The best climber in the group is Hasnaoui, but this group of riders contain no strong enough climbers that should threaten the peleton, especially with the firepower that ONCE posses.
ONCE is not the only team working at the front Bonsucro, Siam and Euskaltel are prominent at the front helping to maintain steady pace. With 80km to the finish the gap stands at 4'33.
The up and down terrain makes for a tough ride as we near the main climb, this means some riders are already spending too much energy and find themselves at the back. It will be a tough day for them. Among these riders find themselves three quite decent climbers:
Rosa Gallego Rusli
With 75km to go we see a very tactical move. An attack by Wu. A very decent climber, but more importantly from a team including joint favoruite for the race, Rodrigues.
Wu is able to join the breakaway with no problem at 60km to go mark. Their gap being 3'23". Very controlled, but with having the best climber in the break, more pressure is put on ONCE.
As the slopes rise we are about to begin the monster of a climb. And almost straightaway we have an attack by the in-form rider, Kulhavy!
Rodriguez, Saggiorato, Rodrigues and Moreno counter!
None of them succeed being brought back almost immediately by who are incredibly strong, all 7 riders at the front of the peleton with 4 working directly on the front for Txurruka (Losada, Melo, Rodriguez and Soto Pereira). Only Kulhavy has managed to create a small gap however he is fading.
We are around 10km from the top and the gap between the remains of the break lead by Wu is around 1'30"which can easily be brought back with such long climb to go.
Ardila is the next rider on the attack!
And he manages to open a gap others failed to do so! Kulhavy is doing his best to follow with last remains of his energy, but is just not closing the gap.
Meanwhile oblivious to what's going behind them Wu is powering on starting to slowly drop other riders in the break. If he manages to hold off the big favoruites and be first one to cross the summit, downhilling to finish alone could prove a massive advantage!
6km of the climb to go and we are hitting the steepest 20% sections! Ardila almost closed down the gap to the break, while maintaining a 50 seconds gap over the peleton. All the big boys are present on the front, with Txuruka, with Arroyo and for Rodrigues.
4km left and Ardila catches up to Wu and powers on. Wu will have to do his best to stay on. Fahnert is bravely clinging on, but can he do so for another 4km?
In the distance Villegas and Castano are pushing the pace. Only 33 riders left in the main group with the biggest favoruites there. However few team leaders miss out:
Herklotz Ebsen Rajala
And previously named Rosa Rusli.
The gap between the leaders and ONCE lead peleton is clocked at only 40 seconds.
Few metres later we get what the fans wanted from the start! The big battle between the two riders here: Rodrigues and Arroyo push on leaving his team-mates behind!
This move splits the entire field completely! Details who is present and missed the move in few seconds. But it looks like the whole team have missed the key move. It will be hard for them to catch up to the leaders now, but they have got strengths in number at least.
1km left of the climb and amazingly Ardila and Wu are still maintaining 40 seconds gap working very well together. Behind smaller groups are forming, meanwhile Arroyo seems to be dropping Rodrigues!
He does indeed and instantly creates a 20 second gap over Rodrigues. However he's still 35 seconds off the pace of the leading duo. With downhill soon to come will he be able to catch them?
As the situation gets clearer, we have the list of full names and gaps:
E1/
Ardila Wu
E2/ at 0.35
Arroyo
E3/ at 1.00
Txurruka Rojas Vilegas Rodrigues
E4/ at 1.20
Raisin Camargo Castano
E5/ at 1.42
Moreno
E6/ at 2.10 Euskaltel led peleton containing 20 riders.
The duo crest the finish. 28km to go! The lead over Arroyo getting smaller, just 25 seconds, but with Arroyo not known for his descending skills. Will he able to close the gap?
As the descent begins we also have the news about riders present in the main chasing group:
While most gaps maintain mid-way through the downhill. Moreno has managed to catch and fly past the E4 group with Raisin Camargo Castano
.
20km to go and while Arroyo can see the leading duo, there is still 20 seconds between them! Can he catch them, and if so will he have enough energy to win it?
It doesn't look like it! 5km left and we are on flat part all the way to the finish line and the gap even grows out to 24 seconds! It looks like it will be a sprint finish between Ardila and Wu unless something extraordinary happens!
Meanwhile Euskaltel team is giving their all! All 5 riders, even their leader Ferndandez have worked on the front. They have been the only team to work in this group since the downhill started! It might pay off though as Raisin Camargo Castano are about to be caught and Moreno is not far too!
The question is can they also catch E3 group with Txurrka, Rodrigues and Vilegas! The gap to to these three from the main pack is only 50 seconds and with 5km to go it might be close!
With 1.5km to go it's clear Arroyo will not catch the duo. The two are starting to play catch and mouse, but it looks Ardila will lead out the sprint!
The cameras focus on the two, most brave today and concerning Ardila maybe even strongest? He held off Arroyo charge on the climb maintain a solid gap with some help from Wu. This will be a well deserved win for either of them.
500 metres to go and Ardila opens the sprint! This will be the matter of who has most energy left!
50 metres to go and it's neck and neck! Nothing to separate them, Wu is slowly coming from behind but the finish line is within a touch! Can he overtake Ardila?
Yes he can! He timed it to perfection and gets a great tactical win seeing Rodrigues wasn't at his best today!
Arroyo crosses the line in third place...just. He might have expected more, but this was a great effort and is rewarded with a podium place. Txurruka wins the sprint ahead of Villegas and Rodrigues. The two main favoruites didn't fight for win as was expected, but both Siam and ONCE scored very well and should be happy.
The main pack almost caught the Rodrigues group, but it wasn't enough. Very unfortunately Euskatel riders were positioned all wrong and looks like Fernandez won't be winning the group sprint which they really deserved after so much work..
Feillu wins the sprint for 7th, which compensates Raisin being caught by this pack. Saggiorato, Rodriguez and Diniz complete the Top 10. Good day for Azteca with two in Top 10. But also for who place four riders in Top 16!
Transfagarasan GP
