Stage 1 saw the TT specialists having a go at the top in this tour, but now - in this 182 km stage from Arnhem to Hengelo it will be all about the sprinters this time. And here over at IESN1 we will bring you the action. But before that here’s who are the favorites according to the panel
The picks are sure different as today is sprinter territory and those, who were not in the top positions in the TT will be favorites. Degenkolb is considered the top choice here, but Zariff from Air New Zealand begs to differ with superior acceleration. Others like Havik, Boudat and Minalli will also be looking to be in the hunt. But who will be standing on the top - we shall see 182 km later as we head over to the action
It is a beautiful day here in Arnhem as the race got underway and we have an attack early on from Yamada. Behind him there are several other riders that try their luck to get some sweet points in the intermediate sprints, but were immediately caught by the peloton.
But the Japanese won’t be alone for long as Barbero and Skivild have joined him, forming a 3-man break with 1+ minute ahead
At the Apeldoorn intermediate sprint checkpoint it was Barbero taking the 6 points ahead of Yamada and Skivild. The gap to the peloton is pretty steady - about 2-2.5 minutes.
The peloton keeps the gap to not widen any further with teams with top sprinter taking turns to keep the breakaway in check
With 100 km to go, the break is now over 3 minutes ahead. The peloton seems content to let them off the hook…for now at least.
And halfway through the stage and at the Rijssen checkpoint the Top 3 is pretty much in the same order as the one in Apeldoorn. A second sprint will be up for grabs at the same checkpoint some 55 km later, but by that point the break may’ve been caught. Which doesn’t appear to be the case for now as the gap is now near 4.5 minutes
In the peloton it’s Gjensidige, JEWA and Hilcona doing the heavy lifting as the gap is starting to be cut down.
Air New Zealand have also joined the effort to reel in the breakaway…
…which has now passed the 50 km mark. And still have about a 3 minute cushion over the peloton. But it becomes extremely likely that their luck will run out by the next 20-30 km.
Race leader Van Moer is briefly seen in the front - perhaps he wants to give a push for his sprinter teammates?
And Barbero had taken the hat-trick of intermediate sprints with the Top 3 unchanged. The peloton now cut the gap to 2.25 minutes.
In the distance we can now see that the gap is getting smaller and smaller.
But what do we have here? Barbero has decided to go solo!
But it was fun while it lasted - he was gobbled up by the peloton along with his other breakaway companions
Hilcona, JEWA and Air New Zealand are among the teams in the front with 10 km remaining as the final approach to Rijssen commences.
The sprint has commenced - who has the power to remain on top.
And from out of nowhere it is Syver Waersted from Tafjord-Kraft. What a win for the Norwegian team - we hadn't seen them that often at the front of the peloton and this is really surprising. Manda-Coyote will also be happy with the performance today as Costa Rica’s NC Gabriel Marin takes 2nd and the Lithuanian NC from Gjensidige Rojus continues his team’s great performance in this race in 3rd. Zariff finished 8th, while top favorite Degenkolb was back in 10th.
And here’s our stage winner - Waersted
No changes in the standings since most of the riders finished with the same time and the breakaway riders weren’t in a position to threaten the leaders. Van Moer still leads all of the individual classifications (though he will share the points lead with Waersted). Podium Ambition is still edging out Gjensidige.
And that’s today’s stage. Tomorrow it will be once again a battleground for sprinters before the crucial TTT. Have a great day wherever you are.
