Clear skies and little wind so good conditions for the race today, hopefully we’ll see an exciting race between the sprinters and puncheurs.
Six riders attack immediately, there are several attempt to make it up to them but nobody makes it, they include Tratnik, Okbamariam, Shirota, Pellaud, Tatarinov and Naesen, they have 230 kilometres ahead of them.
30km left and the break has a 1 minute gap, inspiring Nuyens to chase, he does have a teammate in Tratnik in the lead group.
15km left and we are approaching the hills, Tratnik and Tatarinov have both been dropped and caught as well as Nuyens, while the remaining four have 40 seconds on the bunch.
10km off and just the harder hill to go, Summerhill attempted but failed to get away which led to Okbamariam being caught, Naesen also got away from his companions on the climb leaving him with a 7 second gap on Shirota and Pellaud.
7.5km left as the break tops the final hill, Pellaud dropped Shirota to catch Naesen, Puma – SAP and Evonik control the peloton and not many riders have been inspired to attack.
The peloton has split over the climb, Drapac, Vanoverschelde, Docker, Bennett, Nizzolo, Castañeda, Kip, Keukeleire, Appollonio, Awang are amongst the riders behind.
5km left for the peloton, while the duo up front still have a 20 second lead. The lead-outs in the bunch are a bit of a mess, Boonen and Ingels lead the bunch, Nelson follows Ingels, with the Puma – SAP train ( Bar – Lander – Demare – Ciolek) following Boonen, with Van der Sande and Van Heerden behind them, Del Nero leads Modolo on the right side of the road, Cavendish, Impey and Groenewegen are all up there as well.
4km left and Baugnies has attacked right past the break! This strings the peloton out as Bar chases, Breschel has taken advantage of this to follow his wheel, well-positioned for a sprint or attack should his teammate be caught, Boonen, Nelson and Modolo all sort themselves out behind him, before Demare, Ciolek and Cavendish. On the right side of the road the Eritel train comes through, led by Ayoune ahead of Van der Sande and Van Heerden.
2 kilometres remaning as Baugnies still has a small lead, but the Eritel train comes through! Ayoune pulls off for Van der Sande with Van Heerden tucked in behind him. Groenewegen now finds himself perfectly placed third in the bunch, except for Ciolek on his wheel. Demare and Vantomme contest Ciolek’s slipstream while Stallaert, Nelson, Cavendish, Boonen, Impey and Avelino all following them!
1.5 kilometres left, Baugnies couldn’t survive and now Van der Sande leads as Van Heerden begins to launch from his wheel! Groenewegen follows, there’s a small gap to Ciolek, Vantomme, Nelson and Boonen who are all in a line with Cavendish behind, after that another gap to Stallaert, Impey and Avelino, who look out of it.
Groenewegen leads under the flamme rouge! He’s passing both Van der Sande and Van Heerden, who looks to have launched his sprint too early! Nelson and Vantomme are trying to get back into it just behind them, with Boonen trying to hang onto Nelson’s wheel, while Cavendish follows Boonen, Ciolek has fallen back along Cavendish and both Impey and Stallaert are coming back behind them.
500 metres to go and Groenewegen still has a large gap! Van Heerden is still in second but can’t seem to hold it and is fighting for a podium finish now, with Nelson leading Vantomme to take his place! Impey and Cavendish are both fighting for positions on their wheels! While Bar and Breschel are surprisingly moving forward very quickly!
And Groenewegen wins by a huge margin! He has few bike lengths to anybody else there! The fight for minor places is closer, Breschel pulled out an amazing sprint for second, right on the line while Van Heerden held third. Bar somewhat makes up for Ciolek’s weak performance by finishing fourth, ahead of Nelson, who looked to have a podium spot in the bag. Vantomme holds off Impey and Cavendish for sixth, while Van der Sande and Del Nero pip Boonen, Ciolek and Stallaert for the final top ten positions.
A great win from Dylan Groenewegen for Aegon – Lavazza today. A great performance from the young rider.
