Perfect weather conditions for this inaugaral edition of the Nantahala Classic in North Carolina: 36.5km of climbing (3172 accumulated height meters in total) and maximum slopes of 12.5%. It ain't the toughest profile, but the final few short climbs should offer an opporunity to go for the crucial move to the first victory on this course.
Di Maggio and Schreurs as the most promising favorites, followed by Izagirre, Ben Nasser, Kwiatkowski, Bilbao, Prevar or Siskevicius. Local hero Squire only as a dark horse, just like Pellaud. Delvaux's turbo duo Vichot/Kadri also need some smart tactics and good form to keep up with the very best until the end.
The day kicked off with a few empty-handed early breakaway attempts:
#1: Albanese, Krigbaum, Sinelobov, Kumara, Koch, Blums, D Ignatiev
#2: D Ignatiev, Hopman, N Silva, Owen
#3: Blums, Christensen, Kuss, N Silva, Albanese, Koch
#4: Albanese, Atkins, Krigbaum, Koch
#5: Vlasov, D Ignatiev, Matsumoto, Krigbaum, Kuss
Three of the latest attackers finally manage to stay clear from the pack, establishing a three minutes gap with now 135km to go:
Matsumoto Vlasov Ignatiev
Novatek and SPAR as the most active teams in the chase, that was launched halfway through the race. The first couple of climbs of the second half of the race has been passed now and with 43km left in the race, the peloton has narrowed the gap to the breakaway back to 2'40" after allowing the breakaway a lead up to about four minutes for most of the race so far.
Azman currently setting the pace in the bunch, with Novatek and also ENI - MOL providing some support with two riders each.
And those three teams worked well together, catching the early break with still 18km left: 106 riders left in the peloton and Novatek is now doing most of the work at the front of the pack..
On the longest of the final three climbs Konovalovas took over the pace setting, trying to make it harder race on those crucial sectors. While he couldn't destroy the peloton that way, he at least made for another selection with now 60 riders left in the main group. No bigger names in troubles yet, though.
But the first big name goes for the first big move with now only 7km (penultimate climb) to go:
Schreurs tries to go clear!
Prevar Bilbao Ben Nasser follow immediately
and Di Maggio a few moments later!
The small group opens up a tiny gap on the main group, where Novatek still has Konovalovas and two more domestiques at Kwiatkowski's side..
..and it's again Konovalovas, who managed to control the things here, as he was the main reason for the attackers to not stay clear from the main group (40 riders):
just 4km and the final short uphill finish to come and Novatek's premium domestique pulled back all the attackers quickly after they try to go clear.
And so it will come down to a bunch sprint from a reduced main group (34 riders) - only 1.5km remaining and positioning will be the key from now on. A few teams managed to provide some kind of a leadout for their respective captains here:
Marzuki ahead of Bilbao, in the leading position!
Schreurs Prevar Serry ahead of Di Maggio Izagirre (with his teammate Gouegard now losing ground) Kwiatkowski and Konovalovas
Klemme one bike length behind.. Ben Nasser Bernas Siskevicius
Kadri and Vichot further behind.. Duchesne
Lopez and Squire too far away for a Top-5/10 result!
Pellaud pops up a few moments later, but there's a clear gap to the leading group!
Marzuki still ahead of Bilbao.. Ben Nasser/Siskevicius make up some ground and also Kadri seems to join the leading group now.
Only 300metres to go, the heat is on:
Schreurs now in the leading position with Marzuki finally cracking! Bilbao now launching his final kick, right behind Schreurs and ahead of Prevar..
Serry with a strong sprint as well, trying to pull Di Maggio towards the very front! Ben Nasser not far behind him, Kwiatkowski/Siskevicius/Izagirre right behind him..
Kadri could not yet gain further positions, he's still behind Klemme, who tries to hang on with the very best..
That will be a thriller: Schreurs still ahead of Bilbao, who can't go past him! But Serry is almost head-to-head with Schreurs and it's just a few metres to go now!
Ben Nasser fighting for the podium, just like Izagirre, Di Maggio and maybe Kwiatkowski, who finally makes up some ground on those final metres..
Siskevicius falls behind, Prevar is still fighting for maybe a Top-5 result though..
Schreurs takes it! He managed to hold off Serry, who crosses the line a very strong 2nd eventually! A perfectly timed sprint by Schreurs, who did well to finish off the good teamwork by Novatek today. Congratulions!
Bilbao couldn't go past Schreurs, but may be happy enough with a still strong (and clear) 3rd place in this sprint finish..
Di Maggio with a close 4th place ahead of Izagirre, Prevar and Kwiatkowski. A great result for ENI - MOL and a somewhat solid 5th place for Izagirre. Prevar outsprinted Kwiatkowski on those final few metres and should be happy with his 6th place here.
Ben Nasser has to settle for 8th place. He looked strong earlier on, but couldn't hang on until the end..
Klemme as 9th and Siskevicius as 10th then. Klemme completes a big result for his team and Siskevicius can't be happy with losing quite some ground on the final couple of hundred meters. At least a Top-10 result against some fierce competition though.
Kadri 11th ahead of Duchesne, Marzuki, Vichot and local favorite Squire has to settle for a quiet 15th place eventually.
Wang deserves a mention by finishing a strong 16th ahead of Nzeke, a rather disappointing Pellaud, Bravo and Zielinski. Quite a strong performance for the amateur's Diesel Development Team.
