Sunny day in Denmark for one of the most important cobbled classic for PCT teams. The weather conditions are nearly perfect, as there’s no wind.
In the first kms we have a big fight to enter the BotD, but at the end only 4 riders were able to make it
Esmaeli Yechezkel Würtz Bazzana
The bunch is already in the first cobbled section of the day, with only has 11 km of lenght. This section should reduce the group a lot, although with 125 km still to do, not a lot of teams would like the race to “start” now. The breakaway has a 5-minute gap as it stands
After only one cobbled section - but yes, 11 km of cobbles - the group has been reduced to only 90 riders. Orange, Generali and Podium Ambition are the teams working in the front to both make the race hard and to catch the breakaway, whose riders have 4 minutes now
Still 60 km left but we are already in the final circuit, which the riders will have to do 5 times. Nothing has happened in the last km, just that the former mentioned teams have kept setting a steady pace in the bunch, reducing the gap to the breakaway to 2’30
There’s a crash in the bunch, with Bush being the most important rider in the ground. Ariko, Giaux, Marcos, Malacarne and Kuznetsov were also involved in the crash. All WCC riders that were still on the bunch are waiting for Bush, so the team leader can re-join the main group asap
3 laps to go - or 40 km - and now Podium Ambition is going full gas in the asphalt. Teunissen has lost his most important domestique in Taillefour, as the Frenchman had a puncture in the latest cobbled section, and his comeback is almost impossible now. Another important rider with a puncture is Sibilla
The breakaway is finally getting caught with 30 km left. Podium Ambition pace has made the group to be splitted until there’s only 30 riders on it
Wisniowski with a really brave move! Burghardt still has 3 team-mates left in the group, so unless the Pole is so strong that no one can catch him, this is not a very smart move
As predicted, Wisniowski move didn’t last. We are in the final lap to the circuit, with only 15 km left, when Burghardt attacks outside of the cobbles. Strange move by the German, but no one can follow him. Only Kamyshev and Teunissen are close to join him. Behind them, a 13-men group with the rest of favourites, except those who had punctures earlier
Domene, Altur Cominelli, Nolf Nepomnyachsniy, Daniel Thomas, Grashev Bush Polanc Machado Theuns Albert
Burghardt is still alone in the front - forget about those lapped riders ahead of him - but Altur is closing the gap on his own, having Nolf and Nepomnyachsniy on his wheel
Altur has made it and with 7 km to go they are all together - again, forget about Valio, Grieg and Kraftwerk riders in the left, as they are lapped .
And Burghardt goes again in the final cobbled section of the race. Only 5 km left, and again Altur is the one doing the chase, with Nolf and Daniel really close to the Spaniard’s wheel
3 km left and these 9 riders will fight for the win today
Burghardt, Altur, Nolf, Daniel, Teunissen, Kamyshev, Polanc, Bush and Wisniowski
The riders who were dropped in the final cobbled section have now re-joined the group as no one was willing to set the pace before the sprint. Now with Thomas working for Burghardt, the pace should go up a little before the final sprint, as there are only 2 km left
Under the Flamme Rouge the riders start their sprints. Thomas and Nepomyancshiy are in the front, with Kamyshev, Daniel and Burghardt right behind them.
600 metres to go and Thomas has now an insane gap. Nepomyanchiswy has blown out, leaving his team-mate alone in the fight
Thomas still has that big gap with 300 metres left while Wisniowski and Daniel are fighting for the second place. The rest will have to sprint for the fourth place
Geraint Thomas wins GP Herning! Really smart race that Podium Ambition did, with Burghardt attacking all the time and Thomas waiting for the sprint. And it has paid off. It’s the second year in a row that Thomas wins the race, and the third time overall, as he also won the race in 2008
Daniel takes second place ahead of Wisniowski in the photo-finish
Bush steals fourth place from Altur, making this an incredibly succesfull wildcard for his team. Burghardt is only sixth, but this time is not disappointing with Thomas’ win.
Obkamarian takes seventh, a real surprise after having been dropped with more than 30 km to go, but he managed to keep himself in distance with the group and when there were times of “stopping” he could come back
Nolf, Teunissen and Kamyshev complete the top10 of this great race, with Polanc just missing out due to blowing out in the final 100 metres
Over 70 riders finished outside of the time limit, which was set in 25 minutes
