The GP di Lugano 2013 is ready to kick off, so let's see who's got the best legs today.
Aleksandar Flügel will try to defend his Lugano-title of last year, while Jonathan Bellis is going for his first classic-victory for Rothaus.
Other contenders will be Cyril Gautier, Hassen Ben Nasser, Johnny Hoogerland, Alex Dowsett or Aleksandr Kolobnev, who finished 4th last year.
And don't forget to mention Schreurs, Scarponi or Wegmann, who all have good chances for a decent result here.
Several riders attacked early in the race and with only a few kilometers raced, we have three escaping groups, with 4 riders leading by a few seconds: Meron Amanuel, Mathieu La Lavandier, Davide Villella and Hannes Blank.
As soon as they pass today's toughest climb for the first time, the three groups join each other and so we have 15 riders in the breakaway, leading by 3'15" with 158km to go:
Villela, Amanuel, Blank, La Lavandier, Tratnik, Mutsumine, Afonso, Beyer, Locatelli, Diaz Corrales, Fuglsang, Vorobev, Bru, De Haes, Ludvigsson
So except of Hollister, Metinvest and local team Sauber, all teams have one rider in the break.
The gap reaches it's peak at 7'10" with 130km to go. The peloton is still taking things easy and Tinkoff, Rothaus or BPost just show their colors at the front of the pack.
Just as the first rider in the breakaway got dropped (Vorobev), it's time for Tinkoff to take control. With now 130km left, the Russian team sets the pace, cutting the gap down to 6'20".
Meanwhile, the tricky descents take its first toll in the BOTD: the first attacker of the day, Amanuel, hits the road, and is joined by dropped Vorobev.
And another escapee is down: Afonso fell on a less difficult section. We have still 90kms to go, he and Amanuel will have to some time to fight back.
Both manage to re-join the leading group with 84km remaining. They still maintain a 4'45"-lead over the pack, while Vorobev couldn't hang on and is somewhere in between those groups.
And just as the peloton starts to split due to the higher pace, we have a first crash of a favorite! Scarponi crashes right at the start of the longest descent, with now 69kms remaining! A horrible timing he had..
..but his Kappa still had enough riders left in the bunch to support their captain. 10kms after his fall, Scarponi is back in the peloton, which is down to 90 riders and 3'00" in arrears to the BOTD.
Waiting for some attacks instead of watching crashes? Here we go: Sauber finally gives their fans what they wanted to see, with Nino Schurter breaking free from the pack, accompanied by Anatoliy Pakthusov! It's still 55kms to go, but this two riders can do something here.
They quickly establish a 1'00"-gap while overtaking both Amanuel and La Lavendier, who got dropped by the leading group. Bad luck for Amanuel with his crash, he was one of the stronger puncheurs in the break.
As Schurter/Pakthusov chase this break hard now, the gap is down to 1'30".
The two attackers close up to the 12 remaining early escapees with now 39km left. The peloton is within sight though, as the gap is cut down to 2'00".
Schurter now soloes away from the leading group, dropping his short-time companiens easily, as well as Pakthusov, who can't follow Schurter's acceleration.
On the same climb (final lap, 31km remaining) we see another attack out of the pack! Carlos Betancourt kicks late in the steep climb!
But Bpost and Tinkoff hold him off easily, both teams took control of the pace as their two escapees (La Lavandier, Volobev) dropped early. This climb saw the peloton split once again: 47 riders are left in the bunch.
And the big breakaway group is already within reach, while solo-leader Schurter quickly established a 1'45"-lead.
As soon as the next short climb approaches, another top-favorite makes his move: Aleksandr Kolobnev! It's 22kms to go and we enter the most thrilling part of the race.
Kolobnev's attack was empty-handed, with several of the favorites following his move.
Betancourt makes his second try. Bellis, Ben Nasser, Kolobnev, Dowsett and Flügel are right behind, countering his move.
Jonathan Bellis and Hassen Ben Nasser have the strongest kick! Betancourt once again failed to break clear.
Johnny Hoogerland is the first to jump behind Bellis/Ben Nasser!
But it's only Aleksandar Flügel, who manages to bridge the gap to Bellis, who dropped Ben Nasser with yet another attack!
With now 15kms remaining, Bellis and Flügel took the lead, as they easily overtook solo-leader Schurter.
Anyway, a strong group of 5 riders is only 20" behind: Ben Nasser, Gautier, Betancourt, Dowsett and also Schurter hangs on.
The bunch (with riders like Hoogerland, Scarponi, Schreurs, Kolobnev) is down by 1'00" at the moment.
Ben Nasser re-joins group Bellis/Flügel with now 10kms to go! The chasing group Dowsett/Gautier is just 15" in arrears, and also the bunch (30 riders) is nearing, cutting down the gap to 32"!
As soon as all comes together again, Flügel accelerates and soloes away! Bellis and Ben Nasser have been swallowed by the chasing group and the bunch is coming closer, too.
7kms to go: Bellis with yet another attack! He tries to bridge the gap to Flügel, who leads by 15" and gaps the bunch quickly: 20".
Only a few seconds later, Kolobnev follows Bellis and attacks the bunch! And just as Bellis, his powerful move gives him a decent gap.
Flügel crosses the 5km-mark with a now 27"-lead:
E1
<- 27" ->
E2
<- 36" ->
E3
<- 48" ->
P
Flügel
Bellis
Kolobnev
32 riders
So as Flügel looks in good position to defend his win here, it's time for the "bunched" favorites to react:
Mendes, Levarlet and Izaguirre attack the bunch with 3,5km to go!
It's only downhill til the finish now. Flügel grows his lead, as he has 35" on Bellis with 2,5km to go!
Kolobnev is another 16" down on Bellis and got some pressure by the late-attacking Mendes/Levarlet and Izagirre, who lead the bunch (17 riders) down the last corners.
So, basically, we have those 20 riders battling out the GP di Lugano:
Flügel
Bellis
Kolobnev
Mendes Levarlet Izagirre
Armee, De Maar Schreurs Betancourt Wegmann Dowsett Hoogerland Ben Nasser Gautier Scarponi Gomez Marchante
Nothing has changed as Flügel proves his great skills to defend a rather small gap over now about 15kms. The defending Lugano-champion enters the final kilometer with enough of a gap to look like today's winner.
Bellis ain't looking that good, but he still maintains his 2nd position, with Kolobnev being 10" behind.
And Levarlet with another attack! He dropped his companions Mendes/Izaguirre and got a bit of gap over the bunch. He comes down the stretch and tries to catch up to Kolobnev!
Meanwhile, Aleksandar Flügel managed to repeat last year's victory! He didn't celebrate and fought til the end. A great day for him and his team, his move 15km before finish proved to be perfect.
It's never easy to enter a race as the defending champion and top-favorite, but the German could stand the pressure. Very well done!
41" later, it's also a great day for German team Rothaus: Jonathan Bellis finishes as 2nd, a truly deserved one, as he was one of the most aggressive top-favorites today.
Aleksandr Kolobnev also defends his podium! Levarlet's move came too late to overtake the Russian, who was the first of the top-favorites to attack and who has also reasons to thank his team for the great support during the whole race.
Jose Mendes could hold off the bunch, sprinting for 5th place. A nice result for him.
And we have a huge surprise for 6th place: local hero Nino Schurter wins the bunch-sprint! A great effort. He's known for his great downhill-skills and took advantage of it.
In a close sprint, Sander Armee took another surprise as 7th, while Schreurs, Der and Wegmann complete the Top-10.
A rather disappointing finish for Betancourt (12th), Dowsett (13th), Ben Nasser (15th) and Gautier (16th), who all attacked today. But none of them (except Ben Nasser) had the right timing and missed the crucial splits.
Same goes for Hoogerland, who finishes as 17th, while mid-stage-crashed Scarponi may be pleased to grab some points as 19th.
