Here we go then, the peloton is assembled in Beijing, heading north west towards Badaling and the Great Wall. Conditions are pretty good, hopefully we see some animated racing. A quick reminder of the favorites:
Oddsmakers favor Kinoshita, as you’d expect, with Borges and McCarthy leading the rest. Notably, they rate fast guys Oliveira and Kump fairly highly, indicating they think it might come down to a sprint finish, even if from a reduced group.
The pack takes it slow for a few kilometers until Matsangos, Skjelmose Jensen and Awuku form the first breakaway trio. Waerenskjold, Brun and Elissonde try to follow.
Lindeman also made the jump and uses his big engine to pull the group. Elissonde is struggling to catch up, he’s followed by Verhelst and no less than another 11 riders who are currently ahead of the pack. Let’s see who’ll make it into the break of the day.
The first 8 come together, as do the 11 behind them. Some teams with favorites for the finale aren’t happy with that many riders up ahead and keep up a high pace in the peloton.
For no less than some 40 kilometers, the breakaway and the peloton were in a relentless battle, the gap fluctuating between 35 and 45 seconds. But eventually, the teams behind decided they wanted to keep their riders fresh for later in the day and they let the breakaway go. Now, at the first of five crossings of the first light difficulty of the day, the group has a lead of 2’30. In addition to the 8 riders mentioned before, for a total of 19, it includes:
The peloton crosses the hill for the third time with many of the same teams at the front that were fighting against the breakaway earlier. The gap is at 3 minutes and it has never been more than 3’30 - the peloton is firmly in control, it seems.
Fifth and final time over the top of this hill and Waerenskjold is the first who can’t keep up anymore with the breakaway. They’re already just 1’30 ahead of the peloton.
Fairly early on the first longer climb, with the peloton in sight behind them, Karatsivis wants to prolong his time in the spotlight. He attacks, Verhelst and Awuku go after him. The road rises at around 3.3% here, but steeper parts are ahead.
Karatsivis holds out alone for quite some time, but Quinn brings him back eventually. Immediately, Awuku, Cannister and Elissonde attack.
It’s Elissonde who is alone in the penultimate downhill, ahead of Awuku, Cannister and Bizkarra. But he’s just 40 seconds ahead of the peloton.
Cannister is the chaser who holds on the longest, quite a remarkable feat considering his skillset. Christensen and Arensman catch him with 22 kilometers to go and Elissonde is done just a few hundred meters later.
Through the eyes of some of the distanced riders behind the peloton, here’s a look at the final kilometer, one round before the actual finish. At the flamme rouge, we’re at 3.2%, but at the line, it rises to just over 5.5%. Good timing and energy conservation will be key in a potential sprint.
Shirota pulled the pack up the climb for the most part, but the group is still 86 riders strong. 3 kilometers from the top, we have the first attacks, but it’s not from the top favorites. Instead, Luchshenko launches himself, closely marked by Gesbert.
First Frankiny then Hermans shut the duo down, but just before the summit, Gesbert tries again. The group has shrunk to just 37 riders and the favorites are coming to the front now. Kinoshita is in second position, followed by McCarthy, Benoot and Jensen.
Masnada has missed the cut, Jura GIANTS are currently the only team without at least rider up ahead …
… that is, until Doubey loses contact, too. At the back of the group of now 30 riders, Ssabagwanya and Vliegen are fighting to keep up. And Eiking and De Plus aren’t looking too fresh anymore either.
While Eiking just barely hangs on, De Plus indeed finds himself in the second group alongside Ssabagwanya, Vliegen and a few domestiques at the start of the final downhill. They have a chance to make it back before the finale though, one would think.
Hermans and Gaspar bring Gesbert back - Meurisse must feel pretty strong today. Alongside Strava, HelloFresh is also the only team that has 3 riders remaining. With 3 riders in the breakaway earlier, this is a very impressive team performance.
But when Luchshenko attacks again just a few moments later, domestique time is officially over. Benoot takes over at the front of the chase, followed by McCarthy and Kinoshita.
Perhaps I spoke too soon. Benoot doesn’t want to overextend himself, so he leaves the work to first Aranburu and then once again Hermans and Gaspar. But they need to be careful not to lose sight of their leader. Meurisse is back in 13th position. Between him and his domestiques are, in order from front to back:
Hirschi, Aranburu (who’s fading now), McCarthy, Gesbert, Borges, Benoot, Kinoshita, Jensen, Bilbao and Kump.
Then it’s Bystrom, Eiking and Van Garderen, while Bernas, Meyer, Budenieks, Oliveira, Van Niekerk and Azman hang on just outside the frame. The De Plus group was close but ultimately didn’t make it back - they’re out of contention.
But let’s not forget that Luchshenko is still out in front! With 2.7 kilometers to go, it’s again Gesbert who attacks - very strong performance by both of them. This one provokes the big guns into action. McCarthy jumps to the French’s wheel, Borges accelerates as well.
Luchshenko is quickly swallowed up by that acceleration and Gesbert doesn’t go anywhere either. McCarthy though continues his attack and gets a small gap with 1.7 kilometers to go!
The Australian might have chosen the perfect moment: Borges sits up and no one else wants to take responsibility. McCarthy has a significant lead as he passes the flamme rouge. Kinoshita realizes he has to act if he wants to wins this, he attacks on the right side of the road.
And he, too, gets away easily. No movement in the big group here, even inside the final 800 meters - everyone’s just looking at each other!
Finally, Borges opens the sprint. He’s a decent sprinter and the likes of Meyer and Bilbao behind him as well as Meurisse on the left are no slouches either. However, it’s Oliveira and Kump one row further back who are by far the quickest. If they still have enough energy left, that is.
Meanwhile, Kinoshita is in hot pursuit of McCarthy, and he’s closing the gap! But only 500 meters are left …
Oh, this is all going to be so close! Borges still leads the group, while Hermans and Hirschi look good for a very surprising result. The fastest guys on the road are, as expected, Oliveira and Kump, but not by very much. It all comes down to who can pull through until the line …
Kinoshita has dragged himself up to McCarthy, but he looks super exhausted and McCarthy is almost there!
Jay McCarthy has it! He wins the Badaling International with a perfectly timed attack! Kinoshita now has to defend second place against a charging Borges, while Hermans, Oliveira and Kump seem to be fighting for the final Top 5 spots.
Kinoshita has just enough left in the tank, Borges is third. The Top 3 pre-race favorites will indeed meet on the podium.
Then it’s incredibly close, hardy visible with the naked eye. Oliveira takes fourth place, then Kump, while Hermans slightly fades to sixth. Still, a great day for HelloFresh - Lampre with Meurisse in eigth place just behind Luchshenko. What a performance, to finish like this after two attacks.
Almost as close, Budenieks and Jensen edge out Bystrom to complete the Top 10. Bilbao is 12th, perhaps slightly disappointing on a finish that should have suited him very well. Van Garderen also hoped for more than 13th, just ahead of teammate Hirschi, who did a lot in the finale but then faded when it mattered most.
Another disappointment is Benoot in 15th. Strava on the other hand get another two riders in the Top 20 for good depth scoring, with Bernas and Azman sandwiching Meyer, who lost a lot in the final few hundred meters. Eiking also not great in 19th place. Positioning was so important here and he was consistently towards the back of the group - perhaps simply not his day. Van Niekerk concludes the Top 20 and then comes Gesbert, who doesn’t take many points here but a lot of admiration for animating the race.
Looking further down the road, Paulinho won’t be too proud of his 23rd place, but Oliveira of course saved the day for Binance. Masnada recovered nicely to at least finish just inside the Top 25. Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo place two riders in the Top 30, but they’re Senni and Novak - their nominal leader De Plus apparently let himself go a bit after being distanced, he finishes in 50th place, making him possibly the biggest disappointment of the day.
To finish on a high note though, once again congratulations to Jay McCarthy and Amaysim, who continue their string of nice results throughout the season!
Badaling International 
