97 are ready for the start of the 'Hell of the West'. But the amount of cobbled sections is lower during this 199 km trip then during the 'Hell of the North'. Two clear favourites in Steegmans and Maes.
Clarke initiates the first attack of the day. Pibernik, Valiausa, Watson, Van der Lijke, Ranneries and Giorgieri jump in his wheel.
Right on the first of 4 cobbled sections, the break is brought back in the peloton. The Allianz team did all the work there probably thinking that a break of 7 is too big in a smaller field like this. Too cobbles itself did not play any role in the peloton. Everyone easily stays together.
More attacks came but only 4 riders could create a decent gap. One again Clarke and Watson. They are accompanied by Buts and Van der Schueren. When their gap growes over 3 minutes, we can conclude this will be the break of the day.
We enter the second cobbled section of the day. It's the longest aswell at 1.3 km which is nothing compared to more famous sections around Roubaix. Leading the peloton over are Allianz with two guys while Gazelle, Banco Nacional, Vattenfall and Ekspla also have a rider in the relay train. The breaks advantage is at about 5'30 with still more as 100 km to go.
50 km to go as the escapees pass the days only 'hill' which is not even 500 m long. The peloton is just under 3 minutes behind at that point as Banco Nacional and Allianz started cooperating to bring the break closer.
In fact a combined 11 guys from these two teams are now relaying. That means all Steegmans' domestiques are now working while Maes only keeps his supder domestique Coyot. He could play a very important role later on.
Less then 20 km to go and the breaks advantage is just over 2 minutes. The chase behind is not bringing results so far and thing start to look good for the break. That is the sign for Watson to put in an attack. Van der Schueren immediatly jumps in his wheel while the other two stay calm and keep relaying.
Only Van der Schueren got away though and with 10 km to go, he is 25 seconds in front of his three companions from earlier. His talent on the cobbles is clearly a bit better then the three others so it will be tough for them to come back.
Steegmans senses the danger and attacks. Jumping in his wheel are:
Ostergaard
Maes
Machado and
Coyot.
This is definatly an important move.
No surprise that this attack sticks. The 5 start to cooperate. Behind them a second chase group from 3 forms.
Sentjens, Grashev and Striska created a gap on the peloton aswell. Time for an overview at the 10 km mark.
E1
E2
E3
E4
Peloton
Van der Schueren
Watson
Coyot, Maes
Sentjens
Buts
Steegmans
Striska
Clarke
Ostergaard
Grashev
Machado
25"
1'40
1'55
3'
It seems like it's over for the pack as there is no pace at all and they are quickly losing more time.
The escapees enter the penultimate cobbled section. A strong pull from Buts has Van der Schueren as good as caught. A good try from the Belgian nevertheless. It will be important for them to continue cooperating with the favourites now coming behind.
Sentjens, Grashev and Striska are about to catch up to the chase group when Steegmans and Machado. Let's see how many energy they have left after a short chase.
5 kms to go and it seems like the cobbled section was too much for the escapees. Their pace was much lower as behind and Steegmans and Machado attack past them. They lost almost 2' over only 5 kms which is really much.
The attack doesn't lead much further so all small groups come together. These 12 riders will sprint for the win today. Worth noting is that the last 600 metres are cobbled so going early might not be the right tactic here. The 12 names one more time.
Maes
Buts
Ostergaard
Clarke
Steegmans
Coyot
Macado
Van der Schueren
Watson
Grashev
Sentjens
Striska
Maes is in the worst position sitting at the front but when he starts his sprint, only Buts jumped in his wheel. Steegmans is sitting in 3rd but he is also sprinting in the wind already but he doesn't have to look behind as no one is in his wheel.
The sprint is about to enter the final kilometre and Buts has jumped out of Maes' wheel. Steegmans couldn't really come much closer but on the other side Coyot is coming strong. Ostergaard is not much further behind while the others are having more problems. Tired from closing that last gap or from being in the break all day.
We start the last cobbled section and Buts has created a good gap. The chasing three are on one line fighting for the podium. They could still hope for more cause they are talented over these cobbles which is hard to say about Buts.
Ostergaard is still holding on to his 5th position but Machado, Striska and Grashev are coming closer. It seems like Sentjens is looking for some place to come out of Grashevs wheel. The other 3 who were part of the early break will fight for the last spot inside the top 10.
Buts takes a surprising win. He is definatly not a cobbler but rode smart and had a good day. He clearly had much more energy left as the other three wo were in the break all day.
Steegmans takes another second place as the sprint for the last podium spot was really close. Teammates Coyot and Maes have to wait for the Finish Photo which gives Coyot the edge over his leader.
Ostergaard takes 5th with Striska, Grashev, Machado, Sentjens and Clarke rounding out the top 10 in that order. Late attackers Watson and Van der Schueren finish 11th and 12th.
Abakoumov wins the peloton sprint 5 minutes after the winner. Riders like Vangenechten and Stevenson could have been expected to do better but they both had a teammate upfront. Vattenfall, Barcelona and LukOil were neither in the break nor the late attacks and couldn't make the screen all day.
Result
A big win for Team Privatbank. They don't really have any notable cobbles but the gamble of starting here clearly payed off.