And so its to Denmark for the Grand Prix Herning, a 200 km race that features cobbles in abundance. Most of the top continental tour cobble riders are here, along with some big name sprinters in case the flat end to the race lets a group come to the line:
The rain decided to pay a visit, and with the wet cobbles it was going to be a long day in the saddle:
After a couple of kilometers of taking it easy, the attacks started for those riders who wanted to join the break of the day. Sawada (Ultra Adventure) launched the first salvo followed by Lloyd (100% Me), Sebright (Team Ultimate), and McEvoy (Nokia):
Shortly afterwards, Pömer (Nvidia) and Rizio (Team Ultimate) went after them. The attack by Pömer was an obvious strategic move, as he is a teammate of two of the three big favorites for the race, Hoste and Franzoi:
Pömer and Rizio would be caught by the charging pack, but they would try again:
This time they would make the junction with the front four, forming a leading group of six, of which none of the riders were strong on cobblestones. Pömer was, not surprisingly, not relaying. By the time the BOTD hit the first cobblestones (180 km to go), they had a 1'30” lead.
The break would have a long day in the saddle, and with a lead constantly going up and down, but always staying between 3 and 4 minutes, it was hard for them to relax.
With just over 100 km to go, Luca Paolini (Kenda) and Greg van Avermaet (Team NOS) attacked, in an attempt to linkup with the front group:
10 kilometers later they would make the junction, but by the time they did the pack was breathing down their necks, and soon it was all back together (that gap would come together on the descent):
And 30 kilometers later, with only 60 km to go, the peloton is still together:
By now the riders are done with the hills, and only a few flat cobble sections remain. Lots of riders have crashed or gotten punctures, but the only big name riders to (Peter Kennaugh and Gorik Gardeyn) both got back rather quickly. Jack Wolfskin (for Albert), Lego (for Kopp), Ikea (for Vanspeybrouck), Nespresso (for Steurs), and Nvidia (for Hoste and Franzoi) are setting the tempo.
With 38 kilometers to go, the riders hit the final string of cobblestones sections:
And 9 kilometers later we see our first attack by the favorites, as Albert (Jack Wolfskin) and Vanspeybrouck (Ikea) both attack:
Surprisingly, none of the other favorites counter, however the increased pace has torn the pack apart, with all the favorites making the first chase group, which with 25 km to go are 54” behind the leading duo, who are setting a good tempo:
As the chase group follows the leaders out the end of the final cobble section with 15 km to go, Sieberg (Jack Wolfskin), in a surprising move, attempts to bridge to his teammate. He is followed by Hoste, Steurs, and Eichler (Lego):
And just a kilometer later, Franzoi attempts to bridge the gap as well, and is followed by Portal (Nespresso), Kopp (Lego), Blythe (100% Me), and De Kort (Jack Wolfskin):
As the attacks settle down, the situation with 10 km left to go is (all gaps to preceding group):
E1: Vanspeybrouck, Albert
E2 (+20”): Hoste, Steurs, Eichler, Sieberg
E3 (+41”): Franzoi
E4 (+15”): Blythe
E5 (+8”): Portal, Kopp
E6 (+13”): De Kort
E7 (+36”): 21 other riders
With 5.5 km left to go, Sieberg launches an attack to attempt to bridge to the leading duo, and by the time the leaders approach the 5 km to go sign he has bridged the gap:
But with 3.6 km to go the other three chasers link up, creating a group of six that will most likely go into the sprint together. Sieberg (74) and Eichler (71) are the two strongest sprinters in the group:
And with 2.3 km to go the sprint opens, with Sieberg perfectly placed on the wheel of his teammate Albert. Franzoi has just made the junction, but as the worst finisher of the seven, no one is worried about him:
With 1 km to go Sieberg leaps off the wheel of his teammate Albert, and with a huge kick gives himself a great lead. He looks like he'll be able to hold on...
And he does, a great win a for the German:
Steurs comes in second, with Hoste rounding out the podium in third. Albert narrowly lost out on the opportunity to give Jack Wolfskin two podium spots, finishing fourth, while Eichler finished slow in fifth. Vanspeybrouck, having attacked first seemed tired near the finish, and after being forced to lead out faded to sixth, while Franzoi held on to the front group for seventh. Blythe, Portal, and Kopp rounded out the top ten in that order, after coming in with different times.
Sieberg was thrilled to be on the podium, much less the top step, after not being one of the main pre-race favorites:
And Jack Wolfskin took home the team prize as well, with a great result for the squad:
1
Marcel Sieberg
Jack Wolfskin
5h36'21
2
Geert Steurs
Nespresso - SportZone
s.t.
3
Leif Hoste
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
4
Niels Albert
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
5
Markus Eichler
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
6
Pieter Vanspeybrouck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
7
Enrico Franzoi
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
8
Adam Blythe
100% ME
+ 58
9
Nicolas Portal
Nespresso - SportZone
+ 1'49
10
David Kopp
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
11
Koen De Kort
Jack Wolfskin
+ 2'36
12
Greg Van Avermaet
Team NOS
s.t.
13
Jimmy Casper
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
14
Bjorn Leukemans
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
15
Roy Sentjens
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
16
Magnus Backstedt
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
17
Amadou Bakari
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
18
Heinrich Haussler
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
19
Bas Giling
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
20
Ricardo Van der Velde
Team NOS
s.t.
21
Bart Wellens
Team NOS
s.t.
22
Oscar Freire
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
23
Luca Paolini
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
24
Bobbie Traksel
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
25
Johan Vansummeren
Team NOS
s.t.
26
Stuart O'Grady
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
27
Zdenek Stybar
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
28
Murilo Fischer
Nespresso - SportZone
s.t.
29
Michel Sibilla
Nespresso - SportZone
s.t.
30
Jarno Van Mingeroet
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
31
Gerben Lowik
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
32
Fabien Taillefour
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
33
Adil Jelloul
Nespresso - SportZone
+ 4'28
34
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
35
Thomas Vedel Kvist
Team IKEA - Bianchi
+ 5'11
36
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Nvidia Intel
+ 6'44
37
Luciano Pagliarini
Nespresso - SportZone
+ 7'20
38
Gorik Gardeyn
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
39
Kenny De Ketele
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
s.t.
40
Andrew Fenn
100% ME
s.t.
41
Hassen Ben Nasser
100% ME
s.t.
42
Bjorn Schroder
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
43
Tom Stamsnijder
Team NOS
s.t.
44
Pieter Ghyllebert
Team Ultimate
s.t.
45
Daan Rijntjes
Team NOS
s.t.
46
Kevin Eeckhout
Team Ultimate
s.t.
47
Tom Last
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
48
Per-Ola Edenholm
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
49
Willem Van Den Eynde
Jack Wolfskin
s.t.
50
Nolan Hoffman
Nespresso - SportZone
s.t.
51
James McCallum
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
52
Remi Pauriol
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
53
Christopher Janssens
Team NOS
s.t.
54
Lars Andersson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
55
Philipp Ludescher
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
56
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
s.t.
57
Pavel Korzh
Team Ultimate
s.t.
58
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
59
Peter Kennaugh
100% ME
s.t.
60
Sascha Damrow
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
61
Adam Bonser
100% ME
s.t.
62
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 8'32
63
Daniel Lloyd
100% ME
+ 11'13
64
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
65
Tomas Swift-Metcalfe
100% ME
s.t.
66
Christian Pomer
Nvidia Intel
s.t.
67
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
68
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 14'06
69
Dennis Haueisen
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
70
Behnam Khalilikhosroshani
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
71
Deni Rizio
Team Ultimate
s.t.
72
Jerome Kornetzky
Team Ultimate
s.t.
73
Aleksandr Usov
Kenda Pro Cycling P/B Spinergy
+ 14'42
74
Petter Renang
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
75
Aggrey Sebright
Team Ultimate
+ 16'50
76
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
