The PCT season kicks off Down Under with the aptly named Down Under Classic. 81k of fast and furious racing, the roulers will launch some late attacks but with an easy parcours the sprinters will hope to be able to control things and make it a bunch sprint for the victory.
Two Assa Abloy riders top the favorites list: Konychev and Dainese.
About 7k gone, lots of interest in the break but right now the only rider with an official gap is O'Loughlin. He has 28 seconds.
70k to go, the first lap of the short circuit is complete. O’Loughlin still out front on his own, he has 28 seconds on Bonello, Piccolo, and Mendoza. Another 19 seconds to a 5-rider group with Giulietti, Forcellini, Canal, Fominykh, and Battsengel and 28 seconds further back to the peloton, which is still chasing.
The peloton decides that is an acceptable number of escapees and 2 laps later they have almost come together, while O’Loughlin might be better served to let them catch him, he is still slightly ahead. 57k to go the gap from O’Loughlin to the peloton is 1’41.
42k to go, up front the 9 breakaway riders are finally together, but their lead is down to 1’18 with Fastned, DK Zalgiris, Assa Abloy, Tryg, Sony and Bralirwa all represented near the front of the peloton.
Just under 30k to go. Gap to the break is 45 seconds. The first 10 riders in order are Moulingui, Batmunkh, Thwaites, Medvedev, Magnusson, Sleen, Dainese, Groenewegen, Habimana and Halvorsen
23k and the break is over with the work mostly done by Trans, Lampre and Stela-Vita. But with the catch made Magnusson goes to the front.
With 15k to go it is Sony – Force India keeping the pace high with Havik and Kooistra.
13k to go and Houle launches the first attack, Jacobs also near the front. Kooistra chasing and Kraftwerk has Juntunen and Zubov working on the front as well.
Houle tries twice and is shut down quickly both times. With just under 8k to go Kraftwerk has their sprint train on the front. Zabel following Tesfom and De Buyst.
Under 4k to go, Sony – Force India back to the front with Kooistra followed by the Kuroeda brothers as Varga launches an attack.
2.7k to go, the pace it too high for Varga to get a gap. The Sony – Force India train is on the front it is Saya Kuroeda, then Shiki Kuroeda then Vesely. In the Kraftwerk train Rumac has replaced Tesfom then it is De Buyst and Zabel. Demare, Halvorsen, Saber, and Kamberaj are the riders on Zabel’s wheel.
1.5k to go, both trains have lost their first rider and Kraftwerk has overtaken Sony.
900 meters, Zabel launched with about 1k to go and he is holding the lead for now. Closest to him is Halvorsen, then Dainese, Kamberaj and Saber. Can a CT team hijack this race for the second year in a row. The next two are Groenewegen and Manninen. Vesely’s lead out collapsed and he is on Kamberaj’s wheel.
500 meters, Zabel is the point of the spear, Dainese and Halvorsen gaining on him on the left and the right. The riders are bunched together and some of those behind are having trouble finding a sprint lane.
Zabel collapses and it is Dainese versus Halvorsen with Groenewegen, Kamberaj and Lutsyshyn, in the center, closest. 300 meters to go.
100 meters, Halvorsen is fading. Dainese leads now from Groenewegen Afewerki is coming fast in the middle and Howard is making good progress near the barrier.
Groenewegen times it right and grabs it on the line. A victorious start for Fastned in the PCT. Dainese holds on for 2nd, Afewerki and Howard are fighting out 3rd.
Howard wins the battle for 3rd, Manninen is 5th, then Degenkolb who ends up best of the CT sprinters as the other fade.
Einhorn is 8th ahead of Kamberaj and Lutsyshyn. Halvorsen settles for 10th, he was in the wind a little too early.
It is much worse for the teams with lead outs as Zabel and Vesely finish 16th and 17th. Demare’s PCT debut is a failure as he was never in the picture and finishes 15th, but there will better races for him in the future.
Down Under Classic
