Hello everyone. It’s the final day of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. It’s been a spectacular race with plot twists day in and day out. Some may have reasons to be disappointed with their riders’ performances so far, but from a neutral point of view we have the perfect scenario: a Grand Finale with every classification wide open. Anything can still happen today. And there are still so many questions to be answered! Will Granjel Cabrera hold his lead? Will Moser or Mohs finally take a victory? Will Magnussen be able to secure his KoM jersey? How about Holloway or Miltiadis, will they hold theirs?
Today's stage is (yes you’ve guessed it) a flat stage. It’ll take us from Owendo to the capital of Gabon and one of the busiest cities in the Gulf of Guinea – Libreville. The journey counts 134km and it’s about time we get on with it.
The break of the day is created with ease at the start of the day with: Magnussen, Zhang, Pozdnyakov, Quicibal Kaupas and Kurianov.
This group composition settles the question of the KoM leadership. It seems Magnussen was never any good at Maths in school and in fear for of losing his jersey he still decides to fight for every available point:
KoM1
Sprint1
KoM2
Sprint2
KoM3
Sprint3
Magnussen
Magnussen
Magnussen
Kaupas
Magnussen
Kaupas
Pozdnyakov
Kaupas
Pozdnyakov
Quicibal
Zhang
Magnussen
Quicibal
Pozdnyakov
Kurianov
Magnussen
Pozdnyakov
Quicibal
With 30km the escapees maintain a 1’25 advantage to the pack. The little hill in the circuit is hard enough for some riders to break the peloton in two parts, but it has been able to regroup every time so far.
This seems to complicate chasing duties in the peloton though. With 10km to go the break has 33’’ on Magnussen who has abdicated the stage win at this point and 40’’ more to the bunch! Are we in for a major upset?
Pozdnyakov, Quicibal and Kurianov are all at 1’15 of the yellow jersey and could threaten it. Especially with bonus seconds on their side of the equation!
You’d think Bianchi would be giving their everything to bring them back, but it is McCormick who swarm the front of the peloton.
With 7km to the line, Magnussen has been reeled in, but there are still 44’’ of gap to annihilate. Granjel Cabrera sits a bit too far back in the pack when we start climbing for the last time.
5km to go, 32’’ between groups. McCormick continue to dominate with good organization. Mohs following Holloway seems determined to not let anyone disposition him. Every relevant sprinter is within these 25 riders. That is, all except Granjel Cabrera who’s still 5 places further back.´
3.5km, 30’’ between groups.
A bit of a re-shuffle. Eddie Stobbart have created a train for Thorsen, deciding to leave Cimolai to fend for himself. The Italian is following Jones’ wheel. Granjel Cabrera has finally arrived at the front. Moser seems to have been waiting for him as he sees his rival pass him on the right.
The front group keeps collaborating in orderly fashion united by the dream of stage and perhaps overall honours! Quicibal being the main working horse there!
2.5km to go for the pack, they can’t wait anymore! McLay has somehow found his way to the front and is now leading Mohs on the left. Jones Vanderaerden, Von Hoff and Boev follow. In the middle it is Pushpakumara, Andersson, Thorsen, Castañeda, Suryadi, Carsi. On the right Frankovic and Sweeting lead Holloway. Granjel Cabrera, Cimolai and Moser are all marking each other at the back
The turn of speed produced by McLay instantly distances his from the other sprint trains. Not only that but behind Jones, everyone struggles to follow.
This acceleration is the thrust the peloton needed to make contact with the escapees. They’ll be looking at the sand dunes on their left as an announced omen for this death on the beach situation.
Granjel Cabrera seems to have been distracted by the Libreville beach as he watches the strongest men power away from him. He got stranded behind Weiss along with Cimolai and is most definitely in trouble now! Moser has identified this a little earlier and set off in pursuit but he is wasting a lot of energy battling the wind already!
The whole breakaway group is overtaken as the GCN train leads the sprint inside the final kilometer. Jones launches his final dash. Pozdnyakov does the same as he tries to duel it out with the men from the pack. Thorsen and Vanderaerden were weak links in the respective trains disrupting some sprints. Andersson and Boev follow behind GCN and Jones, while Holloway still has Sweeting on the right.
Jones assumes the lead as McLay peels off. Mohs sets off in pursuit, while Pozdnyakov holds is place surprisingly well. Boev overtakes a tired Andersson, while Holloway fires his final burst too. Von Hoff, Castañeda, Suryadi and Moser. Carsi and only then Granjel Cabrera and Cimolai!
Mohs takes over as Jones blows up monumentally inside the final 500m! Boev and Holloway are about to hit the front as well…
Boev overtakes the German, but…
…he is immediately passed by Holloway…
And it is yet another victory for Holloway. His team worked tirelessly the whole day and delivered him in perfect position to launch his sprint – It is triumph no. 3 for the American!
Von Hoff avoids the race officials vehicles, who seem to have had a mechanical in the worst place possible, to reach a superb 2nd place! Suryadi repeats yesterday’s 3rd, Castañeda 4th. Moser does enough to take 5th ahead of Boev and the disappointing Mohs.
Vanderaerden and Carsi both manage to get ahead of the fading Jones. The same can’t be said for the yellow jersey who finishes the day in 11th! Cimolai is only 14th.
So what does this mean for the GC? Did Moser finish high enough to retake the overall? Perhaps someone else?
The cruel truth for the Italian is that he’ll end up 2nd, with the same time as the final victor, who is
Dan Holloway! That’s right! The American redeems himself from the stage 2 blunder to complete a hat-trick of stage wins thus completing a sensational comeback to the top of the rankings! Outstanding result! He obviously also takes the Points jersey.
Miltiadis gets to keep his hard fought white jersey too, by the one mere second, while VIP Mobile will be glad to know they’re taking home the Teams Classification!
And that’s it folks. Time to leave Gabon after this emotion rollercoaster. Thanks for being with us!
