The Italian NCs provide it's spectators a high-quality field with 85 riders from 24 different teams - including some of the very best puncheurs in the world. Three local teams (plus some "half local" ones) will try to beat those very best (but less supported) names..
A 220km hilly parcours around Gabicce will definitely lead to only the best surviving some short but challenging climbs. The flat finish though makes for an interesting race, too: will we see a selective race or some riders waiting for a bunch sprint?
*note on the startlist: due to some issues with 9-men-squads, a few names were missing in the road race. Fortunately (for us reporters), no favorite (at least for the road race) and we eventually decided to keep the result of our first run.
**f.e., riders like Malori or Cattaneo (Wiggle) will only race the TT instead of the road race (if anyone feels wrongly treated, feel free to PM me for further infos/details)
Let's start with Ponzi (Wiggle), who has the biggest support (7 riders) of all top-favorites here and who should fancy his chances thanks to a profile, that suits him pretty well: the flat finish may favor fast finishing puncheurs like him, Pozzato (Heinken/no teammate) or Ulissi (Festina/no teammate).
Of course there's Cunego (Lotto/1), Ricco (Bacardi/1) and other possible contenders like Nibali (UBS/1), Di Maggio (Venchi/7), Sella (Red Bull/3) or - on a very good day - Zaini (Meiji/3).
It should be an interesting race no matter who eventually takes the win, as there's a bunch of decent (and aggressive) puncheurs at the start here, so we shouldn't count off guys like Visconti (Oz), Anza (Koenigsegg), Pellizotti (WWE) or Scarponi (Kappa). Let the show begin!
Business as usual with an early group of 7 riders being allowed to go for a first breakaway attempt:
Most notable here: Lotto sending it's only domestique for top-favorite Cunego into this early break and Venchi putting some pressure on teams like Wiggle, maybe Red Bull or Kappa by leaving the responsibility of working in a chase behind.
And it's indeed Wiggle (as expected) and also Red Bull showing their colors at the front of the bunch halfway through the race! No brutal pace yet, but they keep the gap at 7 minutes at a max.
It's mostly Wiggle working in that chase now and with still 63km we see both the gap go down to 3 minutes and a first serious attack in the bunch:
Zaini (Meiji) goes solo and no one else tries to follow!
He bridges the gap to the early escapees quickly: with 54km to go, he's at the very front of this group, trying to keep the pace up.
But so does the peloton, for obvious reasons - 2'50" advantage for the now 8-men-group in the lead.
Just as Wiggle sends even more riders in order to keep that now higher pace up, we see another solo-attempt back in the bunch:
Di Maggio (Venchi) makes his move with 35km remaining, facing a 1'45"-gap on the leading group!
Just like Zaini, it took him about 10km to catch up to the group in front.. but so did the bunch, where Wiggle definitely delivers so far.
So with 26km remaining, the escaping group with Zaini and Di Maggio are soon to be caught. There's actually a small gap between Di Maggio, a few early escapees and some top-favorites though:
Sella (Red Bull) made a move on this climb, followed by the likes of Ulissi, Pozzato, Nibali and Ricco! No Ponzi or Cunego.. a maybe crucial gap?
No, it's just a first "test" of what may come later.. the bunch (52 riders left) is back together on the descent, so it's (again) Wiggle pulling a group back.
20km to go and another (the third to last) climb ahead - the attacking continues:
Ulissi (Festina) and
Cunego (Lotto)
jump away from the bunch! This looks like a more serious attempt like the short-lived effort a few moments before..
And so more top-favorites have to react:
Ricco (Bacardi) and
Pozzato (Heineken)
manage to catch up to the two immediately! The race is on now!
They establish a small gap quickly and yes, it actually looks like we see today's decisive moves right now - more favorites try to follow:
Ponzi (Wiggle)
Sella (Red Bull) and
Di Maggio (Venchi)
try to hang on with the leading four! An action-packed race, which is always great..
Group Ponzi closed the gap a few moments later, but more riders try to follow:
Nibali (UBS) is joined by
Caruso (Wiggle)
facing a 40"-gap on the group of top-favorites with now 18km to go!
Second to last climb, 12km to go - and the race settles down for at least this moment:
E1 (7)/
Cunego
Di Maggio
Ponzi
Ulissi
Ricco
Pozzato
Sella
E2 (2)/ at 0.26
Nibali
Caruso
E3 (1)/ at 0.49
Rabottini
P (42)/ at 1.25
with Zaini, Visconti, Anza, Scarponi, Trentin, Ballan
So the bunch won't stand a chance.. Also Nibali struggles to close the gap, his companion Caruso obviously won't help him with his captain Ponzi a few seconds ahead.
No more attacks, also on today's final short climb! So the riders in the leading group keep shadowing each other and seem to "wait" for a bunch sprint decision:
this may be good news for the three fast men (Pozzato, Ponzi, Ulissi) in this elite group, but it's been a long and tough race, so better not count anyone off..
Nibali, by the way, didn't manage to narrow the gap and finds himself (still with Caruso) 54" in arrears with only 3km to go!
And here goes the sprint - a thrilling finish with 7 of Italy's best cyclists going for a prestigious victory:
Cunego has to kick off the sprint from the leading position, with two fast finishers (Ulissi, Ponzi) at his wheel!
A small gap and then it's Pozzato, who hasn't found a wheel to follow yet.. Ricco, Di Maggio and especially Sella already a bit too far behind, maybe.
Final corner, 1.2km to go:
Ponzi now moves forward with an impressive acceleration, while Ulissi still in striking position behind Cunego!
Surprisingly, Pozzato can't really follow and he's head-to-head with Ricco, who tries to catch up to the leading three!
Flamme rouge and Ponzi with a decent advantage on the riders behind him:
Ulissi though left Cunego's slipstream to move forward easily and a few metres behind, it's only Ricco who can hang on with those three!
Pozzato, Di Maggio and Sella are done. No chance to fight back.
Ulissi looks now stronger than Ponzi, or at least he catches up to him quite fast! It's a decision between those two, as Cunego can't follow anymore!
Diego Ulissi takes it! He kicked his sprint off with a perfect timing and in the end, it's a quite dominant victory. Ponzi 2nd, he might have launched his move too early.
A huge win for Ulissi, who had his problems here and then this year and faced some criticism and rumours about his departure. Will this change anything?
In a close decision, Ricco managed to sprint for the final podium spot! A quite impressive sprint by him, who had a rather bad position when they kicked it off.
While the road race featured a startlist packed with some of the world's best puncheurs (eventually making for a thrilling and close decision), the Italy's professionals ain't that famous for outstanding TT-skills.. so it's a pretty weak competition for huge cycling nation like Italy certainly is:
Nibali, who missed the crucial moves in the road race, and Malori will be the clear favorites for this 40km flat TT. They may only fear a bad daily form or the complete opposite by the most dangerous competitors Viviani and Sestili.
So let's keep it rather short and start the broadcast with Elia Viviani (Red Bull): he takes the lead by 31" on so far leading Cunego! A comfortable lead, obviously.
And it will last for at least one more rider to come:
Luigi Sestili (Venchi) can't beat Viviani and comes 7" short for new 2nd place! Anyway, the two favorites are yet to hit the road..
Adrian Malori (Wiggle) will try to grab the title, which Ponzi missed so close in the road race.. he's the new leader at today's only split:
14" faster than Viviani halfway through the race, so most probably Nibali will be his only challenger today..
Here comes Vincenzo Nibali (UBS) with a clear mission - securing his team the expected TT-title after he missed to join the group of favorites in the road race.. he's soon to cross today's only split..
..and it will be a thrilling decision between those two favorites: Nibali crosses the split 1" faster than Malori! Of course that ain't too comfortable, so everything is open.
It ain't surprising to see Malori taking the provisional lead by 28" on Viviani! But is it enough to re-gain the single second he was behind Nibali?
It's not! Tough luck for Wiggle and Malori, as Vincenzo Nibali bounces back from his rather disappointing road race to grab the TT-title by just 3" on Malori!
So a tough competition for Nibali to earn himself a fine NC-shirt for 2014.. and no glory for the local teams in Italy this time.
Italian NCs provide it's spectators a high-quality field with 85 riders from 24 different teams - including some of the very best puncheurs in the world. Three local teams (plus some "half local" ones) will try to beat those very best (but less supported) names..
