@Shonak: That hill in stage 4 is quite easy, but hopefully Björn can do well in Portugal
@sutty: Thanks
@baia: Hopefully we can do well in the GC!
@Ollfardh: Now see if we can use these opportunities
@The Rider: Yeah, afterwards I also thought of that, we don't have a Gc ambition anyway.

The Rider wrote:
Would have liked some images of the team in the TTT (Please don't sim it next time...please!)

Now we are some way through the season it looks the three stand out riders are:
--- Flodder, Pal and Haxhi (maybe they can all get a pro contract next year?).

@Jesleyh: Simon was peaking there indeed.
@TMM: I thought of doing the same as Atlantius. First make some screens in the 3D race and then quicksim it.

Obviously we have some attacks today. At the first intermediate sprint it's Casemiro who wins. The group of 4 he's in isn't getting too much space from the pack though.


Eventually the pack does give some space, so we can have a break of 4: Casemiro, Frame, Miessen and Barros.


We cruise on nicely past the two sprints, both won by Casemiro. The lead is already decreasing though.


The lead is decreasing, but it seems to slow. 2min37 with 20kms to go seems a lot. However, on the first categorized hill the gap has decreased by over a minute thanks to our armada.


The break ends on the top of the hill. Barros manages to take some points. Now we go into the descent for the final climb of today.


We start the final climb with 4kms to go. Simon is leading, Björn is behind him, ready to take it over if necessary.


With 3kms to go, Simon drops off the front. Björn now has to do the final on his own.


With 1.5kms to go Vilela attacks. Björn immediately catches the wheel.


With 1km to go the duo has a massive gap. Can they make it.


With .5kms to go the 2 leaders are alongside each other, Pinto and Santos are trying to catch up.


At the finish

it's extremely close! Who has it? Björn or Vilela. I'll let you guess the winner.

We start quite slow, and we don't have attacks for quite a while. The first attack seems succesfull immediately: Hayakawa (Nippo), Hulsmans (Vini Fantini) and Timothy have a gap.


The intermediate sprint goes to Hulsmans, pretty much uncontested.


The first mountain sprint is pretty much given to Timothy. The 3 have a gap of 6min30 left.


The pack now accelerates a little more. The gap slowly but surely decreases. The gap has decreased a lot when we reach the top of the 2nd categorized climb. Timothy has more difficulty, but still wins. Khieu remains leader though.


In the pack we now have a split. About 40 riders survive, including Heiko, Peter and Joep. Tschopp is the main rider who is dropped.


With 20kms to go, the 3 escapees still have 1min50. The attacks start already though. With 17kms to go, it's a surprise: Purito gives it a try.


With 12kms to go, Purito has dropped the break. In the pack Peter is up front, while Van Garderen and Atapuma also attack.


With 9kms to go, Purito has entered the final descent with a massive gap.


Under the banner Purito uses a little more energy, but victory seems in the pocket.


Solo victory for Purito!

After Van Garderen, Atapuma and Rovny come in, it's a surprise: Peter comes in at a great 5th place!

@Ollfardh: It's not unexpected, but at least we still lead the KoM
@krisa, jaxika@sutty: Thanks
@Shonak: Not necessary, we all know the winner!

Today we have to defend our leader jersey at least. Luckily other teams seem to be willing to take the chase, so we can save powers for the sprint. They reel in some early breaks. Therefore we only have 1 attacker at sprint 1: Roosen (Jo Piels).


The lead for the young Dutchman increases. He also takes the points at the other intermediate sprints. He does see his lead limited though.


The KoM sprint is also for Roosen.


His lead may be decreasing, but it isn't going at a high pace. With 20kms to go and a lead of 1min26 it seems to be hopeless for the lonely attacker. With 10kms to go it's 38s. With 8kms to go the brave Dutchman is reeled in.


With 3kms to go De Rijke seems to have the strongest train.


With 1.5kms to go Havik leads out Groenewegen.


With 500 meters to go Groenewegen seems to deliver the lead-out. Kristian seems blocked.



Groenewegen wins. A strong sprint for the Dutchman. Kristian wasn't blocked, but just not strong enough for victory. 3rd isn't bad though. In between Barbero comes 2nd. Björns lead never came in danger today.