King of the cobbles, Vanspeybrouck
is held as the big favourite today, closely followed by Blythe Breschel
Vanspeybrouck will need the cobbled section to be selective though, and question is how selective it really is. Afterall, it’s on a descent, and only a few hundred meters long. If the cobbled section doesn’t prove selective, this could be anyone’s game, even the pure sprinters stand a chance then. Though, the final circuit looks pretty tough, which could suit Bianchi
well, as they’ve brought their hilly men to make the race as hard as possible.
The riders are ready to roll, rain is falling, but luckily, there’s no wind to speak about. We can only cross fingers all riders stay on their bike, but we shall see.
Bouhanni Antunes Cheung Khatuntsev Locatelli Berhane Preidler & Pfannberger
are the first attackers. Bianchi and Volkswagen clearly have intentions of making a name of themselves today, despite lining up their hilly squads.
They’re quickly allowed a gap of 2 minutes, meaning they’re looking to be the breakaway of the day. Tzortzakis Thomson
also want to be up front, and go after them with 164 kilometers left.
Vesely Larsson
also figure the best place to be today, is the breakaway, and they attack. The peloton, led by Bpost, doesn’t look worried, relying on the strength of the strong helpers to bring the early attackers back later in the race.
Tzortzakis Thomson
quickly bridged the gap, and it doesn’t take long before Vesely Larsson
make contact aswell, meaning we’ve got 12 riders up front with 152 kilometers left.
The peloton allows them all to be out there, and they’re looking on a soft start to their day of racing. 142 kilometers left, the breakaway has a gap of 2’15 back to the peloton, which is led by Focused, Trilux, Pokerstars and Bpost.
The breakaway takes on the major difficulty of the day, speaking of climbing, with 113 kilometers left. It’s the Portuguese who leads them, Antunes
and Cerne are definitely looking for a surprise today, they’ve no other options if they’re going to do well.
The peloton is led by Focused when they arrive the hill. It has stopped raining now, which hopefully means heaven won’t cry anymore today. It’s interesting to see Haussler
in 2nd position, he’s clearly doing work for Coyot, despite being one of the outsiders for the win today.
The hill is done, Haussler
still leads the peloton, and they go over the top 3’50 behind the 12 riders in front. Quite surprisingly, the peloton is still all together, the only one who has lost contact is
Dumoulin
due to an early puncture.
Taking on the long, flat run-in to the circuit in Münsterland, it’s Berhane
who leads way. The breakaway is still co-operating well, which is much needed if they’re going to stay clear. The gap has extended to 4’50 with 82 kilometers left of racing.
Koppert Bpost Rothaus
are doing the work behind in the peloton. It’s surprising to see Rothaus at the front, they’ve got Vesely up front. But it seems like they’re all in for Boom today, as Vantomme is one of the chasers. They’re chasing well, with 53 kilometers left, they’re 4’20 behind the breakaway.
The breakaway crosses the finishing line for the first time with 37 kilometers left. It’s an uphill sprint, where the last 500 meters have a gradient for 4-5 %. Also, heaven is not in the mood today, and rain has started to fall heavily again. It could be a nasty decent in Münsterland, facing both cobbles and rain.
The hill on the circuit in Münsterland proves quite hard. In fact, the last 600 meters of it average 8%. It could be the perfect launching pad for riders like Claeys Flügel
34 kilometers left, and the breakaway faces cobbles for the first time today. And the cobblestones seem overrated. The duo from Volkswagen leads the breakaway over, it’s only 300 meters of fast descending before they’re back to asphalt.
Though, it’s a tricky decent, with 2 sharp corners. And with the rain pouring down like now, you really need to handle your bike well if you’re going to win the race.
Bpost Rothaus
are in control back in the peloton, they’re about to finish their 2nd lap on the circuit, and with 26 kilometers left, they’re 1’42 behind the breakaway.
Renshaw
punctures on the cobbles, and has to let the peloton go. Oz has to trust the breakaway and their rider from Hong Kong, Cheung.
The peloton continues to chase, and going over the hill for the 3rd time, they’re only 1’21 behind the 12 front runners. It looks like it will all come back together in time for the final circuit.
The gap is down to 55 seconds with 15 kilometers left, and the peloton can see the breakaway now. It’s Rothaus putting in a determined effort for Boom
or could it be Vantomme? Vantomme has at least stopped chasing now, and he’s well-positioned, just behind Rothaus’ helpers.
Finishing the cobbled descent for the penultimate time, the breakaway keeps fighting. The peloton is struggling to finish them off, and the gap is still 50 seconds with 11 kilometers left.
And the cobbled descent proves terribly dangerous for the peloton. There’s a huge crash on the penultimate circuit, and a lot of riders go down. Amongst them are two of the pre-race favourites, Blythe Breschel
They don’t seem to have a strong enough team to take them to the front in decisive moments, and they pay a high price for it now. Jayco – Red Bull’s biggest hope is also taken out, Giaux
is on the ground.
The crash really played into a couple of teams hands. There are 29 riders left in the “peloton,” where Pokerstars got 6 of the riders, Koppert is represented with 5, and Rothaus with 4 riders. Of the pre-race favourites, Boom Vanspeybrouck Langeveld Nolf
have made the cut. Claeys
is the only pure puncheur who was able to not crash, and he’s still in contact.
With 9 kilometers left, we see why Rothaus has chased. Boom
attacks! He’s immediately followed by Vanspeybrouck Langeveld Lindgren & Wyss
It’s 3 of the pre-race favourites, and a surpising duo from Saab. Not the riders you would like to let go if you have intentions of winning the race!
Nolf
realizes he missed a dangerous move, and he commands his helpers to the front of his group. It takes a while to organize them though, and when they’re able to take command of the group, they’re 40 seconds behind the late attackers.
The attackers catch the breakaway with exactly one lap to go. But Pokerstars hasn’t given up, and they’re coming fast from behind.
The peloton is about to gain contact, and Wyss
realizes he can’t wait for the peloton anymore, and hits the front of the first group, which is a mix of the late attackers and the early breakaway.
And Pokerstars makes the catch! Going into the descent, with 5 kilometers left, 49 riders are together. It looks to be a very messy sprint, there’s no proper lead out at all! Vantomme
is still in the group, but the hill forced him to the very back of the group, meaning he has a long way up to the lead of the race with 5 kilometers left. The best sprinter in a decent position is actually Tzortzakis
from the breakaway. He’s in 8th position with 5 kilometers left. The group is led by Thomson
followed by Vesely Wyss Vanspeybrouck
Thomson
leads the peloton over the cobbes for the final time. Vantomme
has been dropped, meaning this win will go to whoever has most left in his legs, and is well positioned.
Pfannberger
kicks with 3 kilometers left, hoping to surprise everyone else. And he gets to the front before anyone react, but when he does so, all others start sprinting aswell.
And with 1500 meters, there’s an opening on the right side of the road! Wyss
immediately takes it, and thunders home. He’s followed by Vanspeybrouck Roy
Boom Kluge
finally find space for themselves, and they launch with 900 meters left. Tzortzakis
is the rider from Jayo – Red Bull in 4th.
The final corner, a turn to the left, sees Vanspeybrouck
launch his sprint on the inside of Wyss
He's looking to continue Bpost's great spring, sensing a big win here in Germany.
Kluge
is coming with an incredible speed, and he’s challenging for the podium. Tzortzakis
tries to squeeze himself past Roy
close to the barriers.
It’s an epic fight between Vanspeybrouck Wyss
for the win. They’re only a few meters away from the finish line, but they’re neck-to-neck, none of them want to loose this one, that’s for sure!
Wyss
takes the win! He just edged Vanspeybrouck
for it, a great win for the Swedish team.
Kluge
gives Pokerstars something to cheer for, as he concludes the podium in 3rd. Tzortzakis
gives Jayco - Red Bull 4th place, which means they won't loose anything to the other teams, in their hunt for overall glory in the Continental Tour. Roy
grabs 5th, which must be seen as a good result for Focused, as they look to climb their way into the top 20 in the overall rankings.
Boom
is 6th, ahead of Clayes & Locatelli Cherel
The duo from Bianchi, just like Boom, got boxed, and weren’t able to launch their sprint before they were inside the final kilometer. Nonetheless, Bianchi must be happy, as their gambling on sending a hilly squad to this race must be considered a success, with 2 riders in the top 8.
Rovny
takes 10th, while Lindgren
and Saab can celebrate today’s huge victory!
