We’ve said it in the preview, there’s no way past Herklotz and Lopez in the favorites’list. Kwiatkowski is the most susceptible to disturb them, but local team EA Vesuvio (Valter and Godoy) or Aker – MOT (Preidler and Mohoric) have dual threats who might also fight for the win.
But that’s enough talking, more racing! Heavy rain is better than snow, I guess. Good luck to all the riders…
A group of three got away right at the start: Sanogo, Poljanec and Cheung. They have a small gap on the peloton, not too interested in letting a big group go.
The trio has been caught soon enough, and then they are more attacks! Poljanec insists, and is able to take 10 seconds on Ballerini, Suter – the two riders exchanged teams during the offseason – and Monk.
No threat for the final win in these four, so the peloton seems to be OK with them going to the front. Evonik (Visser), Puma (Rutsch), UBS (Brun) and Binance (Van Lerberghe) tale control of the peloton.
With 27 km done, the four at the front are together on the only big flat section of the day. Christapopoulos, Pedersen and Teunissen probably have been scolded for not being in the break, as they launch a new attack.
And because of that, everyone is back together again. I guess some riders or directeurs sportifs won’t be too happy about this. In any case, Redy is the next one to take his luck for the good breakaway. Behind him, the peloton is quite stretched already.
He doesn’t get far, but finally, and this time, I mean it, everyone seems to go along with the new break: Van Gestel, Ballerini, Boros, Christapopoulos, Mestric and Stojnic. Cedevita managed to put someone at the front in the end!
It’s possible that not all teams that wanted someone in the break managed to do so, but the legs must feel tired already, and there are still 190 km left. The leaders have 1’12 on the pack. Meanwhile, De La Cruz Chapulin punctured and is 1’51 behind.
Binance, EA Vesuvio, Evonik, UBS, Puma and occasionally Minions are working in the pack.
We’re approaching the 150 km and it’s more or less the end of the flat roads! The leader have earned a 6’30 advantage, but it’s probably not enough, as the race still is very long.
And indeed, the favorites’teams begin to organize. The break quickly loses one minute. Puma has four riders at the front: Rutsch, Egger, Madouas and Fortunato. Schinnagel and Herklotz are not too far, with all the favorites.
As the break passes the 100 km mark, their gap is down to 4’20. And the coming 100 km are not the easiest you could find! Evonik replaced Puma at the head of the pack, which is still fully together.
But something must be cooking in the pack: Lopez and Herklotz are near the front, though the Columbian must feel a bit lonely, while the German has his whole team, and Madouas at the front, with him.
But nothing really happens. Probably it was only the leaders placing themselves well ahead of the toughest climbs. But at the 50 km mark, the peloton is exploding! The groups are behind a pack of 59, as we’re about to tackle the hard part of the race. Müller is the most prominent rider on the wrong side of the splits, along with Bystrom.
15 km later, the break must be feeling the breath of the chasing 146 riders back together behind them.
Fortunato and Schinnagel gobble up the remnants of the break. Now it’s time for the big favorites’fight!
The Italian leads the peloton in a downhill section. Herklotz is 4th wheel.
And right after, there comes the first attack! Vakoc won’t wait for Herklotz to tire them all, and he tries his luck with 19 km left. The German leazds the chase himself, that reduces the peloton to 35 riders.
Koretzky seems to be struggling… and indeed, the French champion loses contact, together with Schinnagel, Müller and Calmejane. They could receive support from a group of 6 with Bystrom.
Godoy leads the favorites’group.
No attack in the penultimate climb, there are 7 km still to ride.
Nothing of note happens in the following 4 km, and now we tackle the last climb of this long day! Polanc and Smit lead the way.
Feeling Buchmann on his right, Herklotz quickens the pace at the 2 km mark. He has McCarthy behind, and Blums and Lopez not too far. Valter is further back, after Mohoric and Skujins.
1,3 km still to climb. The German has a gap. Will he be able to keep it till the end? In the group behind are Mohoric, Buchmann, Valter, Lopez, McCarthy, Vakoc and Skujins. Warchol lead the third group, with Kwiatkowski in his slipstream.
Flamme rouge! Herklotz doesn’t lose any ground.
In the last 500m, he even finds a second wind, and he’s now the fastest of them all. Lopez is overcoming all the others. McCarthy and Skujins are fading, while Kwiatkowski is now gaining ground.
And it’s a dominant – one could say easy – win for Silvio Herklotz! Puma worked all day, and when he attacked, nobody could follow.
No surprise at the 2nd place, which goes to Lopez. He wasn’t close enough to Herlkotz to follow him, but hadn’t too much trouble to win over everyone else. Valter is 3rd, Buchmann 4th.
Mohoric is 5th, after quite the quiet race.
Vakoc takes 6th. Nother good result for ISA. Kwiatkowski comes in 7th. Shame he was badly positionned, has he seemed strong.
McCarthy, Skujins and Blums round up the top 10.
And that’s it for this long and hard day in Luxembourg! I hope you enjoyed the show. See you soon.
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