Final race of the Baltic Crits, welcome to Kaunas - Lithuania.
A flat crit with a short uphill sector. Will the sprinters struggle like they did in Tallinn? It's an interesting day anyway: no pure sprinter will be able to win the overall GC here, so another breakaway win could be crucial for the overall decision.
Best sprinter in the ranking is Vasylyuk (Metinvest, 9 pts).. but we also should expect something from Mezgec (Adria), Polivoda (Privatbank) or Ciocan (Romania). IF the sprinter-teams manage to pull back a break.
It took several tries to build a first working group this time - 5 riders and at least one interesting included:
So with Puusepp we've one of a few podium-contenders in the break.. he (8 pts) can't overtake series-leader Karnulin (23) even with a win, but he's aiming for a podium.
Nordhaug (Aker-MOT, 5 pts) tries to jump behind one lap later, we're already reaching the half the race.
The break leads by only 40" though, it ain't as easy as in the previous days to go clear!
And yes, no luck for the first breakaway group to hold on to their lead! Another lap is ridden and the peloton pulled them back, thanks to several more attacks!
Here goes another group:
Laengen (Aker-MOT) Landa (Eidsberg)
are the first to go clear after the field was back together.
The two are joined by
Balinski (Boeing)
a few moments later! They try to drop the bunch, where the pace is still high due to more attacks!
The race is everything but settled! Another lap is over (13km to go) and the group couldn't maintain their lead. Another empty-handed breakaway attempt.
Next in line is
Ansons (unitymarathon)
He obviously won't wait for a sprint-finish and tries to solo away!
Yet another short-lived attack! For the first time in today's race, the peloton - led by Statoil and Metinvest - takes control of the action and pulls back this last attempt.
10km remaining and we've already seen more attacks than in all previous races, it seems..
Oh and that ain't looking good! The tricky crit and brutal pace in the final lap leads to a mass crash!
We can't say, who fell first, but it happened quite at the front of the bunch and we will see a huge split!
Only 24 riders remain in the leading group and several notable names are caught behind:
Mezgec and Averin as the most notable sprinters, as well as several GC-contenders. For those it's easier to say, who's still in the 24-men-group..
Kunitski (8 pts) Vasylyuk (9 pts) Bochman (4 pts)
and that's it! So with less than 5km to go, no one will be able to overtake race-leader Karnulin (23)!
So, we have a quite interesting situation with only 24 riders remaining in the front group, where Metinvest and Statoil keep pacing!
Vasylyuk (Metinvest) Polivoda (Privatbank) Jorgensen (Statoil) and also Kusztor (Belarusbank) Ciocan (Romania)
show themselves at the very top of this small bunch..
It's going to be a very close sprint-finish between Vasylyuk and Polivoda! They go head to head for the final metres..
Vasylyuk takes it! A nice win, that will make him jump onto final podium as well.
Polivoda 2nd ahead of Jorgensen, Ciocan and Kusztor, so the remaining sprinters in this group finally delivered!
Karnulin (Belarusbank) won't care, he wins the Baltic Cycling Series with 23 points! His breakaway attempts paid off.
Vasylyuk (21) finishes as 2nd overall ahead of local hero Siskevicius (18), who was also caught in the mass crash.
Taciak (Polowice)
Sortveit (Satoil)
Chokheli (Belarusbank)
Sprajc (Loborika)
Puusepp (unitymarathon)
Balinski (Boeing)
Ansons (unitymarathon)
Kunitski (8 pts)
Vasylyuk (9 pts)
Bochman (4 pts)
Kusztor (Belarusbank)
Ciocan (Romania)
Paulius Siskevicius
