Many teams want someone up the road as it would mean they wouldn't need to do any work in the peloton.
However, the sprinter teams don't seem to want this group to be our breakaway of the day, so they set a fast pace and the attackers are reeled in just as both groups merge.
Calm won't last long though, and immediately more riders go clear, Westling, Poulhiès and Haugard are trying again, this time accompanied by Arnie Reuvers.
The gap reaches the 2' mark now, and many riders realize they have to attack soon if they don't want to miss the break, Viganò, Bouhanni, Vermote, Zabel and Hochmann are trying again, joined by Thomas Fothen, Carlos Alexandre Manarelli and Alberto Loddo. Some good sprinters in this group, with Hochmann, Loddo and Manarelli standing out amongst them.
The chasers quickly join the front group, but the breakaway isn't really going fast, despite the peloton's ridiculously low pace, the gap is hovering around 2'.
With the gap being so small and the pace so low, Novak and Ockeloen try again and quickly bridge the gap with a blistering attack. As they join the front group, they seem to wake up, and up the pace to immediately increase the gap to 2'40''.
The gap keeps growing and tops at 7'10'' now with 105 km to go. Unicredit sends now 3 men to start the chase, and only Routhaus – Aegon seems willing to help, albeit just with 1 rider.
The chase work is rapidly noticeable, and with 80 km to, Rothaus and Unicredit, which have sent another rider each to work, have reduced the gap to 5'28''. The peloton has the race firmly under control.
Surprising attack now in the peloton, as Martijn Masskant is joined by Gerald Ciolek. Not sure what to make of this, but now Bianchi have their two sprinters up the road. Probably not the wisest tactic, but if this works it'll be a great feat. It's good anyway to see some teams are ready to think outside the box to beat Bennati.
Ciolek ain't going anywhere though, his attack made the alarm bells of many teams ring, and Maaskant and the German are immediately chased down. This causes the breakaway gap to shrinks as well, it's under 2' now with 35 km to go and the peloton can even see them now.
And more attacks! Motivated by the small gap with the break, Maaskant goes again with 28 km to go and is joined by Piet Rooijakkers. Bianchi and Pokerstars are racing really aggressively today.
As Maaskant and Rooijakkers were about to bridge the gap, Manarelli attacks from the breakaway, with Vermote rapidly going with the Brazilian, and Viganò trying as well.
Just over 20km to go, and the big chase group, including the late attackers, is caught, and only Manarelli, Vermote and Viganò remain up the road, although their advantage is really small.
After catching the chase group, the peloton slows down to reorganize the chase, and this allows Viganò, who has attacked his companions to increase the gap. Situation right now, with 18 km to go is
Viganò
<-27''->
Manarelli
<-53''->
Peloton
Vermote
The sprinter teams shouldn't have any problem to control this, but they can’t waste any time now.
As the race is approaching the hills, Unicredit puts the hammer down and has no less than 6 riders pulling hard. The gap is down to 1' with Viganò and 28'' with the chasers, and it's unlikely that they'll withstand the pace set by the Italian team. Puma - SAP is also starting to appear in the front, they'll want to be there to give Bennati a good leadout.
Manarelli and Vermote were spent, and they're caught with 13 km to go. Similarly, Viganò seems to be running out of steam as he starts the first of the final two hills. This one is way shorter, but a bit steeper, although most likely the relevant attacks, if there're any, will happen in the last one.
Viganò is finally caught just atop the first hill, where nothing else happens. 10500m to go now, with Gruppo Compatto.
No attacks in the last climb either, surprisingly. Maybe those who hopelessly attacked in the flat before would have had more of a chance if they waited to attack here, but now it's too late – we'll have a bunch sprint.
They're already in the Avenue de Grammont, and one trains is being set up, although a bit disorganized. Unicredit and Puma in the left with
Van Poppel Borrajo Kvist Napolitano Bennati Ciolek Vantomme Van Loocke
Then, a bit behind are
Park Haussler Corioni Mohs
But they'll need to gain ground fast or else they won't stand a chance.
But now two groups coming from each side have disrupted the train! A terribly disorganized group appears up front including
Good chance for Hochmann as most sprinters are way behind, although this shouldn't be an insurmountable distance for them. This is getting quite chaotic.
1400 m to go and Bennati is coming insanely fast. Ciolek and Vantomme try to follow while no one else reacts. The Italian could be making the winning move right there.
Bennati hits the wind just after the flamme rouge, and just Ciolek seem to match his speed, while Vantomme is just a bit short of it.
300m to go, and Ciolek is coming faster than Bennati, but the Italian first burst of speed made him gain an advantage that could be enough. Behind, Vantomme is fading, and sees how Haussler coming from way behind is overtaking him.
And Daniele Bennati takes this home! Another dominant win for the Italian, the best CT sprinter this season, by far. Gerald Ciolek will have to settle for second, although he'll wonder what he could have done had he not wasted his energy with that pointless attack with 40 km to go.
It's Heinrich Haussler who takes the final step of the podium with a really strong sprint. Maxime Vantomme just misses out the podium, while Jurgen Van Loocke takes a surprising 5th place, and same with Sung Baek Parl and his 6th position. Gasparotto, Kluge, Lequatre and Delage, in that order, round up the top 10.
So, another dominant win for Bennati, impressive season for the Italian no doubt. Trilux will be delighted by Haussler's podium, and Ciolek, Van Loocke and Park get solid results as well. Vantomme's 4th place wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't because he's had a season way worse than a rider of his level is supposed to have, and that he's been beaten for the podium by an inferior sprinter like Haussler.
It definitely wasn't a good race for Mohs, Napolitano and Corioni, who found themselves boxed in the sprint, and while Mohs and Corioni could be blamed for their bad positioning, certainly Napolitano had some bad luck there.
