Sunny weather and no wind awaits the 125 riders on the startline of Dutch Food Valley Classic. Will someone be able to snatch the victory from Ivano Lo Cicero?
The race organizers are waving their flag, and twelve riders immediately attack. They quickly gain a gap and are already three minutes in front of the peloton just 10 kilometers into the race. The riders in the break are:
Interesting tactics from Quickstep and Heineken - Cal Giant here, having one rider each present in the breakaway. Heineken choose to work in the peloton nonetheless, sharing the job with Meiji - Cannondale.
It's not long until the gap seems to have reached it's peak. As we reach the midway point, the gap is down to 4'00". Knowing his team mates are leading the chase behind, Robby Squire is doing absolutely nothing in the front group.
Daniel Ruiz is unlucky and hits the ground with 75 kilometers to go. Falling more than three minutes behind, the Spaniard will have a hard time coming back to the peloton.
The leaders head into the last third of the race. Meiji now has three riders working in front of the peloton, and the gap is quickly dropping below three minutes.
We can sense the final closing in on us as attacks now starts to occure in the peloton. It is Alexandr Nepmnyachsniy who surprisingly attacks 40 kilometers from the finish line!
Meanwhile, the gap to the break is now down to just one minute. Robby Squire has been sitting calm at the back of the group the whole day, saving power. Clearly tired of doing nothing, he now begins to move his legs!
Squire is quickly caught just as Nepmnyachsniy gets a glimpse of the riders in front of him. He has opened up a 30 seconds gap to the peloton, but is still a whole minute behind the break.
A solid effort by Nepmnyachsniy, but with 20 kilometers left it is all over. Still ahead are the twelve riders from the break. They have a 50 seconds lead.
Being twelve riders is clearly no disadvantage. The Meiji-lead peloton is struggling to close the gap and only manage to take five seconds on the next five kilometers. Can the break stay clear?
Another try from the Kazzinc team here, as Santambrogio now attacks out of the peloton!
Great effort from the Italian as he quickly bridges the gap to the front group just as Mohammad Saufi Mat Saman decides to try his luck! The front group has increased the gap to one minute as only 9 kilometers of racing are left. No trains are yet organized in the pack.
Mat Saman is looking strong here as he builds up a 20 seconds gap on his former breakaway companions.
Five kilometers to go, and nobody is willing to pace in the peloton. Surely one of the 13 ahead will win this. Mat Saman is 1'15" ahead of the pack!
Santambrogio is doing all the work in the chase group, but looks tired now as the gap up to the Malaysian exceeds 30 seconds.
The Italian is leading out the sprint. He has Louis Meintjes on his wheel, followed by Athanasiades, Yatsevich and Waeytens.
The Kazzinc rider is clearly the strongest of those five and is drifting away from Meintjens. Salinas is also going strong on the left and is catching up with Waeytens and Yatsevich.
Modolo is leading out Lo Cicero in the peloton, followed by Holloway and the other favorites. It is clearly however too late for them, as the chasing group is nearly a minute ahead when Mat Saman only has one kilometer to go.
As the riders pass under the flamme rouge, Santambrogio has started fading. Meintjes, Athanasiades and Salinas are all quicker and have managed to pass the Italian. Pawel Cieslik has also found a way through and is closing in on the front.
Nothing can be done with Mat Saman, though. With just a couple of hundred meters to go, he holds a 15 seconds gap on the closest contenders. Salinas is leading the fight for 2nd place.
Mohammad Saufi Mat Saman takes it! What a win for the Malaysian!
Santambrogio clearly saved some power towards the end as he comes in as the second rider ahead of Salinas who completes the podium. Cieslek follows at 4th, with Athanasiades, Petrus and Waeytens right behind him. Mannion, Yatsewitch and Squire round out the top 10.
Ivano Lo Cicero leads a shredded peloton over the line, followed by Ulanowski and Holloway.
