The Strada Appia Antica: Sam Bewley (2014) and Fabian Cancellara (2013) as the previous winners, both finishing as runner-up in the other year. So clearly a favorite race for two of the top favorites today.
An action packed first third of the race saw several riders trying - but failing - to go clear for the break of the day. A group of eight riders (Timofeev, Vichot, Hugentobler, Delaplace, Kinoshita, Paajanen, E Garcia and Aregger) established a two-minutes gap for a few moments, but was then quickly pulled back by teams like Red Bull, Azteca or Oz Cycling.
With some notable crosswinds (30kmh) on today's only climb, a group of 4 riders finally managed to stay clear:
Kruijswijk Vanendert Paajanen Isaychev
With less than 80km to go, seven more riders would then attack the peloton on the long descent towards the first cobbled sector on the Via Appia:
De Haes Breen Ringheim David Rojas Gil Kurth Rowe
With 69km left and the first cobbles reached, those seven lead by 1'45" on the pack - yet trailing by 2'33" on the first breakaway group..
50km left and the chasing group caught up to the leading group in the meantime. Paajanen as the first being dropped there.
The bunch is down to 47 riders with teams like Red Bull, Azteca, Oz and also Becherovka keeping the pace up for the chase..
And the gap is melting down to less than a minute with now 35km remaining. We see the first favorite on the move now:
Kristoff bridges across the leading group quickly, now joining two of his teammates with Ringheim and Kruijswijk! Quite a tactical play here from Aker!
Apparently too much of a danger for the big guns, as the peloton swallows the leading group with Kristoff quickly then!
The attacks go on though:
Blythe goes with 33km left, several riders try to follow!
A crucial move, it seems: 30km before finish, a new leading group of 11 riders is formed (Blythe couldn't break clear). Will those names fight for the Top-10?
+ 0.35 for the remaining contenders/bunch (43 riders)
Zepuntke then joining solo-chaser Nolf, but the duo is already 30" in arrears with now 27km left.
In the meantime, Teunissen got dropped from the leading group, that is down to 10 riders that way..
Gusev and Blythe are the next struggling to keep up with group Bewley/Burghardt! Blythe looked aggressive, but shows some weakness now.
16km to go and we see the first serious attack out of the leading group:
Cancellara!
The veteran established a 26"-gap quickly and so we see some more attacks in the group of top favorites:
Bewley, Summerhill, Franzoi, Burghardt and Senechal try to follow Spartacus!
Baugnies, Kristoff and Teunissen (who fought his way back) already half a minute behind now..
11km to go and Cancellara leading by 20 seconds on Bewley, who seems to drop Summerhill..
Burghardt, Senechal and Baugnies couldn't hang on with Bewley's acceleration and they are further 20" in arrears now!
This may be it for Burghardt's podium, but the German at least seems to drop Baugnies/Senechal on the penultimate cobbled sector with now about 7km to go:
Cancellara still leading solo, but this will be a thrilling battle for the victory. A few seconds behind group Baugnies, there's Franzoi and Teunissen, who recovered well from his earlier troubles.
Kristoff now losing ground and Blythe/Gusev may fight for the final Top-10 spot.. Zepuntke/Kamyshev, as well as Nolf, Kluge and Vanbilsen are another minute in arrears!
An indeed, it will be a thriller: Cancellara goes strong, but Bewley gains back second after second! The Kiwi catches up to Spartacus with less than 2km remaining!
Summerhill out of reach, now 31" behind.. but 42" ahead of Burghardt!
Burghardt indeed established a small gap on Baugnies/Senechal, who are now joined by Teunissen, Franzoi and Kristoff, who fights back his way to those chasers!
Blythe/Gusev anohter minute behind.. just a few seconds ahead of Zepuntke/Kamyshev..
And here goes the sprint for line honours: Cancellara obviously in the worse position, as he sees Bewley go past him with less than a kilometre to go..
Chanceless: Bewley keeps dominating the ProTour competition and repeats his victory from last year!
Cancellara again 2nd in Rome. A strong effort and he almost did it (again). Strada Appia = Bewley/Cancellara!
Summerhill completes the podium, which is obviously a great achievement.
Burghardt coming in solo as 4th. His best result in three years here. Not bad, not great either.
5th to 9th: Senechal, Kristoff, Baugnies, Teunissen and Franzoi
A strong comeback for both Kristoff and Teunissen, who both got dropped at some point. Franzoi a bit unlucky, as he looked strong in the crucial moments..
10th to 13th: Blythe, Gusev, Zepuntke, Kamyshev
14th to 15th: Nolf and Kluge
Vanbilsen and Sibilla also finished ahead of the first big group, where a few sprinters (Petit, L Rowe, Farrar) round up the Top-20!
Blythe surely with a rather disappointing result after attacking quite early. Also Nolf/Sibilla didn't have their best days..
