Welcome to another stage of the 2022 Tour of America! We're slowly approaching the halfway point in terms of stages - and today also marks the halfway point for the sprinters, as we'll have the 4th out of 7 flat stages.
We're still in the State of Michigan, more precisely in Battle Creek, the State's third biggest city. Located at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers, the city was (supposedly) named after an encounter between a land survey party and two Potawatomi Native Americans.
Its nickname "Cereal City" is due to the city being the home of the Kellogg Company - with Will Keith Kellogg therefore being one of the best-known people originating from Battle Creek. Nowadays, though, Denso Manufacturing is the largest employer in the city; the Japanese corporation is a global automotive components manufacturer.
The main points of interest include the Kellogg House, Binder Park Zoo or the Historic Adventist Village. Or you could see the "worst team in professional hockey", which were the Rumble Bees, before their players went to different teams through a dispersal draft.
When leaving this chapter - and the city itself - behind, the riders will be more or less following the course of the Kalamazoo river, reaching Kalamazoo Hill, today's only categorized climb, after 58km. Just two kilometers later, we'll be in the city of Kalamazoo for the first intermediate sprint.
It's then south-west to Decatur, where we'll get the second intermediate sprint of the day (106km), and further south-west to the finish line in South Bend.
We'll actually follow St. Joseph River for the last couple of kilometers - thereby crossing the State line between Michigan and Indiana. The river actually gave the city its current name - as it's located near the river's southernmost bend.
The area was settled in the early 19th century by fur traders, before undergoing some heavy industrial development - assisted by the river access - in the 20th century. Studebaker and the Oliver Chilled Plow Company might be the best-known names from that era. However, nowadays the Beacon Health System and several schools are the major employers of the city, and the big businesses have been replaced by multiple smaller ones.
Efforts are under way to re-develop the economy after the decline in the late 20th century. For instance, Union Station Technology Center is currently Northern Indiana's largest data center, and two technology parks are attracting technology businesses. Abandoned industrial facilities are being redeveloped, but it's a long way to reach former prosperity levels again.
For our riders, though, it's just about 170km - or about four hours - to glory. It's all about sprinters once again - and you surely know the major part of the favorites list by heart by now. As always, Eislers, Van Asbroeck and Haller top the list - although the latter has yet to prove that he deserves that spot. Yesterday's winner Coutinho, Bennett and Boudat are next, as always. In the one-star block, Mareczko gets Lutsyshyn's spot, meaning that the other three names are Aniolkowski, Boivin and Krieger. Given the rider the bookies picked for Team Popo4Ever, one must suppose they don't actually look at the results...
Anyway, we all know that many more sprinters could get involved, and we'll soon see which ones! But first, let's take a look at what happened during the first 2/3 of the stage:
What happened so far
The riders have been mostly lucky with the weather so far - and it's the same today! Mostly clear skies, almost no wind - perfect cycling conditions!
However, Hugentobler and Redy didn't fancy an easy day out on the road, instead adding some spice early on!
The next to break free was Rossi, quite a couple of kilometers later.
In the meantime, we saw attacks from a multitude of riders, for example Lunder, Verhelst, Schomber, Vogt, Vanmarcke and Orosco. None of them was allowed to go, though. As usual, Mosca, Van Tricht and Xandri vetoed those moves.
After De Tier, Croes, Kaloniatis, Lunder, Gaze, Hvideberg, Biermans and Fenn were instantly brought back, too, the latter tried again, this time following Horvat.
And although Mosca gave it all he had left to catch them, he eventually ran out of steam. However, the horrendous pace took its toll up front, mainly on Rossi who was dropped and Horvat who still hadn't caught up as the escapees reached Kalamazoo Hill.
Well, "hill" is a very elastic term - today's 4th category ascent was just 500m long and not particularly steep. Still, Hugentobler was happy to get a couple of points.
KoM - Kalamazoo Hill (4th)
1.
Hugentobler
5 (5)
2.
Redy
3 (3)
3.
Fenn
1 (1)
Horvat actually was the only one of the escapees not starting the stage at zero KoM points, but he missed out. Hence, once again no notable changes in the KoM standings today.
By the way, Rossi trailed the front trio by 24", Horvat was 41" behind. And the pack? 3'33".
However, by the time the peloton arrived on top of the "climb", the leaders had already reached the intermediate sprint in Kalamazoo.
Sprint - Kalamazoo
1.
Redy
10 (30)
-6"
2.
Fenn
6 (6)
-4"
3.
Hugentobler
4 (4)
-2"
4.
Rossi
2 (2)
5.
Horvat
1 (1)
Rossi was 26" back, Horvat 56", and the peloton trailed by 2'48", having gained almost a minute on those two kilometers between KoM and intermediate sprint!
After more than 60km, the breakaway of the day was finally complete:
Hugentobler
Fenn
Redy
Rossi
Horvat
Hugentobler, as seen before, is clearly the strongest puncheur of the group - yet this probably won't help him a lot later on. He's also the only one who really can't sprint, while the others are pretty evenly matched.
All of them are also decent rouleurs, with Rossi being slightly stronger than his companions. Which might not be true anymore after that strength-sapping first part of the stage. GC-wise, all are more than 10 minutes back, so absolutely no danger today.
With about 100km done, their advantage was still hovering around the 2'30" mark - and now let's join them for the second intermediate sprint and the last 60km of racing!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
"Sprint" actually is an elastic term as well, as they're just crossing the line without a fight. Horvat picks up maximum points this time.
Sprint - Decatur
1.
Horvat
10 (11)
-6"
2.
Redy
6 (36)
-4"
3.
Rossi
4 (6)
-2"
4.
Hugentobler
2 (6)
5.
Fenn
1 (7)
Redy gets close to the Top 10 in the points standings, but comes 7 points short for now.
In the peloton, it's the same picture as we had in the last couple of days - still Xandri, Mosca and Van Tricht chasing, occasionally helped by Velasco, Gallopin and Donovan. They trail by 2'15" at the sprint point.
40km to go, and the breakaway's advantage is already down to 1'34". It looks like an early catch today.
By the way, Haller is always in about 10th position - I wonder if he'd do the same if his teammate wasn't leading the GC...
Split alert with 40km to go! There's no wind, but the pace is high and some riders have to leave a gap - and suddenly yellow jersey Moazemi is caught behind, alongside pretty much all other GC riders.
Up front are mostly sprinters and their helpers, plus Pluchkin and Choi. It's obviously not a persistent split, but some riders better be more careful!
By the way, the breakaway is still 1'10" ahead, they're pretty tenacious!
Under the 20km arc, the gap has shrunk to 48". We still have mostly the same teams chasing, but Cruz has joined them now. It looks like Bennett has great legs today!
10 kilometers later, the escapees still aren't caught - but their 24" lead can never be enough to make it to the line.
We actually already have a pretty long line of sprinters, starting with Boivin in about 8th position. The Canadian is followed by Bennett, Zariff, Krieger, Lutsyshyn and Nizzolo.
Eislers, Van Asbroeck and Coutinho are rather hiding behind their teammates, with Mareczko, Boudat and Stash not far as well.
With 5km to go, we still have a 20" gap between the leaders and the pack! Redy has just been dropped, but the others are still going strong!
3km to the line, and the gap is down to 12" - something any decent sprinter can make up within the final kilometer.
Coutinho gets a leadout from Gallopin, while Philips have their standard Barta - Velasco - Van Asbroeck train. Eislers is following Manfredi - which is a questionable choice with the latter not really having any notable sprinting skills!
Boivin is now following Coutinho, while Bennett, Krieger and Mareczko are in his wheel. Itami and Moschetti follow behind Van Tricht.
Nizzolo has picked Van Asbroeck's wheel, with Lutsyshyn, Zariff, Stash and Boudat lined up behind him. Berger and Feiereisen are even further behind - and Haller once again doesn't seem to care.
500m later, the breakaway is definitely done, as Gallopin takes the lead of the race! Let's hope the Frenchman has something left in the tank, as launching already now wouldn't be smart by Coutinho!
1.8km to the line, and Gallopin is still up front with Coutinho in his wheel! Boivin, Bennett, Mareczko, Itami and Moschetti are following, while Krieger is undecided between the two trains!
The Philips train still is up to full strength, with Barta ahead of Velasco and Van Asbroeck! Next are Nizzolo and Lutsyshyn, while Zariff is blocked by Van Tricht - who now looks to be Eislers's leadout! After a full day of chasing - is that a smart move?
Stash and Boudat are trying to follow Zariff, while Haller has now caught up with Feiereisen and Berger - mcuh further behind, though...
Velasco once again delivers an amazing leadout, pulling Van Asbroeck clear of the rest under the red kite! Boivin is closest, followed by Krieger and Coutinho!
Mareczko has a small gap to close as well - but let's just take a look at the situation instead of trying to describe it!
Velasco
Van Asbroeck
Krieger
Boivin
Coutinho
Nizzolo
Mareczko
Bennett
Itami
Zariff
Moschetti
Van Tricht
Lutsyshyn
Stash
Barta
Xandri
Eislers
Boudat
This isn't looking great for the green jersey - he's way behind, and he has even lost his leadout! This is Van Asbroeck's chance to get the jersey back after just one day!
By the way, Novardianto, Berger, Feiereisen and Haller are behind Boudat, and therefore likely out of it as well!
700m to go, and Van Asbroeck has just launched!
Boivin and Krieger are neck-and-neck behind him, with Coutinho about to overtake both! Mareczko, Nizzolo and Bennett are currently best placed to still enter the podium fight!
Van Asbroeck has got a nice advantage with 500m to go! Boivin seems to have the edge over Krieger, while Coutinho still hasn't managed to go past the duo!
Instead, Mareczko is coming from behind, pulling Nizzolo with him! Bennett is on the other side of the road and has to hope that Velasco somehow goes out of his trajectory!
Itami, Moschetti, Zariff, Van Tricht, Lutsyshyn, Stash, Boudat, Eislers, Novardianto, Berger, Feiereisen and Haller is the order behind.
Van Asbroeck still leads with 300m to go, but Boivin is getting closer! Krieger is still 3rd, with Coutinho and Mareczko following behind. Then three more CT sprinters with Nizzolo, Bennett and Itami - it's 5 vs. 3 for the lower division in the current Top 8!
200m to the line! Boivin looks spent, but Krieger has found a second wind! Coutinho and Mareczko aren't far behind, though - and Nizzolo is still in his compatriot's slipstream!
Itami has also closed in on Bennett, pulling another Italian ( Moschetti) with him! Zariff and Lutsyshyn probably are too far behind.
Just 100m to go, and this looks like stage win number 3 for Van Asbroeck!
Krieger hasn't thrown in the towel, though, and is trying to still get past the Belgian! Coutinho, Mareczko and Boivin are still in the fight for the podium spots as well!
Only 50m to the line, and the situation hasn't changed - Van Asbroeck still leads almost one bike length ahead of Krieger!
Coutinho is now 3rd, ahead of Mareczko and Boivin. Bennett, Itami and Nizzolo look to be fighting for the next spots after the Top 5.
Oh wow, Tom Van Asbroeck has completely cracked on the final meters, and Alexander Krieger steals the win from him on the line! What a final push by the German!
Lionel Coutinho takes 3rd today after yesterday's win - had the race been 50m longer, he'd probably have overtaken the Belgian, but not the German!
Jakub Mareczko finishes 4th, while Sam Bennett gets a decent 5th place after Guillaume Boivin also cracked hard on the final meters!
The Canadian actually dropped down to 9th, behind Kenji Itami, Giacomo Nizzolo and Matteo Moschetti, who take 6th to 8th.
Nur Aiman Zariff rounds off today's Top 10.
And Eislers? Well, the green jersey apparently was too much of a burden for him, as he completely failed today. He ends up 14th - one spot behind Van Tricht, who worked hard all day long and still beats one of the strongest sprinters in this field. Something went really wrong there...
Not as wrong as it did for Haller, though, as the Austrian brings home another abysmal result - 19th place.
However, despite the back-to-back points winner having a painful race so far, today's stage winner speaks German - as Alexander Krieger rather surprisingly outlasted both Tom Van Asbroeck and Lionel Coutinho to cross the finish line in South Bend first! Congrats to the CT sprinter - it's actually only the 2nd stage win in 9 days for the lower division!
The Belgian looked like the sure winner until the very last couple of meters - but he'll still get some reward for his 4th podium spot of the race!
Today's stage had zero impact on the GC Top 10, as all those getting bonus seconds were way behind. Which means that Arvin Moazemi defends his yellow jersey for yet another day, and the Cedevita duo Lucas Eriksson and Geoffrey Bouchard trail by 11" and 21" respectively.
Let's see if the Iranian can defend his jersey one last time tomorrow, before we'll definitely see a major shakeup on stage 11!
Tom Van Asbroeck is back in the driver's seat in the points standings after just one day off! With his 2nd place, he now has a 24 points advantage over Ingus Eislers - and already 50 points more than stage winner Alexander Krieger.
These two are the only ones who could theoretically dethrone the Belgian ahead of the mountains - but he'll rather want to extend his lead to get out of reach for the climbers!
Climbers is a good keyword, as Kim Magnusson enters the stage. The Swede still leads the unchanged KoM standings, 30 points ahead of Matic Groselj and 31 points clear of Michael Antonelli and Hayden McCormick.
Unchanged Top 10 spots also in the young rider standings, with Pascal Eenkhoorn holding onto his 6" lead over Thymen Arensman. Thomas Revard trails by 14".
And yes, the team standings are also unchanged, meaning that Cedevita still lead 11" ahead of Kraftwerk Man Machine and 19" ahead of Assa Abloy.
With this, part 3 of the sprinters' festival is done. I hope you'll tune in again tomorrow for the final act - which might also be the final flat stage for the weakest climbers among the sprinters!
Tour of America 
