GP Plouay is an interesting race. It is usually won by a strong sprinter, but with the rolling hills of France on the road ahead, nothing is certain. On this gloomy day, we're only a few hours away from changing the mood of one team.
After about 15 km of attacks being quickly reeled in, a large breakaway of 11 riders managed to break the elastic with the peloton. They are:
Blot Slagter Dieteren Jensen Gavenda Bratashcuk Mojoric Ferrari Schuler Bennett Khviyuzau
The breakaway are lurking around 6 minutes, and the peloton seems ok with it. Venchi and Karcher are the ones doing the pace making.
The meters left are ticking down, with the gap just above 2 minutes. They are still working well, but the peloton is stronger.
A split has formed at the back, shedding several sprinters from the bunch including:
Gatto Gavazzi Rizza Hutarovich Sinner
After a few kilometers of tough chasing, the large group manages to claw their way back to the rear of the group, but there is no measure of how much energy was wasted in the effort.
Back up front, the communion is finally ending in the break. Every hundred meters different attackers go off, but all get nowhere.
An likewise in the peloton, with Tomas Vaitkus launching the first serious attack!
It's clear that he is marked, and Quickstep move to the front to put a stop to it. He has about a 20 seconds gap, with 1:47 up to the breakaway. 20 km left.
They catch him easily, and the peloton has made up a lot of ground to the front as well, as we near the final section of climbing.
But the lull does not last long, as Bellis puts in a dig 1 km from the last ascent!
He makes his way into the break and moves to the front o pull. The gap is under a minute, but there isn't much road left.
Quickstep want it back, and have brought big guns Froome and Baugnies to the front, completely stretching the peloton across the thin, dirt road.
Bellis makes another move, dropping the entire break over the 10% gradient. They are quickly swooped up by the peloton as he powers on!
He has 45 seconds over the top and all of a sudden, it's looking as though he could make it! The pack is still putting the pressure on, but it is completely unorganized. Even at 5 km to go, there are no sprint trains or even sprinters near the front.
And Bellis is gaining. Just over 1 km to go and it seems the peloton let this one slip through their fingers!
And Jonathan Bellis wins GP Plouay for RBC Pro Cycling! The punchers end up getting the last laugh this year!
The sprint opens up behind, still with absolutely no organization by the favorites of the race. Their lack of control really lost them the race today. By all accounts, none of the important sprinters were dropped at any point. They just didn't take advantage of this, and one team couldn't take control.
It's in fact George Bennett, a breakaway rider, who takes the lead in the final straight, followed by a few Quickstep riders and other relayers from different teams. Only Haussler from the pre race favorites is in the mix, and it's Van Avermaet, not Van Stayen.
Instead, the gigantic pre race favorite doesn't even sprint. He would finish 40th, midway through the pack.
Somehow it's Bennett that opens up a small gap after they wind up. De Maar and Rabon are coming up on the left as riders fade towards the right of the road.
Bennett claims 2nd, De Maar 3rd and Rabon 4th. All very good, and surprising results for the riders.
La Vie Claire puts Gautier and Haussler 5th and 6th. Not the top result they wanted, but pretty successful considering how the other favorites did.
Baugnies, Van Avermaet, Gasparotto and Vastaranta round out the top 10.
