The second half of the second round now, 15 more qualifying places up for grabs.
Heat 6
AUS
Ewan
Caleb
SLO
Kump
Marko
ITA
Moser
Moreno
FRA
Demare
Arnaud
NOR
Halvorsen
Kristoffer
ESP
Guerao
Oscar
Caleb Ewan and Arnaud Demare are the ones to watch here.
But some have no intention of watching them. Very early attack from Moser, which Guerao follows!
Well, 2 riders going early is a new tactic. Moser continues.
Demare is the one to react first. Then Halvorsen, with Evan and Kump at the back.
We see Demare catch Moser/Guerao then stop. And Halvorsen does the same
But before Ewan and Kump can get back too, Guerao unleashes a huge effort
Halvorsen and Demare chasing
Kump now makes his bid for Top 3. He jumps past Ewan AND Demare.
Guerao celebrates a truly impressive win
And what a turn up, Demare and Ewan are out.
1
Oscar Guerao
Spain
5'43
2
Marko Kump
Slovenia
s.t.
3
Kristoffer Halvorsen
Norway
s.t.
4
Arnaud Demare
France
s.t.
5
Caleb Ewan
Australia
s.t.
6
Moreno Moser
Italy
s.t.
Heat 7
COL
Gaviria
Fernando
AUS
Nelson
Ricki
GBR
Harrison
Sam
AUT
Haller
Marco
DEN
Kragh Andersen
Asbjorn
ITA
Appollonio
Davide
Gaviria headlines this heat, and a Round 1 winner Sam Harrison, decides this time to go first.
Kragh Andersen will chase
Ah, no he won't
The Dane settles back in in front of Haller, but behind the Derny
And now left behind, as Appollonio, Nelson and Gaviria have jumped up to Harrison
The chase is on!
Meanwhile Gaviria takes the front
Gaviria wins it - and surging from behind Haller and Kragh Anderson do make it into the Top 3!
1
Fernando Gaviria
Colombia
5'41
2
Marco Haller
Austria
s.t.
3
Asbjorn Kragh Andersen
Denmark
s.t.
4
Ricki Nelson
Australia
s.t.
5
Davide Appollonio
Italy
s.t.
6
Sam Harrison
Great Britain
s.t.
Heat 8
3075
ROM
Grosu
Eduard
1015
FRA
Bouhanni
Nacer
531
ITA
Guardini
Andrea
5381
GBR
Cullaigh
Gabriel
1195
GER
Zabel
Rick
120
NED
Jakobsen
Fabio
The last of our heats to feature a so-called seeded rider - though a number have already been eliminated, despite having the best sprint in their heat. In here is Grosu, and a competitive bunch of sprinters otherwise.
Guardini is now the 5th Italian to compete - none have made it through just yet.
Bouhanni goes early
Zabel is right on him - well we saw this work for Guerao already
Guardini panics
He makes it back up to the front, as does Grosu - leaving Cullaigh and Jakobsen. But Zabel...
.. has attacked again!
The riders are all over the place now. And Jakobsen is so far behind before he considers sprinting himself
Big win for Zabel
Grosu safely navigates the race in 2nd. Cullaigh timed his later sprint well to take 3rd place
Jakobsen got his tactics all wrong, even more so than Bouhanni!
1
Rick Zabel
Germany
5'27
2
Eduard Grosu
Romania
s.t.
3
Gabriel Cullaigh
Great Britain
s.t.
4
Andrea Guardini
Italy
s.t.
5
Nacer Bouhanni
France
s.t.
6
Fabio Jakobsen
Netherlands
s.t.
Heat 9
FRA
Petit
Adrien
ITA
Nizzolo
Giacomo
COL
Hodeg
Alvaro
NOR
Enger
Sondre Holst
POR
Silvestre
Fabio
TPE
Hsu
Hsuan Ping
We're now into the heats that you might have want to be drawn into, no 83+ sprint rider in here. Who will take advantage?
Meanwhile Nizzolo is 6th up for the luckless Italians.
Some say you make your own luck. You don't do that by attacking first Giacomo.
Hodeg and then Silvestre chase
Petit makes it 4 up front
Silvestre leads
But now Enger and Petit move ahead on the inside
Has Hsu left it too late?
Enger wins!
Petit takes 2nd, and the one rider with Olympic rings on his jersey, Hsu takes 3rd to pip out Silvestre
1
Sondre Holst Enger
Norway
5'36
2
Adrien Petit
France
s.t.
3
Hsuan Ping Hsu
Taiwan
s.t.
4
Fabio Silvestre
Portugal
s.t.
5
Alvaro Hodeg
Colombia
s.t.
6
Giacomo Nizzolo
Italy
s.t.
Heat 10
ITA
Bonifazio
Niccolo
SER
Rajovic
Dusan
TUR
Carsi
Mustafa
NED
Van der Lijke
Nick
NZL
Bewley
Sam
FIN
Manninen
Matti
The final race includes a 7th Italian in Bonifazio. Perhaps Van der Lijke, Bewley and Manninen are the favourites?
Lajovic showed a huge acceleration in Round 1, but is the slowest by sprint in the field. And he doesn't fancy it.
Carsi, Van der Lijke looking aggressive
Bonifazio, Bewley and Manninen holding back - the wider line is a bit wasteful though for Bewley
Rajovic is caught. Will Van der Lijke ride through?
Actually Carsi does! Bonifazio is closing
Lots for Bewley and Manninen to do here
Bonifazio wins. Finally some cheer for the Italians!
Van der Lijke and Carsi squeeze through. Rajovic so close to being the only first attacker to make the Top 3.
Huge speed for Bewley and Manninen at the finish, but pointless when too far back.
1
Niccolo Bonifazio
Italy
5'38
2
Nick Van der Lijke
Netherlands
s.t.
3
Mustafa Carsi
Turkey
s.t.
4
Dusan Rajovic
Serbia
s.t.
5
Matti Manninen
Finland
s.t.
6
Sam Bewley
New Zealand
s.t.
Round 2 is over, here's a reminder of the 30 through to the Quarter Finals.
