Welcome to Cologne or Köln in German. We are in western part of Germany, in the Rhineland for this sprinters classic. This 205 km course starts in the city of Koln in the northeast district and takes the riders further in the east, northeast direction. Once leaving the city the course turn into a rolling with many hupsers and we have been told we will see the riders as they tackle everyone of them. On the way back to the finish the riders will come from the east to re-enter the city, before finishing in the central part of Koln on a flat mini circuit. We have a nice sunny day today with only a hint of wind in the air. The riders are sure to enjoy the conditions. Time to start the race!
Masnada and Peters kick off the proceedings with an early attempt to make it into today's break.
The next two to jump from the pack are Higuita and Senyenov.
And we have another two trying to bridge across in Zakarin and Eenkhoorn.
The 6 riders were able to come together quite quickly and have opened up a 2'59'' gap to the peloton just as they look to take on the 1st climb of the day, the Klauberg. Things get harder from this point forward as they are just 15 km into the race.
A lot of teams have sent one of the men to the front to control the pace. Festina, Volvo, Aegon and ISA - Hexacta are all teams you would expect to contribute. The pace so far is still very easy as the gap has grown out to 4'42''.
Back at the front of the race the breakaway are just taking on the 2nd climb of the day, Agathaberg. It's short and punchy, but shouldn't provide anyone with a challenge this early on. The gap is now 3'50'' with just under 150 km left.
Off a longer descent from the previous hill, the riders now take on the mostly flat Hermesberg, it only get steeper for the final few 100 m in the end. Most of the favourites are near the front, but some are still taking shelter deeper in the pack. The gap to the breakaway is at 3'43'', 138 km to go.
The little hills keep coming at this point of the race and will do so for a while. The breakaway is now on the steepest section of the Dimberg, with percentages of over 12%. All the riders from the break are good at taking on hills like these and are working well together.
We've got a short and steep one next, it's the Hohkeppel this time. All these little climbs are meant to sap away at the riders legs, but so far the peloton and breakaway are all together.
Checking back in with peloton as we are nearing the halfway point of the race. The riders are tackling one of the longer hills today, the Oberkuhlheim. Not steep whatsoever, so no splits expected here. The defecit to the breakaway is at 3'00'' exact with 111 km left in the race.
7th hill of the day now, but no 7th heaven yet for the riders. It's the short ascent up the Dombach and we are still 98 km from the finish line. Either this is a long race or the reporter has decided to take his sweet time with it.
We are on the Bensberg right now and are on some sort of circuit right now, because the riders will take on these last three climbs again a little bit later.
The peloton are now on the 9th climb of the day, the Lughausen which features some nasty percentages of around 11% at the beggining. Interestingly we Grieg, Rakuten and Aker at the front. None of these teams have a sprinter, but it appears they have some other plan as well and are willing to chase the break. The gap has remained the same for the last few 10 km and is at 2'58''. We have 77 km to go.
The escapees are on the steepest hill of the day, the Ferrenberg. It maxes at almost 13%. Everyone still looks in good shape.
Degenkolb has ordered to up and it's Dlamini on the front grinding up the Oberkuhlheim. It looks like the elastic might break soon as the peloton is getting stretched out. The gap to the breakaway is still at 2'03'' with 53 km to go.
Up the Dombach now it's Madouas putting pedal to the metal. The gap is coming down quickly, 1'11'' 41 km left.
With the gap falling fast Peters decides he needs to go alone. But for 38 km?? There is only one climb left.
Kastrantas now puts in a dig on the final ascent up the Bensberg. All 13 are about to be hupsers dealt with now and the peloton is breaking here!
And boy has it broke! We have now a main peloton of 30 riders that is still under a minute behind the breakaway. Behind them is group of 53 rider with Kristoff, Enger and Pedersen. They're a minute down and behind them is an even bigger group with Eislers and more shockingly Holloway?! They look to be out of it at this point.
Puma - SAP and ISA who have been active in the last kilometers have men in the front group and are pushing the pace.
Pruus is now trying to peel of the front, but the favourites also have other concerns. The breakaway has regained unity and is still 53'' ahead with 17 km left. They have to make sure they make the catch! The 2nd group is now already 2 minutes down on the favourites, it's over for them.
Where as Pruus's attempt failed, Andersen decided it was his turn to try and he quickly gets a small gap!
We are now on the tiny circuit in Koln and Andersen has bridged across to the original breakaway. They still have a 37'' advantage with only 5 km left! Are the sprinters about to get foiled?!
Andersen has moved straight to the front of the breakaway. He wants to drive this thing home. 3.3 km left and the gap is still at 37''.
Grosu decides he can't afford to wait any longer, so he launches his sprint with 3 km to go! Hagen is trying to leadout Kennaugh, but the rest appear to have been caught napping?
No, we were wrong! Hagen is attacking by himself! Kennaugh will sit on the wheels, making the others chase.
Grosu has joined up and taken the rear of the front group. Hagen looks like he's only meters away. They still have a 36'' gap with 1.7 km to go.
Meanwhile in behind Van Stayen has decided to chase and is followed by Degenkolb, Kennaugh, Demare, Coquard and Ahlstrand in that order.
But what is this?! Andersen has sat up! Maybe he doesn't want to drag the others no more, but it's his loss as the sprinters fly straight past him.
This is the order after the last turn, just a 700 m straight to the line now:
Degenkolb
Kennaugh
Grosu
Coquard
Van Stayen
Demare
Ahlstrand
Vanderbiest
Groenewegen
Howard
Van der Lijke
This is how it looks with 300 m to go. Degenkolb is in front on the right. Kennaugh, Coquard and Demare are coming in strong through the middle. Ahlstrand on the left looks to be fading. Howard, Groenewegen and Vanderbiest are trying to get up from the 2nd row.
It's tight, but it's Kennaugh who take the victory! Wonderful tactics by Air France at the very end of the race. Coquard comes 2nd with a strong finish. Home favourite Degenkolb rounds out the podium. 4th and 5th go to Demare and Ahlstrand.
After that it's 6th place by Van der Lijke who came from a fair way behind. Samolenkov is 7th, Kump is 8th which is nice result from the wildcard team. And finally Howard just managed to hold off Groenewegen for the final two spots in the top 10.
Rund um Koln 
