Should be a really interesting matchup here for the cobbles: Kamyshev vs. Nepomnyachsniy. Two classics guys, but very different types of riders. The former is a pure cobbles engine, while the latter is a sprinter hybrid who will have the aid of a strong teammate.
Startlist:
Spoiler
Lutsenko
Alexey
King Power
Kamyshev
Arman
Team Tinkoff - La Datcha
Gidich
Yevgeniy
King Power
Nepomnyachsniy
Yevgeni
Swisslion Cycling Team
Kozhatayev
Bakhtiyar
Isostar - Specialized
Nepomnyachsniy
Alexandr
DK - SVA Zalgiris
Luchshenko
Sergey
Indosat Ooredoo
Senyenov
Roman
Gazelle
Ovsyannikov
Alexandr
DK - SVA Zalgiris
Kulimbetov
Nurbolat
Indosat Ooredoo
Fominykh
Daniil
Team UBS
Kochetkov
Mikhail
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
Pronskiy
Vadim
Nordica - Enel
Natarov
Yuriy
Swisslion Cycling Team
Surprisingly, it's Nepomnyachsniy who attacks first, 30 km out.
He is caught and Kamyshev counters, but attacking isn't his strong suit.
Nevertheless, he is able to form a small selection. It's the 4 strongest cobbles riders:
Nepomnyachsniy Ovsyannikov Kozhatayev Kamyshev
Kamyshev paces hard over the final cobbled sector, but nobody looks to be cracking under the pressure.
So he launches the sprint with still over a km left to ride, Nepom on the wheel.
But instead it's Ovsyannikov who leeps out ahead while Nepomnyachsniy sits pat and marks Kamyshev for his domestique.
DKA get it done, albeit not with the rider we would have thought. Ovsyannikov owes Nepomnyachsniy dinner for basically giving him the win today.
1
Alexandr Ovsyannikov
DK - SVA Zalgiris
1h13'49
2
Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev
Isostar - Specialized
s.t.
3
Arman Kamyshev
Team Tinkoff - La Datcha
s.t.
4
Alexandr Nepomnyachsniy
DK - SVA Zalgiris
s.t.
5
Yuriy Natarov
Swisslion Cycling Team
+ 5'03
6
Sergey Luchshenko
Indosat Ooredoo
+ 5'42
7
Roman Senyenov
Gazelle
+ 6'17
8
Vadim Pronskiy
Nordica - Enel
+ 6'58
9
Yevgeniy Gidich
King Power
+ 7'37
29
Mikhail Kochetkov
Team Popo4Ever p/b Nemiroff
+ 10'44
32
Alexey Lutsenko
King Power
s.t.
37
Nurbolat Kulimbetov
Indosat Ooredoo
s.t.
38
Daniil Fominykh
Team UBS
s.t.
A nice number of contenders here. Fominykh and Nepomnyachsniy
are the favorites. Usually Kochetkov has trouble getting up to speed early, but the long distance might mitigate that for him. And Gidich, while not having the best aero position, has a top tier engine.
Gidich sets the best time at the finish, but he's well behind the other three at the time checks and won't be winning today.
Kochetkov takes the best time at the first two checks, with the others still behind him.
But Nepomnyachsniy is looking good today too. He takes 7 seconds out of Kochetkov at the first check, and extends his lead to 11 seconds by the second time check.
Fominykh is just a tick off. +6 seconds at the first and +10 at the second, just ahead of Kochetkov.
Finish for Kochetkov. Did he improve enough over the course of the stage?
Nope, the gap stays proportionate, and Nepomnyachsniy takes the leads by 18 seconds at the finish line.
No answer from Fominykh either, who just edges out silver by a single second. That means Nepomnyachsniy is your Kazakh TT national champion!
