Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 2019 PT season opener here in China. The weather is beautiful, and there's only a light wind. It's the day we've all been waiting for, so let's hope for some great racing!
And here it is, the first white flag of the season! The race is on; let's see who's got the legs to try something from very far away!
Well, the riders are taking off slowly, as they ride through the city of Beijing. But after almost 15km, there we go, the first attack of the 2019 PT season:
It's Sulimov, Basso and Thurau who are trying to break free!
And not much later, the trio would be joined by a foursome consisting of Arslanov, Spanopoulos, Trondsen and Kanepejs.
The peloton, mainly lead by Jallays, Arifin, David, Bekmanis, Seigle, Boros and Kuznetsov until now, doesn't seem to care. There are no further attacks, and so we have the first BotD of this new season:
Sulimov Thurau Basso Spanopoulos Arslanov Trondsen Kanepejs
cross the finish line for the first time, and now take on the first of seven laps on the Badaling circuit. The peloton, still led by the same riders, is 6 minutes down.
The distance only shrinks by 30" on this first lap, as the peloton, now led by Bol and Manulang on the climb, spots the escapees who are already on the descent back to the finish line.
However, the peloton cuts the escapees' advantage down to 4'36" after the second and 3'08" by the end of the third lap. It's now Olesen who leads the peloton aggressively, as we now see two Air France - KLM and three Fablok riders within the first positions.
The pace stays high, and the first rider who can't keep up anymore is Moulingui. Which is quite a surprise, as he's a decent hilly rider. His climbing however is somehow catastrophic - could this be an indication that pure puncheurs might struggle later on?
It might be, as one lap later, we can see Ulissi (Bib 31) dangerously far back in the peloton! At least he's got some team mates around him.
By the end of the fifth lap (out of seven), the peloton has almost reeled in the breakaway group, and so Trondsen, Basso and Thurau attack once more to try staying clear of the bunch. With two laps to go, this won't be easy.
However, it works for them, at least for the moment, whereas Sulimov, Spanopoulos, Arslanov and Kanepejs are swallowed by the peloton.
It's the second to last lap, and the race favorites have still not moved. Will we see a finale like last year, where we had a bunch sprint of 100+ riders?
No action on the climb, but Hagen attacks into the descent! He accelerated on top of the climb, and now has got some seconds to the peloton. And it's a really dangerous trio, as Koretzky and Bakelants have joined him!
However, they are joined first by Van Garderen and McCarthy, then by Sagan and Lutsenko. Too many leaders in one group, and they don't collaborate. So the peloton gets back, and it's still the three escapees leading as we go into the final lap!
Well, no, wait - it's no longer three escapees, it's Basso who tries to go solo! He shakes off his two remaining companions, and gives it all he's got left.
But then it's again Hagen who attacks, and this sets and end to today's BotD. But Hagen still cannot get free, as it's local hero Niu who chases him down!
All the favorites are still in the pack, but Ulissi is now at its very end and really seems to struggle. The peloton has shrunk to 32 riders on this final climb. Chernetskiy is quite far back in the group, too - but hey, it's quite much just the big guns remaining, and they can't all ride side by side.
And if the second attack did not work, how about the third? Again it's Hagen who tries to escape, followed by Ponzi Sagan Bakelants De Bie Van Garderen Lutsenko Formolo Morton Gastauer Buchmann
Bad news for Skujins, Mohoric & Co., as they had a bad position and now are further behind!
And now there are some splits! Some of the gaps would eventually get closed again, but at 10km from the finish line we have the following situation: Hagen Ponzi Sagan Bakelants De Bie Van Garderen Lutsenko Formolo
The two latter groups merge 7km from the finish line, but the leaders are still 40" ahead. Can this gap still be closed?
1.5km to go, and there's still a gap of about 10 meters. With a great sprint, everything could be possible!
Look at this! Under the red kite, three of the absolute top favorites are side by side! We have (in riding direction):
Ponzi
Hagen
Bakelants
De Bie
Sagan
Van Garderen
Lutsenko
Formolo
The second group indeed seems to be too far away, but who knows?
500m to go, and Bakelants has slightly faded. But Hagen and Ponzi are still side by side, with a slight advantage for the Norwegian. Sagan and De Bie have not thrown in the towel yet, and they look really strong!
Just 200m left, and now Hagen has increased his lead! It seems like it will be a fight for second for the three riders behind: Ponzi, Sagan, De Bie. Bakelants doesn't seem to be able to turn this one around.
100m to go, and Hagen seems to be unbeatable today, but behind him Ponzi and Sagan are on one line. De Bie needs to find some kind of turbo, as the line gets quickly closer!
And we have a winner! Congratulations to Edvald Boasson Hagen!
It's a strong finish for Peter Sagan as well, who takes second.
It was close for third, too, but Ponzi got the edge over Sean De Bie. Jan Bakelants got back in the mix, too, but he finishes fifth.
Next in are Lutsenko and Van Garderen. Mohoric is the strongest of the second group, but he won't be happy with his positioning when the decisive split happened. Skujins and Arndt complete today's Top10.
Even though Formolo just missed out on a Top10, he can be rather satisfied with his performance in this hilly classic, just as Morton who finishes behind him.
All these riders finished on s.t. with the winner.
42" behind are Koretzky Chernetskiy Gastauer Buchmann Boswell McCarthy
who take 13-18. Not all of them may be happy about today's performance. Gerts and Olivier finally round up the Top20.
It was surely a disappointing day for Ulissi, who finishes only on P25, behind 4 Aegon - Lavazza riders! And the Puma guy you can spot just ahead is local hero Niu, who gets a very nice P22! Ginanni won't be too happy with his result neither, as he finishes on P26. Which makes him only the number 3 Gazelle rider, as Furdi claims P23 leading his designated captain across the finish line.
He was too tired to celebrate out there on his bike, but now he's ready to be cheered by the crowd. Congratulations once again to Edvald Boasson Hagen for an absolutely deserved victory! He attacked three times, and had the most power left in the end - a great season opening for him!
Badaling International
