Welcome to Wales, Llangollen to be more precise. The Wales GP has moved North from last year to take on multiple laps of the Horseshoe Pass, in this, the 2nd part of the Welsh late-June double header. 100% Me did everything but win the criterium in Abergavenny, and here will look to Froome for victory - but the Brit will no doubt struggle against the stronger competition of Gilbert, Ponzi, Ginanni, Monfort, Efimkin, plus others.
We get a break of 5: Jaksche, Hoffman, Hirschlein, Bol and Ghyselinck
Theres an early crash for 100& Me's #2 Roche, alongside Rutkiewicz. Roche makes it back (and it will turn out that injury will prevent him playing any sort of role in the action today), the Pole doesnt, but is later joined by Caruso, Wiggle's #2, thanks to a puncture
Caruso makes it back though, and at 95km to go the #3s of the teams mentioned attack - its Martin (2nd here last year) and Bertagnolli
Pendletons have been setting a strong pace on front, and continue this by chasing - not helped when they lose Moletta to a fall
Bertagnolli and Martin catch the break, but the pack is only 90 seconds behind
And as we reach 57km to go, it's all come back together
Vespa start helping Pendletons a little, it must be their turn for bad luck, and it is - Proni punctures
Right then, 32km to go - only 2 ascents of the steep climbs to come. And here we go, Froome attacks
Monfort quickly responds, now its the turn of Gilbert and Ponzi
Efimkin and then Caruso next - plus Dan Martin attempting to go once again also
But topping the climb is Froome, having judged his attack well
Ponzi, Monfort, Caruso, Gilbert and Efimkin form a chase group. Oh, and here's Ginanni joining them
But Froome is really up for this today. 1 v 6, on paper all 6 are better than that 1, but Froome has pushed the gap up to a minute
Dan Martin joins the chasers to make it 7 - not that he will help the chase at all, Monfort tries to attack the group - but Froome's gap is still increasing!
Infact, by the time Froome crosses the finish line with one 19km lap to go, he leads by 2 minutes!
The chasing group becomes 12, as Claeys, Rabon, Bertagnolli, Leukemans and Appleby all catch the other chasers. The race will surely be decided by the front 13 men now, as next down the road is a solo Vorganov, a further minute behind the group of 12. From this group of 12, last year's winner Rabon launches a new move, with Gilbert, Caruso and Martin following
Gilbert and Caruso fare best of this move, but are still 1 minute down on Froome. Rabon is next and then the rest of the chasers, with Monfort, Efimkin, Ginanni and Ponzi now setting up more attacks
With the flurry of action behind, the pressure is increasing on Froome to keep up his pace, but he is pushing hard and still going well
Caruso and Gilbert are actually losing a little ground to Froome and soon find themselves caught by Efimkin, Ginanni, Monfort, Ponzi and Claeys
From this, Ginanni and Ponzi surge forwards and Froome is now within their sights. 36 seconds the gap, but they are running out of climb
Ginanni is a whole 5 hill stats stronger than Froome, but the Brit has the home support behind him and still maintains the lead - but it could be a long 11km left to go for him
Ginanni drops Ponzi, who sees himself joined by Efimkin and Claeys - everyone else now looks out of it
So, a 30 seconds gap for Ginanni. Vespa really need a good result here but does Froome want it more?
Plenty of motivation for Ginanni to keep pushing though, with Ponzi, Efimkin and Claeys all close behind
And Chris Froome is flying once again now, enjoying the descent. The hill ended just at the right time for him, and he has now edged out to 34 seconds clear of Ginanni
Lets take a look behind the front 5. Monfort is 50 seconds down on the Ponzi trio but 30 seconds ahead of Caruso, teammate Rabon, and a dissapointing Gilbert
Just 5km left now separating Froome from an incredible victory
Make that 2.5km! The gap still static at 34 seconds
Infact, Ginanni may now need to worry about those behind him. Efimkin, Ponzi and Claeys are close to him as they begin to sprint it out
The seconds are once again starting to fall from Froome's lead, but by now, it doesnt matter...
A brilliant against-the-odds victory for Froome, nobody would have expected it but he pulled it off! He was strongest on the penultimate lap, and while the others looked at each other - perhaps underrating the threat of Froome - he pulled out what was to be an unassailable lead. What a win!
But theres action behind him, Ginanni has been caught and 2nd is not secure...
... and Ponzi nips past on the line!
Claeys comes in 4th then, Efimkin 5th. Claeys' teammate Monfort has an easy run to the line for 6th, avoiding capture by Caruso, Rabon and a very poor Gilbert. All that effort for much of the day for Pendletons, and 9th is no reward.
Dan Martin, despite energy spent on his earlier efforts, rounds out the Top 10 ahead of Leukemans. Its a very strong 12th for Welshman Appleby, with Bertagnolli 13th.
