RideLondon Classic 2016

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July 31, 2016, The Mall, London, Road - 1.HC

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 Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the men's Ride London Classic. 

Hello from London for full live coverage from the RideLondon race. 

The riders, including Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Sky) have just rolled out from the start in central London. 

The riders have rolled past Harrods and other landmarks, before the official start was given in Earls Court. 

We have seen some brief attacks from the Cyclingnews blimp but so far the speed is high as the peloton stays together.

Chris Froome was given a huge cheer as he lined up and Team Sky lead the peloton from the start.

The riders have crossed Chiswick bridge to head into south London. 

The speed is high in the peloton, touching 50km/h at times but a break has yet to establish itself.  

The riders are now in Richmond Park, famous for London riders able to ride on its closed pathways.  

The RideLondon favours the Classics riders and sprinters, even if it is often difficult for one team to control the attacks all the way to the finish.

Last year’s winner Jempy Drucker (BMC) won from a small group that stayed clear. 

For the full Cyclingnews preview and to find the start list of route information, click here. 

As the race passed through Kingston, a small group managed to go clear and could now form the early break of the day. 

The riders have covered 30km so far at a fast pace as they fight to establish the break of the day. 

At Weybridge after 35km three riders have gone clear and are about to be joined by two others.

The riders have opened a 3:00 gap on the peloton. We seem to have the break of the day. 

Etixx and Team Sky are leading the chase of the break but the gap is up to 4:00.

We can see that Jempy Drucker (BMC) is in the break of the day. We will soon have the other names.

Also in the move is Jens Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen).

As are Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis), Dexter Gardias (Pedal Heaven), Jonas Rickaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural).

Were hearing the race has been neutralised for the moment.

The six-rider break lead the peloton by 3:50 when the race was neutralised. We expect race judges will give the riders the same time when the race is restarted.

The riders have come to complete stop. There are reports of an incident on the route ahead of the race.

The mass-participation event that proceeds the race has been delayed due to several serious accidents. This could be the reason for the race delay.

The race has been stopped at the 148km to go point in the country roads before the first climb of the day.

Riders are sitting in the grass at the roadside. It seems the race has caught up the back of the sportif ride which was slowed by accidents.  

Former rider David Millar has posted a Twitter video from the roadside, showing the race stopped and riders awaiting news on the restart.

In theory all the sportif riders should have been well clear of the race but the accidents delayed the many riders, creating a huge delay.  

The race is back moving.  

The race was stopped for 20 minutes. As expected the race judges allowed the six breakaway riders to start first. They were allowed to regain their 3:50 lead and then peloton was then started too. 

The riders are on the first climb of the race. This is not one of the categorised climbs but near West Horsley. 

The race is back up to speed and the six riders have kept much of their 3:50 lead as Team Sky leads the chase and sets a fast tempo behind.

The six breakaways did not contest the sprint in Dorking as they begin the four laps of the Surrey lanes circuit. They still lead by 3:30.

This is an image of Froome in action.

The six riders in the break are Jempy Drucker (BMC), Matt Holmes (Madison Genesis), Dexter Gardias (Pedal Heaven), Jonas Rickaert (Topsport Vlaanderen), Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural) and Jens Wallays (Lotto Soudal).

The race is in the hills of Surrey, with the rider tackling Leith Hill and Ranmore three times before the final climb of Box Hill.   

For several riders in today's race, the 202km will be a last effort before flying to Rio for the Olympics. 

111km remaining from 200km

Team Sky and Etixx are leading the peloton, with Sky lined out just as they did so often at the Tour de France. 

Crash! 

Some are sat on the side of the road as they get mechanical help and first aid. 

108km remaining from 200km

Holmes leads the six over the top of Ranmore. They face two more laps of this rolling circuit.  

The country lanes are narrow and so Team Sky are riding on the front to avoid any crashes or splits. 

Christian Knees leads the peloton at the top of Ranmore 3:05 back on the break.  

The peloton is grabbing their musettes at the feed zone with 105km to go. It's time for fresh bottles and more race food. However the pace has not eased. 

The descent from Ranmore is fast and through the trees.

The break has split after Jonas Rickaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) almost crashes on a hairpin.

100km remaining from 200km

93km remaining from 200km

Team Sky is using its riders to chase the attack but will that hurt heir chances of victory? Ben Swift is Team Sky's protected rider today an hoping for a sprint finish.

Team Sky has upped the pace on the narrow roads of the lower slopes of Ranmore. Two riders are off the front. 

The break reaches the top of Ranmore but the gap is down to 1:40 as Holmes sprints to take the KOM sprint.

Geraint Thomas is on the attack. Team Sky is trying to split the race after perhaps to being happy that other teams have not helped with the chase. 

86km remaining from 200km

This was Chris Froome before the start today.

Thomas is actually still clear alone but behind him  a group of 25 or so riders has formed and distanced the peloton.

Thomas is already picking up riders from the early break. 

It will be interesting to see if the peloton will have the power and speed to catch the group of 25 that includes Froome.

Team Sky has Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas in a chase group behind the four attackers. The 20 rider group is a minute back.  

Pat Bevin (Cannondale) is also in the move with Thomas. 

75km remaining from 200km

Behind  the Thomas attack the chasers have lost steam and there is no organised chase.

Several teams are trying to lead the chase, including BMC, Great Britain, Bardiani and Orica.

Lastra took the third sprint in Dorking but the race is about staying out front before the Box hill climb and the arrival of Thomas and Stannard from behind.

Team Sky has split open the race. The peloton is back at 2:40. 

The riders are on the final assault of Ranmore now. 

Holmes leads the riders over the KOM line. He's clearly targeting a spot on the podium as the KOM winner today.  

Behind the four, Stannard, Thomas and Bevin are only 30 seconds behind. 

It seems the BMC team is hoping that Drucker can defend the team's chances from the front break.

Here they come. Stannard, Thomas and Bevin join the four up front. We now have a break of seven riders.

65km remaining from 200km

Team Sky has two strong riders in the seven-rider attack. Can thy win today? 

The team cars have been allowed to pass the chase group and join their riders up front. Max Sciandri is talking to Drucker to decide BMC's tactics. 

Of course with two Team Sky riders up front the other five riders will try to play a tactical game and avoid doing too much work. 

The riders are approaching Dorking again and then face the climb of Box Hill that was made famous by the 2012 Olympics. 

58km remaining from 200km

As the break starts Box Hill, Stannard attacks but he's kept in check. Is he working for Thomas or trying to win himself?

The pace is steady so far with Drucker leading the break ti dissuade any serious attacks.

Now Thomas attacks!

The elastic has snapped near the top of Box hill. Team Sky has split the attack. 

Thomas has already opened a big gap.

With Thomas on the attack, it is now up to the others to chase him, allowing Stannard to sit on. 

Behind Chris Froome also accelerates at the front of the peloton. He's perhaps testing his legs for Rio rather than trying any kind of serious move.

Froome rode two criteriums after winning the Tour de France and then spent three nights at home in Monaco. He will travel to Rio with the Great Britain team over night.  

Thomas pushes hard on the pedals, taking the out pedal stroke out of the saddle before focusing again on a time trial effort to the finish.

45km remaining from 200km

Thomas is diving down a fast part of the course, pushing a huge gear. 

40km remaining from 200km

Thomas is diving through corners to save his legs and hold as much speed as he can. 

It is now up to Thomas to show he has the speed and strength to stay away. 

The peloton has split behind as BMC and Bardiani try to form a chase group. However Etixx is chasing them. 

30km remaining from 200km

Behind Thomas, Bevin is leading the chase but Stannard is sat waiting to pounce if Thomas is caught.

The Team Sky car is alongside Thomas to talk tactics. Gabriel Rasch is in the team car and tries to encourage Thomas to dig deep with just 25km to go.

The race route for the sportif and pro race lead to massive road closures in London but the crowds are out to cheer on the riders.

20km remaining from 200km

20km remaining from 200km

The Welsh flags are out cheering along Thomas. 

The peloton has pulled back 1:30 now but it could be too late for them to catch Thomas. 

The Bardiani riders are also working with Etixx and Orica. There's a lot of fire power in the chase now. 

15km remaining from 200km

There are nine riders working hard on the front of the peloton and they're working smoothly as they chase.

The team cars behind the Stannard chaser group have been pulled out as the peloton nears.

Attack! 

Stannard goes clear alone, dropping the rest of his chase group. 

The rest of the group explodes after his effort as the peloton closes in on the group. 

12km remaining from 200km

Etixx has four riders in the chase. They're riding in the hope that Tom Boonen can fight for the sprint finish.

However a solo attack indicates the peloton is not fresh. They need to come together and focus on the chase. 

The peloton is flying with Bardiani riding for Sonny Colbrelli and Orica riding for Matthews. 

8km remaining from 200km

5km remaining from 200km

Stannard has been caught by the peloton and they can now smell and see Thomas up the road. 

Thomas has been caught! It's time for a sprint.

That is terrible for Thomas after  huge effort. However now the race is wide open.

A Bardiani rider is off the front alone but the sprinters are chasing him. 

It's Colbrelli with a solo effort. Can he stay away? 

The riders have been in action for 4:45 of hard racing.

Here they come! 

Last km ! 

Colbrelli has been caught. Sprint finish!

They turn onto the Mall for the sprint.  

Lotto lead it out!

Matthews and Renshaw hit out well but Tom Boonen takes along the barriers with a wel-timed effort. 

Boonen made a strong surge along the barriers, paying back his Etixx teammates for their huge work today in chasing Thomas.

Matthews was second, Renshaw third. 

We stand corrected, Renshaw was finish, beating Matthews and Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal).  

That was a great day of racing, confirming that the peloton should never give up if it has the desire and numbers to chase a break. 

Thomas made a huge effort out front after going away from the break but the peloton got organised just in time and cruely caught him in the final kilometres. 

This is the top ten.

Boonen was tired but happy after winning. 

Boonen also talked about his sprint effort that gave him the win.

Boonen took the glory and stood on the top step of the podium in London. 

It was Boonen's 11th official individual victory. And one of his best since he won Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders in 2012.  

Here's a recent image of Boonen in action. We'll have a full photo gallery soon on Cyclingnews.

Geraint Thomas was gutted to be caught in finale. He admitted he had gone deep and was in pain after the finish. Thomas finished 78th in the peloton.

Thomas can perhaps enjoy a beer and an early night after his big effort. Tomorrow he has to get on a plane and fly to Rio for the Olympics. 

We have the first images of Boonen's victory in London.

This wider image shows how Boonen won the sprint ahead of Renshaw and Matthews.

Boonen was rightly happy to be back on top in a big one-day race. 

For a full race report and photo gallery, check out or race page by clicking here.

That's about it for our full live coverage of the RideLondon Classic. It was a great race and a great conclusion to a great weekend of racing and riding in the British capital.   

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