Report: RideLondon Classic

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Tom Boonen wins the Ride London Classic after the peloton denies Geraint Thomas the win after a long range solo move by the Welshman

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Report: RideLondon Classic

Tom Boonen wins the Ride London Classic after the peloton denies Geraint Thomas the win after a long range solo move by the Welshman. Two Brits in the top ten with Tobyn Horton of Madison Genesis in 8th and Mark McNally 10th.

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Photo: Prudential RideLondon

The RideLondon Classic with many of the World’s best including three time Tour de France winner Chris Froome lined up on the red carpet on the Mall in London and set off for a short neutralised section before the attacking came thick and fast.

British riders were all keen to get going with Alex Paton, Will Fox, Alex Dowsett, Dale Appleby all noticeable whilst the riders of Pedal Heaven were very keen to show their colours after missing a ride in both the Tour of Yorkshire and Tour of Britain.

Through Richmond Park, Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) and Adria Moreno (Raleigh GAC) were forcing it as was Roubaix winner Matt Hayman. A group formed, including Jack Pullar (Pedal Heaven) but with little cooperation between riders, the move looked doomed and with the peloton lined out in the chase, the race came back together.

More moves came and went with Pedal Heaven yet again getting riders in them. At the back, a crash taking down a lot of riders saw Rhys Lloyd and Matt Gibson among many that were seriously delayed.

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Back at the front, yet another largish group got clear with Jonny McEvoy, Connor Dunne, Jack Pullar, James Gullen (both Pedal Heaven) and Mark McNally. The move didn’t have any urgency though and came back and yet another promising move failed.

With 170k to go a move went (Jean Pierre Drucker – last years winner – Jonathan Lastra Martinez, Jelle Wallays and Jonas Rickaert) and this one didn’t have any British riders but two riders from British teams did bridge across, Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven and Matt Holmes of Madison Genesis.

The peloton wanted a nature break and so whilst they stopped, the break of six put their heads down and the gap went out.

With 148k to go the break and the race was stopped but the reason at the time was unclear, one line being the crowd getting out of control at Dorking whilst another was the sportive was running behind schedule due to crashes and the race had to be delayed.

Finally, after a long delay of around twenty minutes the race did restart and the gap to the break came back from nearly four minutes to just over three as the break tapped out a fast tempo whilst Christian Knees and Etixx Quickstep controlled the pace back in the peloton.

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The first KoM was always going to be interesting but due to BBC deciding to stop their coverage to swap channels, many would not have seen Dexter Gardias of Pedal Heaven lead the way, continuing his teams message they deserve to be in the Tour of Britain which I think deep down the Tour actually agrees with but has its hands tied having had the qualifying system in place.

The battle for the KoM, and a place on the podium, was a close one with last years race winner Drucker battling with Gardias of Pedal Heaven for the points during the early stages of that competition.

With 90k to go, as Matt Holmes piled on the pressure going for, and getting the KoM, at the back Dexter Gardias was distanced as the gap to the peloton was coming down to under two minutes as Geraint Thomas made the first of his key moves during the race. The Welshman went solo and behind it was chaos in the narrow lanes as the peloton split.

The break was now down to four riders with Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis) yet again showing that despite little top racing that the European pros get, he was matching the seasoned pros all around him. Thomas meanwhile soon joined Gardias, gapping him on the descent with Gardias able to get back on the wheel after a little chase.

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Photo: Prudential RideLondon

Thomas was then joined by teammate Ian Stannard and Patrick Bevin (NZ) along with Gardias whilst behind BMC were chasing hard to get back on terms with Sky.

On the penultimate KOM, the break only had 45 seconds on the Thomas group while Holmes was tapping out a fast pace on the early stages of the climb. Behind, Gardias was dropped by the Thomas chase group whilst out front Holmes took the points that would leave him with the same amount as the overall winner, Drucker.

The selection behind the Thomas group was around a minute, and with the peloton having split so much behind that selection, there was a lot of delay in the chase getting organised as teams waited for groups to come together.  … continued after advert

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That delay saw the peloton over three minutes down with 60 kilometres to go on the seven leading riders. Box Hill was the next key point, a KoM, and the attacks soon came from Thomas, going clear on his own, whilst the chasing of Thomas saw Holmes gapped and the Caja Rural rider dropped for good. Holmes fought his way back though whilst Thomas continued to lead with 50k to go.

With such a long distance to go, the question mark was now whether Thomas could hold on and whether the chasers could stop the peloton coming back from a three minute deficit. With 20k to go, the peloton still had two minutes to make up on Thomas and the chasers only a minute on the peloton now in full cry.

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Photo: Prudential RideLondon

With the peloton closing in and only 14k to go, Ian Stannard attacked the chase group that was about to get caught and he started his chase of Thomas. Stannard though was unable to close the gap and he got caught by the peloton and with TV pictures having gone awol, Thomas carried on until he too was caught with 7k to go.

A late attack from Colbrelli of Bardiani came to nothing as the peloton prepared for the bunch kick and in that, Etixx Quickstep guided their rider Tom Boonen into position from where he won the sprint ahead of sprinters like Renshaw and Michael Matthews. To cap off a good day for Madison Genesis, Tobyn Horton showed what a class act he is with 8th whilst Mark McBally was 10th.

Reactions

Tom Boonen: “I am very happy. It was a hard race, as everyone was going bananas all day long. I was dropped twice, punctured once and suffered as I chased the pack, but managed to return to the main group every time. It was only with about 50 kilometers to go that we started to pull behind the break and it finally came back together with 5 kilometers left”, said 35-year-old Tom, who praised his teammates for their fantastic effort. “The guys got well-organized going into the last corner and I could launch my sprint from the right side of the road. I’m very happy with how things went and with getting this victory in front of the British fans, who were great as always.”

Geraint Thomas: “We wanted to race hard so when me and Stannard went across to the group it was all good. At Box Hill I wanted to test everyone and maybe get rid of a few people but I ended up on my own! I’d bought my ticket then and I just had to bite the bullet and go. “I could have done with somebody to give me a breather. Everything started to go towards the end – my back, my legs. I was always going to be up against with a lot of strong teams behind, but that’s the pro peloton for you. When they ride hard for a sprint you’ve got to be super strong to hold them off”.

“Maybe if I’d have stayed with the group and gone 25km out, rather than 50km, then I might have had more of a chance! But it was great to race here in the UK again. The last time for me was the Tour de France in 2014, and before that the Tour of Britain in 2011.”

Mark Renshaw: “The race was really fast from the start. Team Sky set a hard tempo all day, of course setting it up for Geraint Thomas to attack. We missed that move and 20 guys got away so we were quite lucky to come back into the race there. With a few a sprint teams working to make it a sprint, like Orica and Etixx, we were quite fortunate to come back into it for the sprint as well. In the final 5km Tyler Farrar helped me a lot, he put me in the perfect position for the final. I started my sprint from 200 meters and as soon as I moved Tom Boonen came through with much more speed. There was no chance really to beat him, once I opened the door next to the barrier for him. I am happy with 2nd though as it’s the first race back after the Tour.”

Chris Froome: “It was amazing what G did today,” said Froome, who spent much of the race policing the peloton and trying to shut down attacks on Thomas’s lead.

“The plan was always to get him and Ian Stannard up the road and we were hoping it was going to stick. I was really hoping he could go all the way today and it looked as if he would do it. But in the end the teams got themselves into a good chase and unfortunately for us it all came to nothing.”

Michael Matthews, Orica BikeExchange “I would have liked to go with ‘G’ to mix it up but I just didn’t have the legs today, I worked hard to get back in touch and in the end it was a great job. I hope to come back with better legs next time.”

Jempy Drucker: “It was a pretty hard day to be honest and I went in the early breakaway, which wasn’t actually the plan, but I tried to give it a go and defend my title as hard as possible,” said Drucker. “The only way we could get to the finish was with Thomas and Stannard, it’s just a real pity that things didn’t work out in the end.”

 Jonathan Lastra, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA (Continental Tyres Sprint champion): “I was very happy to have won the sprints. The atmosphere was incredible in every corner of every town there was a fantastic atmosphere. I’ve not seen so many people in so many places and I’d love to return to Great Britain to have another go.”

Mick Bennett, Race Director, Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (On the 25-minute pause after 47km): “We erred on the side of caution in the interest of the safety of the public and riders in the sportive and paused the race. At that point, the breakaway group of six had a gap of 3:55. I spoke to the team managers prior to the pause, who were able to speak to the riders through their earpieces. After we stopped, I talked to the team leaders”.

“All the riders and teams were fine with it and in total agreement. This is pro racing. It happens. There was a great atmosphere. The race was paused for 24-25 minutes. I gave the riders a 4-minute and 2-minute whistle. The breakaway group went and then the peloton went 3:55 later.”

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Photo: Prudential RideLondon

1 BOONEN, Tom EQS Etixx – Quick Step 04:43:55 +00:00
2 RENSHAW, Mark DDD Team Dimension Data — +00:00
3 MATTHEWS, Michael OBE Orica BikeExchange — +00:00
4 DEBUSSCHERE, Jens LTS Lotto Soudal — +00:00
5 MARYCZ, Jaroslaw CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice — +00:00
6 SIMION, Paolo BAR Bardiani CSF — +00:00
7 GERTS, Floris BMC BMC Racing Team — +00:00
8 HORTON, Tobyn MGT Madison Genesis — +00:00
9 VON HOFF, Steele ONE One Pro Cycling — +00:00
10 MCNALLY, Mark WGG Wanty – Groupe Gobert — +00:00
11 KREDER, Michel ROP Roompot Oranje – Peloton — +00:00
12 WIPPERT, Wouter CPT Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling — +00:00
13 LAWLESS, Christopher JLT JLT Condor — +00:00
14 LANGEVELD, Sebastian CPT Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling — +00:00
15 PAGE, Dylan ROT Team Roth — +00:00
16 SEYNAEVE, Lander WGG Wanty – Groupe Gobert — +00:00
17 KELLY, Jake WGN Team Wiggins — +00:00
18 CIESLIK, Pawel VAT Verva ActiveJet — +00:00
19 RICKAERT, Jonas TSV Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise — +00:00
20 BENITO, Miguel Angel CJR Caja Rural-Seguros RGA — +00:00
21 LOWE, Samuel WGN Team Wiggins — +00:00
22 KERKHOF, Tim ROP Roompot Oranje – Peloton — +00:00
23 BOVENHUIS, Jasper SKT AN Post – Chain Reaction — +00:00
24 MCEVOY, Johnny NFTO NFTO — +00:00
25 DUIJN, Huub ROP Roompot Oranje – Peloton — +00:00
26 KNEES, Christian SKY Team SKY — +00:00
27 DOWNING, Russell JLT JLT Condor — +00:00
28 BLAIN, Alexandre MGT Madison Genesis — +00:00
29 VAN MEIRHAEGHE, Jef TSV Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise — +00:00
30 MORENO SALA, Adria RAL Team Raleigh GAC — +00:00
31 KNEISKY, Morgan RAL Team Raleigh GAC — +00:00
32 RUBIO, Diego CJR Caja Rural-Seguros RGA — +00:00
33 CHIRICO, Luca BAR Bardiani CSF — +00:00
34 ROELANDTS, Jurgen LTS Lotto Soudal — +00:00
35 LAMPIER, Steve JLT JLT Condor — +00:00
36 STANNARD, Ian SKY Team SKY — +00:00
37 BARBIN, Enrico BAR Bardiani CSF — +00:00
38 STEELS, Stijn TSV Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise — +00:00
39 PULLAR, Jack PH Pedal Heaven — +00:00
40 BRADBURY, Edmund NFTO NFTO — +00:00
41 FROOME, Christopher SKY Team SKY — +00:00
42 VANDENBERGH, Stijn EQS Etixx – Quick Step — +00:00
43 MEURISSE, Xandro WGG Wanty – Groupe Gobert — +00:00
44 SWIFT, Ben SKY Team SKY — +00:00
45 OSS, Daniel BMC BMC Racing Team — +00:00
46 PATERSKI, Maciej CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice — +00:00
47 BRAMMEIER, Matthew DDD Team Dimension Data — +00:00
48 THOMSON, Jay DDD Team Dimension Data — +00:00
49 THOMPSON, Michael WGN Team Wiggins — +00:00
50 BEVIN, Patrick CPT Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling — +00:00
51 BURGHARDT, Marcus BMC BMC Racing Team — +00:00
52 DE MAAR, Marc ROP Roompot Oranje – Peloton — +00:00
53 MULLEN, Ryan CPT Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling — +00:00
54 HONKISZ, Adrian CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice — +00:00
55 VLIEGEN, Loic BMC BMC Racing Team — +00:00
56 IRISARRI, Jon CJR Caja Rural-Seguros RGA — +00:00
57 SCOTT, Jacob SKT AN Post – Chain Reaction — +00:00
58 MOSES, Thomas JLT JLT Condor — +00:00
59 HARRISON, Samuel WGN Team Wiggins — +00:00
60 OWISAN, Lukasz CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice — +00:00
61 HAYMAN, Mathew OBE Orica BikeExchange — +00:00
62 TRENTIN, Matteo EQS Etixx – Quick Step — +00:00
63 SLATER, Alistair JLT JLT Condor 04:44:11 +00:16
64 WYSS, Danilo BMC BMC Racing Team — +00:16
65 BAK, Lars LTS Lotto Soudal — +00:16
66 CHARUCKI, Pawel VAT Verva ActiveJet 04:44:14 +00:19
67 HONIG, Reinier ROP Roompot Oranje – Peloton 04:44:15 +00:20
68 FARRAR, Tyler DDD Team Dimension Data — +00:20
69 ROWSELL, Erick MGT Madison Genesis — +00:20
70 THURAU, Björn WGG Wanty – Groupe Gobert — +00:20
71 TERPSTRA, Niki EQS Etixx – Quick Step 04:44:19 +00:24
72 WALLAYS, Jelle LTS Lotto Soudal 04:44:23 +00:28
73 STEWART, Thomas MGT Madison Genesis 04:44:35 +00:40
74 DOWSETT, Alex GBR Team GB 04:44:45 +00:50
75 COLBRELLI, Sonny BAR Bardiani CSF 04:44:50 +00:55
76 BAUGNIES, Jerome WGG Wanty – Groupe Gobert 04:44:57 +01:02
77 DOMAGALSKI, Karol ONE One Pro Cycling 04:45:46 +01:51
78 THOMAS, Geraint SKY Team SKY 04:46:32 +02:37
79 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC BMC Racing Team 04:47:28 +03:33
80 TACIAK, Mateusz CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice — +03:33
81 ROTA, Lorenzo BAR Bardiani CSF 04:47:41 +03:46
82 DOUGALL, Nicolas DDD Team Dimension Data 04:47:49 +03:54
83 BEWLEY, Sam OBE Orica BikeExchange 04:48:30 +04:35
84 TUFT, Svein OBE Orica BikeExchange — +04:35
85 DOCKER, Mitch OBE Orica BikeExchange — +04:35
86 HOWSON, Damien OBE Orica BikeExchange — +04:35
87 HOLMES, Matthew MGT Madison Genesis — +04:35
88 DUNNE, Conor JLT JLT Condor — +04:35
89 PALUTA, Michal CCC CCC Sprandi-Polkowice 04:50:51 +06:56
90 LASTRA, Jonathan CJR Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 04:52:41 +08:46
91 LATHAM, Christopher WGN Team Wiggins — +08:46
92 BIBBY, Ian NFTO NFTO 04:54:49 +10:54
93 MORA VEDRI, Sebastian RAL Team Raleigh GAC 04:56:57 +13:02
94 GARDIAS, Dexter PH Pedal Heaven 04:57:48 +13:53
95 HUNT, Joshua ONE One Pro Cycling 04:59:27 +15:32
96 HELVEN, Sander TSV Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 05:01:05 +17:10
97 STEDMAN, Max PH Pedal Heaven 05:03:10 +19:15
98 ZEPUNTKE, Ruben CPT Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling 05:03:54 +19:59
99 FRANCZK, Pawel VAT Verva ActiveJet 05:04:37 +20:42
100 JAUN, Lukas ROT Team Roth — +20:42
101 ROACH, Steven RAL Team Raleigh GAC — +20:42
102 VAN POPPEL, Danny SKY Team SKY — +20:42
103 FOX, Will PH Pedal Heaven — +20:42
104 GULLEN, James PH Pedal Heaven — +20:42
105 GADAY, Lucas ROT Team Roth — +20:42
106 D’URBANO, Marco ROT Team Roth — +20:42
107 SHAW, Damien SKT AN Post – Chain Reaction

King of the Mountains Classification

KoM FINISH – LEITH HILL – KM 76.4
1 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 6
2 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 5
3 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 4
4 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 3
5 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 2
6 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 1

KoM FINISH – RANMORE COMMON – KM 93.7
1 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 6
2 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 5
3 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 4
4 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 3
5 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 2
6 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 1

KoM FINISH – RANMORE COMMON – KM 112.8
1 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 6
2 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 5
3 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 4
4 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 3
5 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 2
6 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 1

KoM FINISH – RANMORE COMMON – KM 132.1
1 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 6
2 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 5
3 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 4
4 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 3
5 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 2
6 BEVIN, Patrick Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling CPT 1

KoM FINISH – BOX HILL SUMMIT – KM 150.5
1 THOMAS, Geraint Team SKY SKY 6
2 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 5
3 BEVIN, Patrick Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling CPT 4
4 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 3
5 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 2
6 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 1

Total
1 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 20
2 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 20
3 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 18
4 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 16
5 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 11
6 THOMAS, Geraint Team SKY SKY 6
7 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 5
8 BEVIN, Patrick Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling CPT 5
9 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 4

Sprints Classification

SPRINT – DORKING – KM 86.9
1 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 5
2 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 3
3 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 2
4 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 1

SPRINT – DORKING – KM 106.1
1 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 5
2 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 3
3 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 2
4 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 1

SPRINT – DORKING – KM 125.4
1 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 5
2 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 3
3 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 2
4 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 1

SPRINT – DORKING – KM 144.5
1 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 5
2 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 3
3 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 2
4 BEVIN, Patrick Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling CPT 1

SPRINT – WIMBLEDON – KM 187.0
1 THOMAS, Geraint Team SKY SKY 5
2 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 3
3 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 2
4 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 1

TOTAL
1 LASTRA, Jonathan Caja Rural-Seguros RGA CJR 18
2 RICKAERT, Jonas Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise TSV 8
3 WALLAYS, Jelle Lotto Soudal LTS 8
4 STANNARD, Ian Team SKY SKY 5
5 THOMAS, Geraint Team SKY SKY 5
6 HOLMES, Matthew Madison Genesis MGT 4
7 DRUCKER, Jempy BMC Racing Team BMC 3
8 GARDIAS, Dexter Pedal Heaven PH 3
9 BEVIN, Patrick Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling CPT 1

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