The riders are looking at 242 potentially grueling kilometers. Round and round we go on this circuit - we will probably see a few lappings as we go through the day. Let’s hope everyone keeps track of where everyone else is.
Juarez is the first man to attack today.
As we hit the cobblestones for the first time today, just under four kilometers into the race, a number of riders try to catch up to him.
Again, we’re at the very first crossing of this sector, and already we have a few riders dropping off the back of the peloton! The pace is quite high as a few teams don’t seem to be happy with the constellation in the breakaway, but still, this is going to be rough.
It took a while, but just as they exit the longer sector for the second time, Ngamoki-Cameron and Schär catch up to Juarez to probably form the breakaway of the day. Those two are decent cobblestone riders, but three is a small group on a course like this.
Meanwhile, Bianchi captain Kluge is the first significant rider with a puncture. It’s early in the race so he should recover quickly, but this shouldn’t happen too often for him. His team isn’t the strongest to support him.
Just to illustrate the brutality of this race: We’re 20 kilometer into it, and this last group on the road is already 16 minutes behind the leaders. Now, it has arguably the worst cobblestone riders of this race, or any race for that matter, but still, that’s quite a lot. Aside from the fight for the victory, for many riders today will be a fight against the time limit. And those guys seem destined to lose it.
The lead of the breakaway has grown to more than four minutes. In the peloton, it’s three to four teams that control the pace: Andorra, Kulczyk and Volvo consistently have multiple riders at the front with the occasional Carlsberg rider in between.
We’re at the halfway point of the race now. The peloton has shrunk to 90 riders from its original 154, and everytime it crosses the cobblestones, it loses a handful more. The top teams are still going strong, no major rider has fallen behind either.
The breakaway is working decently well, but it hasn’t been able to establish a larger gap to the peloton. The advance is at around three minutes as they lap more and more riders, some for the second or even third time already. Those at the very end of the race almost come to a standstill as they pass the sectors and it seems only a matter of time before one after the other will have to pull out.
The first real contender to be hit with a puncture is Vanspeybrouck. His team drops back to help him, but he spent a good amount of time alone behind the pack. Let’s hope it didn’t cost him too much.
Maybe sensing some weakness or hesitation in the peloton, Grand is the first capable rider to set an attack. Debesay follows, a big move by the Xero leader! We’re still more than 100 kilometers from the finish!
Debesay quickly dropped the pursuit, but shortly after, Kluge makes the jump from the pack and catches up to Grand. The two are less than a minute in front though.
A lot of outside contenders try to follow their lead! Taubel and Kosic tried to get away a few times but the peloton was quick to shut them down, but now it’s Debesay again who establishes a small gap.
Meanwhile, Juarez loses touch to his breakaway companions. But the peloton is closing in on pretty much everyone ahead of them as they’ve significantly increased the pace. One casualty of that: Dupont has been dropped from the peloton - no good result for Signal Iduna today.
It’s a bit messy because of lapped riders, but what you see here is actually the current front of the race, namely Taubel and Bolivar, who have attacked from the pack. Debesay is a bit behind them as they ride past former escapees Ngamoki-Cameron and Schär. Grand and Kluge have already been caught by the peloton again.
With just under 60 kilometers left, they are caught and everything is back together for the first time. The peloton now includes just 49 riders. A few good domestiques have fallen behind, such as Young, Domene and Grand, who had attacked earlier, but all contenders are still there.
But more and more riders drop. Rowe is in this group, as is Lhotellerie and Taubel. The OMV Petrom-albania leader pays for his attack, and so does Bolivar, who is one group further behind.
Double misfortune for UBS! At virtually the same time, Spengler and Bohli are hit with a puncture! The pace is super high right now, this will be a big task for them to get back to the front.
This is becoming more and more of an elimination race. Eeckhout and Bakari, who’s held on for a long time, fall behind and leave Summerhill with only Machado as a helper. With them is Kosic, the Iberia leader who had been active before. Just ahead, Kluge starts to lose touch as well, which leaves 29 riders in the first group.
A little later, Debesay has to let go alongside Ostergaard, Broers and Sweeck. More and more contenders are getting isolated, but a few domestiques still remain. Spengler has made his way back to the front by now after a tough chase.
We’re in the fight for the victory now! Jerome Baugnies is the first big name to accelerate. Summerhill, Vanspeybrouck and Stallaert respond immediately!
That move went a long way to separate the wheat from the chaff. 16 riders form the main group now, they include:
Summerhill
Baugnies
Vanspeybrouck
Stallaert
Vanbilsen
Joseph
Zepuntke
Albert
Kasperkiewicz
Nolf
Ferreira
Maes
Spengler
Van Keirsbulck
Breen
Bush
A smaller group with Richardson and Orue is a minute behind them.
With just under 20 kilometers left, Kasperkiewicz launches the next attack! The crowd goes wild!
But it doesn’t stick. Instead, Stallaert increases the pace on the penultimate long cobblestone sector and initiates another seperation. Three riders are with him: Baugnies, Summerhill and a strong-looking Maes. Meanwhile, Joseph has been dropped from the group behind.
At the worst possible moment, Vanbilsen suffers a puncture! His chances for a top result seem pretty much gone!
More and more riders are shed from the main group of contenders. Van Keirsbulck is joined by Orue, who rides a steady pace trying to get into the Top 15.
Spengler is also in trouble, suffering after his long chase earlier. Breen is not looking very well ahead of him. The rider in green is not Kasperkiewicz but a lapped teammate of his.
The riders are entering the very last lap! Albert, the final remaining domestique, makes a big push to pull the four leaders within 10 seconds, and Ferreira does the rest - 11 riders remaining in contention now.
Vanspeybrouck is the next rider to accelerate, but all his companions are alert. Only Bush and Albert seem cooked and drop off the back.
Kasperkiewicz also struggles now. 8 riders remaining ahead.
Meanwhile, Vanbilsen tries everything to catch up. He’s 1’30 behind the leaders and just catches up with Orue and Van Keirsbulck, who are currently riders 14 and 15 on the road.
8 kilometers to go, and it’s Summerhill who goes again. And he does seem to get a small gap as it’s Ferreira who tries to respond.
It was a brutal acceleration, but Ferreira put in a massive effort and managed to bring Summerhill back. Both of them look exhausted now as Stallaert leads the 8 on the final cobblestone sector.
Just under 4 kilometers left and the Volvo rider is the obvious favorite if this comes down to a sprint. The next quickest riders would be Zepuntke and the aforementioned Ferreira and Summerhill, but I would think this is mostly about who has the most energy left.
Bush is in ninth position currently. He looked close to catching up again but Summerhill’s attack leaves him 40 seconds behind. He fights for his Top 10 position now as Kasperkiewicz and Albert are close behind him and Vanbilsen is only a few seconds further behind, apparantly with some more energy left.
Stallaert kept the pace high throughout the entire cobble sector to prevent any attacks and now he accelerates below the flamme rouge. Vanspeybrouck is in his slipstream, a small gap behind the two to Summerhill, Baugnies and the rest of the group.
And at the end of a rough day, this was still an easy one for Stallaert. His acceleration left everyone in the dust and he has time to celebrate!
Vanspeybrouck looks set to take second place, but Baugnies and Maes are coming in quickly, fighting for podium spots!
Zepuntke leads the quartet behind them, but all of them seem pretty exhausted.
Baugnies does indeed take the final podium spot! But a very strong performance from Maes!
Zepuntke just barely secures the fifth place ahead of Ferreira. Summerhill will be disappointed with his seventh place. He bet it all on his final attack, which proved unsuccessful. Nolf finishes eigth.
Vanbilsen just had bad luck with that puncture. He catches as many riders as he could but just misses out on the Top 10 as Albert has a final acceleration left in him at the end of a phenomenal performance and Bush just barely holds on to tenth.
Kasperkiewicz hoped for more on home soil, but at the end of the day, he has to be content with a 12th place. He finishes just ahead of Spengler, the second top contender marred by a puncture today.
After missing the initial selection of 16, Orue bounced back to secure a decent result and finishes 14th. A few seconds behind him, Breen just barely edges out Van Keirsbulck for the final Top 15 spot.
Malopolski Wyscig 
