Luxembourg's National Championships - that's the race(s), where PT-team Vesuvio is expected to shine. Even though there are 8 more teams at the start..
No team with more than one rider though and - facing a hilly parcour - the most dangerous opponents for Vesuvio (Schleck, Frank) are Kirchen (Allianz) or maybe Didier (WWE) - both needing a very good day.
And Vesuvio seems to focus on supporting Schleck and his mission to grab the road title: 4 riders (no Vesuvio) made it into the break of day!
So the pressure is on Vesuvio, which definitely should have the men-power to control this race.
It's still a tough challenge, it seems: the team does chase, but the gap is still at 5 minutes with 30km remaining.
And Frank Schleck obviously doesn't want to wait any longer, going for a solo-chase now!
That went well: the top-favorite catches up to the early escapees already 10km before finish. His brother Andy realized, that he's not at Frank's side and also attacked the bunch in the meantime (way too late though, he's already 10 minutes in arrears)..
But 6km before finihs, it ain't Schleck to attack the leading group, but Heymes! He quickly opens up a 37"-gap with only one challenging short climb to come..
It's Schleck, who's expected to close this gap, but he doesn't really try to counter.. the gap is still at 30" as Heymes enters the final descending 3km!
And this gap was too big: Gilles Heymes holds on to a 20"-gap to grab a surprising (and quite strange) victory! This race looked in total control by Schleck 10km before finish..
..but something went seriously wrong for the top-favorite: he didn't just fail to attack the early escapees or pull back Heymes, but also finishes as 5th and last in that group! Did he wait for brother Andy maybe? Who finished 6 minutes later, by the way. Really bad result for Vesuvio.
Maybe more luck (or tactical wisdom) for Vesuvio in the flat TT? Top-favorite should be Clesen (Cisco) though, but Andy Schleck may have a shot at the win on a good day..
Both Andy and teammate Claerebout seem to have a good day, actually:
Favorite Clesen is just 2" faster than Schleck and also his 6" on Claerebout ain't too dominant.. so we can hope for a close decision here.
David Claerebout is the first of those three to cross the finish-line and his new BT (23" on Jungels) will be the time to beat, obviously.
Andy Schleck will try to get his team (and brother) a title: he sets an exclamation mark by taking the new BT 10" ahead of Claerebout!
So either Andy had a very good second half on the road, or Claerebout couldn't maintain his rather surprising strong pace in the first half..
Nick Clesen still has to defend his 2" on Schleck anyway, so he won't care about the reason for Schleck being faster than Claerebout..
It's a very close decision... Clesen... or Schleck?... no title for Vesuvio?..or at least this one...
Clesen. No Schleck. No title. Not this one! A close 3"-gap for the top-favorite.
Luxembourg's National Championships - that's the race(s), where PT-team Vesuvio is expected to shine. Even though there are 8 more teams at the start..
