Challenging weather conditions (with slicky roads and a cloudy sky) and 227km of uphill and downhill racing: welcome to British Columbia, where the Apex Mountain Classic is held for the very first time. Thanks to a packed startlist, we can hope for a fantastic race today.
Top-favorites should be Taaramäe, Pluchkin, Dombrowski - with some seriously dangerous competitors like Kritskiy, Amador, Sicard, Úran, Velits or possible dark horses like Barguil, Monsalve or Kudus. To name just a few. It's really an interesting startlist, but T-Mobile surely has some pressure with Taaramäe as it's leader and several strong climbers supporting their captain.
Let's begin with a history of breakaway attempts, that didn't go through:
Eventually, a group of two riders (Mosca, Dulanjana) managed to stay clear though and with already more than 50km done, the duo is accompanied by four more riders, who will form the break of the day with a gap of two minutes 177km before the finish:
The breakaway's lead peaks at something like 6 minutes halfway through the race and unsurprisingly it's T-Mobile showing it's colours at the front of the pack and setting the pace for the second half of the course. That's definitely a lineup, that should be capable of controlling the race..
So let's keep it short until the final 33.5km of the race: the early break had no chance indeed! Siriwardena and Meier as the last two escapees being caught by T-Mobile's train!
We're at the bottom of today's most crucial climb up 'Apex Mountain Resort' - 14.9km in total with average slopes of 7%, though featuring sectors with up to 10% quite frequently. Just like at this point, where the magenta squad swallows the last two escapees and totally controlling the race so far.
Geniez - Wöhrer - Battaglin - Moschella doing the work so far, by the way..
Just a few kilometres though, the first real test for T-Mobile is on:
Dombrowski attacks with 29km to go - halfway through the climb up the Apex! That's certainly a first big move and he's opening up a small gap quickly!
Monsalve as the first trying to follow, but he's facing a 16 seconds gap, not yet able to immediately join Dombrowski's attack there!
Some more riders know it's a dangerous move and we see the next attacks happening:
Marquez, Taaramäe and Kritskiy!
Also Pluchkin and Amador at the front of the bunch now, with Pluchkin trying to follow Taaramäe's move quickly. The race is on!
Bad news for Pluchkin though, as he could not follow group Taaramäe yet! 27.6km to go and the first big moves have opened up some gaps between the firsr groups: Dombrowski a few seconds ahead of Monsalve, who's still ahead of group Taaramäe/Kritskiy:
Pluchkin Dzhus Barguil Amador Sicard build a next group, that is 23 seconds behind Taaramäe!
Close to the first mountaintop (there's a second, short climb then) Pluchkin bridges across group Taaramäe/Kritskiy though - that's 26.5km before finish now..
Marquez has done his work and drops back to Amador/Barguil, who are about 22 seconds ahead of a big group with Sicard (who dropped back), Úran, Kudus, Velits and all other contenders:
Dombrowski entering a short downhill sector to the Apex Mountain Ski Resort with a 24 seconds lead, but we see some changes behind him!
Taaramäe has attacked from his group and he easily went past Monsalve to reach the first mountaintop as the new solo chaser behind Dombrowski!
Monsalve, Kritskiy and Pluchkin are 12 seconds in arrears..
Amador, Barguil and Marquez thus further 16 seconds..
Further down the road, the peloton has gone into pieces now and we see a next wave of attacks going clear and trying to bridge across the leading groups:
Sicard, Úran and Kudus going first!
And then there's a group of 9 riders with a 32 seconds disadvantage on this group Sicard:
On the final short ascent, Taaramäe catches up to Dombrowski! Still something like a kilometre of climbing and then it's 21km downhill to the finish!
Pluchkin/Kritskiy the new chasing group and the duo works pretty well together, narrowing the gap to Dombrowski/Taaramäe to just 12 seconds just a few moments later!
Tough luck for Guldhammer then, as the punctures halfway through the descent! His fight for a possible Top-10 placements is over and he sees Garby going past himself with no chance to join him anymore!
11.5km to go now and the leading group is already 1'16" ahead of group Amador/Sicard, which is 1'29" ahead of group Velits/Úran! Guldhammer won't stay with Garby, by the way (it's just the moment, where he just suffered the puncture)
It's raining and the roads are slicky, but this won't prevent Dombrowski and Taaramäe from going all-in on the steepest downhill sectors! The duo does not show any sign of fear and they hammer down the 11% slopes with an awesome speed now..
..Kritskiy and Pluchkin can't follow! We have a split in the leading group with now just 5km remaining! And the gap quickly grows to 14 seconds and even further on the following kilometres. It will come down to a sprint between those two guys here!
And here we go, the leading duo has reached the short flat finishing stretch in Hedley, with Dombrowski kicking off the sprint with a small advantage over Taaramäe..
..who can't counter his speed: Dombrowski wins the Apex Mountain Classic! Launching the first big attack and then getting caught by Taaramäe, Pluchkin and Kritskiy, he never gave up to power through both the climbs and the long downhill sector to the finish. Surely a deserved winner of the first edition of this race.
Taaramäe has to settle for a 2nd place, that's still fine enough with a startlist like this. He made it look so easy to bridge across Dombrowski on the final climb and their ride down the ascent was truly epic as well. There's only winner though and that's Dombrowski today!
59 seconds later..
Pluchkin wins the sprint for 3rd ahead of Kritskiy, who should be still happy enough to prove his climbing skills against such a heavy competition. Both did well to join Dombrowski/Taaramäe on the last short climb, but they could not match their downhill speed today.
+ 1'17" Barguil and Amador
+ 1'25" Monsalve
+ 1'31" Sicard
Strong results for particularly Barguil and Monsalve, who was amongst the first attackers today. Amador 6th, not bad, not too special either. But it has been said before: the startlist was just sick.
+ 3'03" Brenes and Wellens
Brenes and Wellens dominating the sprint from the first bigger group and that's quite an awesome result for Brenes! He rode a rather quiet race, but followed the right moves to then snatch a great Top-10 result eventually. Well played.
+ 3'08" for the other riders in this group:
Carthy 11th ahead of Beltran, Penasa, Berhane, Marquez, Úran, Kudus, Valls, Velits and Quintana..
+ 3'43" for Preidler as 21st
+ 4'12" for Garby
+ 6'17" for Giogieri, Senni and an unlucky Guldhammer as 25th on the day - his puncture was definitely a shocker and it will surely hurt for Aker: Beltran did quite good as 12th, but with Guldhammer and Galta (28th) finishing that low, the team couldn't really benefit from it's good depth.
