The Danes will remember the Giro D'Italia the most this season with Michael Faerk Christenson wearing the Maglia Rosa for a brief period of time. His team B and O should dominate the weekends action with a number of well fancied candidate for the national championships. In the road race it seems likely that Andre Steenson shall lead though on loan youngster Rasmus Guldhammer in Telenor colours could provide a stiff challenge. Bak (Philips) and Reihs (Sony) are listed as the next main challengers in an open race.
An early stiff 13 % test with two other little leg breakers will challenge the riders on this 15 km circuit. By the end of the first rotation two men had got away in Juul-Jenson (UBS) and Neilson (Falcon). Sony controlled the tempo pretty well in very windy conditions and didn't let the two build a big gap. Perhaps a little bothered that literally all the work was left to them the smart Scandinavian team sent young domestique Thomas Riber-Sellebjerg up the road to join the two man break.
A crafty move really as the protour man joined the two CTour riders and certainly looked the best balanced rider of the three doing hard turns on the front as the threesome built a 10 minute lead with 72 km to go. Team Telenor though did not give this one up and began to lift the pace, so much so that they would ride away from the peleton with a few others.
Bochmann, Ostergaard, Foder, Guldhammer (all Telenor), Reckweg (B and O) and Lund (Philips) are in this lead group and they begin to make inroads into the leaders. The gap is reduced to seven minutes with 44km left and then to 5.30 with 29km left.
If the riders at the front suddenly lost tempo here it was still possible that the pack would catch them but as the Telenor move was caught the momentum was dashed.
Realising that he was accompanied by a decent sprinter (Neilson) and a fresher rider Riber-Sellebjerg, Juul-Jenson decides to give it a big dig.
Neilson looks cooked but Riber-Sellebjerg stays calm and reels in the UBS man before they hit the bell.
Behind four riders launch a hopeful attack thinking those ahead just may be catchable.
Among the four is champion incumbent Vandborg (Unicredit), also here is Reckweg (B and O), Guldhammer (Telenor) and Reihs (Sony). Steenson punctured earlier and has swapped team leadership it seems.
Well swapped perhaps to Riber-Sellebjerg who starts to ride away from Neilson and Juul-jenson on the climbs.
He has more than enough energy to hold off these two and the four chasers to take the Danish Championships!
Neilson outsprints Juul-Jenson for the second place.
The time trial was to be a close fought affair , B and O had a number of decent shouts and sent their big guns out early.
Steenson and Faerk Christenson had an ulmightly struggle out on the course and were seperated by milliseconds at the end.
Steenson 18.14 45.58 1.06.38
F Christenson 18.20 46.04 1.06.38
With the former Maglia Rosa wearer Faerk Christenson just getting the nod. These two were both faster than the previous champion Bak.
The Philips man was never in the races.
Bak 18.25 46.20 1.06.59
However the Danish RR champion of last year Brian Vandborg was running the B and O boys close, at the first check he split the two teammates with 18.19.
By the second check he had gone faster than Steenson.
and held his form to take the Danish TT championships.
