Welcome to the last day of week 1 of this Tour of America! Although it's the end of a week, it's also somehow the beginning of a new chapter - it's called "Sprinters' Festival"! After four stages in the hills - whereof two still went to sprinters - it's now all about the fast men with the big legs for four days in a row as well!
Furthermore, for the first time in this race we're no longer in the State of New York - we're not even in the U.S.A. today! We're very close, though, as Hamilton, today's starting venue, is just a couple of kilometers away from the Niagara Falls, and therefore the American-Canadian border.
We're in the province of Ontario, about 45km southwest of Toronto, at the west end of Lake Ontario (yeah, lakes are everywhere it seems). Named after its founder, George Hamilton, the port city lies in the "Golden Horseshoe" area, Canada's most industrialized region. Hamilton is known as Canada's "Steel Capital", manufacturing about 60% of Canada's steel.
In terms of sights, the Dundurn Castle including the Military Museum should be worth a visit, and maybe the Museum of Steam and Technology for those - like me - interested in those topics. For those interested in sports - and especially in ice hockey, the FirstOntario Centre (home of the Hamilton Bulldogs) will be the place to go.
Once the riders leave Hamilton behind, they'll soon tackle today's sole categorized "climb" - Summit Muskeg is a bit more than a road bump, and that was enough for the organizers to put a 4th category KoM sprint there. 15km will be done. It's all about going west today, and on that route we find the cities of Brantford and Salford, where some sprint points are on offer after 36km and 107km respectively.
After 20 more flat kilometers, the riders will arrive in London. And as you know, River Thames flows through London. And there's Victoria Park. I have to say, those European settlers weren't that innovative when naming places and rivers across the pond. The city is a regional centre of healthcare and education, with hospitals and the university being among its top ten employers. However, the economy is slowly transitioning to a techology hub with focus on the Digital Creative sector.
Most interesting for today's public will probably be London's cycling network, though. With 330km of cycling paths (and an additional 470km planned), fix-it stations throughout the city, as well as numerous bike corrals, it's definitely a bicycle-friendly city - which hopefully will be appreciated by our riders!
However, cycling paths probably won't be enough for the expected bunch sprint - for once, the cyclists will get the large roads reserved for them! And which one will enjoy them most? Chances are good that it's going to be one out of Eislers, Van Asbroeck and Haller - with the latter having to finally redeem himself! Bennett, Coutinho, Boudat, Krieger, Nizzolo, Aniolkowski and Lutsyshyn all make the list - but there obviously are even more sprinters to join the lottery today. Let's find out who has got the best legs in London!
What happened so far
The riders were lined up in Hamilton for the start to the first stage on non-U.S. soil in this 2022 edition. The weather was fine, just partly cloudy. With the day's sole KoM sprint just 15km away, early attacks were definitely expected.
And they obviously did happen. Hocevar was the first one on the move, with Kaloniatis and Hvideberg somewhat cheating to catch up with the Slovene.
They did indeed manage to catch up before the KoM sprint - but were unable to overtake him.
KoM - Summit Muskeg (4th)
1.
Hocevar
5 (5)
2.
Kaloniatis
3 (3)
3.
Hvideberg
1 (1)
KoM leader Magnusson was surely delighted by the fact that none of them had previously scored any KoM points, meaning that his 30 points lead was left unchanged for today.
By the way, there were some more attacks from the pack - notably from Rossi, Ulysbayev, Horvat or Martino. However, they were all shut down by Mosca, Xandri and Van Tricht. An early hint at who was feeling good today?
The peloton trailed the breakaway by 2 minutes at the KoM point.
The next one to try - after the KoM point - was Strong. And there at least wasn't an immediate reaction from the pack.
So De Tier thought that he might as well give it a try, too - and indeed, both of them were given green light.
Further ahead, the cat-and-mouse games so far had taken their toll on Hocevar, who was dropped by his companions.
But by the time the front of the race reached the first intermediate sprint in Brantford, he was brought back by the two chasers - and so all points went to what finally was our breakaway of the day:
Sprint - Brantford
1.
De Tier
10 (10)
-6"
2.
Hocevar
6 (6)
-4"
3.
Strong
4 (4)
-2"
4.
Hvideberg
2 (2)
5.
Kaloniatis
1 (1)
Hvideberg is clearly the strongest rouleur, but the weakest sprinter. He's also the best placed rider in the GC (77th, + 3'30"). De Tier is the strongest puncheur, but the second weakest sprinter. The other three are all pretty similar, so we'd get an interesting finish if the group could make it!
It didn't look great at that point, though, with the pack just trailing by 2'32" and apparently unwilling to give them a long leash.
Let's look at how things unfold as we head onto the final 50 kilometers!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
Pretty much nothing has changed with 50km to go, as the gap stands at 2'34". With the second intermediate sprint in about 30km, the question is whether the sprinter teams will try to catch the escapees before.
Four of the top stage favorites are already found in the first 20 positions, with Haller in 6th wheel - but without any trace of a teammate! Eislers, Van Asbroeck and Coutinho are all being attentive as well, as their teammates (still Van Tricht, Xandri and Mosca) are leading the chase.
With 10km left to the sprint in Salford, the breakaway's advantage has gone down to 1'15", and the pace has clearly gone up in both groups! It looks like a 50-50 situation whether the pack will catch them before arriving in Salford.
They're not caught, and De Tier takes full points again:
Sprint - Salford
1.
De Tier
10 (20)
-6"
2.
Hocevar
6 (12)
-4"
3.
Kaloniatis
4 (5)
-2"
4.
Hvideberg
2 (4)
5.
Strong
1 (5)
The pack isn't really in a hurry, as the gap is still 56" - with slightly more than 20km to go, though.
And it's still 56" under the 20km road sign. Donovan and Barta have joined Mosca at the front of the pack, with Velasco, Edmondson and Groselj showing up, too.
Philips are really believing in their sprinter and points leader Van Asbroeck, as Stoltz is already the 4th different rider to participate in the chase!
The speed isn't overly high yet, though, as the escapees are still 49" clear.
But it was still high enough to drop a 41 rider group! Aniolkowski is the most relevant rider in terms of a potential stage result today, while Tesfaye Heyi (11th GC) is in danger of losing his great GT position!
Hoehn, 3rd in the young rider classification, is back here as well, just like yesterday's 3rd placed Edmondson.
With 10 kilometers left, the breakaway's advantage has shrunk to only 24" - the peloton, currently led by Campenaerts, clearly looks to be in full control.
The dropped group is 1'33" back, and they'll have to hope that the pace slows down, or that the timekeepers are as generous as they usually are!
By the way, Eenkhoorn has joined the chase as well - so it's just Champoussin and Choi who haven't been working for Van Asbroeck yet!
You can't say that they're not tenacious, as the escapees are still up front five kilometers later! The gap is just 10 seconds, though - and they know that any sprinter would easily close that one.
Xandri is trying to catch them ahead of the final stretch, though, with most of the big sprinters present up front already. Furthest ahead are Eislers, Boudat, Zariff, Itami, Nizzolo, Krieger, Lutsyshyn and Berger. Boivin, Bennett, Stash, Mareczko, Van Asbroeck, Coutinho, Moschetti and Feiereisen are slightly further back.
But... there's one jersey we can't spot anywhere close to the front - where is Haller? Well, he's about in the middle of the pack - and seems to be caring more about protecting Moazemi than about sprinting!
3km to go, as the breakaway has finally been swept up by the raging pack - which is now led by KoM leader Magnusson! However, his sprinter Coutinho is on the other side of the road, following Mosca!
Behind the Portuguese, we have Zariff, Eislers, Krieger, Mareczko, Lutsyshyn, Boudat, Nizzolo, Stash, Moschetti, Berger, Bennett and Feiereisen following in one long line, while Van Asbroeck has his own train consisting of Xandri, Stoltz and Velasco on the right side of the road. Itami and Boivin are looking a bit lost and aren't following anyone!
2km to go, and Coutinho only has the seemingly never tiring Mosca with him! Zariff, Eislers, Krieger, Lutsyshyn, Mareczko and Boudat are following, while Nizzolo and Berger have to leave a small gap!
On the other side, it's the Philips armada, now led by Eenkhoorn, building a strong train with four leadouts! Xandri, Stoltz and Velasco are still ahead of Van Asbroeck. Stash and Moschetti are probably thinking that this approach is more promising, having switched trains!
As Mosca finally ran out of steam, Coutinho decided it was way too early to go - and the long line of sprinters almost did a full stop! So Philips are taking over - but they're not overly organized anymore as well - with just Eenkhoorn and Velasco left to lead out Van Asbroeck!
It's looking pretty chaotic - let's try to get an overview:
Eenkhoorn
Velasco
Coutinho
Van Asbroeck
Xandri
Zariff
Mosca
Stoltz
Eislers
Krieger
Lutsyshyn
Stash
Mareczko
Boudat
Nizzolo
Berger
Feiereisen
Moschetti
Itami
Boivin or Bennett are further back - as is Haller, who's definitely completely out of the game for today! Just like Aniolkowski, obviously, who's in the still gapped 2nd group.
Now, this is looking rather promising! Velasco with a huge leadout - just like on stage 2 - pulling Van Asbroeck clear of the rest!
Coutinho is trying to catch the green jersey's wheel, and is in turn followed by Zariff and Eislers! Krieger, Lutsyshyn and the rest seemingly aren't feeling like sprinting yet, though!
By the way, Boivin and Bennett have managed to catch up with Itami - but they still have a long way to go!
Velasco is done with 700m to go - but Van Asbroeck might even have launched too late, as those behind are currently moving faster! Coutinho still leads the chase, but Eislers has already left Zariff behind!
Krieger and Lutsyshyn are leading the next wave, followed by Mareczko, Nizzolo, Boudat, Stash, Feiereisen, Itami, Moschetti, Boivin and Bennett.
Yeah, we're getting it again, the duel Van Asbroeck vs. Eislers! However, today the latter clearly seems to have the upper hand, having launched later and moving way faster! The Belgian actually even has to fear for his points jersey, as he's already cracked now!
Coutinho might share the same fate, having clearly slowed down already, as Lutsyshyn is about to fly past him! Krieger, Mareczko, Nizzolo, Zariff and Stash are still in the fight for the win - or at least the podium - too!
Eislers has a clear lead going onto the final 300 meters! However, Lutsyshyn and Mareczko are faster right now, with Krieger, Nizzolo and Stash going strong as well!
Van Asbroeck and Coutinho have already lost some spots, but Zariff has dropped like a stone - while Feiereisen is doing a great job and is about to catch up with Stash!
200m to go, and it's still looking good for Eislers! However, Lutsyshyn's body language looks more convincing - just like Mareczko's and Krieger's! Van Asbroeck is holding his own, still riding in 5th place, but threatened by Nizzolo and Stash!
It's neck-and-neck now with 100m to go, but Lutsyshyn is looking clearly stronger than Eislers! The Latvian probably also launched too early - and with Mareczko and Krieger being faster than him as well even has to fear about dropping from the stage podium!
Meanwhile, Nizzolo has gone past Van Asbroeck, as Stash is looking to do the same as well - the Belgian will have to hope that Eislers doesn't get a second wind!
He doesn't - on the contrary! Lutsyshyn looks to be flying to the win, while Mareczko and Krieger could both sneak past Eislers for the remaining podium spots!
Nizzolo - Stash - Van Asbroeck is the order behind, which looks unlikely to change.
Indeed, Roman Lutsyshyn ends week 1 just like it started for Team Popo4Ever - with a stage win! Congratulations on a well timed and executed sprint!
Jakub Mareczko was even faster in the end, but ran out of road. The latter is true for Alexander Krieger as well, who just falls short of 3rd place - which goes to Ingus Eislers, who completes his collection of podium spots today.
Giacomo Nizzolo fends off Mamyr Stash's late charge, holding onto 5th place, while Kevin Feiereisen actually manages to outsprint green jersey Tom Van Asbroeck for 7th place! What a low reward for a huge amount of work by Philips!
Kenji Itami and Thomas Boudat round off today's Top 10 - meaning that Coutinho again misses out. So out of the three teams working hard today, only Crabbe get a decent reward with their 3rd place finish!
Meanwhile, the second group still has 1.5km to go - way too much even for the most generous timekeepers. So Tesfaye Heyi, Hoehn et al. finish 2'14" behind the pack, which most notably has an impact on the U25 podium.
However, we'll look at another podium first - the stage podium! And it's Roman Lutsyshyn standing on top! The Ukrainian once again confirmed the theory that wheelsurfing is the most successful strategy for a sprinter - at least it was for him today.
Jakub Mareczko and Ingus Eislers did the same and were rewarded with 2nd and 3rd place respectively - while the only sprinters having some kind of a leadout finished 8th and 12th... Maybe they'll do better tomorrow?
As expected, not much changed in terms of GC today - at least not inside the Top 10. Arvin Moazemi rode a very anonymous race, but easily defended his 11" and 21" lead over Lucas Eriksson and Geoffrey Bouchard.
By the way, Eislers moved up to 14th and could enter the Top 10 tomorrow with some more bonus seconds - but with a 44" gap it's still pretty unlikely that he'll eventually become dangerous for our Iranian GC leader.
On the other hand, Ingus Eislers remains the biggest (immediate) threat to Tom Van Asbroeck's green jersey! The Latvian only trails by 18 points now - less than the points difference between 1st and 2nd on a sprint stage!
Arvin Moazemi drops one spot to 3rd, trailing the leader by 33 points. Back-to-back points jersey winner didn't even sprint today - if he wants the threepeat, he'll have to wake up very, very soon!
Only one categorized climb was on today's menu - and with all scorers starting the day at zero points, there are no changes on the first spots: Kim Magnusson's 39 points are still 30 more than Matic Groselj has. Michael Antonelli and Hayden McCormick trail by another point.
Just like the green jersey, the white one still belongs to Philips as well. Pascal Eenkhoorn still leads 6" ahead of Thymen Arensman. However, Hoehn had to cede 3rd place to his teammate Thomas Revard, who trails by 14".
Almost all teams had at least three riders in the front group - and those who didn't weren't relevant for the team standings anyway. Which means that Cedevita still lead 11" ahead of Kraftwerk Man Machine, with Assa Abloy trailing by 19".
And that's about all we had to say about this first act in the current tetralogy of sprint stages! I hope you'll tune in again tomorrow for the second one!
Tour of America 
