It’s no surprise the cobblers are the organizer’s favourites, but once again they hold up the flat stats as well. Maybe the hill stats will be more important though, because the race may be rated flat but there is a lot of up and down to do that has the capacity to wear out those specialists who don’t like the hills.
The riders are on the road and Martino attacks right away. Colombo and Sweeny are alert and follow this move.
The peloton shows no real intention to chase those three so others try their luck, too. M. Van Dijke and Bdadou are the first ones to chase, they’re quickly followed by the threesome of Horvat, Giulietti and Miquel.
Now the peloton is chasing! Miquel is already back with the pack while the other groups are still fighting.
After the peloton caught the third group there were some more attacks and counter-attacks, resulting in a group of nine riders forming the break. Those nine are
Bdadou and Martino Kooistra and M. Van Dijke Colombo Doull Novardianto Rossi Sweeny
They are chased by Hesters and Medvedev who are about 45’’ back. The peloton trails another 2’15, so we’ll probably have a break of 11 soon.
With 150 km to go the chasers got to the front group indeed. They have a lead of 4’20 over the peloton. The riders in the break are all decent but not great cobblers, so there would be an exciting race for the win if they make it to the line. But that’s highly unlikely as the peloton seems well organised and just controlling the gap.
60 km later the break is still working well and holds a lead of 3’27. Meanwhile about two dozen of the weakest cobblers have lost contact to the pack one by one – a picture that will likely continue for the rest of the race.
The first of the two bigger hills has demanded its tribute as the break is reduced to 6 riders. Medvedev is half a minute behind, followed by Colombo, Hesters and Sweeny another 30’’ back. M. Van Dijke is 15 more seconds behind, 1’40 in front of the peloton of 66 riders.
With 50 km to go those breakaway riders who lost contact earlier are all reeled in by the peloton while Martino is now hanging in the middle of the remaining break and the pack with about 45’’ in each direction. The peloton is down to 46 riders which means some of the better cobblers have already lost contact, but the biggest names already out of contention are probably Blythe and Sa. Kuroeda. Vanbilsen is also struggling at the back of the peloton, but his entire team manages to keep him in the favourites group.
With 42 km to go the break is caught and the favourites begin their race when Van der Haar attacks and Van Hooydonck and Teunissen follow this move, resulting in a small gap.
We’re on the second trip up the biggest hill and Altur has joined the three attackers. They have a lead of 24’’ to a peloton of 22 riders. Some more of the better cobblers have fallen back more than a minute already, including Vanbilsen as the most prominent one. He’s taken his entire team with him, though most of them are even in front of him.
The attackers are back with the pack and the first group of now only 18 riders is entering the cobbled counterslope after the big hill when the next attacks start. Once again it’s Van der Haar who tries to get away.
And his attack stings! There are only 7 riders left at the front, followed by some smaller groups.
race situation – 33 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Front of the race
<-- 29’’
<-- 18’’
<-- 9’’
Altur
Daniel
Benoot
Kumara
Gamper
Salzmann
David
Sh. Kuroeda
Polanc
Van Keirsbulck
Marzuki
Neilands
Spengler
Riesebeek
Teunissen
Zubov
Van der Haar
Van Hooydonck
But shortly afterwards those four groups are back together. Now it’s Benoots turn to attack.
And he gets a gap! 23 km to the line the Belgian has a lead of 32’’.
8.7 km to go and the situation is essentially still the same. Benoot is still 21’’ ahead. There are two small elevations and two short cobbled sectors left.
Salzmann attacks on the first hill and is followed by Polanc and Teunissen. Benoot is immediately reeled in and looks pretty spent.
The attack results in another split. We have now three groups of 5 to 7 riders.
race situation – 5.9 km to go
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Front of the race
<-- 28’’
<-- 24’’
Altur
Benoot
David
Gamper
Daniel
Kumara
Polanc
Neilands
Sh. Kuroeda
Salzmann
Spengler
Marzuki
Teunissen
Van Keirsbulck
Riesebeek
Van Hooydonck
Van der Haar
Zubov
On the top of the hill Polanc is solo at the front! 20’’ behind are his former companions. The two other groups have merged and are now 40’’ behind while Kumara, Van der Haar and Zubov have lost contact and are even further behind.
1.3 km to the line Polanc starts the last cobbled section uphill to the line 21’’ ahead of the 5 chasers. Further back Van Keirsbulck has attacked and is now 36’’ behind the group of 5 and 19’’ in front of his former companions.
Polanc has only 400 meters to go and is now 38’’ in front. The 5 chasers are already feeling the lactate and don’t seem to be able to get any nearer. At the moment Altur is in front of the group with a small margin, while Gamper, Teunissen and Van Hooydonck are pretty much equal with Salzmann a tad behind.
And Polanc is so spent he can’t even celebrate as he finishes his superb ride.
Further back the order of the chasers seems pretty much cemented. Meanwhile the group of 8 further behind is pretty much on par.
And the final is so hard that the chasers can’t accelerate anymore, so it’s Altur and Gamper for 2nd and 3rd. They’re followed by Teunissen and Van Hooydonck. Salzmann wasn’t able to keep Van Keirsbulck behind.
Further back Benoot wins the sprint for 8th while David and Marzuki complete the Top 10. Daniel and Sh. Kuroeda are 11th and 12th. Neilands, Riesebeek and Spengler finish 13th to 15th.
Congratulations to Polanc for another great win this season!
[PTHC] Cheshire Cycling Tour 
