February begins with an expedition to Hong Kong for 17 PCT and 6 CT squads. The flat finish will suit the sprinters, but hills on much of the race will keep things interesting. At only 136km, it won't be a long race.
Andrea Zordan was the first to attack, but as the field took a bridge over the South China Sea, his move petered out - instead it is Arnaud Godet putting in a powerful move.
And as the race reaches Tsing Yi island and starts the first of 12 circuits around the island, four riders have linked up with Godet to make the break of the day. Rob Partridge, Jan Hirt, Salvatore Mancuso and Anatoliy Sosnitskiy.
It may look like Godet was struggling to keep up already, but that was only temporarily, and the five built a strong lead. Contributing towards the peloton pace setting throughout the day were riders from Venchi, Swedbank, Ameriabank and Puma-SAP.
And now jumping to 35km to go, and 3 laps of the Tsing Yi circuit remaining, the break's lead is well under control at just 2 minutes.
Venchi - Ferranti and Team Puma-SAP are in command for their sprinters Van Stayen and Ciolek. Already a group of 17 has been dropped - with Hochmann the best sprinter amongst them.
With Nolan Hoffman as their leader, Metinvest-Emirates are going to want a hard race, and for even more sprinters to be dropped. The best way to do this is attack, and that is what Sergiy Lagkuti does.
Swedbank – PEAB join the relay train in the peloton over the top of the climb, as Lagkuti presses on and tries to reach his teammate Sosnitskiy in the break.
Another group of riders has been dropped. Notable sprinters this time include Compal's Malaysian duo Manan and Haidar Anuawar, plus Chicchi, Korkotyan and Hawkins.
It turns out that Swedbank were only working to set up the next attack, as former Danish champion Kasper Klostergaard makes a move on the penultimate climb.
This could be badly timed though as Gazelle surge forwards on the rest of the climb. Zordan, Semyenov and Steegmans in a 3 man line, with Langeveld keeping a close eye on things too.
And this has clearly broken the peloton! From 136 down to 57, with a 79 rider group being tailed off. A lot of teammates and helpers are gone here, plus sprinters too. Dekkers, Vasylyuk, Corti, Opie, Aberasturi, Castaneda, Giacoppo, Drapac, Vanderaerden and surprisingly Gavazzi are all gone.
Gazelle's work is done for now, and they can drift back - allowing Venchi and Puma to regain control.
Klostergaard and Lagkuti were both caught, but the break of 5 still leads, with a 1'10 gap. There is one lap of the circuit remaining, plus the run in to finish, which equates to 17km. They only lost 50 seconds in the last 17km though, so the peloton can not quite take this for granted.
Climb time, and Gert Steegmans attacks! Not entirely a surprise that Gazelle were planning something, and this is it.
As on the previous lap, Sebastian Langeveld is wide awake and onto the back wheel of Steegmans. But so is fellow Heineken rider Taylor Tolleson.
Infact, it was team attack orders all round as sprinter Dan Holloway also put in a dig, but the climb was over before he could pass the relaying Venchi riders.
Another Compal-Merida sprinter has been dropped from the peloton, this time it is Park.
The break still leads and are nearing the final 10km, and the only CT rider in there Partridge attacks!
Going under the 10km banner itself, Mancuso now makes his move too, having allowed Partridge to gain 20 seconds. The Italian was the strongest of the five in the break and isn't about to let Partridge get away easily.
About 25 seconds later, here is Langeveld, Tolleson and Steegmans.
And it is another 30 seconds until the peloton come through. They are really under pressure now, as Ahlstrand leads the chase.
Another 8 riders have been tailed off, including Lorenzetto and Sulzberger. The Australian champion should have been suited to this race, so that is disappointing.
One lap after leading the break through the same point, Partridge now comes through solo with things a whole lot more broken up behind. The Brit rode for Wiggle last year in the ProTour, loaned out from Jaguar-Eritel. So while he may only be a CT rider now, he knows what he is doing!
It is still Jonas Ahlstrand having to do the work in the peloton. A future star sprinter he may be, but he isn't really the rider you want to turn to to chase down an increasingly dangerous gap. Venchi are not offering support, Puma have disappeared from the front, and on his wheel is Nolan Hoffman, who clearly isn't about to start relaying!
6km to go, and Salvatore Mancuso has caught Partridge. He of course rode in the ProTour last season as well.
The gap behind has grown to 50 seconds over future prospect Hirt and Sosnitskiy.
Tolleson, Langeveld and Steegmans are closing in on those two, and have swept up Godet now as well.
Wetterhall and Kreder are helping with the chasing, but it is still just Swedbank. Ciolek and Van Stayen are sat towards the back of the group. Not having a good day?
Into the final 4 kilometres and now Partridge attacks again! He is not content to riding Mancuso to the line.
Tolleson leads the chase behind, with Hirt and Sosnitskiy now caught. But still at 50 seconds, is this only a battle for 3rd?
It does seem like it could be between the front two, after all day on the attack. Now can Mancuso claw his way back to Partridge?
The peloton are going backwards, now 2 minutes behind Partridge. Napolitano sits their helpless - all his teammates have been dropped - but Vantomme has 3 teammates in the group still, and they have done nothing.
The sprint is now underway for 3rd place, Tolleson is quick, but Steegmans has had a free ride and should be stronger.
Puma suddenly appear! After Swedbank doing all the work, their former rider Giaux drags team leader Ciolek to the front of the group.
Up front it is the final kilometre, can Eddie Stobart steal a surprise victory in this C1 race?
Puma seem to have stolen a march on the other sprinters as Ciolek slingshots past Giaux. Richeze is also going strong on the right, tracked to an extent by Kupfernagel, Vantomme, Holloway, Kvist, Van Poppel and Napolitano.
In the middle are Hoffman, Nelson and Serebriakov, amongst the Swedbank riders. It is particularly impressive to see the likes of Kupfernagel, Nelson and Serebriakov still here, when similar riders have been dropped. Van Stayen meanwhile? Sat at the back of the group with not a care in the world, what is he doing?
But let's cut back to the finish line to see who is going to win!
Mancuso is surely closing the gap here, but the finish line is right there.
And here it is. Rob Partridge wins the Tour of South China Sea. A famous victory for the Eddie Stobart squad.
2nd remains a good result for likely promotion contenders for Bacardi Limited. They would not have expected that, especially after their sprinter got dropped.
At the 1 kilometre to go point, Steegmans has made his move for 3rd place.
And Richeze is really flying, looking by far the best sprinter. A shame he had no teammate left to chase, but at least Allianz do still have Hirt up ahead. Ciolek is really struggling, falling in behind Kupfernagel and Hoffman now. Kvist, Napolitano, Van Poppel, Holloway and Keough are coming through. But Vantomme has no speed at all.
Steegmans secures 3rd place. He will have hoped his move could have led to a victory, but the front two proved surprisingly hard to catch.
It is 4th and 5th for Heineken-Cal Giant with Tolleson ahead of Langeveld. Sosnitskiy could not quite beat his fresher rivals, but 6th is still great for him.
Hirt and Godet both found themselves caught by the sprinters in the closing stages, and it is Hirt's teammate Richeze who still leads the way, but the Argentinian is starting to fade.
And storming through is Holloway, and the American takes 7th.
You can hardly complain as a team with 4th, 5th and 7th - but Heineken must be rueing a missed opportunity of victory.
Richeze does still take 8th, while Napolitano is 9th, and Kvist holds off Hoffman for a Top 10. That 10th place is the least Swedbank deserve having been the only team even trying to chase at the end.
Houle is 12th, with Van Poppel 14th and Kupfernagel 15th. Fading from the breakaway, Hirt and Godet must settle for 13th and 16th respectively, just ahead of last year's CT star Nardin.
Not a good result for 3 of the big favourites today. Not only did the win elude them, but they failed to even contend for the minor placings. 21st for Ciolek and 24th for Vantomme, while a lazy Van Stayen is 39th. Kump and Docker are two others who just did not sprint at the end, when they could have been in contention for some decent points.
Hong Kong for 17 PCT and 6 CT squads. The flat finish will suit the sprinters, but hills on much of the race will keep things interesting. At only 136km, it won't be a long race.
