Welcome to Chartres, a very logical startplace for Paris-Tours. The riders have almost 234km ahead of them. Luckily for them the weather is nice and although there's some wind, it shouldn't be too harmful.
Despite the long distance ahead of them we have our first attackers quite soon. Declercq and Godet manage to get a gap together.
Their lead soon exceeds the two minute mark, and it becomes apparent these two riders will colour the race for the first part today.
Not much happens in the first kilometers. The only thing worth mentioning of the first 50km is that it has rained for a few minutes. The chase is lead by Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling, Kazzinc Procycling, Venchi - Ferranti and Meiji - Cannondale. They let the lead build up to over 8 minutes.
However, with 100km to go they have brought it back down again to just under 6 minutes. Also worth noting is the return of the rain. Maybe that will impact the race, as the last bend is sharp and probably at a high pace.
With 60km to go we see a familiar face in the chase. For some reason Venchi - Ferranti has not chosen Van Stayen as leader today, but rather Corioni or Van Avermaet. Van Stayen must have an off-day today.
With 48km to go and the break being 2m48 ahead we see attacks from the pack! Steurs and Aussie champ Sulzberger are setting off. They don't get very far, but at least we see something happening again.
With 35km to go and the break 2m ahead we see new attacks. Meersman, Van Poppel and again Sulzberger are on the attack, and actually manage to hold on for longer than 50 meters.
The front duo is not caught yet with 25km left to ride though. This gives the following situation:
Leaders
+0:48 Three chasers
+1:07 Pack, still complete
Unsurprisingly the chase is caught with 23km to go. This does lead to chaos in the pack though.
The pack reorganizes quickly, but with 20km to go the lead for the break has grown slightly, to 1m18.
With 17km to go we get a new attack: Oelerich is the new attacker.
With 12km to go the break is almost caught. Oelerich has already been caught, and Godet now goes for a solo attempt.
On the first of two hills in the finale we see a new attack! This time it's Thomas who goes. Surely he has to feel good today.
Godet holds a 40s lead with 10km to go though.
In the pack all sprinters have gathered in front now. Thomas and Godet are still ahead though.
With 7.5km to go Thomas catches Godet, but the lead is very small. Nevertheless, with all hills passed the situation seems good for Thomas.
In the descent his adventure ends though, and so it seems like we're heading for a mass sprint today.
In the back a big split occurs. Van Avermaet is probably the biggest name in there.
Venchi - Ferranti sets up a sprint 'train' with 5km to go for Corioni, which is followed by Nepomnyachsiy and Goss. Meiji - Cannondale is also busy setting up a train though.
With 3km to go we have the following situation in front:
Dockx
Corioni
Arashiro
Nepomnyachsiy
Napolitano
Goss
Lo Cicero
Castañeda
Cavendish
Vantomme
Vanderbiest
Ciolek
Hoffman
Grillo
Haussler
The Meiji - Cannondale train takes over very soon, and Arashiro sets a very high pace.
Whether it's tactics or weakness we don't know, but Lo Cicero leaves a gap behind Napolitano, who now has nobody behind him. Meanwhile Corioni launches from the other train, way too early probably.
Napolitano launches early as well, with 2km left. He does have a very large lead though. Corioni also managed to distance the other sprinters.
The other sprinters realize it's time to go now. Ciolek and Grillo set an exceptional pace of over 80kph!
It doesn't hold Napolitano from still leading with 1km to go though.
Grillo soon overtakes Ciolek and Nepomnyachsiy, heading for 2nd place. Napolitano has become a realistic target too.
Ciolek seems to fade a little, and it seems like it will be a battle between Grillo and Napolitano.
Grillo seems to get closer, but the line is coming closer too. Napolitano probably won't lose this.
With Ciolek still 3rd, the battle for 4th seems closest. On the outside Cavendish and Hoffman both seem strong.
But nothing stopped Napolitano from winning today. Meiji - Cannondale used some perfect tactics for the sprint today, and it paid off very well. Grillo comes 2nd.
Ciolek, Hoffman and Cavendish complete the top-5.
Nepomnyachsiy, Goss, Vantomme and Corioni come 6th to 9th.
