The hills of Cuba play host to the first C2 race of the 2013 season, the Clasico San Cristobal, as many seasons make their debut race in the game
Strength in both depth and leadership lies with Iberia - Comunidad Valenciana and Team Gazelle, led by Joaquin Rodriguez and Peter Weening respectively.
Germany champion Dietmar Mehr-Wenige (Adira-Isq) could make an impact, along with Sergio Barrio (CSC-Orbea) and Perikles Ilias (Magna Ryanair) amongst others - as has already been previewed.
The racing starts early, as Yves Lampaert (Allianz-BMW) attacks right at the start.
Meul (BNCR), Desirac (Alstom), O'Brian (Magna), Georgiev (Boeing), Roulston (WWE), Bartl (FC Barcelona), Silva (CSC-Orbea) and Pantano Gomez (Hollister) all also get involved in the early attacking.
But the pace is high and they cant find a way clear. The same applies to Britton (Boeing), Slagter (BNCR), Becerra (WWE) and Demare (Magna).
Approaching the finish line for the first line however, and 5 riders do have a small gap: Slagter, Pantano Gomez, Gottfried (WWE), O'Brien and Georgiev
But within a few kilometres the make up of the 5 leaders has changed almost entirely. Now it is Kolar (Magna), Gottfried, Altur (CSC-Orbea), Bartl and Colorado (Boeing)
Even now the break can't throw off the shackles of the peloton, until finally - after well over a lap of trying - we see a breakaway start to build a gap.
Silva and Gottfried (WWE)
Duran (Allianz-BMW)
Bartl (FC Barcelona)
Colorado (Boeing-Vivacom)
Adira, Iberia and Gazelle unsurprisingly have taken on the responsibility of leading the peloton and the gap is a manageable 5 minute with 80km/2 laps to go.
And in what can perhaps be put down to a show of nerves, there is a whole load of cautious riding going on despite the early fast and aggressive nature of racing. Nothing happens on the penultimate lap, except our 3 chasing teams cutting the break's advantage
The break exits San Cristobal for the final time with 17km to go - and their lead at 1 minute. Not enough with plenty of climbing still to come on this final lap.
As the pack closes in, Duran looks to stay away - and is joined by Colorado.
Its just a matter of time - especially as Weening (Gazelle) makes his move!
Mehr-Wenige (Adira-Isq) tries to follow but the train of Iberia keep him trapped on the left hand side of the road. Their plan seems to be to chase Weening down, with the Dutchman having now caught the remains of the breakaway
Foolishly Weening then just sits on their wheel, so thats an attack wasted as they all get caught.
Barrio (CSC-Orbea), Monsalve (Hollister) and Talabardon (Allianz-BMW) all try to attack and create a new move, but Iberia's domestiques are having none of it: swinging across the road to block their path.
Sensing a fresh opportunity, Weening attacks again. This time Jordi Grau (FC Barcelona) tries to follow
Mehr-Wenige and Furdi (Gazelle) also try to follow but only Weening manages to get a gap, and he enters the final 10km with a 24 second lead.
It's still all Iberia on front of the peloton, doing everything but attacking at the moment. And that gap is holding steady.
Finally Joaquin Rodriguez attacks for Iberia, but its kinda late - there's no uphill roads left to really make a difference.
And so still it is Weening alone against the peloton. 26 seconds lead, 6km to go
Iberia still have the numbers to chase, after Rodriguez' move got nowhere, but it is Soto Pereira (Adira-Isq) who is the man chasing Weening the hardest.
It's a risky move for Weening. All credit to him for showing aggression, but its hard when nobody else was really interested. His lead falls to 12 seconds but there is only 2.5km to go
But that is mostly uphill and Iberia have soon brought Weening back to them, and now really hold the upper hand
Will Routley (Boeing) tries to attack but is too far back and not strong enough to make a difference anyway. It's a different matter for Dietmar Mehr-Wenige however.
We are inside the final 2km and the German champion is starting to open a gap here! And rather than Iberia chasing, Weening is being forced to expend yet more energy on the front of the group
And going into the sprint, Iberia dominate the front of the peloton - but have they handed victory to Mehr-Wenige already?
The German can't afford to be complacent though, and doesnt seem to have realised that the sprint is starting behind him.
This is the part of the stage Joaquin Rodriguez has been waiting for and he powers on the pedals to move alongside Mehr-Wenige - while a tired Weening is already slipping backwards
Rodriguez moves into the lead now, as from nowhere Magna's Ilias is suddenly up into 3rd place around the turn, ahead of Valencia (Iberia), Grau (FC Barcelona) and a now recovering Weening
Joaquin Rodriguez is starting to pull clear up this final climb as Mehr-Wenige struggles to match him pedal for pedal
And it is going to be victory for Iberia here in Cuba, Rodriguez takes the glory on the opening day of the season!
Mehr-Wenige takes home 2nd place, while Ilias holds on for a great 3rd position. Weening is also able to hold onto 5th admist flying finishes for Talabardon (4th), Barrio (6th) and Furdi (7th) - three riders who really could have done with being better positioned.
Routley, Valencia and Grau complete the Top 10, ahead of Monsalve, Salas, Kirchen and Nieve.
Samuel Sanchez only managing 17th is worse than expected for Iberia, having not been one of their riders up the front as the sprint began. They opted for defensive tactics today and it paid off for the victory, but probably limited their overall points scoring potential by allowing too many other riders get involved in the final sprint.
The rider of the day was Pieter Weening, and he will have been surprised to face a peloton so reluctant to attack. In the face of that, his tactics were not ideal, and Gazelle did well to salvage two Top 7 finishers.
