The race is on in Australia, a race for which the local bookmakers only have eyes for the sprinters. The only exception being Kurianov who, for some reasons, didn’t make it in the press favorite list.
The weather is perfect for a good cycling day: the sun is bright, the wind is strong (40 km/h). We only have to hope the teams will use it!
The attacks begin as soon as we cross the finish line for the first time. And with 115 km to go, we have our break of the day. Let’s see who are the braves:
Vanthourenhout Kiflay
Pellaud, Maccagli, Antonelli
Fominykh, Grand, Spengler
Turek, Di Maggio
Sam Seigle
One minute behind them, Carr and Finkler are two late attackers. The peloton did let go, and they now have a two minutes gap on the race leaders. Many teams are ready to contribute to the chase.
110 km to go. Carr and Finkler joined the break, and the 14 riders have a 2’24 gap. UBS ready to take the matters in hand in the break.
We come back on line with 51 km to go, and nothing really changed as the leaders begin the ascension of the Fimis Road – 2 km at 7,35%. They have a 1’30 gap on the pack.
The same teams as before are leading the peloton, with Duyvesteyn now riding for Cedevita. Seems like the Slovenian believe on a new victory from Katrasnik!
The pack is beginning to stretch though. The wind is approaching the 50 km/h.
No damages for now, and the gap has been reduced to 1 minute with 40 km to go.
7 km later,we can confirm the first real breaks in the pack: two groups of 4 and 9 riders are caught behind. Appollonio is the most noticeable of them!
Isostar doesn’t care and Andersen leads the pack up the last hill of the day. The race will begin to be more serious now!
The men in lime bring forces in front. It seems like they try to make use of the crosswinds to make things easier for Gavirira.
Nobody else’s dropped though, as Finkler and Fominykh try to break free of… the break. 27 km to go.
Pellaud tries to join them, while, in the pack… it seems that Gaviria and Andersen have a small gap on the rest of the peloton. Ahlstrand’s with them.
Everybody’s easily cauht though, and we only have our three men upfront, with a 42’’ lead. Andersen still goes strong to disrupt the peloton.
And with 23 km to go, as we begin the descent to the long flat finish, Antonijevic attacks! He’s not the strongest rouleur, but why not?
Under the 20 km banner, the cycleYorkshire rider still has a small gap. Behind him, the chase has a bigger gap on a 121 men peloton. Van der Sande, Hsu, Liu, Jakobsen… all are caught in the wrong group, and awfully positioned. The route’s still long though, and everything should come back together. Gaviria, Ahlstrand, Halvorsen, Van der Lijke and Manninen are on the right side of the split. Katrasnik and Culey are here too.
15 km to go. Fominykh is all alone upfront. He’s got a 12’’ gap on Pellaud and Finkler. Antonijevic is 7’’ behind them. Then we have the 89 men pack, with most of the favorites, except Bewley (1’ behind) and Appollonio (3’ behind), who never could come back.
3 km later, we finally are on the flat section and Palmerston is not far now. Varga breaks out of the pack, followed by Katrasnik and Groves. Garcia Cortina, Pedersen and Mundle are just behind them.
Nobody flinches though, and they are caught. Nych is the next p,e tp tru os micl; as 109 riders pack is closing up on Fominykh, who had a truly fantastic ride!
8Â km to go and nothing is done yet! As we could believe that the sprinting teams were able ton control, Nych, Varga, Katrasnik and Kurianov attack once again!
Rickaert is done for and not able to bring the four rouleurs back, so Gaviria tries to join them, following Pellaud – who seems to still have legs – and Skaarseth.
As there is no more than 6 km to go, that promises a crazy end for this race!
It’s Antonelli who brings everyone together though, right under the 5 km banner. All of the main sprinters are on the front, except Van Stayen. Seems like Duolingo management decided to go for Van der Sande instead! The latter, as Jakobsen and Enger are a bit behind the rest of the favorites. Still, it’s hard to tell who Petronas was working for…
The wind still goes at 37 km/h as we approach the finish line.
It’s not over though: Mundle does it again with 3 km to go! That will certainly disturb the sprint trains! He’s got a 12’’ lead with Kurianov, Wohler, Varga and Nych. The usual suspects, you could say, if we exclude the Amaysim rider. The local team is finally showing is jersey today!
The red kite is in sight!
Varga is the first to begnin his sprint, right under the banner. He’s got Nych right behind him. Same thing on the left, with Mundle and Wohler following Kurianov. Katrasnik and Venturini are a few meters behind, while in the pack we can see Antonelli, Ahlstrand and Bellis in front.
800 meters to go. Kurianov, Varga, Wohler and Nych are on the same line. Mundle seems like he’s done for. Ahlstrand and Van der Lijke are coming strong from the pack, but they are probably to far away for the leaders to fight for victory…
600 meters before the finish line. Kurianov will not win today. On paper, Wohler is the strongest sprinter of the three riders remaining in race for the win.
400 meters. The Amaysim rider has a bike length. Katrasnik is not that far behind the leaders.
200 m. Nych can’t compete. Wohler is losing speed now.
We’re in the last 100 meters. Wohler still has a short advance? Will he be able to bring victory to the local team? Ahlstrand and Van der Lijke are stil lthe best placed of the sprinters.
And it’s a victory for Wohler! The Aussie brings in a great win on home soil! What a ride! Behind him, Varga takes a good 2nd place.
Last edition winner Katrasnik shows that Cedevita could trust him: he finishes 3rd. The sprinters are right behind him.
And it’s Liu who takes the best place of the rest, after the great work of his team all day long. He beats a strong Ahlstrand (5th), and Van der Lijke (6th).
Afterward, it’s Afewerki, who has a great sprint (7th), Venturini, who grabs a surprising 8th place, Jakobsen (9th) and Manninen (10th).
Gaviria is 12th, behind a hard working Nych. Cullaigh, Bellis and Hsu complete the top 15.
Well it’s all for tonight as the last riders (poor Appollonio) are coming across the finish line. We thank you for following this race and we’ll see you next time!
