An interesting choice from the bookies today to not have two of the fastest guys in here not among the favorites for the victory: Coquard and Grosu. It seems like they are favoring the stronger sprinters with Peak and Dekker at the top of the list, but surely they haven't forgot that the two of them are team-mates, have they?
It was quite a fierce battle to get into the breakaway right from the get go and in the end it was 9 riders who made it: Vervenne Kallberg Vainio Joung Kipruto Paulus Del Grosso Quadrelli Theiler
But it was just to show of their sponsors. The gap to the peloton never increased to more than 5 minutes as we entered the last 20 kilometers of the race, the breakaway was already history and the sprint trains were already forming! Plenty of Spark riders at the front, who were the main team chasing behind the breakaway today, but Lotto, MOL, Trans Looney Tunes and JEWA are also making their presence felt
Five kilometers later, MOL were on the center of the road, while Spark have been boxed on the left side of the road by the Trans Looney Tunes train
10k to go and Spark have found their way out of the barriers and are now one of the three leading trains with Lotto and Trans Looney Tunes. A few sprinters who do not have a train of their own have tried to take the wheels there, while three other trains are a bit off the pace at the moment, including Ewan's
With 7k to go it's a beautiful sight to see, 6 different sprint trains spread across the road: Lotto, Spark , MOL, JEWA, Assa Abloy and Trans Looney Tunes
With 5k to go, Trans Looney Tunes and JEWA are out the picture, but Assa Abloy who were the last train to form seem to have the momentum
But Trans Looney Tunes and JEWA make their comeback just as the sprint launches and are now fighting Assa Abloy. Lotto and MOL seem to be stepping on each other's toes. Spark are not bothered by anyone on the right side of the road, but it doesn't look like they have the speed to keep up at the moment!
As we aproach the final kilometer, the two big favorites are being led by their leadouts into a clear road, but on the opposite side of the road, Dainese still has two of his leadouts left in front of him!
Coutinho is leading under the flamme rouge, but Dainese has slightly lost his wheel. Ewan, Coquard and Zabel still in great positions behind their lead-outs
But inside the last kilometer, Dainese has managed to make the launch from Coutinho's back and is storming towards the finish line. Sensing the moment, Liu has made it across the road to take his wheel. Grosu, who had also lost the splipstream of his lead-out under the flammer rouge is now in a very good position in the center of the picture, while Ewan and Coquard seem to be struggling on the other side of the road
Slight bend of the road to the left right before the finish line makes it impossible for anyone to threaten Dainese's win, but the Italian already had it on pure speed alone. Very smart move from Liu inside the final kilometer to finish second behind Dainese.
Grosu has no problems defending the last place on the podium in the last meter of the race, while a late burst of speed gets Ewan 4th place ahead of Kennett
Peak, Walls, Coquard, Zabel and Jakobsen complete the top 10.
Assa Abloy put up a very fast train today and Dainese delivered. While Lotto also try to give Liu their best support, it wasn't exactly the team work that made the Chinese rider finish second on the day. The same can be said about Grosu. Fourth is not a bad result from Ewan, but as one of the big favorites he surely would have hoped for a podium. But it's not quite as bad as the other big favorite, Coquard who finished 8th. His team was there to give him the support he needed, but both him and the team seemed to be missing something today.
