105km+Lap 1
There are big crowds on hand for today’s race and following the 105km intial jaunt around Limburg eleven riders have escaped and have just over 5min on the peloton.
Lap 2
Britain is leading the chase behind as the break is now back on the Cauberg for the second time… the gap is down to 4:27.
The break has 11 riders…
Dario Cataldo (Ita)
Jerome Coppel (Fra)
Pablo Lastras Garcia (Esp)
Winner Anacona Gomez (Col)
Luka Mezgec (Slo)
Timothy Duggan (USA)
Alex Howes (USA)
Vladimir Isaichev (Rus)
Vitaliy Buts (Ukr)
Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru)
Tanel Kangert (Est)
The 11 escapees are working well together but the gap is coming down – up the Bemelerberg it’s Cavendish again at the front leading the chase.
The break is now over the Cauberg and the peloton has just crested the Bemelerberg behind and will hit the descent into Valkenburg and then head up the Cauberg as well.
Three riders attack from the peloton on the Cauberg lead by a Spanish rider.
The gap is down to 3:20
It’s Juan Antonio Felcha (Esp) and Steve Cummings (Great Britain) with a French rider – now joined by others so about 10 riders now have a gap on the peloton.
Belgium is at the front of the peloton leading the chase.
Lap 3
The leaders come thru in 3:23:44… the lead chase group is 2:34 behind.
Up the Bemelerberg Cavendish is dropping back – looks like the reigning world champ is done.
Here’s the lead chase group…
Juan Antonio Flecha (Esp)
Jakob Fuglsang (Den)
Stephen Cummings (Gbr)
Gianni Meersman (Bel)
Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita)
Michael Matthews (Aus)
Maxime Bouet (Fra)
Michael Schär (Sui)
Fumiyuki Beppu (Jap)
The leaders are now over the Cauberg…
Lap 4
The break is thru and begins the fourth lap as the lead chase group is at 2:17 and the peloton is only 30s behind them.
CORRECTION: this is the 4th lap and the peloton is at 2:17 and the chase group is at 1:49
100.7km to go…
Contador attacks on the Bemelerberg climb… back together.
The gap to the chase group is 1:11… the peloton is at 2:04.
Belgium and Holland are at the front of the peloton driving the pace.
Lap 5
The break has 6 to go as they begin the fifth lap…
Canada’s Svein Tuft has abandoned.
The gap to the chasers is now 49s and the peloton is at 1:27… 96.6km to go.
Raindrops have started and if they continue it will likely change things dramatically.
Up the Cauberg the peloton is closing down the gap on the chase group.
Contador attacks on the climb and is joined by Voekler and others.
They’ve caught the lead chase group – now 25+ strong
Lap 6
The lead break comes thru in 4:23:00 – the large chase group is at 29s behind.
The peloton needs to react soon – it’s at 58s.
Australia seems have missed out and the Belgians are not represented well in the lead groups either.
The chase group is trying to close down the gap on the leaders.
There’s a crash in the peloton… 196.5km have been covered.
Voeckler is in the Contador group – the peloton is over a 1min behind with just under 70km to go.
Flecha and Contador lead the front group up the Cauberg – behind it’s Sagan, Uran and others attacking.
Lap 7
Contador is at the front as the leaders begin lap 7 with four to go.
Thru the feed zone… behind the peloton is eager to catch the leaders.
Germany is at the front of the peloton – Simon Gerrans for Australia would like to get up to the leaders as well.
Now the peloton is at 40s.
Up the Bemelerberg the gap is down to 38s…
Canada’s Hesjedal, Veilleux and Parisien are in the main peloton.
The break is now 23-strong as five riders fell back and have been absorbed… Michael Albasini (Sui) is another contender in the lead group.
Wiggins, Christopher Froome (Gbr), and the USA’s Taylor Phinney have all abandoned including many others.
Lastras drives the pace as the leaders hit the Cauberg – Flecha is now leading.
Big crash in the peloton… who is caught ?
Lap 8
The lead break sheds 6 riders and is down to 17… the time is 5:07:27.
The peloton behind is shattered but we understand the crash did not affect any of the top riders.
The gap is now 36s… Contador and Voeckler are together at the back of the lead group.
Flecha is at the front and has Contador as a teammate – France is also looking good with Voeckler with Coppel.
The gap is coming down as the lead chase group is gaining – now only 17s.
They’ve crested the Bemelerberg and are heading into Valkenburg and then the Cauberg.
Contador attacks on the Cauberg… Voeckler is up there as well.
Behind the peloton splits… but now they’re closing it down.
Lap 9
Two to go as it’s all back together… about 70 riders strong.
The race is wide open again with lots of potential winners.
John Degonkolb (Ger), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor), Oscar Freire (Esp), Tom Boonen (Bel), Peter Sagan (Svk), Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Gerrans (Aus), Philippe Gilbert (Bel) are all contenders.
Up the Bemelerberg Andrew Talansky (USA) attacks and takes Ian Stannard (Gbr) with him.
They have 12s on the chasing peloton…
Over the Bemelerberg now 14s… the two are working together and trying to open up the gap on the descent – soon they’ll hit the Cauberg where the fireworks will begin – only 20.8km to go.
Stannard is off the front attacking on the Cauberg – Talansky is caught
Nibali and Gilbert attack…
Lap 10 FINAL
Moreno Moser is now leading …. all together.
Belgium is at the front…
The lead group is about 40 riders strong – we don’t see any Canadians in there.
Now on the Bemelerberg…
Belgium, Italy and Spain are all looking strong – but Gerrans the Aussie is always dangerous.
Contador is leading up the Bemelerberg…
The Belgians are all up front as well… Simon Clarke (Aus) takes over the lead.
Tiernan-Locke is now at the front on the descent as the final time up the Cauberg approaches – all the top teams are there.
Italy is at the front as they hit the Cauberg – Nibali attacks…
But Gilbert counter-attacks on the outside…
Gilbert is alone out front with only 1km to go..
Gilbert WINS
Results
1. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) 6:10:41
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) 0:04
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) 0:05
4. John Degenkolb (Germany)
5. Lars Boom (Netherlands)
6. Allan Davis (Australia)
7. Thomas Voeckler (France)
8. Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)
9. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Colombia)
10. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spain)
11. Rui Costa (Portugal)
12. Tom Boonen (Belgium)
13. Oscar Gatto (Italy)
14. Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
15. Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Sweden)
16. Koen De Kort (Netherlands)
17. Michael Albasini (Switzerland)
18. Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan)
19. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Great Britain)
20. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway)
21. Simon Gerrans (Australia)
22. Stefan Denifl (Austria)
23. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia)
24. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spain)
25. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
26. Bjorn Leukemans (Belgium)
27. Fabian Wegmann (Germany)
28. Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)
29. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
30. Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Portugal) 0:17
31. Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)
32. Robert Gesink (Netherlands)
33. Daniel Martin (Ireland)
34. Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
35. Jurgen Roelandts (Belgium)
36. Ian Stannard (Great Britain) 0:53
37. Paul Martens (Germany)
38. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain)
39. Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spain)
40. Yury Trofimov (Russian Federation) 1:01
41. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spain) 1:37
42. David Tanner (Australia)
43. Andrew Talansky (United States of America) 1:54
44. Rene Mandri (Estonia) 2:21
45. Gustav Larsson (Sweden)
46. Marek Rutkiewicz (Poland)
47. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Colombia)
48. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands)
49. Rafael Andriato (Brazil)
50. Michael Schär (Switzerland)
51. Gatis Smukulis (Latvia)
52. Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark)
53. Jaroslaw Marycz (Poland)
54. Takashi Miyazawa (Japan)
55. Karsten Kroon (Netherlands)
56. Tom Jelte Slagter (Netherlands)
57. Sylvain Chavanel (France)
58. Radoslav Rogina (Croatia)
59. Jan Barta (Czech Republic)
60. Ben Swift (Great Britain)
61. Michal Golas (Poland)
62. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Luxembourg)
63. Mathias Frank (Switzerland)
64. Alex Howes (United States of America)
65. Vladimir Gusev (Russian Federation)
66. Niki Terpstra (Netherlands)
67. Steve Morabito (Switzerland)
68. Winner Anacona Gomez (Colombia)
69. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Colombia)
70. Stephen Cummings (Great Britain)
71. Sergio Paulinho PRO
72. Simon Geschke (Germany)
73. Heinrich Haussler (Australia)
74. Moreno Moser (Italy) 2:34
75. Luca Paolini (Italy) 2:46
76. Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
77. Marco Marcato (Italy)
78. Simon Clarke (Australia) 2:53
79. Johannes Frohlinger (Germany)
80. Christian Knees (Germany)
81. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spain)
82. Borut Bozic (Slovenia)
83. David Veilleux (Canada)
84. Mickael Delage (France)
85. Diego Ulissi (Italy)
86. Eduard Vorganov (Russian Federation)
87. Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine) 3:11
88. Luke Rowe (Great Britain) 5:46
89. Vladimir Isaichev (Russian Federation)
90. Gianni Meersman (Belgium) 8:10
91. Matej Jurco (Slovakia) 8:55
92. Carlos Oyarzun (Chile)
93. Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Belarus)
94. Siarhei Papok (Belarus)
95. Stefan Histrov (Bulgaria)
96. Evaldas Siskevicius (Lithuania)
97. Carlos Jose Ochoa (Venezuela)
98. Taylor Phinney (United States of America)
99. Peter Kusztor (Hungary)
100. Bertjan Lindeman (Netherlands)
101. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
102. Jacek Morajko (Poland)
103. Brent Bookwalter (United States of America)
104. Frantisek Rabon (Czech Republic)
105. Ronan Mc Laughlin (Ireland)
106. Matthias Brandle (Austria)
107. Milan Kadlec (Czech Republic)
108. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)
109. Georgi Petrov Georgiev (Bulgaria)
110. Francois Parisien (Canada)
111. Marcus Burghardt (Germany)
112. Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden)
113. Leopold Konig (Czech Republic)
114. Tanel Kangert (Estonia)
115. Jure Kocjan (Slovenia)
116. Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
117. Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)
118. Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
119. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands)
120. Matteo Trentin (Italy) 9:44
121. Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Costa Rica) 0:10:23
122. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain)
DNF Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
DNF Kristijan Koren (Slovenia)
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
DNF Grega Bole (Slovenia)
DNF Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)
DNF Sergey Firsanov (Russian Federation)
DNF Dmitriy Muravyev (Kazakhstan)
DNF Dario Cataldo (Italy)
DNF Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spain)
DNF Rein Taaramae (Estonia)
DNF Jay Robert Thomson (South Africa)
DNF Wesley Sulzberger (Australia)
DNF Adam Hansen (Australia)
DNF Jerome Coppel (France)
DNF Vincent Jerome (France)
DNF Yukiya Arashiro (Japan)
DNF Christopher Horner (United States of America)
DNF Tejay van Garderen (United States of America)
DNF Tony Gallopin (France)
DNF Kevin De Weert (Belgium)
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania)
DNF Gabriel Rasch (Norway)
DNF Jonathan Monsalve (Venezuela)
DNF Maxime Bouet (France)
DNF Martin Grashev (Bulgaria)
DNF Gregory Rast (Switzerland)
DNF Oliver Zaugg (Switzerland)
DNF Bruno Pires (Portugal)
DNF Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic)
DNF Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia)
DNF Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
DNF Arthur Vichot (France)
DNF Richie Porte (Australia)
DNF Timothy Duggan (United States of America)
DNF Michael Matthews (Australia)
DNF Ying Hon Yeung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Johan Vansummeren (Belgium)
DNF Matthew Busche (United States of America)
DNF Vladimir Miholjevic (Croatia)
DNF Marko Kump (Slovenia)
DNF Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uruguay)
DNF Julian Dean (New Zealand)
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)
DNF Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
DNF Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine)
DNF Denys Kostyuk (Ukraine)
DNF Daniel Schorn (Austria)
DNF Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan)
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slovenia)
DNF Hayden Roulston (New Zealand)
DNF Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)
DNF Lucas Euser (United States of America)
DNF Jorge Martin Montenegro (Argentina)
DNF Dmytro Krivtsov (Ukraine)
DNF Juraj Sagan (Slovakia)
DNF Maros Kovac (Slovakia)
DNF Tomasz Marczynski (Poland)
DNF Alexandr Pliuschin (Republic of Moldova)
DNF Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg)
DNF Jeremy Roy (France)
DNF Peter Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Matti Breschel (Denmark)
DNF Christopher Froome (Great Britain)
DNF Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)
DNF Jesse Sergent (New Zealand)
DNF Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Venezuela)
DNF Stanislav Kozubek (Czech Republic)
DNF Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Argentina)
DNF Dries Devenyns (Belgium)
DNF Laurent Didier (Luxembourg)
DNF Enzo Moyano (Argentina)
DNF Shinichi Fukushima (Japan)
DNF Yukihiro Doi (Japan)
DNF Alex Dowsett (Great Britain)
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Latvia)
DNF Mauricio Muller (Argentina)
DNF Hichem Chaabane (Algeria)
DNF Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
DNF Yusuke Hatanaka (Japan)
DNF Amir Rusli (Malaysia)
DNF Svein Tuft (Canada)
DNF Sea Keong Loh (Malaysia)
DNF Martin Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Nebojsa Jovanovic (Serbia)
DNF Elchin Asadov (Azerbaijan)
