Welcome to Izola on this sunny day off the Adriatic coast on the Istrian peninsula. Let's go!
We make it to the top of the first climb without attacks. Will there be a breakaway at all is the question?
A trio accelerates on the descent, which is an easier way to get clear apparently: Muhindo Groves Carr
No one else bothers to join, they head onto the climb again with a lead of four minutes. 110 kilometer for the peloton to catch them.
Predominantly white jerseys at the front of the peloton. BNZ, Philips, Gjensidige, Centovalli and Eddie Stobart lead the chase, not because of their colors but because they have favorites, namely puncheurs.
The peloton picks up the pace. At the top of the third ascent the gap is only 1'20. 78 kilometer to go, Gaudin the only rider to have been dropped so far. Erdenesuren, Lewis, Cisse, Boev and Van Moer are responsible for the quicker pace, surprisingly two sprinters already being used.
Back down in Izola the gap is almost 3 minutes again, with the peloton not wanting to catch the breakaway so soon. Even Gaudin returned. The riders head up on the major climb for one final time.
The peloton is much faster up the climb again and almost catches the breakaway, but no one attacks so far. Muhindo struggles to follow the pace of Groves and Carr.
The leading duo survives to top climb with a lead of forty seconds, with Muhindo caught. No one fancied going this far out (+- 50 kilometers), but the remaining hills are not that high, long and steep. Sprinters like Reinhardt and Boev still helping out in chase despite their odds increasing by the kilometer.
Kreder, Bovenhuis and Storer descend like maniacs and catch the duo on the outskirts of Izola. The peloton follows in a long line with a possibility for cracks. Bouhanni all the way at the back.
We start the sightseeing tour around Izola. Good news for everyone as Philips has stopped riding hard and the peloton is more or less in one piece, 111 riders in the peloton with only Gaudin, Muhindo, Norsgaard, Ries and Thomas behind.
This is biggest of those small inclines which the riders still have to conquer, and no one struggles on this street. Nevertheless, puncheurs such as Kelderman, Meyer and Eiking are already amongst the front positions as if they're waiting to make a move.
A few riders do get dropped on the next lap, and with 10 kilometer to go it is unlikely they'll get back. However, amongst here are some decent puncheurs such as Zordan, Ssabagwanya, Hoelgaard and Barbero. It seems they just gave up and went to the bar. Unfortunately it is closed.
The hill does force a bit of a selection by Yates at the front with a lap and a bit to go. Kelderman, Moscon, Juul-Jensen, Eiking, Meyer, Edmondson, Roux, Zaini, Barbin and Quevedo amongst the riders in front ot the first split. The only pure sprinter present there is Reinhardt, but we do have punchy sprinters Felline, Lienhard, Tsatevich and Kreder.
The bell for the final lap and everything is melted back together again. The lap is only six kilometer long but contains that small incline which forced the split previously.
Yep, as soon as we head onto the hill Kelderman attacks, suggesting it is definitely tough enough to attack on. Eiking follows, leaving Moscon, Meyer, Zaini, Juul-Jensen, Barbin, Edmondson and Quevedo at the front of the pack.
The duo leads by nine seconds at the top, three kilometer to go, with Eiking even trying to drop Kelderman. Moscon tries to let Meyer take over the chase, but the Australian doesn't want to.
Juul-Jensen tries to cross over at the bottom and has almost caught up, heading into the twisty streets of Izola. Meyer and Moscon still arguing over who should chase. Felline and Tsatevich as decent sprinters also near the front.
Final kilometer, Kelderman refuses to take over anymore leaving Eiking no other option but to start the sprint early. The Dutchman uses his experience to get himself in a beter position. Juul-Jensen couldn't cross those final meters but his lead over the arguing rivals also increased. Felline right behind the troublemakers, but the pure sprinters are too far back to sprint for the top ten.
Into the final turn, Kelderman takes the inside line and seems to have more speed. Can Eiking hold him off on the outside?
Wilco Kelderman is the inaugural winner of GP Izola, a great name to have on the list as first winner! He returns to the familiar top step of the podium and increases his lead in the individual CT rankings.
Odd Christian Eiking must be disappointed with finishing second in a close sprint, but he can be proud with this result. Only one out of 115 rivals was better today.
Christopher Juul-Jensen completes the podium despite a late charge from Meyer, who just rode away instead of continuing his argument. If the Australian had this idea sooner he might have gotten on the podium, but a fourth place isn't the end of the world either.
Felline sprints to fifth from the rest of the group of favorites, with the gaps between the groups ruling out the pure sprinters.
A close finish for sixth, which is taken by Edmondson ahead of Zaini. Watson eighth as good double points finish for Philips. Tsatevich ninth, Barbin tenth. The crowd had to stay home so there was not much of a boost for Trans.
Moscon's fighting delivers him eleventh place, perhaps he should have set his differences aside and just cooperated. Quevedo twelfth, Roux thirteenth, Hugentobler fourteenth and Pernsteiner fifteenth.
The ranking points continue down to 25th place, which could be important for the CT rankings where every point might count in the end. Yates takes four points, Pibernik and Rodriguez three, Redecker and Lindau two, and the one-pointers are Mosca, Bovenhuis, Delgerbayar, De Tier and Wesley Kreder, one place ahead of cousin Michel.
The pure sprinters still finished in the same time as the winner but the hills dropped them too far back into the pack. Mezgec 29th as best pure sprinter, Naesen 32nd, Reinhardt 47th, Boev 75th and Bouhanni 80th.
