Welcome to Delhi for the inspiringly named Tour de Delhi. This 105km long circuit race around the streets of Delhi should see some fast paced action, as 68 riders do battle to become the first champion of this race.
Probably not the best idea to bring your climbers
The flag is dropped, and the racing immediately gets underway with the Red Bull sprinter Carlos Manarelli going on the attack.
It's an odd tactic to send a sprinter into the breakaway group, but the race appears to be filled with odd tactics, as we then see both Mark Renshaw (Oz Cycling Project) and Anuar Manan (Meiji - Fuji).
This gives us a dangerous six-man group, which quickly builds up a lead of two minutes with 70km to go. The break consists of:
Bob Jungels (Focus)
Anuar Manan (Meiji - Fuji)
Carlos Manarelli (Red Bull)
Damian Martinez (Hollister)
Mark Renshaw (Oz)
Marwane Zenagui (Proximus - Trek)
It's a dangerous break, and several teams send riders to join the break too, as Cedric Pineau (Focus), Haijun Ma (Proximus - Trek) and Matthew Brammeier (Saab) quickly bridge across
Having nobody in the break, it is the Puma team who sit on the front of the bunch, trying to keep the break in close proximity in order to set up the sprint for Daniele Bennati.
30km to go, and the break has a gap of just under 2 minutes, and it's time for the hammer to come down, as Pokerstars also join the chase.
The gap comes down to 1'14 with 18km remaining, but then the tight corners of the circuit play havoc for the small peloton, as the gap stubbornly refuses to fall quickly. 10km to go, and the gap has only just fell under a minute! The break really senses an upset could be on the cards, but more teams are coming to the front to help...
...and exactly 2km later, the break is caught - incredible pace setting in the peloton.
The peloton begins to take a breather, sitting up slightly just before setting up their sprint trains for the final onslaught to the line. A perfect opportunity for a last gasp attack then! William Ford (Oz) and Frederik Nolf (Pokerstars.com) are the two enterprising riders who put the hammer down.
The two get a gap, as the sprinters seemingly look at each other, nobody willing to chase these down. The line draws closer and closer, and as the sprint begins with 3km to go, our two intrepid souls have a 16 second gap. Surely now is the time for the sprint trains to form properly and go for it? Wait, what's happening to the gap?
Under the kilometre to go kite, and the gap has gone up! The sprinters are playing cat and mouse, and our two late escapees have wasted no time taking advantage of that. Ford led out, and appears to be pulling away!
Ford looks certain for the win, but now the sprinters are coming through over 20km/h faster than the escapees. It's Bennati (Puma), Mohs (Pokerstars.com), Clarke (Oz) and our hero Arashiro (Meiji) who have pulled away. Can they catch them?
No! William Ford takes an absolutely stunning victory!
Nolf just about holds off Bennati to take a well-deserved 2nd, whilst Mohs then Arashiro round off the top 5.
