Another flat crit awaits, as this time the riders tackle the twists and turns of Turkey. (Like the alliteration?)
Early on our first attack would come from IKEA's Sagan. His teammate Kupfernagel is the main favorite on the day.
He would be followed by Semple of Red Bull, Sampson of 100% ME, and the young American Brandt of Wikipedia. They would settle down pretty quickly.
the gang of four
After a couple of kilometers, Rujigh of Highroad decided to get involved as well, and with fellow attackers Zaini of LEGO and Denifil of Festina would quickly bridge.
the seven together
Behind though, Cillit Bang, Ikea, and Energie-Diesel were keeping close tabs on the break.
Cillit Bang doesn't have a sprinter, why is Waghlon making them chase?
They would gear it up, and with Ikea and Energie driving the pace the pack caught the group on the line with 14.5 km to go.
However, as they did so Semple decided he wasn't done yet, and counter-attacked, picking up a 30sec gap.
He lasted 6 km, but with 8.5km to go he was brought back into the fold, setting up a sprint.
And sure enough, with 3km to go a two trains had formed at the front, with Kupfernagel perfectly placed on the lead Festina train, while Vigano of Energie sat on the Colombia train, which had lost some ground.
The lead train is Festina, with Bernadeau to Li to Kvist (72 SP) with Kupfernagel in 4th (76).
The second train is Café de Colombia, with Vaquera to Rodriguez Parra to Machado (73) with Vigano (74) in 4th.
The Carmeuse and Telenor riders next to the Colombia train aren't sprinters, and Sagan who is up by the Festina train had been at the front the entire race.
Kupfernagel looked perfectly placed, however with 1k to go he was struggling to hold on to the lead. The Festina train went backwards as soon as the sprint started, with the Colombia train moving up just as quickly. As such, Kupfernagel was forced to go from 2km out, while at 1km Colombia's Machado was just moving around he lead-out man.
this could be tight
And Machado takes it!
He moved around his leadout perfectly, and was able to hold on, even around the longer outside turn. Kupfernagel was actually beaten out for second by a quick finishing Vigano, and was forced to take third.
