The first stage already has lots of difficulties and is everything but a pure sprinter stage. 3 KoM sprints and two of them including a longer Cat.3 on the last quarter.
Many sprinters might struggle here and hillier sprinters could take profit here, which is also interesting GC wise as one of todays favourites is Fernandez, who is expected to play a good role in the race overall. Also Machado, Golas, Iglinski and Lang belong to todays favourites while all other sprinters need to come over the hills first.
A group of 4 riders in the morning break. Good to see two African teams/riders in there. Surely African cycling did step up a lot in the last few years which is also shown by the increased numbers of African races on the calendar. Ochoa Hamza Klemme Kudus
Two sprinter teams try to control the gap. Bank of Ireland with top sprinter Drapac and Fletcher - Garneau for Vanderaerden.
In especially first though belongs to the category of track sprinters, that hates almost every climb. So you could consider him having a hard time today.
Rider on the ground! It`s one of Project: Africa. Tyler Day is also a decent sprinter and could do well here even though his team mate Rangel might be the faster one.
Good for him and the team that he is able to make it back not looking very injured.
Back to the front we see the first fight for the KoM jersey. Ochoa just outsprints young African stage race talent Kudus on the line.
No chance for the other two, where Hamza at least takes 2 points.
The sprint was a bit closer as all 4 were together. Klemme the fastest this time as he is the best sprinter in the group. Behind him Kudus and Ochoa.
38km to go and Team ASDA is coming to the front rows. Hard to believe that their work is for Meenhorst, who belongs to the weaker sprinters here. More likely they want to have a hard finish today for their GC riders Tiernan-Locke and Richardson. A gap of 2'30 is left.
Also we have lots of wind in todays region, which could cause problems to the later riders in the peloton.
Ochoa and Kudus prove to be the strongest climbers in the breakaway as the other two lose contact on the 2nd Cat.3 of the day. So it`s those two against the peloton most likely, which is ~2min behind. Also it`s all about the KoM jersey for the duo.
Slopes of up to 9% are too hard for many riders and we see a huge selection here. Not surprising that many sprinters struggle as well. Also pure climbers fall back. Riders having problems are:
But more riders like Vanderaerden are at the very end of the peloton as well.
On top of the climb we see shared roles this time. Kudus wants the KoM and takes the maximum points ahead of Ochoa. Shared lead now but one more KoM to come. Klemme 3rd this time as they still have a small lead over the peloton.
But for those two it`s over soon enough. With 20km they are caught by the peloton on the descent led by Fletcher as Vanderaerden still is in the peloton.
Another selection on the descent. And it`s hard to make it back with such a strong wind actually as the pace in front is very high.
Bad news though for Fletcher as Vanderaerden is one of the dropped guys.
Also being dropped: Kimeli Duenas Grau Caethoven Landa Rangel Haedo Day Hawkins Pierzga Infantino Selig
and surprisingly also Lang!
So who is left in the front group with a good sprint? Iglinski Fernandez Machado Golas are the obvious ones. But we also have 3 more sprinters, which are quite surprising actually: Andriato Saramotins Sutton
Last difficulty of the day is the short Cat.4 and it`s exactly the time where Grupo Nutresa catches the breakaway.
Beltran taking the 5 points here but Kudus at least comes over the line 2nd to take the KoM jersey tomorrow.
Rodriguez Galindo to take the last point as also Repsol is doing the pace now for Andriato/Machado.
More riders dropping backwards including the three fastest in Andriato Saramotins Sutton
And with a short moment of looking back if the team leader is dropped or not, one rider attacked. And it`s one of the top GC riders here in Kulhavy. Surely his Pro Tour experience helps him to recognize the situation faster than others.
But his attempt failed as he is caught after a 3km solo and with 3km to go the stage winner will be decided in a sprint.
No organization though and also the hillier sprinters are a bit too far behind actually and it`s mainly the puncheurs in the first rows with Rodriguez Galindo still leading out.
Behind him Kolobnev and Wyss.
Also Firsanov, Bugge, Montaguti, Valencia, Jumabekov, Machado, Walker, Lejman, Konte, Kulhavy, Passalacqua or Tiernan-Locke in a good position.
What a ride by Rodriguez Galindo. Still in front and actually opening a gap to the others.
Behind him two more Repsol riders! Quevedo and Machado with Kolobnev leading out Wyss and Firsanov.
Surprisingly Machado is the weakest of the 3 Repsol riders it seems as Wyss goes past him after leaving Kolobnev`s wheel. No more danger from behind and those 5 in front should bring the winner.
In the end it`s Wyss winning with more than one bike length. Huge win for him and what a season he has. Brilliant signing by Vontobel.
Behind him Kolobnev comes in 2nd ahead of Rodriguez Galindo.
Firsanov still able to pass Machado for 4th. Quevedo as 6th though being the third Repsol rider already but no stage win for them seems a bit too less actually.
Kulhavy with a strong 7th after his attack ahead of Tiernan-Locke, Lejman and Montaguti.
So todays stage was already a first test for the GC riders with the Swiss rider Marcel Wyss taking the lead being in the best position now. And with no pure sprinter in the group it`s not looking too bad for him to keep it until the final stage.
