Lovely weather at the start in Praha for the 192 riders here! Wind is blowing at 35-50 km/h currently, which is not equally pleasant though. In the first part of the race the riders will have to face a mostly flat terrain, whilst in the second, they’ll actually get to ride through some tough cotes, not too far from the finish, which will hopefully favor the potential attackers.
Today’s escapees are Dal Col, Honkisz and Tatarinov. They attacked as soon as the race started, and the peloton let them go immediately. They hit their maximum advantage with 190 kilometers to go, when the GPS hits 10’40”.
The gap is halved with 90 kilometers to go. We are now entering a downhill section, which will last for about 15 kilometers, and will then lead the riders onto the first few serious slopes of the day.
When the pack hits the first difficult climb the gap is down to 3 minutes. Becherovka riders now get to the head in block. 50 kilometers to go.
An attack is launched by Ford and Viviani with 40 kilometers to go, when the riders are currently facing the steepest climb of the day.
Viviani can’t hang in and Ford goes for it alone.
His attempt won’t last much at all, as he gets caught when the riders reach the top of the climb. With less than 40 kilometers to go, the break still holds an edge of about 2 minutes over the peloton. No puncheurs have attacked yet, which is pretty odd, seeing the field.
Game over. Dal Col is the first to give up when his companions shortly revamp their tempo futilely. About 3 kilometers later Honkisz and Tatarinov are also forced to give in. 25 kilometers to go and Becherovka is still setting the pace.
The main bunch is currently made up of only 72 riders, partly because of the incredibly strong wind that is blowing on today’s stage. Among the riders who were dropped in the last kilometers, there are quite some interesting names, such as Napolitano, Nizzolo, Guardini, Van Avermaet, Mohs, Schreurs, Gautier, Flügel and Stauff.
The wind just hit its highest speed, touching 50 km/h. You can see that some riders are struggling to keep up with the rest of the pack, Swift most notably! Vesuvio might haven’t been informed about its leader’s difficulties, as they are pushing really hard in the front.
The group gets under the 5 kilometers to go banner. Swift is still in the last positions of the peloton. This may be really important for Vesuvio vs. Becherovka fight for the PT title.
Baugnies attacks and already holds an outstanding advantage on the group! 3.5 kilometers to go, the Belgian has some serious chances to make it!
Bewley and co. start their sprint! They will need a miracle comeback to overtake Baugnies though! There’s not much left to go for the Belgian powerhouse.
Holloway, Guarnieri and Van Stayen seem to be the best positioned to take a podium. Bewley is on another planet right now.
Bewley gets closer and closer to the rider in the head, yet the Belgian could still make it!
Behind, Van Stayen, Tzortzakis and Kristoff are fighting it out for the top 5 in the meantime.
The Kiwi is flying away to the finish line now that he surprisingly caught Baugnies! What a miracle sprint! It’s heartbreaking for the Belgian but he could still snatch an unexpected podium and delight his team manager at AMEX.
Meanwhile, it’s close between Holloway and Guarnieri for the 3rd - or even 2nd - place.
Nth win of the season for the Big Bastard Sam Bewley! He takes another 1st place with a disarming ease!
Baugnies will be glad to hear he managed a 2nd, after all! Guts pay off once in a while. Guarnieri is a narrow 3rd, defeating Holloway in the last few meters, after that the American looked stronger beforehand.
Tzortzakis sprints his way to 5th by quite a distance! Better race than expected for Festina.
Ignatiev is a good 6th, Kristoff will settle for 7th in front of Rowe, who makes it 2 in the top 8 for Good Energy. Venchi won’t be completely happy about Van Stayen’s 9th place. The Belgian ends up in front of Kristoff, who rounds off the top 10. Dzamastagic concludes his race in 11th.
