The organizer’s favourites for the race are pretty similar to those in the official preview. The only big differences are that Gamper is pretty high on their list and that Bohli is there at all, given that there’s an army of equally good (or even better) cobblers here.
And the riders are on the road. The race is held on a circuit of about 16 km length through and around the town of Lillestrom, so we’ll get used to the various sites along the road and especially the look of the cobbled sector.
A sight every manager is happy to see (especially JURAs Fabianski): Bakke Christophersen cis the first to cross the finish line! But we’re only 4.5 km into the race and the young Norwegian is on his mandatory attack. He’s followed by Bdadou and Diaz Suarez, the next chasing group consists of Bennett, Canal, Hamza, Martino and Van Dijke.
The groups got together in the first passage of the cobbles and were joined by Horvat, Jans and Yzeiraj. The peloton lost contact shortly afterwards, so the group of eleven has nearly a minute when they crossed the finish line for the second time. With 15 laps (and 190 km) to go it seems like we have our break of the day.
And really, the peloton doesn’t seem to ride real quick on the cobbles. The next laps will probably don’t see much action apart from the occasional puncture.
142 km to go and the break has a lead of 5 minutes to a nearly complete peloton (the only riders left behind right now are Juneau, Parashchak and Schomber, the latter is already 6’ down). So let’s use the time for a more detailed look at the final kilometers. The cobbled sector through the woods is 2.5 km long and slightly downhill and ends about 9 km from the finish line. About the red kite there’s a small bump with an elevation of up to 5 %, so late attacks might be successful if someone has to get rid of stronger sprinters.
125 km to go and still and the group is still 4 minutes ahead. Their chances of getting through are probably not that good, but we will take a deeper look at the escapees nonetheless. Colombini is the only team with two riders in the break and they also have the best cobbler in Bdadou. Given that Martino is amongst the best cobblers of his companions as well he would be the best bet if the group really could make it. Apart from the two Colombini guys Horvat, Van Dijke and Jans could be the best bets, although the latter had quite some trouble to get back to the group after a puncture.
93 km to go and Hamza has been dropped from the group. He’s 1’ down to his former companions and is still 2’ in front of the peloton where the cobbles already take their toll as it’s down to 119 riders.
10 km later the group has finally split with all of the best cobblers mentioned before in front (minus Martino, plus Yzeiraj).
Another 15 km later the first escapees are already reeled in and we have seen a first attack from the peloton where Lecourt De Billot managed to get away, pass the first chasing group and now tries to get to the front. He’s not the biggest thread however, so the peloton didn’t react and kept its steady pace.
race situation – 68 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Peloton (95 riders)
Front of the race
<-- 56’’
<-- 26’’
<-- 31’’
Bdadou
Lecourt De Billot
Bakke Christophersen
Horvat
Bennett
Jans
Canal
Van Dijke
Diaz Suarez
Yzeiraj
50 km to go and the chasing group of 4 is history. Van Dijke has lost contact to the first group and – most importantly – there have been some attacks from the peloton resulting in Breen, Centrone and Debesay getting gaps. Kulppi is also on the attack and if he manages to get to his teammate that could end in a really good result for Tafjord.
32 km to go and everything has come together. Teggart uses this moment to attack.
His attack wasn’t successful and results in a series of attacks and counterattacks that lasts for 15 km before a maybe decisive move of 12 riders gets a gap.
race situation – 16 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Peloton (50 riders)
Front of the race
<-- 25’’
<-- 12’’
Daniel
Blythe
Debesay
Chatarunga
Gamper
Van Keirsbulck
Jacobs
Lampaert
Ringheim
Spengler
Stallaert
Summerhill
Theuns
Van Hooydonck
Zepuntke
This situation also doesn’t hold for long as the final cobbles sector sees another attack from the leading group, resulting in a group of 4 at the front of the race now. This group consists of Lampaert, Stallaert, Summerhill and Zepuntke. If they stay together it should be an easy victory for Stallaert in a sprint, so he should expect some late attacks. They’re followed by the remains of the former group of 12.
race situation – 9 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Peloton (40 riders)
Front of the race
<-- 20’’
<-- 18’’
<-- 19’’
Lampaert
Daniel
Debesay
Stallaert
Gamper
Summerhill
Jacobs
Zepuntke
Ringheim
Spengler
Theuns
Van Hooydonck
Spengler worked hard and nearly got the second group back but as soon as he finished his effort they lost time again. Debesay is back at the reduced peloton, but while the gaps are substantial enough to be decisive, they are only if the groups don’t stop working. This should be in the best interest of Stallaert as a consistently high pace reduces the chances of attacks.
race situation – 3.5 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Peloton (26 riders)
Front of the race
<-- 17’’
<-- 20’’
Lampaert
Blythe
Stallaert
Daniel
Summerhill
Gamper
Zepuntke
Ringheim
Spengler
Theuns
Van Hooydonck
The riders are already riding the last bump and Van Hooydonck managed to close the gap between the first two group, so it’s a sprint of 11 now. Stallaert is still at the front but now he has this season’s big rival Theuns back with him. Behind those 11 a group consisting of David, Manamalage, Moulingui, Rowe and Van Keirsbulck created a gap to the rest of the peloton.
The riders have started their sprints and Stallaert seems already done. has taken the lead with a big acceleration and seems to be the strongest right now.
Theuns
Summerhill
Ringheim
Stallaert
Daniel
Zepuntke
Gamper
Blythe
Lampaert
Van Hooydonck
100 m to the line and Theuns seems spend while Gamper has made huge progress and Stallaert has recovered as well!
And Theuns stays ahead, though his choice to celebrate early was a brave one as Stallaert nearly got him! Gamper completes the podium with a great finish. He’s followed by Daniel, Summerhill and Lampaert as the best CT rider.
Ringheim, Van Hooydonck, Zepuntke and Blythe are the last riders in the Top 10, while Spengler as 11th once again isn’t able to make use of his superior cobble skills. Further back David, Manamalage and Van Keirsbulck finish on 12th to 14th place while Moulingui edges out Rowe for 15th place.
[C1] Lillestrom GP 
