Boasson Hagen, Goss and Henao Montoya are former winners of the U23 World Championships, and Taylor Phinney starts as favourite to join that list - in what would be his 3rd world title of the championships. Closest rival will be Tour de l'Avenir winner Justo Tenorio, while outside bets can go on the likes of Italian Tommy Zaini, Brit Alex Dowsett, Dane Rasmus Guldhammer and Slovak Peter Sagan.
Its a frenzied start to the race. Turkish rider Hasta starts it off. Chumachenko, Navid, Mahdar, Laengen, Adamcyz, Bello, Posthuma, Le Boulch, Mardones, Quaade, Anguilet and Margalit follow - but theyre chased down.
Many of them go again though, led by Margalit, its Bello, Anguilet, Kwiatkowski, Stokstad, Mardones, Quaade, Navid, Karagobek, S. Locatelli, Mach, Meisen and Le Boulch. But once again, chased down
But more attacks, away from the steepest section started to get more freedom. First the Spaniard Landa with 2 Colombians Bello and Alzate. Owsian, Le Boulch, Juul-Jensen and Anguilet attack up to them - and then so do S. Locatelli, Meisen, Beove and Gilanipoor. Mach, Baeve and Karagobek then make it 13.
Mahdar, Laengen, Margalit and Chumachenko then tried to make it 17. Only the Ukrainian Chumachenko made it though. But as we move into the 2nd lap, the group of 14 looks set to be caught. For those not recognising the green, black and white kit, that is being worn by the mixed team - look out for Moldovan Cioban and San Marino rider Scarponi from them.
But no, the break is allowed to clear, so off they go
Not that this 2nd lap would have no excitement. Steepest section is done, the gap up to 3 and half minutes, and Travis Meyer, Brandle and Bonser attack from the peloton - Brandle fresh from 5th in the time trial
Brandle catches the break with a kilometre of lap 2 to go, it takes Bonser and Meyer 8km longer - but theyve made it nonetheless, the breakaway is up to 17 men
And their gap is 5 minutes, as Pinot, Degenkolb, Hofland and Teklehaimanot attack
The Eritrean is the strongest and goes solo, but the peloton has sprung into action - notably the Italians and Spaniards.
Pinot, Degenkolb and Hofland are cuaght, but Pinot attacks again and catches up with Teklehaimanot. Both are caught with 62km to go though, the break's lead now down to just 2 minutes
Onto the final lap then and theres a strong American presence on the front of the peloton. Still a good 50km to go, expect the action to pick up soon.
With their lead falling, the break splinters as some try to attack and stay clear. Le Boulch, Alzate and Meisen do this best
And as they are caught with 31km to go, we have attacks from Scarponi, Sagan and Betancourt
They get a gap
And its all falling apart behind. A 17 man group is led by Tenorio and Phinney
Its a good effort for our 3 mid stage attackers to still be there, while our current 3 man attack has a 45 second lead
Tenorio has had his go, and now its Phinney's turn to cause some damage. 17 has become 9: Phinney, Zaini, Dowsett, Tenorio, Summerhill, Guldhammer, Bobridge, Wallays, and Lejman. The leaders now only have 30 seconds.
Bol, Saldarriaga, Costagli and Landa are attacking from behind to try and link up with this group, or at least the stragglers - Bol being the Dutch leader, and the other 3 having realised that their leader is fairly isolated compared to the Americans
But its more splits up front! Closing in on Sagan, Scarponi and Betancourt - Zaini, Tenorio, Dowsett and Phinney have gone clear of the rest - Guldhammer the biggest casualty
Scarponi immediately looks to attack again, and Phinney is countering!
Tenorio has to respond and does, but was he quick enough in doing so?
Guldhammer has ridden across to the group behind
And the leading 2's attacks have ended. Phinney has got a gap, danger now for Tenorio!
Scarponi is maintaining a small gap on the others, for net 3rd, but Dowsett attacks as we near the top of this, the main climb on the route
Onto the descent, 20km to go, Phinney leads Tenorio by 30 seconds. The American is well used to riding this roads solo by now!
Over a minute behind Tenorio is the battle for 3rd, and its Zaini, Dowsett, Scarponi and Sagan
Guldhammer has again been caught out and is 30 seconds behind with Betancourt - and Bobridge aswell
Another 30 odd seconds and it is Wallays, Summerhill and Lejman
A further 43 seconds and we see Bol and Saldarriaga, having made it up to a net 13th and 14th having missed the initial 20 man selection
40 more seconds and we have Brandle, Eastman, Weiss, Rinner, Brandt, Meyer, Cioban, Bonser and Costagli
Then its 45 seconds to Landa, just ahed of the peloton.
Developments on the Guldhammer front, he has attacked away from Betancourt and Bobridge to try to keep his medal hopes alive
And up front Phinney is going strong, lead up to 50 seconds
Dowsett, Sagan and Zaini attack. 1'10 behind Tenorio, thats not likely to be closed, but they must sense Scarponi is struggling - and that Guldhammer is chasing
Dowsett just about keeps with Zaini, Sagan and Scarponi dont - but Sagan is able to bridge over the crest of this hill, and its downhill for the next 10km or so before the final few kilometres rise up to the finishg line
In the battle for 10th, Summerhill attacks Lejman and Wallays - and will manage to catch Bobridge and Betancourt - thus allowing him to battle for 8th now.
And behind the attackers already mentioned ahead of the peloton, the sprinter Peter Kennaugh is having some fun putting in some attacks. Hofland, Degenkolb, Sayar, Passalacqua, Landa and younger brother Tim Kennaugh are trying to keep up
In the battle for 3rd, Zaini is looking to use his 80 downhill stat to get clear - but Sagan is wise to this
Phinney doesnt need a good downhill stat to go clear though, pure all-round strength has done it for him, and he now leads Tenorio by over a minute
Wiggle's San Marino rider Scarponi is another with good descending skills - 82 downhill to be specific. And he has used these talents to bring himself back into the race for 3rd!
And he uses that momentum to ride past the trio! He knows he couldnt wait for the sprint to try and win 3rd, so now Scarponi continues to use the descent to his advantage, only its about to end
And back onto the climb, Dowsett and Zaini raise the tempo to chase after him - and Sagan is dropped
But its time to hit the finish line cameras, Gold Medal number 3 for Taylor Phinney!
The sprint is on for 3rd, Dowsett, Zaini closing in on Scarponi
And Justo Tenorio is over the line for 2nd. 1'39 behind Phinney, it was always going to be hard for this year's Avenir winner to beat last year's
Tommy Zaini prevails behind and takes the Bronze medal. Alex Dowsett is 4th, while Paolo Scarponi can still be very happy with 5th
Not technically a free agent, but with his IKEA team folding at the year of the end, Peter Sagan has been riding to impress - and 6th is a good result for him
Guldhammer will probably be dissapointed with 7th though, not even able to really fight for the podium this year
Betancourt beats Summerhill and Bobridge for 8th - all 3 rounding out the Top 10
11th for Wallays, having edged away from Saldarriaga, Lejman and Bol
Eastman takes 15th - his opportunities today being limited by being only #3 in the American team. Brandt and Weiss will also make the Top 20, as will Costagli, Bonser and Brandle
24th for Kennaugh, clear of Degenkolb, Sayar, Hofland, the other Kennaugh, Passalacqua and Landa
And then its Kiprotich leading in an 18 man group for 31st, another 25 man group not too far behind
That is where the TV coverage ends, just the podium left, as Taylor Phinney celebrates once again
