It looks like even the organisation itself isn’t sure whether a pure sprinter or a stronger rouleur kind of sprinter will take the win. Coquard seems to be the biggest absent name on the list of favourites.
Fiorelli is the first rider to attack. Razumov, Takenouchi, Kämna and Bostner follow him, a bit further we see Affini and Schäppi trying to join the leaders as well.
Roosen denies the two chasers the opportunity to get to the head of the race, and nobody else attacks anymore. These five riders will be the breakaway of the day, as they already have a 2’ gap with 150 km to go.
The riders are in their fifth out of ten laps with exactly 100 km to the finish line. Several teams are working in the peloton and don’t let the gap get bigger than 2’30”, those teams are Aegon – Peroni, Berg Cycles, Festina – OAKA, ISA – Hexacta, EA Vesuvio, MOL, Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam and eBuddy.
The five leaders are already in their eighth lap, as there are now exactly 50 km to go! The time difference over the peloton only one minute now. At the moment, the peloton consists out of all 185 riders again, but we’ve already seen multiple gaps appear (and disappear) because of the constant up and down profile of the race.
Interesting to keep in mind for later is that the gaps always seem to appear after the peloton reaches the top of the small hill, at 10 km to the finish line. The descent is usually chaotic and sees a lot of riders not where they want to be. As of right now, there’s also a small gap behind the first 23 riders. No worries though, as it should be closed quickly. 40 km to go, time difference between the five leaders and the peloton 35”.
Razumov knows he has nothing to lose and attacks in the penultimate lap! Osorio and Miltiadis leading the peloton 45” behind the leaders with 33 km to go!
The Duolingo rider can’t get away, so now it’s Fiorelli’s turn to attack in the leading group! The riders have crossed the top of the local hill for the penultimate time, and now the peloton is also back on the part where it usually breaks! 25 km to go and as the peloton is right behind the leaders, let’s see if we get another dangerous split!
Never mind, no splits in the peloton this time! The five leaders are back together now, and less than half a minute behind them we can see Reimer leading the peloton into the last 20 km!
If he crosses this line in the same position one round later, Kämna wins the Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy! We doubt it will happen, but never say never, Adastra in the attack!
The other three leaders join the German quite quickly, but Takenouchi gets blown back to the peloton. 15 km to the finish line as we see the first rouleurs of the day attack, as Kneisky and van der Hoorn are on their way to the four leaders! Morin tries to keep them at bay, but the Frenchman isn’t strong enough to compete with those strong riders!
The two can’t immediately bridge the gap to the four breakaway riders, which is quite surprising! With 12.5 km left we see another rouleur attacking, this time it really is a big gun! It’s Lierse’s Vanbilsen who takes Rowe and Danish champion Pedersen with him!
11 km to go as the descent is coming very close now, one km to go! The five rouleurs and the four remaining breakaway riders have a small gap over the peloton, where Karatzios seems to be the penultimate pawn in the Festina strategy, trying to keep the attackers as close as possible! Groenewegen meanwhile not positioned very well, in the middle of the peloton!
And we have reached the final top of the day with 10 km to go! Perfect time for Pedersen to attack, Rowe jumps on his wheel! van der Hoorn and Holloway trying to follow as well!
The two leaders have a 25” lead with 8 km to go! Behind them a group of 20-ish riders have a gap over the rest of the peloton, the most important riders in that group are Coquard, Swift, Vanbilsen, Andersen, Degenkolb, Grosu, world champion Wisniowski, Holloway, Samolenkov, Van der Lijke, Lo Cicero, Guardini and Itami!
6 km to the finish line and strong domestique work by Vermeltfoort reduces the gap to 20”! Rowe not taking over from Pedersen!
Aha, the Xero rider taking over now! The difference to the group of favourites increasing again, as it stands at 25” now! Vermeltfoort needs help!
There it is! Holloway sacrificing himself now, as he reduces the difference again, with only 4 km to go! Vanbilsen and Coquard the first riders behind him, while Kemboi has also joined this group!
The American brings the group very close now, as the two leaders are being caught inside the final three km! Samolenkov all of a sudden at the head of this group as well.
It seems like they’re all gambling a bit now, as the speed reduces heavily, riding only 35 km/h in the last 2.5 km. Some extra riders join the leading group, most noteworthy names being Cavendish and Avelino.
Only 2 km left, and the riders now at barely 28 km/h!
We were waiting for an attack, and it’s world champion Wisniowski opening the debates! He goes hard with 1.5 km to the finish line, former attacker Rowe tries to answer his attack!
Except for six other rouleurs and sprinters, everybody seems to be caught by surprise indeed! Rowe is closing the gap to Wisniowski as he enters the final km, the other riders in contention for the win are Samolenkov, Coquard, Pedersen, Vanbilsen, last year’s winner Degenkolb and Itami!
Wisniowski doing quite well as for now he can hold off Rowe, but the top sprinters are catching him with 500 meters to go! Samolenkov in second, Degenkolb in third and Coquard in fourth!
Last 300 meters and the Russian still in the lead! Itami making a lot of speed on the right hand side of the road though!
200 meters to go, it’s still Samolenkov’s to lose!
Final 100 meters, Rowe finding his second breath and coming through the middle as well! This will be close with still several riders in contention for the win!
But a very strong performance by the Tinkoff rider sees him take the Nakhon Ratchasima Trophy home! Last year’s winner Degenkolb and top favourite Coquard complete the podium ahead of Rowe (4th), Itami (5th), Vanbilsen (6th), Pedersen (7th) and Wisniowski (8th)!
The top-10 is then completed by Van der Lijke and Grosu. Just behind them we can find Lo Cicero (11th), Guardini (12th), Swift (13th), Kemboi (14th) and Holloway (15th).
