3rd.
Carthy edges out Tenorio for 4th.
Henao Montoya seems to have recovered a little at the end but he has to settle for 6th.
Scarponi has made up a lot of ground in the closing stages. Can Cort Nielsen hold on?
Cort Nielsen does hold on for 7th. Scarponi is 8th.
500 meters to go for the next group. Padun and Senni are leading them to the line.
Senni pips Padun for 9th.
De Plus is 11th, which is a good double for Lierse.
Latour is 12th with Grmay in 13th.
Potocki is 14th and Kuss is 15th.
Marquez leads the next group home in 16th.
Choi is 17th, with Intxausti in 18th and Cattaneo in 19th. MOL will not be happy with this!
De Vos rounds out the Top 10 and is the highest placed home rider.
Today's winner - Merwahi Kudus.
Kudus takes a famous win in Canada with a well-timed attack near the summit of Apex Mountain and extending the lead on the descent. Beltran is a great 2nd with Carthy also taking a creditable 3rd place.
The likes of Choi, Cattaneo and Intxausti will not be pleased with this result however, with MOL particularly affected by bad form to both these leaders today.
