Welcome to the final race of the season, it’s time for the road race at the world championships here in Norway. In the B race we saw Neilands take the victory and securing his team a spot in the main race! The parcours is a long cobbled day in Norway around Stange. Looking at the startlist you would assume that it is going to be Wisniowski that is the major favourite to take the rainbow jersey with Mads Pedersen absent! He has strong support in the forms of Kasperkiewicz, other teams with strong cores are France with Senechal spearheading a team with Daniel in support and finally the Belgian team has unrivalled depth to support Stallaert in the form of Benoot, Van Hooydonck and Menten to name a few. The hometown heroes from Norway are putting their faith in Breen to carry their hopes of a good result today!
AND OFF WE GO! The first riders to attempt an attack and gain a gap are Foss and Bernal, both very much out of their element today!
This start is very hectic, we have barely left the first cobbled sector of the race before even more riders attempt their hand at the attack. Skujins, Becis, Casper Pedersen, Sweeny, Kurianov & Cullaigh are trying to close the gap to Foss and Bernal.
Rekita is the main man working at the front trying to limit who’s going to make it into the break. A group of Hvideberg, Kastrantas and one of last year’s favourites Ewan are trying to close the gap to the 8 riders in front!
With 225km to the finish line the break has been trying to gain distance to the pack but have been unable to achieve a gap much bigger than a minute so far but with a nice stretch of paved roads for a while maybe they’re able to get a bigger gap. In the meantime Foss, Hvideberg, Bernal and Pedersen have all been dropped from the front group that’s down to 7 riders now. In the pack it’s a mix of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands doing a lot of the work at the moment. At the back there has been quite a few riders dropped but no one that you wouldn’t expect to be dropped.
With 209km to go Benoot suffers a puncture but nothing major as he doesn’t even have to leave the pack before it is fixed. Foss has made contact with the front group again and their overall gap has risen drastically to 3’52”.
20kms later Vlatos suffers a puncture and can say goodbye to the main pack, not a rider you’d expect to do a lot but this is the most interesting thing that has happened as the breakaway is still trotting along with a gap that’s the same as last update. Also suffers a puncture but doesn’t leave the pack before his issue is fixed.
Nothing interesting happens until 155km left where is finally sucked into the peloton after getting dropped again by the front group. To rehash who’s in the front group it is the following seven riders: Skujins, Becis, Ewan, Sweeny, Kastrantas, Cullaigh and Kurianov. They currently have 3’45” to the peloton. Not a group where you’d expect the winner to be found but for now they’re enjoying their time on the broadcast!
Nothing interesting is happening but a bit of visual contact between the groups even with the huge gap!
With the gap to the break getting smaller and smaller here at the 119km mark some riders are trying to build from that and launch attacks! The first man to launch is Rowe and he is followed by Karatzios and Breen! Some stronger names and also the second WC in a row with an attack from the British flat classics specialist! At the exit of the sector the group has around a minute to the pack and are chasing the front group by a little under two minutes!
7 kilometres later it all action again as B world champion Neilands and Schreurs launch attacks to catch up to the Rowe and the others two! There’s something in the water it seems!
Kortsidakis also wants to join in on the action, so far the Greek, Norwegian and Latvian teams are all incredibly active with attacks today!
It’s full on fireworks in the peloton now! Boros, Insausti and Zubov all launch attacks as well, none of the previous attackers have been caught yet!
On Varderbergvegen each of the 5 groups are visible in the same shot, this is a testament to how chaotic the racing has been for the last 20kms! The gap between the pack and the front group is currently 2’35”.
PUNCTURE IN THE FRONT GROUP! Sad situation for Kastrantas as he suffers a puncture and is dropped from the front group luckily he’s able to catch on to the group new chase group with Rowe currently doing the work, that group has 1’44” to the pack where a new attack has occurred!
Now the Germans want in on the break action, one of the lieutentants for Zepunkte is on the attack it’s Meiler who is followed by another Australian in Monk! The duo quickly gets around a minute to the peloton whose gap to the front group is at 2’04”.
Love them or hate them punctures are a part of this race and Neilands has just suffered one! The front group now consists of 15 riders, 17 if Meiler and Neilands can get contact. They have around 1’40” to the pack the group is as follows: Neilands, Becis, Skujins Sweeny, Ewan Karatzios, Kastrantas, Kortsidakis Cullaigh, Rowe, Kurianov, Zubov, Breen, Schreurs, Boros, Insausti and Meiler.
Cullaigh suffers a puncture in the front group as Sweeney is out of power and has to let go of the group on the Karl Johan sector.
In the pack there has been a gap created that has put a lot of strong contenders into bad positions: MG legend and fan favourite Bewley, David, Polanc, Daniel, Kasperkiewicz and Gamper are all in the second peloton at this moment in time!
Despite more than 10kms raced as we enter the last 66kms of the race there is still no contact between the groups. Bewley is working hard to get them back into the main pack though. In the meantime Bolivar has launched an attack, he is his nation’s best hope with reigning world champion Gaviria currently stuck in a group multiple minutes down with no hope of making it back to the main pack! Bolivar would have to close a 1’20” gap to make it to the front group.
With 54km to go Bolivar has caught up to the front group and Trentin and Summerhill both tries to launch attacks both are fruitless as Sarreau does his job to perfection and shuts everything down.
He can’t shut down their next attack four kilometres later however! A strong group consisting of Summerhill, Trentin, Kamyshev, Debesay and Spengler tries to make a decisive move for the jersey!
Ariesen is however able to shut them down mega work from the Crabbe rider! With these accelerations the gap to the front group is down to just 31” with 48kms to go. It starting to look like great favourites action all the way to the finish line!
42 kilometers to go! Multiple attacks launched! In the front group Caleb Ewan can smell what’s coming an is trying to do it alone as the pack is swallowing up the breakaway!
In the favourites group Summerhill goes for another attack that is marked by Altur, the French and Polish team doing the work to control the action right now! The attack is easily shutdown by Malecki!
As we enter the next very long and potentially most decisive cobbles section of the day Altur launches yet another attack! And manages to catch the front group that is now getting sucked into the pack!
While that attack didn’t come to fruition with 32kms to go another wave is coming through! The attack is lead by Altur once again but this time there is a lot of the big guns following! Kamyshev, Polanc, Trentin, Gerts, Stallaert and most importantly Wisniowski all follow this attack, this could be the move that creates the separation that decides the world championship! 4.7kms left of this cobbled sector and it goes straight into another one!
This move is immediately shutdown by the Belgian team as Stallaert couldn’t keep up but a wild scene is occurring as Van Keirsbulck is attacking on the counter!
The Belgian is only able to get a 10 second gap as Summerhill and Debesay try to attack yet again!
They’re caught again and with right off the back of that Debesay and Per launch an attack, there is currently 27kms to the finish line in Stange!
They’re joined by Trentin as they create a gap of 17 seconds to the favourites group that currently have 42 riders in it.
As Debesay is caught by the group lead by the Belgians Trentin creates a gap to Per as their lead swindles into the single digits.
The Italian cannot get create a meaningful gap to Per who tries to launch another attack as their gap to the pack has risen to 24”. Under the 20km mark Per has 32 seconds to the pack where more action unfolds!
The Belgian favourite Stallaert launches an attack that is followed by Altur who cannot keep up!
He catches Trentin as the gap to the pack is up 30 seconds with Per has a gap to them of 16”.
With 14kms to the finish line the gap to the front three has risen to around a minute as Debesay and Summerhill launch another attack that creates a gap.
Behind them Spengler and Wisniowski also launch attacks that are looking good and creating gaps!
The four combine into one group and can see the current race leaders infront of them with just over 10kms to go this could be an absolutely incredible finish to the season!
On the penultimate cobbled sector Stallaert goes for glory leaving Per and Trentin in the dust, but behind him the other favourites are upping the pace!
As the Belgian enters the final cobbled sector 6.4kms away from the finish line he has a small gap to Per and a 34 second gap to chasing four, it’s looking like glory for Bralirwa captain!
He’s looking like he is in trouble under the 5km banner however as his speed has dropped significantly, in the chasing group Debesay has been dropped as Wisniowski ups the pace. The Pole wants the rainbow jersey!
As we enter the final kilometre the chasers can see Stallaert whose gap is down to just 14”.
As the sprnts are launched with 400 metres to go Stallaert has nothing left in the tank and Wisniowski is rapidly approaching!
AND THE WISNIOWSKI HAS DONE IT HE CLAIMS THE RAINBOW JERSEY WITH A FANTASTICLY RACED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HERE IN STANGE!
It’s double Belgium on the podium however as Stallaert claims the silver medal, but he must be absolutely devastated as he was mere 400 metres away from securing the rainbow jersey. Theuns claims a surprising Bronze medal after the chasing group got contact to the favourites. The top 10 is rounded out by Spengler Summerhill, Senechal Gerts, Per, Kamyshev and Sulimov!
Thanks for joining us for today’s world championship, see you all next season!
Apologies for the NC jersey on Stallaert but by the time I noticed that something was wrong I was 90 minutes into reporting, and didn't have the time to redo the report.
Neilands take the victory and securing his team a spot in the main race! The parcours is a long cobbled day in Norway around Stange. Looking at the startlist you would assume that it is going to be 
Wisniowski that is the major favourite to take the rainbow jersey with Mads Pedersen absent! He has strong support in the forms of Kasperkiewicz, other teams with strong cores are France with 
Senechal spearheading a team with Daniel in support and finally the Belgian team has unrivalled depth to support 
Stallaert in the form of Benoot, Van Hooydonck and Menten to name a few. The hometown heroes from Norway are putting their faith in 
Breen to carry their hopes of a good result today! 
Bernal, both very much out of their element today! 
Casper Pedersen, 
Sweeny, 
Kurianov & 
Cullaigh are trying to close the gap to Foss and Bernal. 
Kastrantas and one of last year’s favourites 
Schreurs launch attacks to catch up to the Rowe and the others two! There’s something in the water it seems! 
Boros, 
Insausti and 
Meiler who is followed by another Australian in 
Polanc, 
Gamper are all in the second peloton at this moment in time! 
Trentin and 
Summerhill both tries to launch attacks both are fruitless as 
Kamyshev, 
Debesay and 
Spengler tries to make a decisive move for the jersey! 
Ariesen is however able to shut them down mega work from the Crabbe rider! With these accelerations the gap to the front group is down to just 31” with 48kms to go. It starting to look like great favourites action all the way to the finish line! 
Van Keirsbulck is attacking on the counter! 
