Here we go – the season finale is about to start. A lot is at stake, primarily in the relegation fight. But of course, the top riders also have individual glory in mind as they strive to add a monument victory to their resume. Let’s see how everything shakes out:
Mapei needs big points today and Rohendi open proceedings on the first short ramp of the day, Grigrian is in his wheel immediately. Sequera and Herregodts follow suit.
Then come Dlamini, Geniets and Kanerva, with Mavrikakis a bit further behind.
Still more teams want to be part of the breakaway. Stancu, Figueiredo and Christensen chase after the previous attackers. No reaction from the peloton just yet.
It looks like these guys might be the last ones to try: Kastrantas, Topchanyuk and Zimmermann have some catching up to do now, as the first group is already 1’48 ahead of the peloton.
It takes another 8 or so kilometers for everyone to catch up, but then we’re set on this group of 14. Just 14 kilometers into the race, they’re already 3 minutes ahead of the pack. Some pretty strong riders are in here, Kanerva and Kastrantas being the best pure puncheurs, but lots of climber-oriented hybrids like Mavrikakis, Topchanyuk, Figueiredo and Sequera probably fancy their chances to stay ahead for a while as well.
Following the first steep descent, a quartet is pushed off the back, including Mavrikakis and Figueiredo, who hung out at the back of the group at all times since they are the only ones who have teammates in the group, as well as Grigrian and Topchanyuk. They would make it back very quickly, but mainly I justed wanted to show you this nice scenery.
In the peloton, many teams share the workload equally. They set a pretty decent pace, never letting the gap to the breakaway grow to much more than 4 minutes.
No splits in the breakaway over the first climb. The weaker climbers kept to the back of the group but looked fairly comfortable.
I mean, look at this … just beatiful!
You’re getting a bunch of panoramic shots because really, nothing is happening throughout the middle stretch of this race. The gap to the peloton dropped to around two and a half minutes on the long flat stretch. See you when the road turns uphill again.
On the next significant climb, we see the first casualties in the peloton. Schir suffered a very untimely puncture, while Baterdene and English probably ask themselves what they did to deserve having to conclude their seasons like this.
Gazelle have emerged as the driving force in the peloton, evidently putting a lot of stock into Formolo’s form today. They’re doing good work, the breakaway is now only 1’50 ahead.
On the longest climb of the day, and with the peloton already very close, Topchanyuk increases the pace and forces Kastrantas off the back of the group.
Dlamini, Sequera and Geniets are next. Meanwhile, Xero have taken over in the peloton. It looks like teams with strong climbers, i.e. Areruya, feel confident today.
More and more riders drop from the breakaway and only four of them reach the summit at the front: Mavrikakis, Figueiredo, Zimmermann and Topchanyuk. They’re still only around 1’10 ahead of the peloton though.
Said peloton has shrunk considerably and only consists of 44 riders now! Some strong domestiques are no longer in here like Zardini, Carboni, Blums or Vosekalns. But several team leaders are missing as well.
Amaysim only has Christensen left in front, who’s about to be caught. Grieg is entirely without a rider close to the front. Waeytens is gone, though MOL still has Stancu chasing the lead breakaway group. Müller has fallen behind, as has Chernetskiy, but Sivakov still hangs on in the peloton. Ulissi and Gastauer are gone, but Godoy is still there. So far, it really is a climbers race.
A group of around 20 riders, including Choi and Preidler as well as Zardini and Blums, would rejoin the peloton, but new splits will surely emerge soon.
In the valley before the penultimate climb, Figueiredo went on the attack and he does reach that ascent with a small gap. He’s increased the advantage on the peloton back up to 1’40.
None of them would make if far though. As soon as they hit the steep slopes, the peloton first catches Zimmermann and then the others. Gidich is now setting the pace and a lot of the top favorites are already coming to the front.
Gidich’s pace is absolutely brutal and only 23 riders can follow him as they come closer to the summit. The top favorites are all still in here.
But for how long, if we continue like this? Lopez attacks, still 27 kilometers from the finish line!
This is a bit of a shocker! Lutsenko loses contact, next to Sivakov and Godoy. He still has some time to recover though, maybe he can catch back up again.
With Lopez some 20 seconds up the road, let’s take a comprehensive look at the 19 riders still left chasing:
Dombrowski
Benoot
Yates
Guerreiro
Gidich
Mohoric
Roglic
Yates
Berhane
Sepulveda
Vakoc
Areruya
Kudus
Sagan
De Bie
Buchmann
Formolo
Pluchkin
Koretzky
Lopez tried his best but with so many domestiques left, he didn’t stand a chance. Guerreiro took a huge turn and then Berhane finished the job to catch him with some 14 kilometers to go. Just one more spike to decide the race now. The Lutsenko trio is already over a minute behind, it looks unlikely that they’ll be able to make it back.
They don’t even wait for that ascent! Yates and Areruya attack with still around 4 kilometers until then.
But they too don’t get away for long. First Berhane, then Kudus and Gidich shut them down.
And so, 20 riders enter the final climb together. And Areruya immediately attacks again! This time, he has Vakoc, Formolo and De Bie behind him.
De Bie soon takes over. So far, everyone can hang on.
De Bie is the first who heads into the descent. He’s not a great descender, but the group is incredibly stretched behind him. Formolo, Vakoc, Areruya, Lopez, Roglic and Yates are the guys that follow closest.
Then it’s Mohoric, Sagan, Buchmann, Yates, Benoot and Koretzky - and then a gap to the rest! 4 kilometers to the line now, first downhill, but the final 2 kilometers are flat.
Benoot and Koretzky weren’t quite able to hang on, so it’s an 11 men battle for the win!
On paper, Yates - currently in 6th position - is the easy favorite here, clearly the fastest rider. But other quick guys will challenge him, including De Bie, Vakoc and Sagan.
The sprint begins and Yates immediately hits the front! Formolo, De Bie, Vakoc, Areruya and Lopez are well-positioned, too!
Yates is still in front with 500 meters to go, but it’s not an insurmountable lead!
Areruya and Vakoc are currently on podium course, no one has a clear speed advantage at the moment.
Areruya is fading but Yates never was! What a tremendous win for him, decisively saving his team from relegation!
Vakoc hangs on for a strong second place, then De Bie just barely holds off Formolo to finish third – Aegon, too, can plan for another year in PT. Roglic with a surprisingly strong 5th place, then Lopez, who could not repeat last year’s feat.
Sagan was too far behind to compete for the top places, he ends up 7th ahead of Mohoric, fantastic team performance by King Power even if the top result is missing. Areruya falls back to 9th, then Yates.
Buchmann never stood a chance in this sprint, 11th is a decent result for him personally in a vacuum, but it’s not enough to save Mapei. Behind him, Benoot and Koretzky start sprinting …
And as you’d expect, Koretzky wins that sprint. 12th for him, 13th for Benoot.
Next to King Power, ISA - Hexacta is certainly the most impressive team here. Sepulveda finishes 14th, Berhane ends up 20th behind this group. Gidich makes it 3 King Power riders in the Top 15, then come the top climbers. 16th place to Pluchkin, then Dombrowski and Kudus ahead of a really strong Guerreiro.
Lutsenko is the huge disappointment of today, even failing to compete with Godoy and Sivakov, who take 21st and 22nd, respectively.
The best breakaway riders end up being Christensen, Mavrikakis and Figueiredo, who follow in the next group. Notable depth points here for Festina, who have Van Niekerk and Spanopoulos in this group, too, as well as really solid results - compared to their means - for Generali and Amaysim.
Choi and Preidler are the best MOL riders, but they miss the Top 25, which are capped off by Malecki and Smith, the 4th King Power rider. Vincent keeps up the balance for ISA – Hexacta.
The relegation battle ultimately ends the way in which it could have been anticipated, with Mapei remaining below the line. Simon Yates virtually singlehandedly saves Zwift with an incredible October, putting the icing on the cake with this monument victory. Vakoc appropriately concludes a very successful ISA – Hexacta season, almost winning his second monument of the year. And while De Bie closely misses out on the big win again, his manager will ultimately breathe a sigh of relief.
And so ends the 2021 PT season. A big thank you to all active managers and reporters who made it happen, and congrats to everyone who can look back on a successful season! Expect the final PT Rankings in the upcoming days, and then we’ll see each other in the offseason!
Giro di Lombardia 
