We're here in the Italian capital of Rome for what promises to be a historic edition of the Strada Appia Antica, because either we will see a rider win this race six times in a row or we'll have a new winner for the first time in six years! Seems like it is an occasion of Bewley versus the rest in the peloton, although there is a significant section of the crowd which seem to be cheering him on as well.
Favourites
HIL
STA
RES
COB
ACC
Bewley
71
78
76
83
83
Trentin
74
76
71
81
76
Senechal
67
79
74
82
74
Theuns
74
76
73
80
76
Vanbilsen
69
80
74
80
71
Van Avermaet
74
75
72
80
75
Polanc
73
78
73
78
75
Wisniowski
71
75
76
81
76
Gerts
78
76
80
78
70
David
75
76
74
78
73
Blythe
66
76
71
82
73
Kamyshev
65
81
75
82
60
Two circuits of six climbs followed by two long, hard cobbled sections await the riders as they embark on this grueling race. It is a long race too, with nearly 240 kilometers to be covered. At least the weather is good, with no forecast or signs of rain.
Ten riders head out on the break of the day, and the pack seems to be happy letting them go. The riders here are: Keukeliere Zardini Trondsen Monk De Bondt Van den Berg Budenieks Meiler Sanikwathi Vuillermoz
A couple of young cobbles talents among the breakaway, so it seems like an interesting break to follow.
The break have a 5 minutes' lead at start of the first climb.
The pack have kept a leisurely pace so far.
Just under 70 kilometers covered and we're at the end of the descent of the third climb on the first circuit. T-Mobile, Indosat, Moser, eBuddy and Generali all have riders at the front. Goncalves and Arifin look to be taking the bulk of the load at the moment. The pack's deficit has increased beyond 7 minutes.
The peloton is starting the fifth climb of the circuit, which is the highest on the route. Their gap is down to 6 minutes.
The peloton are now starting the first climb on the second circuit. Delgerbayer the rider dropped so far.
We're now reached the third climb for the second time. Four riders now distanced by the break - Van den Berg, De Bondt, Meiler, Keukeliere.
Vanbilsen the first of the big names to be dropped.
And a bigger name now being distanced. Van Avermaet, who should be perfectly adept on this course, looks to be in difficulty. Kristoff is back here too, trying to help his leader.
The peloton are on the flat section before the fourth climb. Keukeliere has just been caught. 145 riders remain in the bunch.
The peloton catch the other three riders dropped earlier from the break with 65 km to go. The pack now has 125 riders, with Kamyshev the big name to be dropped in the meantime.
Three more breakaway riders were dropped in the last four kilometers. Only Zardini, Budenieks and Vuillermoz remain out in front. Their lead is 1'43".
Next big name in trouble, Adam Blythe.
More riders have been dropped and the peloton is down to 80 riders.
Out in front, Trondsen has made his way back to the break but Monk and Sanikwathi have been caught.
The 45 rider peloton are about to hit the first cobbled section. 48 km remain.
Trondsen is dropped and looks exhausted. The peloton is back to 80 riders and are 1'22" behind.
Trondsen is caught.
Ahead, Budienieks has dropped Zardini and Vuillermoz with the peloton now less than a minute behind.
The break is caught with 40 kilometers left. Just 10 riders are left in the first group with Bewley leading them.
Gerts is in the third group on the road.
Ten riders are in the second group - Senechal, Daniel, Vanmarcke, Benoot, Gaday, Schoonbroodt, Polnicky, Grashev, Marzuki.
The second and third groups come together 2 km later to make it a 18 rider chase group.
9 riders remain at the front at the end of the cobbles section - Bewley, Theuns, Trentin, Wisniowski, David, Teunissen, Altur, Polanc, Per. Isostar with the numerical advantage.
Behind the lead group, the chase has split into fragments once again. The immediate next group has Ringheim and Budenieks, and the group after that has Senechal, Gerts, Sulimov, Daniel, Vanmarcke, Benoot, Grashev and Marzuki. David has been dropped.
The pace drops for a few kilometers and the lead group increases to 18 riders.
Wisniowski and Polanc accelerate away from the lead group.
The group is chasing them down as they have built up a sizable lead.
The Blythe group is around 3 minutes back.
Wisnioskwi accelerates again with 18 kilometers remaining. Polanc has no answer.
Looking back from Polanc with 16 km remaining, we see that the gap is increasing.
The chase group is down to five riders as the cobbles start to take their toll. Bewley, Gerts, Theuns, Teunissen and Benoot remain.
The next group consists of Trentin, David, Sulimov, Altur, Ringheim, Per and Marzuki.
10 km to go and it is Bewley and Teunissen catching up to Polanc. Lapped riders being caught at the moment.
Theuns and Benoot have been dropped. Wisniowski's lead is 26 seconds.
Polanc is dropped almost immediately!
8 km left. Bewley suffers a puncture! Wow what bad timing! The five time defending champion' luck seems to be deserting him here. He's been passed by Polanc and Theuns and is now with Benoot.
Up ahead, Teunissen catches up to Wisniowski.
Just a kilometer later, and Bewlety has already dropped Benoot and Theuns and is now alongside Polanc.
Behind them, it's the group of Altur, Gerts, Per, Trentin and David.
Bewley catches up to the lead duo with 4 km remaining. What a recovery ride from the champion!
2 km to go. Behind the front three, it's a long line of singles - Polanc, Theuns, Benoot, Altur, Per, Gerts, Trentin, David, Ringheim, Marzuki, Sulimov and Grashev, all riding singly.
Senechal, David, Vanmarcke, Gaday, Kruijswijk and Polnicky make up the next group.
Blythe is 6 minutes down, Kamyshev is at 8 minutes and Van Avermaet a whopping 23 minutes behind the lead group.
Inside the final kilometers for our leaders but no acceleration yet. Bewley at the front.
700 meters. Bewley attacks first but he has nothing in the tank. He sits back down as Wisniowski speeds up.
Wisniowski takes the lead but he too cannot push his attack further. Teunissen looks to out of the race now. Not even an iota of strength left in him.
100 meters to go. You can tell how hard the race has been! None of our leading trio can even look up at the moment. Wisniowski is holding off Bewley though.
And Wisniowski wins! This is a monumental result in the life of the young Polish rider as he dethrones the champion in his favoured race. Could this possibly be the moment the mantle shifts? There's still time to find that out. For now Wisniowski will be relishing this famous win. Bewley has to be content with 2nd, still his lowest ever ranking in this race! Teunissen completes the podium.
Polanc with a very good 4th place.
Theuns continues his good season, finishing 5th.
Another very good result, this time from Benoot in 6th.
Altur finishes 7th.
Per in 8th means it's a great race for Isostar.
Gerts finishes 9th, lapping O'Shea in the process.
Trentin rounds out the Top 10, lapping Arifin.
David ahead of Ringheim for 11th and 12th.
Marzuki in 13th.
Sulimov and Polnicky complete the Top 15.
Today's winner - Lukasz Wisniowski.
Looking back at some of the results of the other big names in the Top 50 Vanmarcke finished 16th, Senechal 18th, Kruijswijk 19th, Daniel 20th, Gaday 21st, Blythe 28th, Kamyshev 49th. Van Avermaet finished outside the time limit!
