A classic for the sprinters welcomes the riders in Norway. It’s the only Norwegian race which is left on the calendar, meaning the organizers should be well prepared for the race, to give the riders a great experience, and thus “defend” its position as a race in the Continental Division. At least they’ve got the weather on their side. The forecasted weather came, and it's one of few beautiful sunny days at this time of the calendar in Norway. But more interestingly, there's also a strong wind at the start line, the race is held south-west in Norway, close to the coast, and there will definitely be windy today. The wind indicator screams 48 at the start line, will the wind affect top favourite Daniele Bennati?
5 kilometers into the race, we've our first attack. It's La Lavandier
who initiates it. Jørgensen Nishitani
follow him. It's surprising to see “home team” Aker Solutions send their best sprinter in the break. Though, the same tactic recently succeeded in Moscow for Jørgensen and his team. They can only hope it succeeds again.
Gavazzi Quintana Vigano
goes after the 3 first attackers, as they see the front 3 have built a lead of almost 2 minutes back to the peloton. Gavazzi is another surprising rider to see fighting for being in the breakaway, as he's Vespa's best sprinter for this race.
Only a few hundred meters later, Tommesen Weissinger
find out they also want to be up front, and attack away from the peloton.
UniCredit’s manager commands another rider from their team to attack. And quite surprisingly, it's their strong sprinter Borrajo
who's given the task.
But a determined chase from Puma, for their big star Bennati, see all the early attempts being shut down. But we're still at the start of the race, only 13 kilometers have been raced, meaning there should be more attacks to come.
And indeed, once again, quite surprisingly, it's Jørgensen
who launches today's 2nd wave of attacks. A few meters behind him follows: Holohan La Lavandier Keukeleire McConnell Nishitani
More riders attack, and over the first KoM sprint, the breakaway consists of 13 riders. In addition to those 6 already mentioned, it's Arndt Fothen Manarelli Durbridge Khatuntsev Signego Tommesen
who all try their luck in an early attempt.
But again, only 2 kilometers after the KoM sprint, Puma make the catch. They’re a real force here, working very well for Bennati in the early phase of the race.
Quite predictable, the catch only means new attempts at forming a breakaway. 8 riders, who all have attacked earlier, try once again. They're: Gavazzi Fothen Nishitani Borrajo & Signego Manarelli Jørgensen Vigano
12 kilometers later, Jørgensen leads the breakaway over the 2nd KoM sprint. They've managed to build a decent gap back to the peloton now, having a lead of 2'40 going over the top. It's surprising to see strong sprinters like Manarelli, Jørgensen and Borrajo in the breakaway, something must have gone wrong on their team meetings.
113 kilometers to go, and just when you think the race has settled, there's another attack from the peloton. It's Jeandesbosz
who attacks. He must be surprised to see the response though! No less than 3 riders from the Swedish team, Saab, follow him. They're Pronk, Ista & Brammeier
They succeed in joining the breakaway, and surprisingly, Puma is happy to let them go, they clearly don't see Saab and home favourite Hushovd as a threat today.
Going over the third KoM sprint, the breakaway hasn't managed to increase their lead, they're still about 2’30 ahead of the peloton. But they need to struggle with some serious headwind, the wind indicator says “44,” and it comes all from the front. The course is soon heading for the coast though, and if this wind keeps it strength, we should see some echelons there.
64 kilometers to go for the peloton, and they're arriving the coast. Unlucky for those who want echelons though, the wind indicator "only" shows "29" now. Puma has let the breakaway build their lead, they're now chasing 4 minutes behind, but still controlling this nicely.
16 kilometers later, and it's clear that Puma indeed controls this very well for Bennati. The gap is coming down, slowly, but surely, and it’s now 3’10. Kluge
realizes his only chance at victory is a long ranged attack, and he attacks now. No one follows, and he’s facing a long solo chase for the riders in the breakaway.
But Kluge stands no chance. Other teams have finally decided to help Puma with the chase, and they catch Kluge with ease.
With 36 kilometers left, the wind has picked up again, and for the first time today, the riders are facing some serious crosswinds. That clearly triggers an attack, and it's ' Forke Napolitano Corioni Ingels
who's attacking in the strong wind. If Manarelli, Borrajo and Jørgensen in the breakaway was a surprise, having 2 of the pre-race favourites, Napolitano and Corioni, in this move, is quite a shock. It looks like we will get a very interesting final 36 kilometers, with lots of wind.
But it's all wasted energy for Napolitano and Corioni, as Puma and Proximus easily pull them back, barely raising the pace. Excellent work for Bennati and Cavendish.
The favourites aren’t done playing, and Napolitano
attacks again. But it’s not Napolitano who draws the home crowd’s attention, the man on his wheel does that. Hushovd
has launched an attack, the crowd is going crazy, will they see the “God of Thunder” strike on home soil? Forke Ingels
are the last two riders in this move.
But this isn't meant to be, and with 25 kilometers to go, Puma flies past them.
13 kilometers left, and the brave attackers are caught. It's Puma and Proximus who's in pole position in the peloton, Pokerstars is just behind, waiting for what to do to surprise Bennati.
Pokerstars hits the front with everything they've got with 9 kilometers to go, and Puma quickly disappears. But interestingly, it looks like both Proximus and Pokerstars are having something special in mind, as Kopp Maaskant
attacks! Very interesting tactic from Pokerstars now, having lots of rider at the front, will they slow down the chase of Kopp and Maaskant?
We're closing in on the last kilometers now, and Kopp and Maaskant continue their attack, Kopp letting Maaskant go first. But behind, there’s drama! No other than one of the very best sprinters, Mohs
is after Kopp! Fair enough, Pokerstars probably want to mark the counterattack on Maaskant, but they’ve sent THE sprinter of their team. This is an absolutely crazy finish.
The other favourites cleverly follows Mohs, they're lined up behind him like this: Bennati Cavendish Haussler Napolitano Greipel Corioni Markov
The “home team,” Aker Solutions has a lot of riders close to the front, but they’re not co-operating very well. It actually looks like they’re trying to set up a sprint for Roux(!), who’s on Haedo’s wheel just behind Greipel. Something definitely went wrong on their tactical meeting.
The sprint preparation becomes messy when Mohs’ attack leads nowhere. He stops his attack, and most sprinters fall back. Suddenly we have the “usual” line of relayers at the front of the peloton, those you’re used to see with 68 kilometers left, not with 6.8 kilometers left. Though, the line of relayers is also weird, it’s dominated by WWE, Vespa and Aker. Maaskant is within their eyesight, will the sprinters manage to regroup?
And bang! There's a massive crash very close to the front of the peloton. It looked like 2 riders from Pokerstars touched wheels, and most of the riders behind had no chance to avoid it.
4300 meters to go, back to the very front of the bunch, and it just gets weirder. Arndt
continues to relay on the left, but now Mohs
again hits the front, on the right. Only Bennati
follows this time, as most of the other sprinters are stuck in traffic behind.
A quick shot from the helicopter shows the damage of the crash: only 27 riders are left in the peloton, all others either went down themselves, or they were slowed down by the crash. As a cause of the crash happening close to the front, we're missing lots of sprinters aswell. Corioni Greipel Van Loocke Docker
and the Norwegian hope, Hushovd
were all caught behind the crash, Docker even went down himself.
Turning our attention to the front again, and it's Mohs
who leads out Bennati
Bennati has again managed to find a perfect position, he looks set for another sprint victory. On their right is Arndt
who was at the front of the "relay train" when the sprint started.
In the first line behind Mohs, Bennati and Arndt follows, from left to right: Kluge Napolitano Roux Maaskant Haedo
Though, they're closely followed by Cavendish Haussler Markov
Mohs
seems to lack the necessary speed up in front, and Napolitano
is coming fast from behind. Also, Haussler and Markov are really well placed, just behind Napolitano. Could one of them surprise the pre-race favourites here?
Bennati
realizes the danger coming from behind, and launches his sprint with 1200 meters left. Mohs is really struggling to keep his speed now, Bennati though, he looks convincing, blasting home on the right side of the road.
Onto the last kilometer now, and both Haussler Markov make their bid for glory. Markov with the highest speed, but will he find space between Napolitano and a fading Mohs?
700 meters left, and indeed, Markov found space for himself, rocketing down the middle. But Bennati is defending the race lead well, no one seems able to go past him. Behind the first 3, Degenkolb
looks to save Pokerstars' day, as he storms past his fading captain. Behind Mohs follow one line of desperation, they're, from left to right: De Maar Holohan Cavendish Maaskant
It's especially Cavendish and Gavazzi
who has been in the breakaway all day long, who's coming fast from behind. They can climb a lot if they’re able to find a way past most of the other sprinters ahead of them, as they're going a lot faster.
200 meters and one corner to go, Bennati's win looks safe. But you can see Cavendish behind, he's coming really fast, fast enough to challenge the podium?
Bennati
can celebrate another win in a sprint classic! Great work from his team through the day, and he finished it off, eventhough it became messy on the last 10 kilometers.
Haussler Markov
somewhat surprising rounds off the podium. Well done to them, they sprinted excellent, and grabbed the opportunity when most other strong sprinters kicked too early.
Next follows Degenkolb in 4th, Cavendish in 5th, Napolitano in 6th.
One could ask why Degenkolb didn’t lead out Mohs, instead of letting Mohs hit the front with more than 4 kilometers to go. But at least the young German gets a nice fourth place.
Gavazzi, from the breakaway, takes a strong 7th, ahead of Mohs in 8th, and Maaskant in 9th. Voeckler is the last rider inside the top 10, but I'm sure WWE hoped for more, but Greipel was one of the unlucky, that got caught up in/behind the crash.
Speaking of Greipel
he comes home 1'47 after race winner Bennati. He's one of many that must feel a good chance at victory slipped.
Lagutin Bonnet
unfortunately had to abandon due to the crash.
