Stage 1 of the Balkans International takes the riders 187 kilometers from Banja Luka to Pajici. Last year it was stage 3 and it was won by Beltran. He has struggled this season so maybe fond memories will motivate him today.
The stage includes a complete suite of climbs, one each of levels 1 through 4, in that order, plus Cat 3 points at the finish as well as 3 sprint points. The organizers favor the punchiest riders with De Bie, Lopez, and Sagan at the top of the list.
The first sprint point comes just 11k into the stage and the first attacker Yates is still out front. Just behind him 4 riders are about to catch him. Verwilst and Siddikov gets the rest of the points. The other two are Zakarin and Jones.
Cabanas is 46 seconds behind these five and Gebrezgabihier is another 13 seconds back, doesn’t look like he will ride for the GC. The peloton is at 1’44, other riders are still attacking.
30k gone now. Peloton riding hard so they can’t be happy with the riders up the road. Right now the first 5 mentioned above plus Cabanas have 1’55, Gebrezgabihier has 1’40, Smit and Debesay have 57 seconds and Sirironnachai and Hermans have 30 seconds.
Zakarin wins the second sprint ahead of Verwilst and Yates. The lead is 1’45, gaps to the others trying to come across are about the same. 161k to ride.
146k to go, the pace hasn’t slowed as the peloton is still chasing. Cabanas was dropped by the front group and is back with the rest minus, Sirironnachai, 51 seconds behind. The Thai rider is another 15 seconds back. The peloton is 1 minute behind him. The riders are on the long false flat that leads to the Cat 1 climb.
135k to go and the breakaway riders all finally come together. But some of them look pretty spent and they will start the Cat 1 (8.5k at 6.7%) in just 14k. The peloton has eased back and is now 2’36 behind.
5k to the top of the climb for the peloton. The break are all together 3’19 ahead. The lead has been hovering in this range for a while. Thijssen setting the tempo, Kraftwerk, Zero and MOL all prominent near the front.
1.4 k to the top and Cabanas and Gebrezgabihier attack, Zakarin responds but a little slowly.
Gebrezgabihier easily powers past Cabanas to take the points. Zakarin and Smit are the next two on the road.
The rest of the points go to: Cabanas, Zakarin, Smit, Debasey Yates and Verwilst. Their lead expands to over 4 minutes by the top.
The peloton increases the pace across the valley between the first and second climbs and has the lead down to 2’26 with 65k to go. Many teams contributing. The breakaway can be seen ahead and are about to start the Cat 2 climb to Petibor (6.2k at 5.1%)
In the break Zakarin launches the first attack with just under 1k to climb, but the rest are able to follow.
He proves strong enough to hold on to the top. He adds 10 KOM points to bring his total to 20. The rest go to Hermans (8), Gebrezgabihier (6+16=22), Sirironnachai (4) and Debasey (2+6=8). Yates is distanced on the climb.
Kraftwerk and Assa Abloy lead the peloton over 2’20 later. Bergstrom Frisk has become the first rider dropped, he did a lot of work during the initial chase.
Debasey leads Hermans and Sirironnachai across the final sprint point. 39k to go, Yates is 22 seconds behind, the peloton at 1’52. From here mostly climbing. The Cat 3 and Cat 4 climbs then an unclassified climb that is probably harder than either of them and then the climb to the finish. Evonik (Gavars) are working again in the peloton.
32k to go and 4k to the Cat 3 point. The peloton is closing in. Yates was never able to rejoin and Sirironnachai, Siddikov and Hermans have all been dropped. Verwilst launches the first attack.
1k to go to the Cat 3 KOM. The break is down to 4: Verwilst, Zakarin, Jones, and Gebrezgabihier. The 149 rider peloton is 57 seconds behind.
Zakarin powers away to take 6 more points. With Verwilst and Jones taking the rest. The ISA-Hexacta rider take the KOM lead 26 – 22 over Gebrezgabihier. 12k to the Cat 4 climb, not clear if they will stay away to contest that.
Just under 20k to go for the peloton which is down to 125 riders. Albanese and Swift driving the pace. Among the sprinters only Van der Lijke, Van der Sande and Kump are still present but they are not well placed. The last two holdouts up front are Zakarin and Verwilst, they have 33 seconds. With Gebrezgabihier caught Zakarin looks secure in the KOM jersey, but he will want to stay away and add to his lead at the Cat 4 in 3k.
16k to go, 900 meters to the Cat 4 and Roson launches the first attack out of the peloton.
Zakarin stays away long enough to add 5 more points to his KOM lead. Verwilst moves into 4th in that competition behind Gebrezgabihier and Cabanas. Behind Roson has been joined by Sosa and they have a small gap over the peloton where Arndt is on the front.
12k to go, the break is caught as are the other attackers. The peloton is on the uncategorized climb to Kute, 4.2k at 6.5%, from there 5k of descending and then the climb to the finish. The peloton includes 108 riders. Most notable names dropped are Bobridge, Vakoc, and Gaudu.
On the climb Roson attacks again, this time joined by a different King Power rider, Gidich. Sagan leads the peloton.
Sagan bridges over to the front two and they open up a small lead before Beltran and Lopez come to the front and begin to wind them in.
Under the 10k banner and with about 1k to climb Lopez and Beltran bridge up to the front while Gidich and Sagan drop back. The climbers coming to the front here as Sicard, Areruya, and Carthy lead the chase.
9k to go Beltran driving at the front with Lopez and Roson on his wheel. They have 14 seconds on a 24-rider chase group being led by Sosa. The big name to miss out is De Bie, he is chasing back on but has a 52 second gap to close. His issue seems to be positioning as other puncheurs like Sagan and Koretzky are in the favorites group.
As they crest the climb the attackers are brought back and Sosa leads a 20-rider group. 50 seconds behind is an 8 rider group that includes Koretzky, two of his teammates (Mavrikakis and Giannoutsos) as well as Monsalve, another 28 seconds back is another 11 riders including De Bie and Boily (Arndt is in the front group for Kraftwerk as is Vansevenant for Aegon).
The pace on the descent eases a little and De Bie group is within 44 seconds as the front group start the final climb. But De Bie will not be contesting the stage win today, he will have hard work to avoid a major time loss.
2.2k to go. Sosa leads in front of Gidich. Other riders well placed from left to right are Beltran, Valter, Lopez, Kwiatkowski, Arndt and Areruya.
1.5k to go the situation hasn’t changed much. Still Sosa leading. The Koretzky group is at 44 seconds, the and the De Bie group is now 1’25 behind, things are looking grim for Aegon.
Under the 1k banner. Sosa is done. Gidich on the front now. Behind him Beltran, Valter and Arndt then Lopez, Kwiatkowski, Areruya and Sagan. The chase groups have come together and are 59 seconds behind.
600 meters. Sagan and Areruya have dropped back. The two Hello Fresh riders are Gaspar and Potocki, they are both having good days.
200 meters. It looks to be between Beltan, Gidich, Lopez, Kwiatkowski and Valter.
100 meters, Gidich extends his lead a little but Lopez coming fast between riders now.
Gidich is celebrating way too soon.
Lopez with a devastating last 150 meters ambushes Gidich to take the stage. What a way to start his title defense. Beltran settles for 3rd this year followed by Kwiatkowski and Valter. A great ride for the young Hungarian.
Arndt is 6th followed by Roson, Potocki, Vansevenant and Sagan. These five finish 9 seconds down on the first 5.
Next across are Areruya, Gaspar and Sicard. They lose 18 seconds on the winner. From there the time losses get much bigger with the next two to finish being Chaves and De Plus on 45 seconds.
De Bie finishes in 46th, 3’11 down in what proved to be a bad day for the puncheurs with Koretzky, Prevar, Bobridge and Vakoc all losing significant time.
Lopez takes the GC and the points lead. Valter is the best young rider and Hello Fresh lead the teams competition.
Balkans International 
