4 riders went away at the start, to be joined by 8 more soon after. The pack went along at a modest pace for a long time. 1 more rider left the peloton and joined up with the break, only for one of the previous break to sit up and fall back to the peloton. With 80 km to go, six of the favourites - Kristoff, Stybar, Sagan, Thomas, Degenkolb and Debusschere attacked. They caught and left the original breakaway behind, who faded away. With 50 km left, Kristoff was back in the pack while the others were now split into three groups out ahead. At 40 km, the lead group was a single, bigger unit of around 30 riders. Lars Boom placed the next attacked with 25 km to go. He was caught within 10 km of attacking and the lead group was down to 17 riders by this point. A couple of less powerful attacks followed, but it was those same 17 riders who entered the stadium in Roubaix as a bunch. It came to a sprint among the group. While most riders were out on their saddles, barely managing to get to the line, Marco Minnaard, a rank outsider, sprinted powerfully away and took 1st place in this historic race. Jens Keukeliere came 2nd and Yves Lampaert took 3rd place. This was definitely not the podium anyone was expecting at the start of this race. Tiejs Benoot managed to stay with the lead group throughout, but without support and also having done some of the chasing, could only manage 15th place.
Yes. Yes. Nairo's gonna come out to play at Romandie first, which is coming up in about a week's time. That should just be a prep ride though. Not really aiming for a win there. It's down to business after that
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands...
AMSTEL GOLD RACE
A 3 man early break built up a 12 minute lead. The attacks among the favourites started with 45 km to go. The break was caught with 38 km to go. Dan Martin and Mathieu van der Poel were the first attackers. Following them, a 12 man group went away from the front. A couple of the Movistar riders were dropped from the second group, as the others led the chase. The two lead groups merged with 20 km to go. At 12 km, the kead group was down to 15 riders, with 4 Movistar men in it. Valverde tried to roll back the years, launching a solid attack with 3.5 km to go. Unfortunately, his aging legs were shown up, as he was caught by the charging Dan Martin in the final kilometre. Martin went on to clinch 1st place, with van der Poel in 2nd. Julian Alaphilippe continued his brilliant record this year to finish 3rd. Movistar had four top 10 finishers.
The race saw a 3 man breakaway form early on. They built up an 8 minute lead before the pack started to organize themselves. There was a pack split with 110 km to go but most of the riders made it back to the peloton after a few tens of kilometres. The next consequential action saw Silvio Heklotz attacking with 35 km to go. The pack kept up a relentless pace and caught up to the breakaway with just under 30 km left. At 20 km, the lead group was down to 33 riders. 7 riders attacked with 12 km to go. Movistar riders were not attentive to the move and were forced to chase. They couldn't bridge the gap completely, reeling in 2 of the attackers only. Matej Mohoric attacked again on the final climb, built up a lead over the other attackers, and took a solo victory. Elia Favilli finished 2nd with the winner of the Amstel Gold Race, Dan Martin in 3rd. Movistar's best was the 11th place finish by Alaphilippe.
The early break consisted of 7 riders who built up a maximum of 12 minutes' lead over the peloton. 6 of these riders were caught with 45 km to go. Nothing much happened in the intervening period to report of! 3 riders, including Diego Ulissi, attacked with 45 km left. They caught up to the lone break but were reeled in by the peloton with just over 30 km left. Meintjes and Kwiatkowski attacked with 30 km to go. They weren't successful. Kreuziger was the next attacker at 20 km. He was countered by 7 others, and eventually dropped. At 14 km, there were four groups out on the road ahead of the peloton. Alaphilippe was the highest placed Movistar rider, but only in the fourth group. At 6 km, the lead group consisted of 8 riders, with Alaphilippe playing solo catch up from E2. 4 riders attacked from the lead group. Alaphilippe caught the others, and left them behind. Sergio Henao placed a well timed acceleration, pulled ahead and claimed 1st place. Alaphilippe caught up to the next group of three, although finishing only 5th behind Kwiatkowski in 2nd, Ulissi in 3rd and Mohoric in 4th. His Spring classics season ended with consistency, but without any victories.
Romandie starts off with a flat team time trial where the teams will be looking to put their leaders into the best possible position to challenge for the GC. Not too many surprises are expected from this stage.
Stage 2
A hilly stage with a gradual finish should not see big time gaps. However, this might not be an ideal place for the sprinters either, as the tough profile and the kink at the finish will not favour them at all.
Stage 3
The peloton will tackle the same set of climbs five times on this stage. Another day of tough climbing is expected. This stage shouldn't see too much time gaps either, but it should see only a reduced bunch sprinting to the finish for the stage win.
Stage 4
The tough climb gets crossed at the start of the stage itself leading to a less climbing heavy stage. The only stage where the riders prefering the flats can hope for some joy. Consequently, this is stage which might just see a breakaway holding on for victory, given that the peloton would be tired.
Stage 5
The road to the race win goes through what just might feel like the onset of hell. Two huge climbs, the latter higher, and climaxing at the finish line will go a long way in deciding the race. Although called the 'Queen' stage, the riders would probably give it a less parliamentary name by the time they finish.
Stage 6
The organizers seem to have left no stone unturned when coming up with the hardest possible route for this race. As if the previous stages weren't gruelling enough, the TT to end Roandie puts all of one's solo climbing ability to the test. As hard as it gets for an MTT barring actually going up a mountain, this stage will see the GC contenders go head to head to determine superiority.
Overall Assessment
The difficulty of this race has already been stressed. There is hardly any let off for the riders in any of the stages. With a strong climbing field registered to start, this race should some big battles on extremely challenging slopes.
Movistar Starting List
Nairo Quintana
Leopold Konig
Dayer Quintana
Adriano Malori
Eduard Korniets
Rafael Valls
Ruben Fernandez
Carlos Artime
With the Giro just around the corner, Movistar were finally bringing Nairo out for the races. Leading the team in his first outing on Tour this season, he had his brother and the reliable Konig at his side. With Valls and Fernandez also starting, the team were looking strong to help Nairo get into form, while mounting a challenge on the GC. The opposition was strong too with Froome, Kelderman and Uran the main threats. The race profile was quite challenging, but should play into the hands of the strong climbers like Nairo and Froome. Everyone was expecting a showdown between the big guns on the slopes. With Kelderman not registered for the Giro, the audience were hoping that this would be the trailer to the Froome vs Nairo battle at the Giro.
Stage 1 - Team Time Trial - Flat - 16.8 km
The teams set out in Romandie hoping to put their leaders in control. Orange came out on top on this stage, putting Michael Matthews into the leader's jersey. Movistar were a bit off the pace, finishing 46 seconds down on the winners.
Stage winner - Orange Movistar - Lost 46" Other important results - Giant-Alpecin (Kelderman, Dumoulin) 2nd, losing 16", Sky (Froome, S.Yates) 3rd, losing 26", Astana (Betancur) 4th, losing 26"
Stage 2 - Hilly with 2 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The early breakaway saw 8 riders pulling away including Movistar's Korniets. 5 of them were caught by the pack on the 2nd climb. Valls took a tumble but recovered. From the same fall, Siimon Yates had to retire because of the injuries he sustained. 1 more rider attacked with 90 km left and joined the break, which had a 5 minute lead at this point. The break was eventually caught with 8 km to go by a reduced peloton. The bunch sprint saw the some of the favourites going for it, with Kelderman coming out on top. No time gaps were created.
Stage winner - Wilco Kelderman
Stage 3 - Hilly with 4 major and 2 minor intermediate climbs
The breakaway once again saw Korniets joining it. They built up a 6 minute lead over the pack. 2 riders attacked and joined the break with 40 km to go. On the last climb, Korniets and 3 others were left in the break. Korniets won all the KOM sprints on offer and took the lead in that classification. The peloton started closing in and caught the break on the final stretch. Rigoberto Uran took the win on the line. Again, no time gaps were created.
Stage winner - Rigoberto Uran Movistar - Eduard Korniets 5th - caught on line, Dayer Quintana 7th
Stage 4 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
Another day, another break and Korniets was there again. This time it was 4 riders who got away, only for 1 to be dropped on the first climb. Uran and 2 other riders launched a surprise attack on the second climb itself, but were soon caught as the peloton handled the descent. The maximum to the break was 13 minutes, coming down to 11 minutes with 50 km left. The peloton were not really chasing hard, but slowly ate up the gap. Koriniets took his chance on the last significant uphill with 14 km to go. He went away solo and took a fantastic win, taking the leader's jersey as well. The pack finished just under 3 minutes down with no time gaps among the favourites.
Stage winner - Eduard Korniets, took the lead in the GC Movistar - Leopold Konig 6th, Nairo Quintana 7th, Dayer Quintana 9th, all 2'50" behind
Stage 5 - Flat with 1 major and 1 minor intermediate climbs
A 4 man breakaway built up a 14 minute lead in the early part of the stage. Movistar had Malori chasing for the flat section of the stage, bringing down the gap to 4 minutes at the base of the first climb. A group of 15 better placed riders then went away off the front of the peloton which forced Movistar to start the chase in earnest. They made the gap. The leaders eventually caught the break with 30 km left. At the top of the first climb, the lead group had 4 riders - Nairo, Froome, Chernetskiy and Betancur. Soon after the climb to the finish started, it was only Nairo and Betancur who were out in front. Nairo went away off the front, while Dayer and Konig were at one stage the next two on the road. Nairo's lead went up to a minute but now he was being chased by Kelderman on the road. The latter caught Nairo with 2 km to go and eventually left him behind to build up a few seconds' gap., and won the stage.
Stage winner - Wilco Kelderman, took the lead in the GC Movistar - Nairo Quintana 2nd, 20" behind, Dayer Quintana 6th, 1'40" behind, Leopold Konig 10th, 2'33" behind Other important results - Carlos Betancur 3rd, 38" behind, Rigoberto Uran 4th, 46" behind, Dennis Shmatovalenko 5th, 59" behind
Stage 6 - Individual Time Trial - Mountain - 30.3 km
The gap at the top of the GC was quite substantial, with Kelderman having more than a minute over Nairo. This stage was expected to see the big guns fighting it out for the stage win. Froome set the early pace among the leaders, only to be usurped hugely by Nairo and then even further by Kelderman. This was Kelderman's third stage win of this race!
Stage winner - Wilco Kelderman Movistar - Nairo Quintana 2nd, losing 26", Leopold Konig 7th, losing 2'9", Dayer Quintana 11th, losing 2'28" Other important results - Chris Froome 3rd, losing 1'40", Rigoberto Uran 5th, losing 2'1", Dennis Shmatovalenko 6th, losing 2'3"
(No picture of podium celebrations this time as the game kept crashing after every stage of this race!)
A good outing for the team and Nairo, accentuated by his dominance over Froome in both the MTF and the MTT. The team are not reading too much into it though as Froome could well have been saving himself for the Giro. Two more top 10 placings only added to the joy of the team. Kelderman was superb here and it would have been very difficult to change anything to have a different result. A very good outing for Korniets too, as he takes back a stage win, the KOM win and wearing the GC leader's jersey on stage 5. This was an ideal preparation race for the Giro as Nairo begins his monumental attempt at a clean sweep.
The first Grand Tour of the year starts off with medium length, flat TTT. Difficult to call the stage in the early part of the race as a few teams are bringing along some good time triallists.
Stage 2
A long flat stage with a solitary climb will see the first action of the riders as a group. The sprinters will lap up this stage.
Stage 3
Classified as a flat stage, perhaps harshly, the riders will have to tackle two moderate difficulty climbs before they reach the finish. The sprinters are unlikely to have much joy here.
Stage 4
A couple more climbs on this flat stage will come as an irritant, but perhaps not as a deterrent to the sprinters as they look to take another stage win here.
Stage 5
The first hilly stage of the race ends in a short climb to the finish. Favours a puncher with a strong attack from the base of the last climb.
Stage 6
Another hilly stage takes the riders a little higher up as a pre-cursor to the mountains. This might be the first stage where the breakaway fancy their chances of stealing a win.
Stage 7
The first of 8 mountain stages and the first of 7 MTFs. There are only two categorised climbs for the riders to navigate, but the difficulty level of this stage is quite high. Expect the first significant time gaps to appear at this year's Giro on this stage.
Stage 8
Another flat stage breaks the rhythm of three consecutive climbing stages that the peloton would've overcome. Not much on offer in terms of the profile, the sprinters will have another shot at the stage win.
Stage 9
The race of MTFs throws up another one just before the rest day. The GC contenders would well and truly have risen to the top of the standings after this stage.
Stage 10
The almost perfectly flat stage throws up a nasty surprise for the sprinters at the end which might ruin their chances of taking the stage win. It would need a strong effort from the respective lead-outs to put the sprinters into a challenging position while keeping attacks from the punchers at bay.
Stage 11
This hilly stage should not have much effect at the top of the GC. This is another stage which could see a breakaway successfully keeping ahead till the finish.
Stage 12
Another perfectly flat stage helps the riders make the transition to the remaining mountainous stages. Perhaps the last opportunity for the sprinters to leave their mark at this year's Giro.
Stage 13
The first of three consecutive MTFs will see the riders tackle three smaller climbs before embarking upon the difficult final ascent to the finish. The GC contenders will flex their muscles further as they look to take an advantage into the next stage.
Stage 14
The Queen stage of the Giro will see the riders mount the ascent to Monte Zoncolan. An incredibly tough stage, with gradients reaching more than 20%, and with an average of more than 10% on the final two climbs. This stage will stretch the GC leaders to their limits as they embark upon their journey to the top.
Stage 15
There is no let-off even after the Queen stage as the riders will need to surpass another tough day of climbing. Not as high as the previous two stages, but boasting the only HC category climb of this race, this stage will be another hard nut to tackle.
Stage 16
Coming after the second rest day, the short 12 km TT provides a respite from the stupendous climbing but still has a high enough difficulty to worry the riders. Perhaps a little short to throw up huge time gaps, this stage will be about consolidating their positions for the leaders.
Stage 17
Another difficult climbing stage, and long too. This stage is less likely to see time gaps among the leaders as the long descent to the finish might help them catch up to earlier attackers.
Stage 18
A day of rest for the peloton before they tackle two more stages of MTFs. An ideal stage for the breakaway to survive. Do not expect any of the leaders to mount a serious offensive on this stage.
Stage 19
Two more big climbs await the riders, as they are within touching distance to the race finish now. The fight for the GC will be fought on the slopes leading to the finish line on this stage.
Stage 20
Flat for 200 kms, the last section on this stage kicks up like a wall in front of the riders. Two big climbs will see the GC leaders fight their way past the last mountain stage and mountain top finish of the race. This stage is unlikely to have a major impact on the GC though, given the short nature of the final climb.
Stage 21
A tough race ends with a tough stage. The traditional final stage sprint is replaced by what could be the title deciding time trial to finish off this race. It will be a simple case of who has the energy left after the gruelling set of stages they would've overcome.
Overall Assessment
An incredibly difficult course has been chosen for this year's Giro d'Italia. This has to be the toughest World Tour race for quite a few years! The riders will have their hands full traversing the huge climbs. All but one mountain stages end in a summit finish. The two TTs will be significant towards the final result too. Whoever wins here would have earned it and then some!
. The party has just wrapped up 
. Would've probably got a 1-2 had it not been for a breakaway win on stage 1!
