Welcome as the (slightly delayed) 2011 Man-Game Criterium Series kicks off with a pan flat crit in China. Pokerstars have sent the two main favorites, Holloway and Kluge, while Kupfernagel of Ikea, Dockx of Bimbo Nutella, and Schinker of Vesuvio are just a few of the names challenging them for victory.
The race began with 64 riders inaugurating the series.
And it wouldn't take long to get our first attacks, as Li of Festina jumped. He was followed by Martino of Yamaha, Guldhammer of Telenor, Brolin of Ikea, Semple of Red Bull, and the Italian Quicksilver rider Nizzolo.
Li launches the first salvo of the series
Just as the six were settling down, Nizzolo attacked again, gaining a thirty second lead that he would hold to for another lap.
Just as Nizzolo was caught by the trailing group of five, the young Slovak from Ikea, Peter Sagan, launched an attack from the peleton to try and bridge.
He would fight hard, and eventually link up to create a front group of seven. But as he did, Carmeuse and Pokerstars felt the gap was too big, and began to chase.
Carmeuse doing the majority of work on the front
And with just over 25 km to go, with the gap being closed down, Yamaha's van Rensburg launched a late bridge attempt. He was followed by Cunha of Energie-Diesel and Meyer of Highroad.
They fought hard, but could not pull away, and they were finally caught with 16 km to go just in front of the break, who were promptly swallowed as well. But just as the race came together, Yamaha launched another salvo with Retschke. He was followed by Kusters of Highroad, Flügel of Ikea and Kvist of Festina.
The attack wouldn't get very far, but Flügel opened it up again, and was followed by Kvist, Kusters, Retschke, and Shahrulnizam (Red Bull).
Strong attacking down the stretch from Retschke and Flügel
And with just under 12 km to go the five had a thirty second gap.
However, Pokerstars and Vesuvio were determined to bring this to a sprint, and with 3.5 km to go had brought them all back in. But the effort meant there were no sprint trains on the front, and Hivert of Highroad took advantage of the confusion to launch an attack.
a crazy attack, will it work?
And he had a tiny gap with 3 km to go. Just behind him, the teams were gearing up for the sprint. Retschke and Østergaard of Telenor had launched a counter-attack on the right, while Pokerstars and Ikea had set themselves up best for the sprint.
Hivert sprinted hard, and was able to keep his gap until 1 km to go, but by then the Pokerstars steamroller of Kluge, Holloway, and Degenkolb caught him. However, Kupfernagel and Schinker were lurking just behind...
But they would not be able to come through, as Pokerstars took a dominating 1-2-4.
Utter domination, would be a little more appropriate for Milka, but oh well...
Kluge takes the win, with Holloway second. Kupfernagel took advantage of his inside position to squeak by Degenkolb for third. Schinker of Vesuvio took fifth, with Kvist finishing a strong race in sixth. Hivert held on for seventh, Kneisky of Carmeuse took an eight that must be a little disappointing considering the work his team did, while Østergaard took advantage of his attack to hold on for ninth. Echarri of Energie rounded out the top ten.
Edited by Deadpool on 09-05-2010 17:45
