On paper, Paris – Bruxelles is the opening race in September. It’s made for sprinters and quite a lot of them are present here: Freire, Goss, Van Heerden, Granjel Cabrera, Napolitano, Ventoso, Ciolek, Swift, Mohs to name only a few of them
7 riders got away in what was going to be the main breakaway of the day: Rinner, Van Emden, Caruso, Perez Marquez, Radochla, Guerao and Aguilar
The main chasers in the pack were Irn Bru, Aon Global and Jack Wolfskin, even though the last ones had a rider in the breakaway
50 kilometers before the finish, Ikea’s leader, Westling had a puncture. Even though he was the team – leader and the best sprinter in the team no one waited for him and it was impossible for the Swede to get back in the pack all by himself
30 kilometers later 3 of the escapes were caught: Rinner, Aguilar and Caruso. The other 4: Van Emden, Radochla, Perez Marquez and Guerao entered the last 20 kilometers of the race with an advantage of less than one minute
They were also caught with just 15 kilometers left from the race on the last ascent of the day. No one was able to attack there and it looks like we are heading to a mass sprint
With just 10 kilometers to go there’s no one in front and even though we are heading to the expected mass sprint there are no sprint trains made yet
Two kilometers later we have the first moves in the pack as Haussler and Grillo are preparing the way for Freire and Granjel Cabrera
But we also had an unexpected move as Vaitkus made an attack and he was followed by Scheirlinckx and Rooijakkers
Del Nero and Terpstra also joined them and it looks like those 5 will enter the last 5 kilometers of the race with a small advantage over the pack
Behind them Nokia Nike and Sony Ericsson are still the only trains made, both having one Jack Wolfskin rider in their slipstream. Goss is behind Freire, while Van Stayen is following Cabrera’s wheel
Even though he was the original attacker, Vaitkus wasn’t strong enough to keep it up for too long and he was brought back in the pack, same thing happening with Rooijakkers. Scheirlinkx is leading followed by Del Nero and Terpstra and then the pack
After Vaitkus, now it’s the Belgian’s time to lose speed as he is passed by Del Nero and then by Terpstra
2.5 kilometers to go and the sprint had started behind them with Haussler leading the way for Freire, with Goss and Van Heerden. Vaitkus managed to hang on and he is following the Sony Ericsson wheels, while Van Stayen and Mohs also seems to have some good positions there
Behind the fight for the win there was a crash but luckily it involved only 2 riders: Creed and Williams
Del Nero is leading with just 1.5 kilometers left but the pack is coming faster and faster
Nokia Nike are still the fastest in the pack, with Goss in a very good position right behind them
Inside the last kilometer Del Nero is still in front but it will be really hard to hang on in front of those super sprinters
500 meters before the finish he is almost passed by Terpstra, while Van Heerden seems to be the fastest guy behind them, followed by Freire and Goss
Just 300 meters left and he have quite a tight situation with Van Heerden, Terpstra, Freire, Del Nero and Goss
Still it looks like Van Heerden has an advantage over the others
And the South African Champion wins Paris – Bruxelles! Freire and Goss took the next places on the podium, while the top 10 was completed by Terpstra, Van Stayen, Del Nero, Swift, Scheirlinckx, Granjel Cabrera and Vaitkus
