There’s no more waiting for the managers looking for a good result today – we’re ready for the start of the Rheden GP here in the Netherlands. A total of 18 cobbled sectors will have to be negotiated along a route spanning just over 185 kilometers, as previously mentioned. A lot of C1 managers will be looking for their team to take a win to propel them up the standings, so let’s take a very brief repeat glance at who to look out for.
Bahir Dar winner Franzoi as well as Quickstep’s Baugnies are today’s two top favorites. Maes, Nuyens, Gaudin, Taillefour, and Machado are amongst an elite group of outsiders. Look out for Veelers, Thomas, or Breschel in the case of a group finish.
There are plenty of other names, but we don’t have much time, the race is about to begin!
So with these 13 riders establishing a gap of 3’00” just 15km in, they look to be our escapees of the day. The favorites look to be Kozhatayev, Kosic, Havik, Routley, Laengen, Kaus, and Krauss. Don’t rule out this group staying away; with so many big teams represented it will be a curious question as to who does the work in the peloton.
They have brought out a gap of around 4’30” by the start of the second lap, and that advantage is growing fast.
However, the 13 riders up the road would be allowed a maximum advantage of 5’12” with 120km still to race. Quickstep and Team Hornbach are already starting to pick up the pace.
Another 30km go by uneventfully as it is still Quickstep and Hornbach slowly eating away the gap to the breakaway. 4’26” is our latest timecheck with 92km to go, and half the race is complete. The rain is also picking up.
The 13 up front are cohesively working, but their time in hand on the pack is decreasing. They’ve only got 3’14” on the peloton now with 65 km to go. There also haven’t been any signs of riders struggling in either group.
We’ve got our first major attack of the day with 40 kilometers to go. It’s Steegmans!
Quickstep and Team Hornbach’s pace up at the front of the peloton has created a major split. A group of 55 riders are dropped, creating a main field of 31. We can tell you that no team leader is behind. Perhaps the biggest name is Grashev.
Quickstep and Hornbach are really exhausting their domestiques, and their pace has cut the break’s advantage significantly. Therefore, the situation with 34km to go is:
13-man lead group
<-33"-> Steegmans
<-36"->
Peloton (30)
Within a kilometer the escapees have sat up and are caught by the peloton. Their day is over.
Taking advantage of this lull in the action, Steegmans blows right past the escapees and creates a 20 second gap.
Baugnies and Steurs accelerate to shut down the gap, but in doing so they have separated themselves from the group behind with 30km to go.
Baugnies bridges up to Steegmans just five kilometers later, while Steurs is about to be swallowed up by the peloton, led by Team Hornbach and Allianz-BMW Cycling Team.
But Baugnies immediately attacks Steegmans, seeing that the 30 or so man group is not more than 30 seconds behind.
20 km left to race. Team Hornbach are working really hard to bring back Baugnies, who still holds half a minute advantage. Steegmans is caught.
Oh no! AMEXpc’s leader Breschel has hit the pavement, and doesn’t look like he’ll contest the win today.
Hornbach’s pace has really decimated what is left of the main field, as more riders fall off the back. Some notables include: Taillefour Machado Eisel, and a plethora of both outside contenders and CT leaders.
14 kilometers to go. Baugnies is chased down by four Team Hornbach riders. The situation is as follows:
Baugnies
<-30"->
Gr. Franzoi(15)
<-19"->
Gr. Machado, Taillefour
Team Hornbach have stopped pacing, and this is because…
… a group of 5 has attacked to chase down Baugnies. They include:
Franzoi, Langeveld, Gaudin Maes, and Nuyens.
With 9 kilometers to go, Nuyens, Franzoi, and Langeveld have formed a 4 man group with Baugnies. Maes seems to have missed this move, as he is trying very hard to cut down a 30 second advantage. Gaudin seems to have exhausted himself and looks to be done.
It’s noteworthy that there are no more major hills to be negotiated on this final circuit, only the final cobbled section leading into the finish line.
The cat and mouse game up front has allowed Maes to catch up just one kilometer later. In fact, even Gaudin is pacing himself back into the group, and if he is able to do so, it will be a huge advantage for Heineken-Cal Giant.
A group of 30 riders led by AMEXpc attempt to close down these 6 riders, but they are over 1’40” in arrears.
Just 5km to go. Gaudin tries to pace himself back into this lead group to see if he can take one last pull for Langeveld.
3.5 km to go. Cat and mouse…
It’s safe to say that they do have this luxury. The group behind is still more than 1’30” down, so the winner is sure to come from this group…or is it??
2.7 km to go. All of the leaders have started to sprint at the same time!! Baugnies, Franzoi, and Nuyens have a small edge on Langeveld, Gaudin, and Maes. But…
…back behind, Breschel has started sprinting like a madman and has singlehandedly shut the gap to the front group to 40 seconds. What a miracle it would be for him to be able to contest the win…
Nuyens leads the group of 6 over the cobbles with 2.1km to go. Breschel, Thomas, and other sprinters are only 28 seconds behind.
Back at the rear of the front group, Breschel is even bridging up to Gaudin, who seems to have spent himself.
Under the flamme rouge, and Nuyens has pulled a considerable gap on the rest!
Langeveld leads the chase behind, but the main field led by Thomas is closing down on them fast with 750 m to go.
Only 400m to go for Nuyens. Can he hold on?
Yes he can! What a day for Gazelle! Nick Nuyens is the inaugural winner of the Rheden GP!
Langeveld just nips Baugnies for 2nd, while Franzoi, Breschel and Maes finish 4th, 5th, and 6th, respectively. Definitely disappointing for Hornbach as they had this as a win goal.
Thomas leads the chase group over the line, whom frankly weren’t that far behind in the end. Nepomnyachsniy, Gaudin, and Turgot round out the top 10.
