The riders have reached the startlist and are waiting to get going in the second edition of this race. The punchers will be the ones most looking forward to next few hours, while there will be others who are assigned specific duties to help their leaders or try to catch out the peloton with attacks. Let's get the show on the road.
Favourites
MON
HIL
RES
SPR
ACC
De Bie
71
84
76
72
75
Hagen
69
84
73
72
78
Lutsenko
73
83
73
72
81
Bobridge
69
83
74
69
80
Mohoric
71
83
72
67
77
Bakelants
73
82
75
71
75
Kwiatkowski
78
81
76
67
75
Beltran
79
81
72
66
76
Buchmann
76
81
74
65
73
Koretzky
71
81
70
71
79
Five riders get into the break:
Rodrigues Velasco Grashev Larsen Philipsen
Rodrigues is a strong climber, so it will be interesting to see how much leeway the peloton gives the group. They have pulled out a 2 minute lead already having just ridden 10 kilometers.
Two more riders would try to join the break but were unsuccessful.
Indosat, King Power, Air France, Festina, Bennelong and Isostar have riders at the front. Air France are doing the bulk of the work.
100 kilometers to go and the break leads by 3'35".
The peloton trail by 3'3". Bennelong have taken over at the front. Aegon have joined them recently. Air France are still there.
There's a split in the pack on the undulations. Bystrom, Teuns and Talansky are among the 65 riders dropped. 35 kilometers remain.
The break's lead is down to 1'25" another 10 kilometers down the line. 123 riders are in the peloton. The Teuns/Talansky group are nearly 3 minutes down.
The pack are nearing the summit of the Cote de Lussin summit. De Bie is in 5th position, the highest placed among the favourites. Lutsenko and Kwiatkowski are nearest to him.
Just a kilometer later, De Bie, Lutsenko, Kwiatkowski and Bobridge attack. This is why they were hovering around the leading positions. Hagen, Koretzky and Mohoric are leading the chase.
The three chasers also have a gap now. These moves have broken up the pack completely. 11 riders remain in the next group, the fourth on the road. The riders here are Bakelants, Ulissi, Buchmann, Beltran, Jensen, Demare, Betancourt, Formolo, Yates, Bilbao and Gautier.
The next group with Dyrnes and Furdi are a minute further back. Talansky and Teuns are 4 minutes behind the break.
The break is caught with 12 kilometers left. The seven attackers (4+3) and the eleven rider chase group have all caught up.
Five riders get away a kilometer later - Kwiatkoeski, Koretzky, Bobridge, De Bie and Mohoric.
We are approaching the summit of the Tienne Aux Pierres, the last hill before the climb to the finish.
Bobridge attacks under the 10 kilometer banner. Kwiatkowski and Koretzky are at 6 seconds, with Mohoric and De Bie further back at 21 seconds. The next group of 17 riders is 38 seconds down.
The chasing pack splits up 2 kilometers later. They are 1'27" behind the leaders.
Beltran, Betancourt and Gautier are in the furthest group behind.
Buchmann, Jansen, Demare, Formolo, Bilbao, Velasco, Grashev and Larsen are the octet in A1. Three riders from the break are still here. They trail by 1'1".
The lead 'group', so to say has Hagen, De Bie, who's dropped back, Bakelants, Ulissi, Yates and Rodrigues, from the break! They trail by 44 seconds.
Mohoric and Lutsenko, who's attacked recently, are in E3. They trail by 19 seconds.
Kwiatkowski and Koretzky are still chasing Bobridge at the head of the race.
The front three come together with 5 kilometers to go. The next duo have caught up as well.
The next two groups are maintaining the same gaps, but time is running out for them to catch the leaders.
The leading group is now five riders as Mohoric and Lutsenko catch up. The next group is down to six, with the dropped riders caught by the group further behind. The Beltran group trails by 1'23".
2 km to go for E2. Hagen is powering up the climb trying to catch the lead group. De Bie is on his wheel.
Up ahead, the five riders are still together.
As we reach the final kilometer, Mohoric and Lutsenko start to get distanced.
The chase group is also down to four with Hagen, De Bie, Yates and Bakelants. Ulissi is chasing just behind them.
The Beltran group is a further 1 minute behind.
Back at the front, Koretzky is dropped and being caught by the chasing duo. Further back, De Bie and Bakelants are being dropped by Hagen and Yates.
Kwiatkowski with immense pace leaves behind Bobridge. Koretzky too, has pulled away from the clutches of those behind him.
The Beltran group is caught by a larger group behind.
Kwiatkowski celebrates as he enters the final 100 meters.
Kwiatkowski wins in Wallonie! Bobridge just couldn't get a finishing kick going and gets 2nd.
Koretzky claims a good 3rd.
Mohoric is struggling as the next group have a 100 meters to go. It's a three-way battle for 4th.
Yates uses his sprint to claim 4th ahead of Lutsenko. Hagen is 6th with Mohoric in 7th.
De Bie fell behind in the closing stages and ends up 8th.
So did Bakelants and he claims 9th.
Ulissi completes a lonely ride in the closing kilometers to 10th place, and he will probably be quite happy with that.
500 meters still to go for the next group where Demare and Formolo are leading them home.
Demare easily wins the sprint for 11th, with Formolo and Jensen following.
Larsen, Buchmann and Rodrigues come through in the next positions. The break has proved beneficial today.
Bilbao is 16th, followed by Grashev, another rider from the break.
Stuyven and Velasco come past the line next.
Van der Poel completes the Top 20, but is it enough consolation for Aegon to have three in the Top 20 after De Bie's somewhat disappointing race.
Azman is 21st.
McCormick and Gaudu is 22nd and 23rd respectively.
Kulimbetov and Van Zyl complete the Top 25.
Today's winner - Michal Kwiatkowski.
Kwiatkowski picks up another big win after the recent Giro success for his team. His manager will surely be ecstatic with that. Bobridge in 2nd and Koretzky in 3rd should also be pleasing results for their respective managers. Yates in 4th likewise. Perhaps those just behind them are them ones who'll be disappointed. Lutsenko, Hagen, Mohoric, De Bie and Bakelants would all have harboured hopes of challenging for the win but either missed the decisive move or couldn't keep up in the closing stages.
Even worse results for the like of Betancourt, Gautier and Beltran who finished 29th, 31st and 32nd, respectively.
