Welcome to the 2011 season of the Management Game! Kicking us off is this hilly HC categorised race in South Africa, the Bloemfontein Classic.
We have plenty of new jerseys on show, and 7 of the 12 new teams make their debuts here.
Welle Jallays of Petronas makes the first attack
Atapuma (HighRoad), Aistrup (Falcon-Husqvarna), Gallego Martin (Santander), Tollesson (MercedesBenz), Ma (Cillit Bang) and Barrio (UBS) went with him, but this first attack of the season was closed down.
Canadian David Veilleux (Bbox) then attacked and got away, but at first alone - not ideal for him. He was to be joined by 4 though, inlcuding 2 Africans. Teklehaimanot (UniCredit) and Kannemeyer (Pirelli), plus Frischkorn (Mercedes) and Jallays again.
A few kilometres later, Grippo (Wiggle) makes a solo move and bridges up to the break alone, closely followed by Allain (Lego), Stevenson (Falcon) and Gallego Martin.
And for this early stage of the race, Red Bull, Rosneft, and Eliad of El Al are controlling the pace of the peloton
The break works together well though, and push their advantage up to over 7 minutes
That gap is soon slashed however, as with 80km to the forces of Lego, Cillit Bang and UBS power on to the front of the peloton to begin the chase
With 44km to go, that gap has shot downto 2 minutes, and here goes Pozzato!
Augustyn, Ponzi and Ventoso try to follow, but a descent gets in their way. It also gets in the way of Bacardi's Gajek, the first of the season to crash
Pozzato builds up a handy 40 second lead for himself
Ponzi's off again as he follows Froome, with Tinkoff's Kunshin and another Mercedes rider, Pasamontes, also go
Calzati, Kolobnev, Schumacher and Monfort join in
But more counter attacks come aswell, and these limits the potential of any gaps
Not for Ponzi however, who powers on alone
Monfort bridges up to him, while Dan Martin, Calzati and Caruso are following.
Those 3, plus Monfort and Ponzi, catch up the breakaway - although initially it is only Allain, Stevenson and Gallego Martin
30 seconds back, are Kolobnev, Schumacher, Augustyn and Roche
All 4 produce an extra kick, and catch up the lead group as the final group begins, to make it 18
One of the breakaway, Allain, is dropped, while another - one of the 2 South Africans in the group - moves to the front as the pace dips, Kannemeyer
Theres some notable absences from this lead group though, and some of them are doing their best to catch up. Bellis, Pozzato, Rast, Ventoso and Claeys
Inside the final 10 kilometres, the moves for victory start - an ambitious move by Gallego Martin
Kolobnev moves past, with Roche and Schumacher also keen to do something
At the back of the group 2 Africans are in trouble, Teklehaimanot and Kannemayer - but crucially, Pozzato and Rast have managed to catch up!
Bellis, Ventoso, Claeys, and others havent managed it - is this their opportunity missed?
Kolobnev leads though after his attack, and is going all out
But Martin closes it down
So, we are all back together, and seem to be heading to a sprint with Monfort, Roche, Frischkorn and Kolobnev close to the front
Here goes the sprint, and a powerful kick comes from Nicholas Roche!
But look at this behind him, theyre all bunching up to try and get a result
Its a very tight sprint...
But its all for 2nd place if they dont catch Roche!
But catch Roche they do, the Irishman caught them ought initially, but doesnt have the sprint to maintain it
Now approaching the line. On the left hand side, Pozzato has a clear advantage over Ponzi, while Roche and Calzati seem a bit out of it now - but what about Monfort, Rast and Caruso on the inside?
Filippo Pozzato wins the Bloemfontein Classic!
Monfort takes 2nd, just ahead of Ponzi, and then Rast, Caruso, Calzati and Roche
Its a great 8th for Frischkorn, from the breakaway, Schumacher a dissapointing 9th, as Augustyn wins the battle of the new teams for Red Bull, ahead of Kolobnev and another from the break, Stevenson
Martin, Jallays, Gallego Martin, Grippo and Veilleux complete the placings from this front group, while a minute later comes 3 very dissapointed riders - Ventoso, Ben Nasser and Bellis complete the Top 20, but all missed the move today
