The Italian NCs provide it's spectators a high-quality field with 86 riders from 24 different teams.
Opposing to last year's hilly route, the managers voted for a flat profile this year: will defending champion Ulissi (Bacardi) still stand a chance?
Given the presence of some of the world's best sprinters, his chances look slim: Guarnieri and Ponzi lead two Good Energy-lineups and aim to bring that jersey home.
Meiji brought a double-headed monster with Lo Cicero and Napolitano, while also Venchi may fancy their chances with Corioni at the start.
Pozzato (Volkswagen), also Ulissi (Bacardi), Gasparotto (Kappa) or Guardini (Rothaus) can be real threats, too..
5 riders went clear in the first half of the race and it's quite an interesting break of the day with two Good Energy-riders in it:
Failli (Kappa)
Battaglin (Good)
Villella (Rothaus)
Pirazzi (Mobil)
Dal Col (Good)
Will this influence the peloton's behaviour in a way? Good Energy features the two strongest lineups here..
Fortunatelly (from the neutral point of view), the bunch still looks set to chase down those five today. 30km to go and the gap is down to 1'30" with - funny enough - Good Energy and also Meiji working in the chase.
Mid-stage attacks!
Brambilla (1t4i), Cucinotta (Kappa), Rocchetti (Karcher) and Sestili (Venchi) try to escape!
They are pulled back quickly, but the action goes on just three kilometres later:
Rocchetti and Brambilla try to launch their second move, accompanied by Sella (Volkswagen) and Traficante (Metinvest)!
Those moves all kept the pace back in the peloton at a high pace and all those mid-stage attackers are swallowed by the chasing bunch a few kilometres later.
10km to go now and also the early breakaway is soon to be caught..
..except of Villella, who goes for a late solo-attempt, leading by 40" at this point!
Obviously, Good Energy and Meiji kept pacing with no more rider in a leading group.. Villella's advantage is down to 16" as we enter the final lap (5km remaining).
Pozzato (Volkswagen) doesn't want to wait for the expected bunch sprint and gives it a late go now!
No chance, he can't open up a gap and is pulled back quickly. Just like Villella, who put up a huge but empty-handed fight.
3km to go and unsuprisingly Meiji and Good Energy are setting up two trains with a few more riders hanging on:
Modolo
Napolitano
Pavarin
Lo Cicero
Pozzato
Moser
Corioni
Ponzi
Guarnieri
Villella
Cucinotta
Gasparotto
Guardini
Oss
Chicchi
Napo/Cicero entering the final 2km with an advantage gained on Good Energy's train! So good work from Modolo... Corioni right behind Cicero..
Behind Ponzi/Guarnieri it's still almost the same picture, except of Pozzato going aheaf of Guardini and also Gatto (Kappa) joining the train..
The two final corners and Napo releases Lo Cicero! Corioni also trying to go on his own now, while Ponzi and Guarnieri moved forward to catch up to this trio!
There's a notable gap behind those five, so all remaining contenders seem to be out of reach for the title!
A few hundred metres before finish, Lo Cicero sprints for a nice advantage, while his final leadout Napolitano goes down with a nasty crash! Surely this car didn't exactly had to be there..
Ponzi/Guarnieri and Corioni head-to-head, but struggling to keep up with Cicero..
..who indeed sprints to a comfortable win: Lo Cicero finishes off a great leadout from Modolo and Napolitano, who concludes his season with an injury!
Ponzi outsprinted teammate Guarnieri to finish 2nd, while Corioni has to settle for a 4th place ahead of a strong finishing Gasparotto. Pozzato as 9th may regret attacking in this final lap..
Opposing to the road race, the TT-competition ain't exactly top notch: Malori as the clear favorite and Good Energy's big hope to grab a NC shirt.
Nibali (Swisscom) took the TT-title last year, where he fooled Malori by just 3 seconds! Viviani (Simply), Ascani (Venchi), Balloni (Karcher) and some more names can be threats, too.
Last year's 4th in the TT, Sestili (Venchi), has an early start and his best time could be the time to beat here:
1h06'56"
Most other serious contenders start late today, so we will focus on the half-time split with those names passing this second split now..
Cattaneo takes the provisional half-time lead by 16" on Sestili, also beating the likes of Traficante (6 seconds) or Pozzovivo (7 seconds) at this point!
Venchi with another contender: Ascani looks strong at the split, crushing Cattaneo by 31" here!
Will Nibali repeat last year's huge ride? Well, he's at least amongst the very best so far:
+ 1" on Ascani and 14" faster than Balloni, who went past Cattaneo as well!
Viviani as next in line. He missed out on last year's win by half a minute and will surely aim higher this time:
+ 22" on Ascani though! Ain't looking too promising...
Speaking of aiming high - for Malori it's all about claiming the timetrial title this year! He's going strong in the first half:
14" ahead of Ascani!
So we may focus on this trio, which appears to be the strongest riders today..
Looking at the last split now..
Ascani continues to crush the earlier competition and is already 49" faster than Cattaneo was with now just 10km to go!
Nibali performing on the very same level, as he crosses the final split with the same time (though less than a second faster)!
Here comes the last on the road.. Malori with another gain on Nibali/Ascani, now 25" ahead of the duo!
Only a miracle will stop him from claiming the title..
..and that won't happen: while Nibali beats Ascani by just one second eventually, Malori kept pacing..
..to take out the ITT by 33" on Nibali and 34" on Ascani! A strong performance, beating someone like Viviani (5th) by more than a minute. Well done.
Italian NCs provide it's spectators a high-quality field with 86 riders from 24 different teams.
