Thanks

A massive breakaway got away early and brought a sense of stress to the pack through the whole day. But even though it was a hard time bringing the escape back, the pack managed to successfully reel in every rider again, before the start of the second last lap.


Several prominent riders tried to break away on the last two laps of the course, but only Gerrans managed to get away. Unfortunately for him, he was brought back on the finish lane, where Gasparotto crushed all opponents in the sprint ahead of Nordhaug and Nocentini.

It was a very difficult race today! I spend most of my time in front of the pack, trying to reel in the massive breakaway. When we got them back again i began feeling dizzy and thought it was best for me to take it easy. So i grapped a couple of waterbottles and shared them with the other guys, and then dropped off the pack.

Nordhaug is doing great yet again, and teamwork really paid off, especially with Henao placing Lars at the final sprint. I'm going straight to France in an hour or so, where i have to race the very prestigious Paris-Tours tomorrow. See you there soon!

@Blueprint: No, unfortunately Salvatore wasn't chosen for Lombardia this year - The race was won by Contador

@Ste: Thanks, i'm glad you liked the report style, and just to point out, it isn't that difficult to make such layout. Just make a print screen of a cycling webside and then overwrite the texts with your own

@All: Thanks guys

A breakaway of five riders got away early, but didn't pose any particular threat to the pack. With 25 kms left, the first attacks began, with riders like Nuyens and world champion Cancallara trying to break away. But only Cancallara succeeded to get away on his own.


But on the very finish lane, Cancellara was caught by a strong Garmin team who were riding for Farrar. In the sprint Farrar got away too early and got overtaken by Swift who looked like a sure winner, but on the last metres, Slovak Peter Sagan managed to pass the Briton.

Ben Swift was amazing today! Thomas got locked up lastly and couldn't help positioning him, but Ben just took the task into his own hands and found the perfect wheel to follow. It's a shame Sagan just overtook him on the last, but nothing seems to stop that man, so second is very good! I had a quiet day today, without any specific tasks, so i'm just looking forward to travel to China for the first time in my life to ride the Tour of Beijing in a couple of days. See you on the other side!

@Ian: Agreed! It's been a long season, and i'm sure that Salvatore is looking forward to having a break from racing soon.

@Ollfardh: Well, i can't promise anything. We'll have to see how the race develops. But i'm sure that Salvatore is eager to try his own luck in his last race as Sky-rider

Geraint Thomas was one of the first riders out on the course and quickly settled himself at the top of the table. One of the first competitors to threaten him was Phinney, but he was 15 seconds slower. Also Vermote and Durbridge managed to get close.


But in the end, the only threat came from Kwiatkowski who rode only five seconds slower than Thomas, and even his two fellow team-mates Pate and Nordhuag managed to get into the top 4, with Geraint Thomas standing on the top of the podium.

Thomas strikes again! Both him and Nordhaug are unstoppable at the moment, and now also Pate!? It were some amazing results we got ourselves today, and now Thomas is able to ride in the leaders jersey tomorrow. I'm also very proud of my own result! I'm usually feeling uncomfortable when time trialing, but today was a clear exception. The route fitted me more well than i thought, and was more hillier than i'd expected, so that was an obvious advantage for me.