Friday 12 October - 12:00 - Espoirs Road Race - 169.4 km (14 laps)

Live Report

Welcome to the live coverage of the U23 Men's road race, which is held over 14 laps of the testing 12.1 kilometre Monsanto circuit. Just an hour before the men started, the junior women's race was run and won by a certain Nicole Cooke, the pre-race favourite who used her strength to advantage on the climb of the Cote d'Alvito to solo away from her breakaway companions.

Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych will be trying to do the same in this race, but it's a much harder task with nearly three times the field size.

12:30 GMT - Lap 2
The U23's have completed two laps so far, with the only attack coming from Irish rider Dermot Nally on the first lap. With 12 laps to go, the peloton is all together and riding at a fairly steady tempo.

The weather is currently overcast and very humid, with the chance of rain later.

Lap 2 time: 16:48
Total time: 34:33 (40.026 km/h)

13:00 GMT - Lap 3
After three laps (36.3 km) of racing, it's still one big peloton, led by German Eric Baumann and Uzbekistani Sergey Lagutin. The tempo is still fairly calm.

Lap 3 time: 19:13
Total time: 53:46 (40.51 km/h)

13:12 GMT - Lap 4
The fourth lap has been completed, and there is an attack. On the second climb, Yuri Krivstov (Ukraine) went off the front. He was joined by Sebastian Lang (Germany), Tom Boonen (Belgium), Rasmus Dyring (Denmark), Yannick Talabardon and Jérôme Pineau (France). The six have a 12 second gap on the peloton across the start finish.

At the beginning of the fifth lap, it's an Italian rider trying to bridge up to them on the first climb.

Lap 4 time: 17:04 (42.54 km/h)
Total time: 1:10:50 (41.00 km/h)

13:30 GMT - Lap 5
With 9 laps to go, the same six riders have a gap of 37 seconds on a disorganised peloton. The Italians are chasing intermittently, but not with any desire to catch the break. The Ukranians may be trying to pave the way for a Popovych bridge later on in the race.

Weather-wise, it's still a heavy day with little wind and very humid.

Lap 5 time: 16:51 (43.09 km/h)
Total time: 1:27:41 (41.40 km/h)

13:45 GMT - Lap 6
The breakaways, Yuri Krivstov, Sebastian Lang, Tom Boonen, Rasmus Dyring, Yannick Talabardon and Jérôme Pineau, have increased the gap to 1:06. The speed is still quite high and there's no real concerted effort to chase. The Dutch and Italians are on the front.

In the break, Tom Boonen is looking quite good, eating a lot in preparation for later, and spinning a small gear on the climb. The Danish rider Rasmus Dyring and the two French riders are doing quite a lot of work.

A Spaniard (Ruben Gonzalez) attacks from the peloton.

Lap 6 time: 17:26
Total time: 1:45.07 (41.446 km/h)

14:03 GMT - Lap 7
Portuguese rider Hernani Broco has bridged up to the break on the climb as the race reaches the halfway point. The gap at the halfway point is 50 seconds, brought back a little by the Italians and Swiss. Krivtsov has been dropped from the break for some reason.

Now several riders are coming up to the break, but they still have 50 seconds. The peloton is stretched out into one line. Volodymyr Bileka (Ukraine) is trying to bridge up to them.

Lap 7 time: 18:12 (39.89 km/h)
Total time: 2:03:19 (41.21 km/h)

14:21 GMT - Lap 8
Eight riders have now bridged up to the front six, including Lemevel, Herve (Fra), Ingeby and Eriksen (Swe), Rogina (Cro), Popovych (Ukr), and Pfannberger (Aut). The peloton is not far behind, only 15 seconds. Popovych is going to the front with Boonen and is attacking. The peloton is in one, long Indian file.

Lap 8 time: 18:04 (40.18 km/h)
Total time: 2:21:23 (41.08 km/h)

14:39 GMT - Lap 9
Everything has come back together with five laps to go. On the first climb of lap 6, Scott Davis (Australia) has attacked with Cédric Herve (France), and they have a five second gap. They hit the second climb and are caught. Danny Pate (USA) is attacking. The front group is about 40 strong now.

Lap 9 time: 17:01 (42.66 km/h)
Total time: 2:38:24 (41.25 km/h)

14:56 GMT - Lap 10
There's a lot of attacking going on now with four laps to go. Pate's attack was countered by Scott Davis, with Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukraine) bridging up and dropping the Australian. Frenchman Christophe Le Mevel caught Gryschenko, and the pair lead by 17 seconds through the start/finish. There is a lot of action, and that last lap was the fastest of the race.

Lap 10 time: 16:40 (43.56 km/h)
Total time: 2:55:04 (41.47 km/h)

15:09 GMT - Lap 11
The proverbial has hit the fan.Le Mevel and Gryschenko were brought back. Popovych made a huge attack on the top of the second climb, and Giampaolo Caruso was right on his wheel. They are being chased by De Weert and Bernucci, who are caught. Popovych and Caruso (who are teammates in Vellutex) are powering away from the peloton.

With three laps to go, the gap is 31 seconds to a group of 25 riders, led by two Russians, Timochine and Arkeev. Pate is in there, as are Allan Davis (Aus), Pfannberger (Aut), Willems, Van Goolen, De Weert (Belgium), Goussev (Russia), Sharmen (GBr), Wegmann (Ger)...

It's a really good attacking course, and this is helped occasionally by the race motorbikes, of which there are a lot!

Lap 11 time: 16:38 (43.65 km/h)
Total time: 3:11:42 (41.66 km/h)

15:27 GMT - Lap 12
Two laps to go. The front two are just riding away. They've got 1:11. The chase is disorganised as the Italians and Ukranians are jumping on everything. The question is now, when will Popovych (or Caruso) make their move? Given that the two ride for the same team in Italy, it's going to be a tough one to call. Popovych is the favourite, but Caruso is the U23 European champion...

Lap 12 time: 16:43 (43.43 km/h)
Total time: 3:28:25 (41.80 km/h)

15:43 GMT - Lap 13
With one lap to go, the gap is still 1:20. There is a 20 strong chase group led by Pate, who is having a great ride today, Allan Davis (Aus) and Christian Pfannberger (Aut). They are being frustrated by the Russians.

Frederik Willems (Bel) attacks, but is chased down by Daniele Bennati (Ita).

Lap 13 time: 17:01 (42.66 km/h)
Total time: 3:45:26 (41.87 km/h)

16:00 GMT - Lap 14
On the last lap, after the main climb on the false flat, Popovych attacked and got rid of Caruso. Behind them, Allan Davis attacked on the first climb and got a 15 seconds gap, but he was countered by Gryschenko who took third place, with Kolobnev fourth, Ljungblad fifth and Davis sixth.

Popovych won with a 10 second gap to Caruso - a fine performance from the Ukranian whose team worked like professionals to get him to the top spot on the podium.

Results

1 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)        4.02.43 (41.876 km/h)
2 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita)            0.17
3 Ruslan Gryschenko (Ukr)           1.24
4 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)           1.31
5 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe)
6 Allan Davis (Aus)
7 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel)
8 Luca Solari (Ita)
9 Christian Pfannberger (Aut)
10 Daniele Bennati (Ita)

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