Hello and welcome to the Empingham for the start of the East Midland Circle Classic, the UK's version of the Hell of the North. Luckily, the weather is not very British and sunny skies are expected all day and not a spot of rain is in the forecast.



A group of 4 riders formed the day's break away. Attacking early, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Dan McLay, Richard Laningo Laizer and Egoitz Garcia were the quartet allowed to go up the road, with 25 sections of cobbles lying ahead.


Puma, Pendleton's and Becherovka set themselves up on the front of the peleton, setting a steady pace over the opening 50km of the race.



First section of cobbles and Dan McLay has a puncture! His fellow escapee riders sit up and wait for him, and soon he was back with them setting the pace at the front.



The break's lead peaked at 7'32" before Evonik and Becherovka began to up the pace of the peleton. The cobbles were being their usual selective self, and one man struggling was Stijn Vandenburgh.

Off camera, the Kenya - Dimension Data rider is brought down in a crash, and was very slow getting back to his feet. I don't think he will be contesting the victory today.



50km to go, and the gap to the peleton was down to around 1'00 for the break. With 10 more pave sections to go, it will be difficult for them to stay away.



Two cobbles sections later and the break is caught! Becherovka drilled hard on the front to bring them back, and it was inevitable really.



It would be Bewley's domestiques who continued to press on after the catch, with all the favourites sat in their wake behind. A lot of riders were very attentive to any gaps over the cobbles.



With all the domestiques used up and 20km to go, it was down to Bewley to force the pace. All the other favourites did not want to commit here, and the Becherovka rider was happy to take up the duties.



ATTACK VAN AVERMAET! The Evonik rider is bored of the pace set by Bewley and the lack of animation from the others, so he put in his own acceleration. Bewley is able to easy follow, whilst the others looks at each other to close the gap.



ATTACK BEWLEY! Van Avermaet slows his pace after his attack, and Bewley comes around him and goes again! With 15km to go, it is really kicking off now!



Behind the 2 attackers, a group fo 8 favourites had formed and finally there was a some cooperation in trying to bring them back.



Behind them, Trentin and Daniel were amongst the riders to miss the split and were chasing hard to make up for the lost group. Sadly, it all looked a bit too late.



10km to go, and it was all back together off the front. Attacks neutralised and the 10 riders were looking at each other to who would go next.



ATTACK BEWLEY! The Kiwi rider goes again! Seriously, how strong is this guy? Van Avermaet goes with him again, and his time Burghardt give them an extra pair of legs to push the pace.



Amazing ride from Summerhill brings everything back together approaching the flamme rouge. The Azteca rider has been quiet all day, keeping himself hidden, yet following all the right moves.



A bunch sprint was imminent, and Bewley was the first to kick for the home. He did the same at Omloop Het Niewsblad, where he led from the front and left everyone in his wake...



And he does it again!! I said it before, and I will say it again! How strong is Bewley! Another cobbles win, taking in spectacular fashion! The podium places are wide open though, and the sprint was on!



Van Avermaet (hidden by the finish line banner) takes 2nd, whilst a fine sprint from Summerhill gives him 3rd. Blythe squeezes out Burghardt for 4th, with Vanspeybrouck pips Senechal to 5th.

Nolf and Vanmarcke faded in the sprint for 8th and 9th respectively,but not as much as Kamyshev, who just holds of a fast approaching Trentin for 10th.

It was a brutal race for some riders, with 61 finishing outside of the time limit. One of those was Vandenburgh, who looked in serious pain when he eventually cross the line.

1	Sam Bewley	Becherovka - Petrof	4h57'23
2	Greg Van Avermaet	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
3	Danny Summerhill	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
4	Adam Blythe	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
5	Marcus Burghardt	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
6	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
7	Florian Senechal	Pendleton's	s.t.
8	Frederik Nolf	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
9	Sep Vanmarcke	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
10	Arman Kamyshev	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
11	Matteo Trentin	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
12	Maxime Daniel	Team Puma - SAP	+ 1'22
13	Joeri Stallaert	BPost-Vlaanderen	+ 2'09
14	Marcos Altur	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
15	Niels Albert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
16	Tom Veelers	Gazelle	s.t.
17	Lars Boom	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
18	Vladimir Gusev	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
19	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Aker - MOT	s.t.
20	Ramon Sinkeldam	eBuddy	s.t.
21	Yoeri Havik	eBuddy	+ 3'38
22	Vegard Breen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
23	Azzeddine Lagab	Eritel - Sonatrach	s.t.
24	Remco Broers	eBuddy	s.t.
25	Jan Polanc	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
26	Cristian Cominelli	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
27	Salfo Bikienga	Eritel - Sonatrach	s.t.
28	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
29	Andzs Flaksis	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
30	Alexey Tsatevich	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
31	Tom David	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
32	Lukasz Wisniowski	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
33	Andrew Fenn	Pendleton's	s.t.
34	Alexander Sulimov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
35	Yves Lampaert	eBuddy	s.t.
36	Sascha Weber	Team Puma - SAP	+ 5'39
37	Karel Hnik	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
38	Tom Leezer	eBuddy	s.t.
39	Sven Nooytens	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
40	Tim Declerq	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
41	Vincent Jérôme	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
42	Dan McLay	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
43	Oumaru Minoungou	Pendleton's	s.t.
44	Bob Schoonbroodt	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
45	Mekseb Debesay	Eritel - Sonatrach	s.t.
46	Paul Ariko	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
47	Olli Kulppi	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
48	Eugert Zhupa	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
49	Gediminas Bagdonas	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
50	Daniel Ruiz	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
51	Michael Boroš	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
52	Arnaud Grand	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
53	Dadley Corwin	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
54	Salvatore Puccio	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
55	Matvey Zubov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
56	Philipp Walsleben	eBuddy	s.t.
57	Jiri Polnicky	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
58	Pit Schlechter	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
59	Evert Verbist	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
60	Lahcen Saber	Jayco'z Cycling Project	+ 6'57
61	Gianni Meersman	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
62	Samuel Coronel	Azteca - NBCSN	+ 8'44
63	Eric Young	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
64	Chequan Richardson	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
65	Sebastian Lander	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
66	Zdenek Stybar	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
67	Kevin Fouquet	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
68	Conor Dunne	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
69	Isaac Bolivar	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
70	Geert Steurs	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
71	Nur Amirul Marzuki	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
72	Tesfom Okbamariam	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
73	Øystein Stake Laengen	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
74	German Anibal Orue	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
75	Richard Laningo Laizer	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
76	Tesfay Abraha	Pendleton's	s.t.
77	Welle Jallays	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
78	Floris Gerts	eBuddy	s.t.
79	Egoitz Garcia	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
80	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Aker - MOT	+ 10'22
81	Timothy Vangheel	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 11'17
82	Ramon Domene	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
83	Nejc Kosic	Team I-Gen - Festina	+ 13'26
84	Johann van Zyl	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
85	Chun Kai Feng	Jayco'z Cycling Project	+ 14'10
86	Jesus Del Nero	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
87	Jonas Vangenechten	Gazelle	s.t.
88	Ricardo Van der Velde	eBuddy	s.t.
89	Jasper Bovenhuis	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
90	Hillary Kiprotich	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	+ 14'41
91	George Atkins	Pokerstars.com	+ 16'45
92	Mauricio Sanz	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
93	Marcel Sieberg	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
94	Jan Oelerich	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
95	Jon Ander Insausti	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
96	Komi Dossouvi	Eritel - Sonatrach	s.t.
97	Ahmad Arissol	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
98	Patrick Naud	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
99	Francis De Greef	Gazelle	s.t.
100	Alexander Rybakov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
101	Vegard Robinson Bugge	Aker - MOT	s.t.
102	Metkel Kiflay	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
103	Thomas De Gendt	Gazelle	s.t.
104	Charalampas Kastrantas	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
105	Daniel Eaton	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
106	Kristof Vandewalle	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
107	Kristof Goddaert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
108	Roger Kluge	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
109	Ben Curfs	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
110	Sergiy Lagkuti	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
111	Samuel Ssabagwanya	Eritel - Sonatrach	+ 19'53
112	Davide Villella	Aegon - Lavazza	+ 21'08
113	Steve Fisher	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 22'21
114	Francisco Javier Echarri	Pokerstars.com	+ 24'02
115	Robbie Squire	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
116	Ilnur Zakarin	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
117	Jesper Hansen	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
118	Nawuti Liphongyu	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 26'12
119	Victor Campenaerts	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
120	Wouter Wippert	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
121	Arthur Vichot	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
122	Dmitri Medvedev	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
123	Jörgen Matt	Bouygues Telecom	+ 26'56
124	Truls Engen Korsaeth	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
125	Jakub Danacik	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
	Muhamma Afif Ahmad Zamri	Aegon - Lavazza	Withdrawl
	Florian Scheit	Aegon - Lavazza	Withdrawl
	Maximillian Schachmann	Aegon - Lavazza	Withdrawl
	Sindre Skjøstad Lunke	Aker - MOT	Withdrawl
	Andreas Vangstad	Aker - MOT	Withdrawl
	Lorents Ola Aasvold	Aker - MOT	Withdrawl
	Sigurd Nesset	Aker - MOT	Withdrawl
	Johan Esteban Chaves	Azteca - NBCSN	Withdrawl
	Eduard Alexander Beltran	Azteca - NBCSN	Withdrawl
	Hersony Canelon	Azteca - NBCSN	Withdrawl
	Theo Bos	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Joe Hicks	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Gavin Mannion	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	João Gaspar	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Patrick Olesen	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Simone Petilli	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Dylan Teuns	Bouygues Telecom	Withdrawl
	Juan Pablo Wilches	Control Team	Withdrawl
	Denis Kostyuk	Control Team	Withdrawl
	Micael Isidoro	Control Team	Withdrawl
	Similo Nyoni	Eritel - Sonatrach	Withdrawl
	Amenuel Gebrezgabihier	Eritel - Sonatrach	Withdrawl
	Herizo Abriamihajanarivo	Eritel - Sonatrach	Withdrawl
	Roman Senyenov	Gazelle	Withdrawl
	Andrea Zordan	Gazelle	Withdrawl
	Willie Smit	Grieg - Eftel	Withdrawl
	Kristoffer Skjerping	Grieg - Eftel	Withdrawl
	Michael Vink	Grieg - Eftel	Withdrawl
	Nathan Haas	Jayco'z Cycling Project	Withdrawl
	Adam Phelan	Jayco'z Cycling Project	Withdrawl
	Thimothy Roe	Jayco'z Cycling Project	Withdrawl
	Stijn Vandenburgh	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	Withdrawl
	Simon Kimeli	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	Withdrawl
	Estifanos Kebede	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	Withdrawl
	Konstantin Klimiankou	Metinvest-Dacia	Withdrawl
	Oleksandr Golovash	Metinvest-Dacia	Withdrawl
	Nicolae Tanovitchii	Metinvest-Dacia	Withdrawl
	Chad Haga	Movistar - US Postal	Withdrawl
	Jorge Abreu	Movistar - US Postal	Withdrawl
	Serafin José Blanco	Movistar - US Postal	Withdrawl
	Thomas Lebas	Orange - KLM Cycling	Withdrawl
	Michael Valgren Andersen	Orange - KLM Cycling	Withdrawl
	Jaroslaw Marycz	Pendleton's	Withdrawl
	Yves Ngock Ngue	Pendleton's	Withdrawl
	Thomas Bonnin	RBC Pro Cycling	Withdrawl
	Nathan Brown	RBC Pro Cycling	Withdrawl
	Antonie Duchesne	RBC Pro Cycling	Withdrawl
	Libin Chen	Red Bull - Huawei	Withdrawl
	Luca Sterbini	Red Bull - Huawei	Withdrawl
	Andreas Hofer	Team I-Gen - Festina	Withdrawl
	Markus Eibegger	Team I-Gen - Festina	Withdrawl
	Pavel Potocki	Team I-Gen - Festina	Withdrawl
	Christian Mager	Team Puma - SAP	Withdrawl
	Victor Shishelov	Team Puma - SAP	Withdrawl
	Ivan Rovny	Tinkoff Sport Academy	Withdrawl
	Evgeny Shalunov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	Withdrawl
	Bob Jungels	Vesuvio - Accumalux	Withdrawl
	Richie Porte	Vesuvio - Accumalux	Withdrawl
	Ever Rivera	Vesuvio - Accumalux	Withdrawl
	Maciej Paterski	Vesuvio - Accumalux	Withdrawl
	Gilles Heymes	Vesuvio - Accumalux	Withdrawl