September 29, 2013 (Florence, Italy) – The Elite Men’s 272.26km road race is underway in tough rainy conditions as the men are just starting their fourth lap of 10 around the 16.6km circuit in Florence that features the grueling 4.37km Cat 3 Fiesole climb. A group of five riders now has a 2+ minute lead on the front chasing pack (it was as high as 8min) that has been whittled down to about 40+ riders as the rainy conditions have taken their toll including Cadel Evans (Australia), the winner in 2009, who is out following a crash. Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert is the defending champ while Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), among others, are main contenders to capture the rainbow jersey. Canada has two riders in the mix including Christian Meier of Langley, BC (Orica-GreenEDGE) and François Parisien of Bromont, QC (Argos-Shimano)… check our Twitter feed as well.
14:10 CEST
The five leaders are Jan Barta (Czech Republic), Bartosz Huzarski (Poland), Yonder Godoy (Venezuela), Matthias Brandle (Austria) and Rafaa Chtioui (Tunisia) just finished their third lap of the 10…
The chasing peloton has split into two groups with Gilbert and Cancellara in the first group – the second group is just behind and includes Valverde and Contador… about 116km to go – where is Sagan?
14:20 CEST
Sagan is in the second group with Rui Costa (Spain) and others as they have now joined the front chase group… Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) another top contender is there as well.
14:28 CEST
The gap is coming down as Italy leads the charge behind – now 1:55.
A second group of about 30+ riders is behind the main chase group and trying to bridge.
Up the climb things get strung out but it looks like the pack will join together and may catch the 5 leaders who are suffering on this lap…
14:39 CEST
Chtioui has been dropped and is now at 39s as the pack is now 1:40 behind as they start the fifth of 10 laps.
14:48 CEST
It looks like Godoy is off the pace as well and trailing the 3 leaders…Brandle is also suffering and we’re down to two leaders Jan Barta (Czech Republic), Bartosz Huzarski (Poland).
15:02 CEST
Barta and Huzarski have extended their lead to 2:36 as the chasing pack is now together and seems content to bid their time with just over 5 laps to go..
15:11 CEST
Barta and Huzarski extend their lead to 3:25 with 83km or 5 laps to go…
A crash takes down several riders in the pack… Gilbert is down as well.
15:21 CEST
Barta and Huzarski continue to lead – the pack is split behind with the front group at 2:25 behind the leaders.
15:31 CEST
The rain continues to pelt the peloton… they have crested the climb and will soon begin the 7th lap of 10 – about 65km to go.
15:38 CEST
The time is 5:34:24 as Barta and Huzarski have 4 laps to go.
Two riders are at 2:01 ahead of the chasing pack at 2:40 which looks to be down to about 40+ riders again. Gilbert is ok and in the pack and we believe Canada’s Parisien is there as well.
Belgium have now moved to the front leading the chasing pack…
15:38 CEST
Italy is now getting active again… Gilbert looks strong with 5 Belgiums to support him.
The climb is done and Italy’s Visconti has attacked on the descent and has a gap on the pack.
He’s caught and passed Kelderman who was on his own ahead of the pack.
CORRECTION – Kelderman and another rider are ahead at 54s behind Barta and Huzarski – Visconti is with another rider behind them and the pack is further back… Visconti is with Gautier.
16:14 CEST
Barta and Huzarski start lap 8 with 3 to go and will soon be joined by Kelderman and Georg Preidler (Austria) at 17s and then it’s Visconti and Gautier at 29s…. the pack led by Vansummeren is at 1:44
Kelderman, Priedler, Visconti and Gautier are together chasing the leaders – Huzarski may have been dropped by Barta.
No it’s Barta that’s stuggling and Visconti has passed him
16:19 CEST
Visconti has attacked and is chasing down Huzarski – now at 20s…
With Visconti up front Italy will try to contain the pack… Belgium sees the danger but can they stop it?
16:25 CEST
Under 40km to go… we believe Parisien is still in the chasing pack – GO FRANK !
Visconti is the new race leader as he catches and passes Huzarski…
16:30 CEST
A crash takes down Nibali and Paolini…
16:37 CEST
Visconti & Huzarski start lap 9 of 10 – fans go WILD at the start/finish – the pack is at 1:07 w/Gilbert, Sagan, Cancellara.
Nibali is trying to catch back on…
16:40 CEST
The rain has abated and the sun is coming out for the finish of this epic race.
The Belgians are at the front of the chasing pack – they’re eager to defend the rainbow jersey.
The gap is down to 9s… it’ll be over soon for the leaders.
16:50 CEST
Visconti is caught as Belgium’s Pawels leads over the climb – Contador has been dropped
16:55 CEST
A French rider Bardet attacks but the pack is there w/Scarponi, Rui Costa, Gilbert, Iglinsky and many contenders.
16:59 CEST
Under 20km to go – Scarponi, Rui Costa, Gilbert, Iglinsky and many contenders are there – we don’t see Parisien.
17:04 CEST
After 7 hours in the saddle 45 riders start the final lap w/many contenders – the rainbow jersey is up for grabs
Italy leads up the climb…
Now Spain takes over…they have Valverde and Rodriguez.
17:11 CEST
Scarponi attacks but Rodriguez goes with him…Nibali is there.
17:13 CEST
Nibali takes over the lead from Rodriguez – Costa and Valverde are there w/Scarponi
Rodriguez and Nibali have 5 seconds on the chasers
Rodriguez takes over and he and Nibali have 5 seconds on the chasers… but on the descent Nibali leads
Uran crashes – he’s out.
17:17 CEST
Rodriguez, Nibali and Costa have a gap… Rodriguez attacks on the descent.
17:20 CEST
Rodriguez has 11s on Nibali, Costa and Valverde – 5km to go.
17:20 CEST
Rodriguez is caught with 3 km to go…
17:24 CEST
The four riders are back together… but Rodriguez goes again – he wants it.
Under 2km to go.
17:26 CEST
Nibali is struggling as Costa comes around and catches Rodriguez
17:28 CEST
The two are talking as Rodriguez turns around and Costa attacks…
Costa takes the WIN.
Results
1. Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Portugal) 7:25:44
2. Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spain)
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain) 0:17
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)
5. Andriy Grivko (Ukraine) 0:31
6. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) 0:34
7. Simon Clarke (Australia)
8. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan)
9. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)
10. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
11. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands)
12. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway)
13. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spain)
14. Simon Geschke (Germany)
15. Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Colombia)
16. Michele Scarponi (Italy)
17. Filippo Pozzato (Italy) 1:05
18. Arthur Vichot (France)
19. Maciej Paterski (Poland)
20. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)
21. Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark)
22. Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania) 1:26
23. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
24. Yury Trofimov (Russian Federation) 1:44
25. Pieter Weening (Netherlands) 1:59
26. Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
27. Aleksejs Saramotins (Latvia) 2:01
28. Romain Bardet (France)
29. Serge Pauwels (Belgium)
30. Matija Kvasina (Croatia)
31. Alex Howes (United States of America)
32. Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark)
33. Michal Golas (Poland)
34. Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Colombia)
35. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Colombia)
36. Tiago Jose Pinto Machado (Portugal)
37. Peter Stetina (United States of America)
38. Stefan Denifl (Austria) 2:05
39. Marcus Burghardt (Germany) 3:40
40. Jan Polanc (Slovenia)
41. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia) 4:27
42. John Degenkolb (Germany) 4:53
43. Sergei Chernetski (Russian Federation) 4:55
44. Anthony Roux (France)
45. Gregory Rast (Switzerland) 6:24
46. Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden) 7:27
47. Andrei Nechita (Romania) 8:06
48. Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain)
49. Paul Martens (Germany)
50. Thibaut Pinot (France) 9:09
51. Giovanni Visconti (Italy) 9:15
52. Bartosz Huzarski (Poland) 9:36
53. Danilo Wyss (Switzerland) 0:11:20
54. Jan Barta (Czech Republic)
55. Fabian Wegmann (Germany)
56. Amael Moinard (France)
57. Jan Bakelants (Belgium)
58. Rafal Majka (Poland) 0:12:55
59. Cyril Gautier (France) 0:15:11
60. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands)
61. Thomas Voeckler (France)
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Algeria)
DNF Enzo Moyano (Argentina)
DNF Cadel Evans (Australia)
DNF Cameron Meyer (Australia)
DNF David Tanner (Australia)
DNF Mathew Hayman (Australia)
DNF Michael Matthews (Australia)
DNF Richie Porte (Australia)
DNF Rohan Dennis (Australia)
DNF Rory Sutherland (Australia)
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Austria)
DNF Georg Preidler (Austria)
DNF Markus Eibegger (Austria)
DNF Matthias Brandle (Austria)
DNF Riccardo Zoidl (Austria)
DNF Kanstantsin Siutsou (Belarus)
DNF Bjorn Leukemans (Belgium)
DNF Johan Vansummeren (Belgium)
DNF Maxime Monfort (Belgium)
DNF Murilo Antonio Fischer (Brazil)
DNF Rafael Andriato (Brazil)
DNF Spas Gyurov (Bulgaria)
DNF Christian Meier (Canada)
DNF Francois Parisien (Canada)
DNF Janier Acevedo Calle (Colombia)
DNF Jose Cayetano Sarmiento Tunarosa (Colombia)
DNF Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia)
DNF Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Colombia)
DNF Winner Anacona Gomez (Colombia)
DNF Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (Costa Rica)
DNF Gregory Obando Brenes (Costa Rica)
DNF Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)
DNF Radoslav Rogina (Croatia)
DNF Frantisek Rabon (Czech Republic)
DNF Jakub Novak (Czech Republic)
DNF Martin Hunal (Czech Republic)
DNF Stanislav Kozubek (Czech Republic)
DNF Matti Breschel (Denmark)
DNF Jose Ragonessi (Ecuador)
DNF Daniel Teklehaymanot (Eritrea)
DNF Jani Tewelde Weldegabir (Eritrea)
DNF Meron Russom (Eritrea)
DNF Alo Jakin (Estonia)
DNF Gert Joeaar (Estonia)
DNF Tanel Kangert (Estonia)
DNF Jussi Veikkanen (Finland)
DNF Christophe Riblon (France)
DNF Warren Barguil (France)
DNF Dominik Nerz (Germany)
DNF Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)
DNF Christopher Froome (Great Britain)
DNF Geraint Thomas (Great Britain)
DNF Ian Stannard (Great Britain)
DNF Joshua Edmondson (Great Britain)
DNF Luke Rowe (Great Britain)
DNF Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
DNF Stephen Cummings (Great Britain)
DNF Ioannis Tamouridis (Greece)
DNF Ho Ting Kwok (Hong Kong, China)
DNF King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Peter Kusztor (Hungary)
DNF Daniel Martin (Ireland)
DNF Matt Brammeier (Ireland)
DNF Nicolas Roche (Ireland)
DNF Sam Bennett (Ireland)
DNF Alessandro Vanotti (Italy)
DNF Diego Ulissi (Italy)
DNF Ivan Santaromita (Italy)
DNF Luca Paolini (Italy)
DNF Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy)
DNF Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan)
DNF Andrey Zeits (Kazakhstan)
DNF Andris Smirnovs (Latvia)
DNF Viesturs Luksevics (Latvia)
DNF Gediminas Bagdonas (Lithuania)
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)
DNF Bob Jungels (Luxembourg)
DNF Sea Keong Loh (Malaysia)
DNF Hector Hugo Rangel Zamarron (Mexico)
DNF Juan Pablo Magallanes Aranda (Mexico)
DNF Uri Martins (Mexico)
DNF Adil Jelloul (Morocco)
DNF Essaid Abelouache (Morocco)
DNF Ismail Ayoune (Morocco)
DNF Lahcen Saber (Morocco)
DNF Reda Aadel (Morocco)
DNF Johnny Hoogerland (Netherlands)
DNF Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands)
DNF Robert Gesink (Netherlands)
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands)
DNF Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)
DNF Tom Jelte Slagter (Netherlands)
DNF George Bennett (New Zealand)
DNF Jack Bauer (New Zealand)
DNF Sam Bewley (New Zealand)
DNF Thor Hushovd (Norway)
DNF Maciej Bodnar (Poland)
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland)
DNF Przemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)
DNF Szmyd Sylwester (Poland)
DNF André Fernando Cardoso (Portugal)
DNF Serghei Tvetcov (Republic of Moldova)
DNF Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)
DNF Ivan Stevic (Serbia)
DNF Juraj Sagan (Slovakia)
DNF Martin Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Matej Jurco (Slovakia)
DNF Patrik Tybor (Slovakia)
DNF Peter Velits (Slovakia)
DNF Borut Bozic (Slovenia)
DNF Grega Bole (Slovenia)
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)
DNF Kristijan Koren (Slovenia)
DNF Mugerli Matej (Slovenia)
DNF Daryl Impey (South Africa)
DNF Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
DNF Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain)
DNF Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spain)
DNF Jose Herrada Lopez (Spain)
DNF Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spain)
DNF Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spain)
DNF Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Sweden)
DNF Tobias Ludvigsson (Sweden)
DNF Martin Elmiger (Switzerland)
DNF Mathias Frank (Switzerland)
DNF Michael Albasini (Switzerland)
DNF Michael Schar (Switzerland)
DNF Oliver Zaugg (Switzerland)
DNF Sebastien Reichenbach (Switzerland)
DNF Rafaa Chtioui (Tunisia)
DNF Andriy Khripta (Ukraine)
DNF Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukraine)
DNF Sergiy Grechyn (Ukraine)
DNF Vitaliy Buts (Ukraine)
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)
DNF Andrew Talansky (United States of America)
DNF Christopher Horner (United States of America)
DNF Matthew Busche (United States of America)
DNF Taylor Phinney (United States of America)
DNF Tejay van Garderen (United States of America)
DNF Carlos Jose Ochoa (Venezuela)
DNF Freddy Vargas (Venezuela)
DNF Jackson Rodriguez (Venezuela)
DNF Pedro Sequera (Venezuela)
DNF Yonathan Monsalve (Venezuela)
DNF Yonder Godoy (Venezuela)