Another day, another cycling race! Goedemorgen and welcome to Rheden for the start of its GP. A very important day for some PCT teams, as well as the PT teams who resisted the temptation of the Tour off the Battenkill and brought their cobblers here.
Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Vanmarcke are named as the favourites of this 185-kilometer “cobbled but then again not so cobbled” race. Cobbled sprinter Kristoff is only mentioned as an outsider.
It took a few kilometers, almost felt like no one wanted to attack, and whenever they did over 20 riders tried to join. But finally, Schachmann became a lone ranger and decided to have a go for it. He quickly gains two minutes and no one seemed to even want to follow him. Weird stuff. Surely there are teams without cobblers who wanted to try something here?
Schachmann knows he has no chance, and doesn't do much to increase the lead two more than two minutes. Meanwhile, Minions (De Haes), sometimes helped by Iberia and Carlsberg, are catching him back. There seems to be little to worry for, honestly. Two minutes with 100-ish kilometers to go is easily bridgable, especially on the cobbles.
And indeed, we can say goodbye to Schachmann's escape attempt with 60 kilometers to go. This is mainly thanks to the hard work of Carlsberg. Most top favourites are already in the top 20 of the pack, so it's time for the grand finale! Will we see any attacks early on?
Well... We should've done some commercial breaks, honestly. But with 8,3 kilometers to go it's outsider Vanmarcke who breaks open the race and has a go for it!
He gains 13 seconds within two kilometers. Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Zepuntke seem to be quite worried about him and lead the chase for him. There're still 62 riders in the pack though, including most favourites, making you wonder if there weren't any teammates to do the job for them.
Vanmarcke gets caught with 3,5 kilometers to go. Nolf is trying to keep the pace high to avoid any more of these attacks. Looks like we're in for a sprint!
And indeed, despite the lack of asphalt we can see some sort of a sprint setup with 3 kilometers to go. It goes something like this:
Vanmarcke
Blythe
Gerts
Saber
Vanspeybrouck
Rowe
Nolf
Weber
Holloway (!!!)
Zepuntke
Top favourite Kristoff is between a huge group of outsiders, but should still be able to move ahead if he has the legs today.
Under the red kite it seems like not much has changed here, it seems like the riders ar e too scared to sprint on the cobbles and want to wait for the asphalt. But with that they are giving Vanmarcke a major headstart for the last 500 meters!
'The riders have passed the final corner and indeed I don't think anyone will pass him!
Blythe tries... But falls just short! Vanmarcke wins the 2018 Rheden GP! Another amazing surprise for Repsol, who will get even closer to a double promotion this season.
Behind Blythe, Gerts comfortably moved on t to earn himself the final podium spot.
Vanspeybrouck finishes fourth, I don't think the manager will be satisfied with that given the relegation struggle Carlsberg is in. Pre-race favourite Kristoff couldn't finish it off and ends up in fifth despite the sprint finish. Sprinters Saber and Rowe next then, followed by a surprising little hybrid, Weber.
Zepuntke suffered from the lack of true racing on the cobbles and only got ninth, in front of probably the biggest shocker of this race: Top sprinter Holloway finalises the top 10!
And that concludes the Rheden GP for this year, with an outsider winning and some great surprises in the top 10. But if I'm allowed to go off my script for a little, this race had major AI issues. Riders refused the sprint on the cobbled downhill and whoever gets in front on those cobbles wins the race. So while I do hope for the GP to continue, I do hope we get some actual racing next time. But until now, goodbye and big balls!
Rheden GP
