Look out for Steven Kalf or Avov Yechezkel making a move on the cobbled sectors. They'll be looking to dislodge the likes of Mikhel Räim and Siim Kiskonen, who are the best sprinters with some cobbling ability.

Giorgi Tediashvili and Beka Nareklishvili are the better flandriennes from their nation. Aliaksandr Riabushenko shouldn't face much competition for the national title, even if he likely won't be fighting for the win. Mundle and Sprenger are relatively evenly matched.

It was Steven Kalf who was the first person willing to make their presence known at the front of the peloton. He was a favourite for the overall victory on the day so was reluctant to take a pull early on. Instead Beka Nareklishvili was stuck with the job of keeping the amateurs in check.

The Georgian wasn't shy about pushing the pace over the first cobbled sector and the dreams of those who'd hoped to upset the professionals had their hopes dashed. Gaps appeared throughout the pack which meant that those who were poorly positioned missed out on the first selection.

It had momentarily seemed that a trio of Nareklishvili, Mihkel Räim and Giorgi Tediashvili would get away. Peter Pruus and Norman Vahtra are alert enough to the danger that they keep the elastic from snapping. Instead it is Itamar Einhorn and Guy Sagiv who are caught napping. This duo manages to bridge across before the end of the sector creating a group of 17.

The professional riders who missed out on the move were Akhmaevi, Mundle, Riabushenko, Koshevoy, Roy Goldstein, and Taaramäe. The two Belorussians obviously didn't need to be concerned about the riders up the road; for their part, their companions seemed content to let the amateurs try to restore equilibrium.

Not content to ride with his competitors, Giorgi Tediashvili launched an attack as soon as the race transitioned back to the tarmac. Siim Kiskonen, Felix Sprenger and Giorgi Nareklishvili followed the move. The accompaniment of his fellow Georgian Giorgi couldn't have been part of Tediashvili's plan. Noam Cohen, not wanting to be left behind, went to bridge across. He brought the whole group with him.

Let nobody accuse Tediashvili of lacking stubbornness. He refused to relent, stringing the group out behind him. Kiskonen, Sprenger, Nareklishvili, Cohen, Karl Patrick Lauk, and Itamar Einhorn were all able to stick with him. Mihkel Räim either could not or would not, opening up a gap.

When Tediashvili eventually ran out of steam, nobody was willing to work with him. Everybody except Sprenger had a countryman to worry about and the Liechtensteiner's only competitor - Benedikt Mundle - was still sat in the peloton. The move petered out having succeeded only in destroying the cohesion of the lead group. The pace fell and the race came back together.

Again, the cobblestones culled the ranks quite significantly, with Siim Kiskonen driving the pace. The same six professionals that had been dropped earlier were mixed in with the myriad amateurs struggling to hold the pace. This was to be the last we would see of Ilia Koshevoy, Roy Goldstein and Rein Taaramäe.

The Nareklishvili brothers, Giorgi and Beka, came through to assist Kiskonen in pushing the tempo. This proved too much for the entirety of the Israeli contingent bar Aviv Yechezkel. He and Felix Sprenger were now solidly in control of their respective races.

The race looked something like this as they emerged from the cobbles:

Tediashvili	G. Nareklishvili	B. Nareklishvili
Kalf	Räim	Lauk
Pruus	Kiskonen
Yechezkel	Sprenger
	⇤ 20" ⇥
Sagiv	O. Goldstein
Einhorn	Cohen
	⇤ 40" ⇥
Riabushenko	Akhmaevi	Mundle

Giorgi Nareklishvili launched an attack as soon as the favourites transitioned away from the cobblestones. For a moment it looked as if his brother wouldn't be able to hold his place in the line but the danger passed. Aviv Yechezkel and Felix Sprenger were loving the way the race was unfolding. They got to shelter from the wind whilst their competitors burnt their matches trying to match the tempo of those fighting for the other national titles.

Speaking of those titles, it was Mihkel Raïm who made the next move. Something of a knucklehead tactic given he was one of the best sprinters of the bunch. At least he timed the attack perfectly. Nareklishvili was dropping away from the front, having expended all his energy with his own attempted escape. Tediashvili was alert when it came to his countryman's effort; having foiled that move, he had put his head down and settled into a shift at the front. Norman Vahtra was squeezed between the two Georgians when he noticed Räim. None of these three, nor any of the others, were in a position to react; instead they would have to rotate through and chase him down.

Omer Goldstein, Guy Sagiv and Noam Cohen had been working well together. They had succeeded in beginning to claw back the time they'd lost going over the cobbles. Itamar Einhorn hadn't been able to match their demands. He had dropped far enough to provide a staging ground for Aliaksandr Riabushenko, flush with the promise of national victory, to bridge across to.

With an Estonian up the road it was the Estonians who came through to try and hunt him down. There was enough cooperation for them to keep Räim in check but with nobody willing to wholly sacrifice themselves for the cause the gap had stabilised at about 15 seconds.

The trio of Israeli chasers had very nearly caught the favourites as they made their way on to the cobblestones for the final time. Sensing danger, Aviv Yechezkel jumped on the front, setting a ferocious tempo. He was making a statement: the Israeli RR jersey was his! Noam Cohen surrendered as soon as he saw the gap beginning to stretch back out. Guy Sagiv and Omer Goldstein were quickly rendered more than a minute down despite their best efforts.

His direct competitors weren't the only ones to suffer under Yechezkel's pressure as the favourite's group began coming apart too. Felix Sprenger was the first to be dropped, with Peter Pruus joining him not long afterwards. There was nearly a third victim: Siim Kiskonen spent a while yoyoing at the back before regathering himself.

The youthful Sprenger had been riding well but Benedikt Mundle wasn't willing to surrender his stranglehold on Liechtenstein just yet. The veteran rider had been working to limit his losses alongside Sulkhan Akhmaevi and sat at a deficit of about two minutes. Not an impossible amount but still a lot of ground to make up.

Without anymore cobblestones between him and the line Aviv Yechezkel seemed to come to the realisation that it would take divine intervention for him to lose out. He was not willing to work anymore. Even your commentators could read the exhaustion in Norman Vahtra's body language and the gesticulation of Karl Patrick Lauk suggested he was feeling uncooperative. Once those variables were inputted into the calculus of one Steven Kalf, there could be only one conclusion: attack! The only response came from Siim Kiskonen, who was forced to sit down rather rapidly, still recovering from his struggles with the cobblestones.

Kalf flew across from the favourite's group to Mihkel Räim, crossing the 15 second gap like it was nothing. Räim seemed to barely stir as went right by him. There was nothing being mustered in the chase group Yechezkel was still on the front as the red 1km banner came into sight.

Nobody was willing to work! They all sat up and the gap grew to nearly a minute with less than two kilometres to go. It was a Raïm against Kalf now, last year's champion had started to showing signs of tiring - his shoulders had slumped - did he expend all his effort in that move? There was still a contest to be fought between the three Georgians in the chasing group: Giorgi Tediashvili had a better sprint than either of the Nareklishvili brothers, but it could easily come down to who had the most left to give.

At least one of them still had some energy in the tank! Giorgi Nareklishvili attacked and neither of his opponents could offer an immediate response. Instead it was Norman Vahtra and Karl Patrick Lauk slipping into his wheel; a late challenge from the Estonians?

Nareklishvili made it about 500 metres before he sat back down. With a quick shoulder-check he verified that he hadn't been able to nudge anybody off. He was the first to launch his sprint, under the red kite. His brother didn't seem that interested in getting involved, but Tediashvili followed Lauk in moving up alongside the fences.

Siim Kiskonen had recovered enough to swing out to the left. Aviv Yechezkel and Peter Pruus seemed content to just follow the group in. We hadn't noticed, but Felix Sprenger had fought his way back to the front, the prospect of sprinting after expending so much effort already didn't seem that appetising a prospect.

Neither Mikhel Raïm nor Steven Kalf were capable of mustering a sprint. The latter was too far up the road to be in any danger from the chasing pack and the former had failed to make any progress in closing up with him. Was victory in sight?

Giorgi Nareklishvili's legs were too heavy with lactic acid to produce his maximum speed; instead he was rapidly swallowed up by his competitors and spat out the back. Felix Sprenger never really got going. Karl Patrick Lauk and Siim Kiskonen emerged as the leading pair but in the closing metres Norman Vahtra and Beka Nareklishvili swung out from the latter's wheel.

Simultaneously, Steven Kalf, in the Estonian colours that he won this time last year, was the first man to cross the line. He was too exhausted for any kind of celebration. Mihkel Raïm followed him across. For a moment it looked like he had made the decisive move but it was just slightly too much to ask.

Completing the Estonian dominance was Lauk. His long and strong sprint was sufficient to secure a podium finish despite the attention of Vahtra. Kiskonen had faded towards the end and might have cost Beka Nareklishvili the Georgian title by doing so. Giorgi Tediashvili rode Lauk's wheel all the way into the line, just pipping his countryman to win the right to wear the national colours next season.

Felix Sprenger scored a well-deserved upset victory after an impressive effort throughout the entire day. Aliaksandr Riabushenko was never really involved in the main race. He attacked alone and proceeded to dominate his only competition. Rein Taaramäe was the last man across the line. A dreadful outing. Who told him he could ride cobbles?

Relatively straightforward competition here. Koshevoy showed he is much stronger than Riabushenko on the TT-bike, even when having an off day.

Nobody proved capable of challenging Taaramäe's dominance. Kiskonen pushed Pruus closer than he might have liked, but KP Lauk was well off the podium positions.

Sulkhan Akhmaevi manages a surprise victory over Giorgi Nareklishvili. The other Nareklishvili brother, Beka, was a very despondent third.

It was always going to be a case of Goldstein against Goldstein, although we might have hoped for something slightly more competitive. Omer didn't have the best form and couldn't mount a challenge to Roy, who was not only the fastest Israeli rider but also the fastest rider overall.

Both of the two-men races were relatively easy to call, even before we saw the riders on track. Felix Springer completely the RR and ITT double over Benedikt Mundle whilst snagging a Top 10 overall to go with it.