It's a hot, partly sunny day as the riders take to the start line along the Brazilian coast. The riders are ready, but the road ahead is uncertain. Will pure puncheurs and pure climbers have a shot today? When will the winning moves be made? We're here to find out.
The primary climb, which the riders tackles 4 times, is around 8 km at around 7-8%, with a short downhill section a couple of kilometers from the top. Hence the hesitation to proclaim this one for the puncheurs, despite its designation as a hilly classic.
Immediately, as the flag drops, we see the first attacks. It's Swedish climber Lundberg, followed closely by Urcelay and Galdoune. Rachid and Walscheid are next to respond.
There's a quick flurry behind, but only those five have gotten any space, and they are now working together as one group.
There's some easing in the pack, and Mathis decides to take advantage. Surprisingly, no one grabs his wheel, and he sets out towards the front. Within a few km, we have six.
Lundberg Urcelay Galdoune Rachid Walscheid Mathis
Lundberg is far and away the best climber in the group, and no real puncheur is present.
The race settles down until we start the circuit. The breakaway stays between 3 and 4 minutes throughout the first half. On the second lap, with still 95 km to go, a couple of teams have decided they want to put on the pressure early. It's DK Zalgiris, with Euskaltel - Elior helping out as well. The pace is high but not insane. However, the peloton is very strung out, so positioning matters.
And almost immediately, those pacing efforts have forced splits at the rear of the group. And it's not just nobodies who are caught out. Both Pantano and Hirschlein are in the 48 man second group, as is Blikra and Besada.
The stronger men in the second group are fighting to get back in touch, but the pace remains high.
Meanwhile, at the front, there has been selection made over the top. No attacks happened, just attrition as the stronger men relayed. Walscheid cracked first, falling all the way back to the peloton. Galdoune and then Mathis soon followed suit, and each now descends in no man's land, while the other three remain together up front. So far, the selection has been fairly predictable based on climbing ability.
At the bottom of the descent, the second group looks just about to get back in touch, but it's not happening easily. They're only about 15 second behind the back of the peloton, yet they're having a really difficult time closing it down. This split looks sure to at least burn some fuses among the chasers.
At the front of the peloton, they are certainly not trying to make it easy. Siskevicius has put his men on the front and they are really pushing the throttle now. Keep in mind, 75 km and 3 full circuits remain. As they push on the flat, the two escapees who were dropped are both reabsorbed.
As they begin the climb, the second group finally makes contact and merges in. However, as you can see from the helicopter, this does not mean they are out of the woods. The peloton is incredibly stretched out, and riders are beginning to suffer. Those caught behind earlier now have to navigate their way back up before more splits can occur.
At the front of the peloton it's still DK Zalgiris and Euskaltel - Elior on the front, now being helped by Equinor. Perhaps this is a day for the pure puncheurs. The leading trio has about 2:15 on the bunch.
As expected, riders are being dropped, but a hugely unexpected name is among them. Robbie Squire has fallen to the back of the group and is currently in terrible position. He doesn't look like he's struggling, but there are a lot of riders cracking in front of him, so he is in a very bad spot.
And sure enough, right in front of him, we see riders crack and sit up. That's Besada, completely cooked. A gap is opening up in front of them.
But even more importantly, there is another huge split in the peloton. The first 40 riders or so, led by those teams mentioned earlier, have popped off a large amount of riders, including some huge names.
Most notably, Chaves has been caught out, and is now pacing at the front to try to get back on. Absolute horrors for both of Azteca's leaders within only a couple of kilometers.
He's not alone though. The group also contains hybrids Blikra, Gaspar
and De Vos, as well as puncheur Dieteren. A ton of outsiders and super domestiques are here too.
The entire Andorra train is in turn trying to latch on to this group, having been behind since the first split. Then the Squire group is further back. With the long sprawl of riders, it is impossible to get any reliable time gaps. The situation is still very much in flux. A lot of the guys behind are simply out of position, not out of energy.
One man who is out of energy is top puncheur Anthony Roux. He made the initial splits, but did not last very long, and now looks completely cooked as we near the top. Very disappointing for Netia.
With the top just around the bend, Chaves continues to surge. he has no teammates, he's just pacing everyone off his wheel. Blikra and Godoy stay with him as they break free from those behind and pass through the carnage ahead. The group ahead of them has about 30 riders, including the rest of the favorites.
The leaders have started the descent, and remain together. They have about 1'30'' on the peloton. Still 60 km and plenty of climbing to go.
On the flat after the descent, Chaves and his peers are able to get back in touch.
More small groups of riders follow and the next climb approaches. Here's what's left of the Andorra train making their way back on. Despite their troubles, Andorra now have four men in the 47 rider peloton, including Pantano Gomez, Hirschlein, Galiev, and Novak, with Urcelay still up the road. But what do they have left in the tank?
Gaspar, De Vos, Niyonshuti, and Goh make it up too. All other pre-race favorites who previously dropped are now at least 2 minutes back. Everyone else is safely in the peloton.
As we start the penultimate circuit, the same three teams continue to control the front and set a ferociously high pace. The breakaway, who have avoided the fray by sticking peacefully together, are visible in the straightaways. Their lead is just ticking under one minute as we approach the climb.
And after one final leadout by Teklit and Le Bon, who have pushed hard all day, Siskevicius launches the first major move! Euskaltel and Equinor stay on the front. No initial reactions by the heads of state.
Sensing an opportunity, Godoy tries to counter, but he doesn't have the strength to break free.
Siskevicius has bridged up to the escapees and becomes the leader of the road. Rachid throws in the towel, while Lundberg and Urcelay try to latch onto his wheel.
As we reach the mid-climb downhill, this flurry has been the undoing of some riders at the back. NENT are having a very tough day, losing Villella, Gaspar, De Vos, and Piccoli in one go. Super domestiques Teklit, Hirschlein, Zingle, and Fernandez are gone too.
Looks like Siskevicius is not happy to have company, and he attacks again to dispense of the former breakaway riders. Predictably, they have little left to respond. He has managed to pull out quite the gap. it's almost a minute and growing, even though no one is sitting up behind.
Meanwhile, attrition continues to strike at the back. Pantano is hanging on for dear life as the peloton is down to just fifteen riders as we near the top
Bystrom Mehr-Wenige Bugge Costa McEvoy Pantano Gomez Galiev Ziesler Godoy Chaves Edmondson Hoelgaard Blikra Thiery Le Bon
With Rovny and Anderson falling off the pace.
It's certainly an interesting selection here. Some guys that weren't a favorite of any rider type are clearly having great days, while those like Squire are now minutes down basically out of contention.
The remaining riders are stretched out in a thin line as they crest the peak. Bugge sets the pace, but Hoelgaard has been riding side by side with him for a while now. The gap to Siskevicius continues to grow, now over a minute, although the steep slopes condense the distance in our viewpoint. This is the situation from above as they begin the downhill.
Although we hadn't seen much action on it yet today, the downhill is actually quite technical, and four riders near the back have been distanced in the hairpins. They are: McEvoy, Pantano, Le Bon, and Mehr-Wenige. They are relaying, trying to get back on the flat section before the final climb, but there is no relaxation up front to help them.
In fact, the pace is as high as ever. With Siskevicius 1'25'' up, the pressure is really on. There's only one lap and about 25 km to go. Bugge takes the front with everything he has. In doing so, he recaptures Lundberg and Urcelay, finally ending the break of the day. There's only one man ahead now.
However, he soon runs out of gas, and the pace screeches to a halt. None of the other teams with numbers seem to want to pace, or be able to. Both Andorra and World Cycling Centre have an extra man from the breakaway. Only WCC have two "fresh" men in the group. They do send Godoy to the front eventually, but the pace is not high as the riders turn onto the final climb.
Siskevicius turns away from the Atlantic Ocean and onto the final climb. He has 1 minute and 25 seconds with 23 km to go, but a lot of climbing left.
Bam! Fireworks as soon as we hit the climb! It's Hoelgaard, the man who lurked at the front last time around, launching the move! Bystrom and Thiery follow in his slipstream while the others scramble behind!
Within a few hundred meters, the race has completely broken up. Behind the attackers, Costa and Edmondson push on. Chaves and Godoy are next, with the other five scrambling to find wheels.
In an absolutely insane burst of speed, Hoelgaard has caught Siskevicius rapidly with Bystrom in tow. Thiery, in way over his head, is going backwards.
Meanwhile, the chasers are coalescing behind. Lundberg and Bugge have been dropped. The rest have come back together with Costa leading the charge.
Now this is a terribly sad sight. After his daring long range moving with ample team setup Siskevicius
is bonking. He can no longer hold the pace of the fresh two around the steep corners. As the slopes near their maximum of 10%, he lets the gap go.
Hoelgaard is doing absolutely everything he can to drop Bystrom too, but the Equinor man still looks fresh, so the two Norwegians remain together.
Behind, two more riders succumb to their legs. Godoy and Galiev fall off the pace just as Thiery is caught. Somehow, Urcelay is still hanging on. The "peloton" has now lost over 1 minute to the front of the race
Pop! Just before the short downhill section, Bystrom loses the wheel and suddenly cracks. He appears to have nothing left as Hoelgaard charges away!
After over 150 kilometers of grueling racing, Urcelay finally can no longer hang on.
And as Chaves starts to pull going into the respite, Edmondson and Thiery follow suit!
In a very short time, Hoelgaard has put enormous distance between himself and the competition. He suddenly has over a minute on Bystrom and two minutes on the group behind
So, the chase group now contains four men as they approach Siskevicius. Chaves, Costa, Ziesler and Blikra, who are all relaying together. The later two have been very anonymous today, yet find themselves in position for a great finish.
Hoelgaard is over the top and into the drops. With just over 13 km left and over two minutes to his nearest competitor, he's looking very good. Here's the situation at the top of the final climb.
Hoelgaard 2'15'' Bystrom 30'' Costa Chaves Ziesler Blikra Siskevicius 1'10'' Edmondson Thiery Godoy Urcelay Galiev 1'15''
10 Rider group containing mostly guys dropped on the previous downhill and flat.
Though Ziesler is struggling, the first five man chase is intact going into the downhill.
Here's the second five rider group. They've managed to group up, but they're not relaying, and frankly, they look fried. It seems unlikely they'll see the front (or chasers) again today.
Bystrom is a good descender, and he's managing to not only keep his second place advantage, but extend it to about 45 seconds on the downhill. However, remember that there is still 7 km of flat before the finish.
It's surprisingly Blikra spearheading the chase group. Despite not being known for his descending, he looks pretty comfortable in his aero tuck right now.
Under 5 km to go for Hoelgaard. The win looks almost certain!
Behind, there are still top ten places available for those who didn't make the final selections. Galiev is pacing hard for that, and has dropped Godoy in the process.
The sprint is shaping up behind. As the soon to be winner crosses under the red kite, the chase group is closing in on Bystrom. It's Siskevicius taking a big pull on the front after everything else he's done today.
But it's Daniel Hoelgaard who will get to raise his arms as the victor in Rio! What a tremendous performance! Despite having almost no team support to back him, he played the perfect hand strategically and had the raw power to back it up. A big win for the Tryg Insurance Cycling Team!
Behind, Siskevicius leads Blikra, Ziesler, Costa, and Chaves respectively towards Bystrom and the finish line.
The sprint opens up, and Bystrom is clearly wiped. But is there enough road left to overtake him?
Ziesler has cracked and pulled out of the line, making life hard for Chaves and Costa, who now have to face the wind and make up a small gap to the leading two.
In the final 250 meters, Bystrom concedes his podium, swinging over the right side of the road (your left) and letting the sprinting chasers overtake him. After his long leadout, Siskevicius has cracked too. Blikra, having been nicely tucked into his slipstream, now launches his own sprint, while Costa and Chaves try to make up ground behind.
Havard Blikra is your runner up today it was a terrific under the radar performance. Remember, Blikra was dropped in the very first split of the day! He was able to negotiate the chaos of those early climbs better than any other rider in his position, and not only just survive but excel. PCT Volvo are going to get some perhaps unexpected points in their C2 venture, thanks to a phenomenal ride.
Pulling away in the closing meters, Costa rounds out the podium. His team worked hard, and he worked hard. Unlike Equinor and DK Zalgiris's efforts, Costa did not turn Euskaltel's work into an attack, which limited his screen time. But in the end, he gets the better result, so he can go home happy with his ride.
Chaves comes in 4th, and while that's certainly not a bad result, it's definitely tinged with a bit of disappointment. Azteca collapsed very early on. We'll never know what could have been if Squire had been in a decent position to help later in the race, or if Chaves had not been caught too and had to chase back on. But considering how bad their chances looked halfway through the race, Chaves put in a really strong ride to salvage a good placing.
Quite the image here. Two riders vying for a top five, but with absolutely nothing left to get out of the saddle. A slow motion drag race after a day of fireworks from them.
Siskevicius takes the inside line and just barely manages to sneak into 5th place. He certainly wins most aggressive rider today, but it just didn't pan out. He had his team go hard, and he went solo early. They put all their eggs in, and it was just a couple of kilometers of climbing too far. But he did not crack and lose everything. Fifth place is still a good consolation.
The weird thing about Bystrom is how fresh he looked. He kept his poker face until he got dropped, probably hoping Hoelgaard was suffering as much as him. But in the end, he didn't have nearly enough. Getting swamped on the line for 2nd adds insult to injury. He takes sixth.
The last man in the group is Ziesler, who finishes 7th. A strong though anonymous ride. Unlike those ahead of him, there were no great expectations for him, an amateur. Maybe he can hope to get a pro contract next year out of this ride.
Thiery opens the sprint behind, and as the best sprinter in contention today, he easily gets enough distance for 8th place. Just a great overperformances by him all around today.
Urcelay gets the extra effort award in 9th. After an entire day in the breakaway, in which he was already pulling above his weight, he just kept refusing to quit and drop out of any group. A top 10 for him is phenomenal. He has a bright future in the sport.
Behind them, Edmondson rolls in to round out the top ten. He just didn't really have it today. He wasn't terrible, but he couldn't match guys like Costa and Bystrom, when he normally can.
Galiev is next, proving that a pure climber with little punch can have success here, if fairly mild.
Freuler, who made his money overtaking previously dropped riders all day, wins the sprint for 12th ahead of Rovny, as they bring home the rest of the remnants of the front group.
Robbie Squire rolls in 39th on the day. Honestly a pathetic performance by him. Regardless of his own result, his early lapses in judgement also greatly hurt the chances of Chaves. We'll never know how much of his issues were positioning and how much were legs. Either way, he failed.
But nobody underperformed today as much as Roux. This guy can be one of the top puncheurs in the division on his good days, matching up head to head with any of the guys at the front of today's race. But today he had less than nothing. He finishes in 105th place.
