Welcome to the decisive week of the 2022 Tour of America - and welcome back to Canada one last time! On today's menu is the shortest non-TT stage of the Tour - which however doesn't mean it will be a walk in the park!
On the contrary - it's probably THE stage all the sprinters and other weaker climbers marked in their agendas as the "day to survive", if they want to make it to San Francisco. Although there are just above 100km to ride, we'll have 4 KoM sprints - 2x category 1, and once category 2 and 3 each. If you have one weak day in this tour, you'd better not have it today!
The only flat kilometers of the stage are found right at the start, as we leave Rayleigh. The village counts about 2,000 inhabitants, is a neighbourhood of Kamloops and is situated on the east banks of North Thompson River. Although Kamloops is in the south, the city recently built the Tournament Capital Ranch recreational area in the north of Rayleigh.
So we're still in a good place for this cycling Tour(nament), although we only start here today. And as said before, the start is easy, following North Thompson River until Heffley Creek. That's not even 10km of flat roads, though. Maybe just enough to get some attacks of KoM hunters?
When speaking of KoM, the first climb already starts in Heffley Creek, and it's the one up to Heffley Lake. 23km will be raced when the riders cross that category 2 KoM line. What follows is just a short descent - and then the next climb, up to the highest point of today's stage: Sun Peaks! The category 1 summit will be reached after 44km of racing.
The stage's halfway point will be passed on the following descent, which is a long one - and pretty much the only opportunity left to recover a bit today. But once the west banks of South Thompson River are reached, the finale kicks off - first with the 3rd category warm-up climb Hadlow Road (77km).
Another short descent later, the riders again reach South Thompson River, cross it taking the Pritchard Bridge, to arrive in Pritchard. From there, Mount Martin climb starts, with the category 1 KoM sprint just 12km from the finish line! The tougher 2nd half of the ascent will definitely favor the more resistant riders - and the flat and just slightly descending kilometers coming next even more so!
The roads to the finish line are also slightly ascending, so only the very strongest will have a chance of succeeding today, at Pine Creek Resort!
And to my shame, I have to admit that I haven't found any information about that place. I believe it's nearby the Chase Creek Recreational Site and Pillar Lake, and it should be located in the Thompson-Nicola regional district - but that's all I can tell you.
But you probably won't care, as you're waiting for the favorites list anyway - so here we go! But it's not as if we hadn't seen most of those names several times already: Bennett, Choi and Pluchkin top the list once more, Ranaweera, Faglum Karlsson and Eenkhoorn are next. And with one star, we have Carapaz, Kritskiy, Lunke and Senni. But the North American fans will be rooting for Kuss, who still sits in 5th place in the GC!
So, let's jump into the action then! And given the shortness of the stage, we'll get full live coverage for once - enjoy!
LIVE +++ LIVE +++ LIVE
It's another pretty sunny day here in British Columbia - however, a pretty windy one. We've got winds blowing in north-east direction at about 30km/h, which means mostly tailwinds until we reach Sun Peaks, but then crosswinds for the rest of the stage!
Van Asbroeck and Haller instantly move to the front of the pack - well knowing that many sprinters might be fighting against the time limit today...
3rd place yesterday wasn't good enough, so Hoelgaard attacks again today! And the KoM jersey is well within reach for him, obviously!
Pernsteiner tries to counter that move, and the Austrian is in an even better position KoM-wise. With him are Alexander, Lunke, Hugentobler, Canty, Betancourt, Katrasnik and Laas. Some strong puncheurs - and one excellent climber in this group!
Kmieliauskas, stage 11 winner Moreno Hernandez and Perez are next.
And that seems to be it - at least there aren't any further attacks until we reach Heffley Creek.
And while the two groups behind him have merged, Hoelgaard doesn't really feel like waiting - he's 44" ahead of those 11 behind him. The pack is 2'12" down.
In terms of average slope, the climb to Heffley Lake is the easiest today - but after almost 15km of uphill riding, everyone will feel their legs!
Haller, Lutsyshyn, Van Asbroeck - some sprinters are working quite a lot in the pack right now! Let's hope this won't backfire eventually...
However, those who might be most at risk of missing out on the time limit are Puccio and Taillefour, who are dropped very early. Cruz looks to be in major troubles as well.
The pace is pretty high in all groups - and pretty similar. Hoelgaard has even extended his lead to over a minute, with the pack still trailing by about 2'15". Either the Norwegian is on a huge day, or he's overextending himself and will crack badly!
With 5km still to climb, Haller has brought the pack closer to the chase group than the latter is to Hoelgaard! However, the Kraftwerk sprinters is looking pretty tired now, let's see if someone else takes over to make a very, very early catch!
There hasn't been a catch yet - instead, the chase group is breaking apart! Pernsteiner, Laas and Lunke have just attacked and are trying to grab as many points as possible - but maximum points should definitely go to Hoelgaard.
Indeed, the Norwegian crosses the line first. Behind, Pernsteiner narrowly edges out Laas for 2nd.
KoM - Heffley Lake (2nd)
1.
Hoelgaard
10 (47)
2.
Pernsteiner
8 (50)
3.
Laas
6 (6)
4.
Lunke
4 (4)
5.
Katrasnik
2 (2)
Once Haller was done, the peloton eased off, and Novardianto leads them over the top 3'30" later.
Here's the current race situation:
Hoelgaard
+ 54"
Pernsteiner
Laas
+ 9" (+ 1'03")
Lunke
+ 12" (+ 1'15")
Canty
Moreno Hernandez
Betancourt
Alexander
Perez
Katrasnik
+ 49" (+ 2'04")
Hugentobler
Kmieliauskas
+ 1'26" (+ 3'30")
Peloton
160 riders
Just a couple of sprinters and some time triallists have been dropped. Currently, Puccio and Taillefour are trailing by 6'53". With an estimated finishing time of around 3h, we expect the time limit to be between 50' and 1h - but the toughest climbs are yet to come!
Hoelgaard took it a bit easier on the downhill, knowing what's next: Sun Peaks! The climb is hardest on the start and on the end, with a pretty easy middle part - but the steepest slopes (just above 10%) waiting on the final meters...
All but Hugentobler and Kmieliauskas have regrouped and are just 23" behind the stage leader now. The peloton trails by 3'24".
On the descent, however, the bunch reduces that deficit to 3 minutes. Coutinho has joined the chase as well, ahead of Jallays. Haller and Van Asbroeck are still in the first positions as well - at least those sprinters up front don't look like they'd have to worry about the time limit today.
Finally, after more than 30km of solo riding, Hoelgaard waits for the chase group. And given that Hugentobler and Kmieliauskas are going backwards instead of catching up, it looks like this will finally be our breakaway of the day!
Let's recall the names:
Alexander
Perez
Hoelgaard
Pernsteiner
Lunke
Moreno Hernandez
Canty
Laas
Betancourt
Katrasnik
As said earlier, Pernsteiner and Hoelgaard have the best prospects in terms of KoM standings - and both are well placed in the GC as well, sitting in 18th and 21st respectively. The highest ranked rider is Canty, though, who's 15th, just 4'14" behind the GC leader.
Lunke is clearly the strongest climber in this group, followed by Pernsteiner and Canty. Hoelgaard, Laas and Moreno Hernandez are next, while the others will probably be too weak to fight for the stage win today.
Their advantage over the peloton is down to 2'53" by the way, so the pack hasn't relented that much yet.
Another 10" of the gap are gone, and it's still Haller doing most of the work! So the pace up front can't be overly high - or the sprinter is just destroying himself.
Oh well, we just talked about the breakaway of the day - but that one is no longer. As expected, Katrasnik and Perez are the next riders to be dropped. And still 8km of climbing to go!
Kmieliauskas has already been caught, but Hugentobler is still hanging out in front of the pack. The main reason for that is Haller being out of steam. Ranaweera is already sitting in 2nd position, with Bennett and Faglum Karlsson very attentive, too. Are we in for some really early attacks today?
At least not until now. 5km left to climb, and the front 8 have extended their advantage over the peloton to 3'33". Katrasnik and Perez are 2'08" down, with Hugentobler now just a couple of seconds behind them - it looks like he mainly missed out due to bad positioning...
The backmarkers, by the way, are currently 8'39" down. It doesn't look like anyone will have to worry about finishing OTL today.
Wait, what is that? No, I'm not talking about gravel roads - I'm talking about Pernsteiner getting dropped! The Austrian doesn't really look exhausted - he has just slowed down for no reason it seems! Which of course opens the KoM door even more for Hoelgaard!
Ah, now green jersey Van Asbroeck pays for his earlier efforts by getting dropped! Bennett is just behind, and there are not many sprinters left up front. But as we said before, the time limit shouldn't be an issue for those riders. At least not today...
Alexander is the first to launch for the KoM points, with still 2km to climb. However, given that he's the weakest climber left in this group, the others follow rather easily. And Pernsteiner hasn't come back yet!
But despite not having the strongest kick, Alexander and Laas have a small gap over the rest!
Further back, we see Pernsteiner - who isn't even trying hard to get back, he's rather having a leisurely ride it seems!
It isn't too surprising that Betancourt is the next rider to be dropped. What's more worrying though is that Lunke seems to lose touch as well - and just like Pernsteiner before, he doesn't look tired, he apparently just doesn't want to ride faster!
Surprise, surprise - in the end, Alexander effectively turns out to be the strongest on the Sun Peaks climb! Maybe he was able to save some energy when Perez was still working for him.
Canty takes 2nd, narrowly ahead of Moreno Hernandez.
And Hoelgaard is only 5th - apparently he's starting to feel yesterday's breakaway plus his 30km solo ride today! That doesn't look great for his KoM campaign now...
KoM - Sun Peaks (1st)
1.
Alexander
16 (21)
2.
Canty
12 (12)
3.
Moreno Hernandez
10 (32)
4.
Laas
8 (14)
5.
Hoelgaard
6 (53)
6.
Lunke
4 (8)
7.
Betancourt
2 (14)
Despite missing out on the big points, Hoelgaard is now just 4 points behind KoM leader Hamilton - meaning that crossing the line first at Hadlow Road would be enough to take the lead! Maybe that short hill will suit him better than a long 1st category climb?
In the peloton, it's still Kraftwerk on the front - but the name has changed. It's now Moazemi setting the pace and leading them over the Sun Peaks KoM line. They've been riding the final 5km pretty much as fast as the brekaway.
The current situation is as follows:
Alexander
+ 16"
Lunke
Canty
Hoelgaard
Laas
Moreno Hernandez
+ 35" (+ 51")
Betancourt
+ 50" (+ 1'41")
Pernsteiner
+ 1'59" (+ 3'40")
Peloton
119 riders
Pernsteiner is a great downhiller, but almost 2 minutes looks like a lot of ground to make up. Will he succeed?
All the big names are still in the pack, with the most notable climber missing being Pedrero, who just got dropped - probably due to bad positioning, though.
Van Asbroeck is now roughly 10 minutes down, with Puccio and Taillefour trailing by 14'42". Still nothing to worry about for them.
Betancourt is about to catch up with the front group again, while Pernsteiner, although getting closer, still has a good chunk of time to make up. Almost a minute, to be precise.
Rumac is now setting the pace behind - with Eislers still in 3rd position. Papanov, Fedeli and Velasco are the other riders visible here.
We're approaching South Thompson River - and hence the end of the descent. We can see Pernsteiner who is still 40" behind the group of 7 ahead, and the peloton of 118 riders trailing by 3'04". Pedrero made it back, by the way.
The next climb is about to start, with the escapees being just 5km from the KoM line now. Pernsteiner hasn't managed to close the gap on the downhill, and is now going backwards on the flat.
Rumac, Destribois and Moazemi are leading the pack, trailing the head of the race by a little less than 3 minutes now.
We're still on dirt roads, as the leaders tackle the Hadlow Road climb. That one is just 3.4km long, but with 8.2% average slope it's the steepest ascent of the day. And with sections above 20% of incline, it even gets insanely steep close to the top!
Hoelgaard definitely wants that jersey, as he attacks with 1.1km to go! With the maximum gradients right ahead, let's see who can keep up!
Further back, Pernsteiner is about to be caught by the pack, which trails by 2'30". Not a good day for the Austrian - for whatever reason.
After the steepest part of the climb, Hoelgaard, Canty and Laas have a gap! It's looking great for the Norwegian, who just trails KoM leader Hamilton by 4 points in the virtual KoM standings!
Laas was stronger in the end, but Hoelgaard picks up 4 points to tie Hamilton for the lead! The latter's teammate Canty wasn't strong enough to avoid that.
KoM - Hadlow Road (3rd)
1.
Laas
6 (20)
2.
Hoelgaard
4 (57)
3.
Canty
2 (14)
One more point on the final climb and the jersey will definitely change hands (or shoulders) - otherwise the GC position would be decisive!
Rumac leads the peloton over the top 3'08" later - the pack did lose some time, but not a whole lot. 26km to go, and that looks like a pretty slim margin given the length of the final ascent!
Pritchard Bridge marks the start of the climb to Mount Martin! Only 6.6% steep on average - but the second half is definitely a lot tougher than the first one! Let's see who still has got the legs!
The breakaway riders tackle that final big obstacle of the day with a 2'39" advantage over a 49 rider peloton.
49? Then lots of riders must have been dropped! Indeed, and what we see here is the latest split. Notable names in the latter group include Eenkhoorn (2nd U25), Revard (3rd U25), Nerz, Power, Manfredi, Pedrero, Rhim, Bouchard or Pedrero. And Pernsteiner, who was caught and left behind.
Even further down - another minute - is a group including almost the entire team Glanbia, with Mannion, Brandt, McKenna and Dunne all back there.
The 2nd chase group is about to join the first one, but the gap to what is now labelled "Peloton" isn't shrinking.
What is slightly shrinking, though, is the pack's deficit to the breakaway, which is down to 2'21".
Champoussin is trying to bring Velasco and Eenkhoorn back to the first group - which might be crucial, as Choi currently has just Xandri left up front.
Faglum Karlsson wouldn't be too unhappy to have the group come back, either, given that just Scarponi is left with him, and in the group behind there are Mosca, Squire, Magnusson and Gallopin.
Yeah, the breakaway is still alive - but only 1'56" ahead now with 20km to go! They've got 8.4km left to climb.
Kraftwerk are hammering up that climb - and Moazemi is even so fast that Rumac eventually has to leave a gap! Still, this proves that the pack is travelling really quickly, and the escapees are barely more than a minute ahead now!
By the way, Eenkhoorn and Velasco have been able to bridge across from the second group - but not many other riders.
Surprisingly, Sauber have now taken over the lead in the pack, with Dulanjana, Mat Senan, Anacona and Liphongyu up front. Hibatullah and Campero are safe in the pack - but 6 out of 45 is a great representation anyway!
The escapees are on the final 5km of the climb, 1'01" ahead.
Given the amount of work his team has done today, this attack by Ranaweera had to be expected! Bennett and Senni are the most attentive riders, jumping right to his wheel.
Carapaz and Choi didn't respond immediately, but they're now closing the gap to the three former attackers.
And all of them are closing the gap to the escapees, who are just a couple of seconds ahead now! We're on the more difficult part of the climb, and that clearly shows!
Still 3.3km of climbing left, if someone has got some really bad legs now, that could result in a huge loss!
Carapaz and Choi had to sit up, and so it's just Ranaweera, Bennett and Senni joining the breakaway riders! Meanwhile, Hoehn is leading the pack back to the C&C duo.
The attackers haven't just joined the escapees, they've already gone past most of them. Carapaz has now caught up with Senni, so that move is finally neutralized.
Of course, your daily dose of Bennett attacks was still lacking - here's the Kiwi's first attempt of the day! Surprisingly, Hoelgaard is the only rider able to follow for now - despite his breakaway ride, and despite not looking good on the previous category 1 climb!
Just 2km left to the top of Mount Martin!
One kilometer later, Hoelgaard finally seems to crack - but the peloton is already 43" down! This could be a huge move for Bennett in terms of GC, and for Hoelgaard's KoM ambitions!
Indeed, the Norwegian can't follow the Kiwi anymore - but with a 39" advantage over the peloton, he'll certainly score and take over the KoM jersey!
Meanwhile, Bennett is already 1'03" ahead of the pack, and is looking to not only take over yellow, but putting a good amount of time into his competitors!
And as Ranaweera leads the 15-rider peloton over the line, they're already 1'20" behind the race leader! Let's just take a look at KoM points awarded:
KoM - Mount Martin (1st)
1.
Bennett
16 (38)
2.
Hoelgaard
12 (69)
3.
Ranaweera
10 (11)
4.
Campero
8 (8)
5.
Carapaz
6 (26)
6.
Pluchkin
4 (26)
7.
Lunke
2 (10)
Hoelgaard now leads 12 points ahead of Hamilton - but the race is far from over of course!
Let's also take a look at the full composition of this "peloton":
Ranaweera
Campero
Carapaz
Pluchkin
Lunke
Choi
Kuss
Aru
Senni
Faglum Karlsson
Zimmermann
Vasyliv
Canty
Alexander
Moreno Hernandez
So from the breakaway, only Laas and Betancourt haven't been able to follow the GC contenders.
But we also have at least one GC contender missing - Kritskiy (bib 135), who's in this second group! KoM leader Hamilton is the highest ranked rider (9th GC) not up front and will probably drop out of the Top 10 after one stage!
10km to go for Bennett! He's clearly not among the strongest downhillers - but Hoelgaard isn't, either. So that 35" gap should not shrink too much.
The chase group has come a couple of seconds closer, but they're still over a minute behind! And just bonus seconds for the stage win would be enough for Bennett to take over the GC lead - if Faglum Karlsson doesn't get any.
For whatever reason, Ranaweera has to do pretty much everything on his own! Absolutely no help from the other riders in this group - and so they're still 26" behind Hoelgaard, and 1'04" behind Bennett who's just about to arrive at the 5km mark!
3.5km to go for Bennett, as he's done with the penultimate uphill of the day - just a short one, as you can see.
You can also see that Hoelgaard has lost some ground - he trails by 41" now - and that the chasers aren't getting any closer - they're 1'12" behind.
Ah, we still get another move! Now it's Choi who is afraid of his GC ambitions going down the drain with Bennett's strong ride! Pluchkin joins him.
Surprisingly, it's Zimmermann who's chasing this duo - despite his teammate still riding in 2nd position! And it's not like he'd be a direct competitor of Choi and Pluchkin, to be honest...
Bennett now is on the final uphill leading to the finish line! 1.8km to go for the Kiwi, with Hoelgaard still safely riding in 2nd position, 44" back. The chasing duo is another 36" behind.
Zimmermann reeled in Choi and Pluchkin - but as a result, the entire group - led by Kuss - catches Hoelgaard under the red kite! Still, the Norwegian has achieved something great with his KoM campaign!
Look at this! Hoelgaard actually isn't even completely done yet, as he's sprinting against Senni and Kuss for the remaining podium spots!
Remaining, because the first spot is taken - and finally, George Bennett has got his stage win! He was always active, always attacking - and today he gets some great reward! Given this gap, it even looks like he'll take over the yellow jersey as well!
But the fight for 2nd is fierce - and Hoelgaard is looking to keep the upper hand vs. Senni and Kuss!
Indeed, hats off! Daniel Hoelgaard had an amazing ride today, not only taking over the KoM lead, but also bringing home 2nd place on the stage despite being caught on the final kilometer!
Manuel Senni sprints to 3rd place, definitely a good result for the Italian.
Brendan Canty - another escapee - edges out Sepp Kuss for 4th, while yellow jersey Marcus Faglum Karlsson takes 6th. Aleksandr Pluchkin, a mighty strong Nathan Alexander, Sindre Skjostad Lunke and Yuriy Vasyliv round off today's Top 10.
This group of 16 - Carapaz also caught up in the end - finishes 27" behind the stage winner. Who trailed the old GC leader by 19" pre-stage and hence is our new GC leader!
One of today's biggest losers probably is Kritskiy. Already disappointing so far, he probably has to bid his Top 10 ambitions goodbye - which is definitely very surprising, given that he was even seen as a podium contender!
Hamilton, who also finishes inside this group, won't care too much about dropping in the GC, as that might allow him to join another breakaway tomorrow!
Just below 30 minutes later, we can see Taillefour cross the line in last place. The time limit was set to 55'35", so no rider was even remotely in danger of missing out today. We'll continue with our peloton of 184 then!
From the last to the first rider crossing the finish line today - after yet another attack, George Bennett finally got the stage win he was longing for! And he didn't just narrowly win it, no, he put almost half a minute into his chasers!
Surprisingly, today's runner-up is Daniel Hoelgaard. Surprisingly on one hand due to his skillset (not being a specialist for the high mountains), but mostly due to the fact that he was caught on the final meters and still had enough left to outsprint the others!
Manuel Senni the was the best among those "others", getting his first podium of the race!
George Bennett did not only win the stage, he also took over the reins in the GC, being our leader #5 in this race. And he did so by the biggest margin we've seen so far, as he leads 28" ahead of dethroned yellow jersey Marcus Faglum Karlsson. Aleksandr Pluchkin is 3rd, 35" behind. Choi is the final rider within 1 minute from the lead.
By the way, if we look at the bottom of the rankings, there's something truly funny now - we have not one, not two, but three red lanters now, with Joeaar, Taillefour and Orue having the exact same overall time so far!
Although he didn't score any points, Tom Van Asbroeck made a big step towards winning the points standings today - he survived and hence keeps the green jersey. He still leads 8 points ahead of Ingus Eislers and 26 ahead of Lionel Coutinho, while stage winner Bennett has moved up to 4th. With just 3 mountain stages left, it's looking more likely that a sprinter will bring the jersey home, though.
Daniel Hoelgaard may not have been the strongest climber in the breakaway group - but he definitely was the smartest rider. And so he deservedly is our new KoM leader, 12 points ahead of Lucas Hamilton. Kim Magnusson still totals 53 points.
Tomorrow will be the last really big day in terms of KoM points, and 25 riders are theoretically within reach of the lead with those 57 points on offer. It could get interesting!
Way more interesting than the race for white, at least. Because that one is looking more and more like a sealed deal, with Georg Zimmermann now leading 4'16" ahead of Pascal Eenkhoorn. Alex Hoehn is already 7'22" back. Tryg are definitely rocking this race!
That's all from today's shortest road stage of the 2022 Tour of America. We got a well-deserved stage winner, who also is our new GC leader. The GC race is still wide open, and so are the sprint and KoM standings! Tomorrow will be another crucial stage for the GC contenders - and the last big day for KoM hunters. Will you join us?
Tour of America 
