Men's Road Race Cycling

From Slovakia, one of the sport toss great showman has landed the title!

Its gold from Great Britain. Lizzie Armitstead sprints her way to

victory. It's five years since we last had a

World Championship course that favoured the sprinters, when Mark

Cavendish stormed to victory in Copenhagen. He is back and in great

form. Can he repeat that success here in Doha? This is the biggest

fixture you can get. Cavendish now, we're going to see

whether he can get through. It's all about timing your effort. Here we

go, full commitment. Can Cavendish find a way through? The line is

getting nearer and nearer. Where is the Manx express. Here he goes. Look

at him go. Mark Cavendish has won the world title for Great Britain.

The riders will face a very different landscape in Doha, Qatar,

to Copenhagen, but it is flat, a sprinter's course. Before we look at

the course in more detail, let's hear from the man leading the

British charge, Mark Cavendish. He comes, the Manx express. He is the

world champion. Mark Cavendish wins the world title for Great Britain.

Copenhagen was surreal. It was incredible. Not just the fact that

I'd won the world title but how we did it. To be go -- to be able to go

in and dominate, having not won the title since the 60s, and to be able

to pull a group of guys together to represent a country's comeback with

the world title, to think back on gives me goose bumps. Mark Cavendish

is the world champion. What are your thoughts? We have got a chance,

that's about it. We have got the strongest team in the race. That

gave me more confidence than anything. I was going in on my own

with just the few guys with a chance we could win, I wouldn't be as

confident as I am now. With the guys I'm with, it puts me in the best

position. With a sprint, I've always got a good shot. You don't know how

it's going to pan out. I think it's going to be a sprint at everything

will come back together. It's just how well you look after yourself

when it splits up. That will determine how you are going to

sprint at the end of it. You know what it takes to win the

championship. You tried to repeat that at the 2012 Olympics on the

road, so you also know how difficult it is to win a long one-day race. I

won the Olympics with 14 weight so you are relying on other teams to

kind of join in. -- with four team-mates. I think we can control

it from beginning to end. Do your set yourself big goals? You wore the

yellow jersey in the Tour de France, silver medal in the Olympics, your

first Olympic medal, and potentially another rainbow jersey. Last year I

won a rainbow jersey on the track. I haven't won as many races as I do

normally in the season but the calibre of the races, the world

champion on the track... That medal at the Olympics... It's pretty nice

to do, you know? It was a big ask but I'm not one for taking on small

tasks. I'd kind of like another rainbow jersey. I don't think

anybody has ever won the track and road championships in the same year

so that would be special. Saying that, it's not a given. There are

incredible strong riders and strong teams and we'll have to get

everything right. You've got to do that to be in with a shot of aim

medal. -- a shot of a medal. Mark Cavendish saying he has one of the

strongest teams but everything will have to go right for him to win that

rainbow jersey. Yes, but the reason he has a strong team, it lessens the

variables. There are a lot of variables on the road. Anything can

happen. 190 riders, you don't know what the conditions, they didn't

know what was going to be like today, they had to wait to see how

strong the wind was. But Cavendish is a master of it. He built the

right team and he knows how to manage them. Mark Cavendish leads

everything. He wore the yellow jersey this year and he won the

Madison World Championship on the track in London at the start of the

year. A multiple stage winner at the Tour de France. How would you sum

him up? I think he has everything a leader requires to pull the team

together. I think he has ticked a lot of boxes going into this

championship. He achieved everything that he wanted. He won a medal at

the Olympics. He has ticked if you boxes before even arriving here. He

has a strong team and he really wants it. You were team captain on

the road at the Olympics and in Copenhagen. How is he to ride with?

I've never met a rider like him. He is like the Pied Piper, so

charismatic. He makes everybody better. He has hollowed -- positive

energy. He makes people laugh. If you let him down, you know it will

have consequences, but similarly, if you succeed, he will share that with

you. He's a great leader. You have put him up there with some of the

greatest sprinters of all time? Definitely. There has been a

question over whether this course would present itself as a pure

sprinter's course or a hard man's finish. Mark Cavendish has a strong

team, he has faith in them, so he'll let them do the job and hopefully it

comes down to that. It was a bunch sprint for the women's race

yesterday. A strong Great Britain team. Let's hear from some of the

key players. Copenhagen was really special. It was something, as a

British rider, you didn't even dream of. It was special and it would be

great to emulate that. I was watching clips the other day. It's

amazing to have been there. One of my best days. A really special day

for everyone involved. Watching that on TV, remember being inspired. Nine

British lads. You never thought you'd have a team that strong to

dominate World Championships. Thinking about it now, it's spine

tingling. Conditions and things are different this time. The wind and

the heat will be key factors. Hopefully we can deal with that.

It's pretty unpredictable. We are not sure how the wind will be and

how strong it will be and that will be the decider. There are no hills,

that's the main thing! Its pan flat. The wind is decisive. You've got to

be a powerful rider. It's about getting stuck in embracing. If the

wind blows, it's savage. It might be every man for himself. Then we

assess the situation from there. We know each other really well. When we

come together as Team GB, would get on like a house on fire. We have a

good laugh and get on well. As a team, we are strong with a lot of

guys who are good in these conditions. I like riding my bike.

When you know you have done a good job, stick it in and really hurt

people. When you find that it's a flat course and you got Mark

Cavendish in your team, you can only be motivated. I always wanted to

come here and do my best. It brings a lot of pressure to have Mark

riding with you but it's nice to pay them back. We are up for supporting

him. Hopefully we can do it again. Is a superb leader. He brings the

whole team up. Having him around brings the team together. Hopefully

we can get the gold. I'm 26, in Scott Thwaites from Leeds in

Yorkshire. Dan McLay, 24. This is my first elite World Championships.

Swift, 28, I'm from Team Sky and from Yorkshire. Adam Blythe, 27,

from Sheffield. I'm the current national champion. Interesting to

hear from those riders who extended their season purely because it is

Mark Cavendish. It is. Three years ago when we found out that Qatar, he

sent me a message saying, hold onto your retirement, we are doing Qatar.

That is what he is like. He probably message the whole team then and

said, guys, we're doing this. He has the long game. They all have roles

to play but, on a day like today, there is no more important man in

the team then Ian Stannard. He's got a big job. He has the backing and

confidence of Mark Cavendish. That means a lock. To have that pressure

for a man like Ian Stannard, he drives on it -- thrives on it. He

wanted to be a hard race, he wants to be a part of that victory of Mark

Cavendish, to be the man that makes a difference. He will be at the

front driving it, especially in the desert. Luke Rowe, Dan McLay, but

single-handedly, Toby Martin for the Germans, you can contrive a race on

his own. Many of these riders ride for Team Sky, a team under close

scrutiny after it emerged Bradley Wiggins had received three

therapeutic use exemption is for the use of a banned steroid for

treatment of asthma in the past and the fact that British cycling is the

subject of a UK anti-doping investigation. Here is what Rhode

Island with, the team captain, had to say. How much of a distraction

has this been? I think anything like that is there in the media, it's

where things are focused. I am quite fortunate, seven months a year on

the road these last ten days, I've hardly seen anything. I've just been

head down, focusing on this event. We stand a good chance of winning.

That's my focus and what I've been trying for the lads to do. But

you've been embedded in the British team and Team Sky for a number of

years. If there was something untoward, is there something that

made you uncomfortable, you would know about it, wouldn't you? At the

moment there are a lot of stories going around and lots of people's

opinion, and journalists are throwing wild accusations out there

about us and British cycling and Team Sky. Very few facts have been

established. Until all of the facts are down on the table, I think it's

out of order, people can talk about it when they don't have all the true

facts. Hopefully this investigation will... That's what it's about. I'm

in for this to try and do the right thing. I always was from day one,

since I finished cycling. It's always been about encouraging young

guys to work hard and be the best they can be. I think we've done a

good job so far. It's a real shame that there are wild stories out

there make it look really bad. Rod Ellingworth, with a long career at

Team Sky and British cycling, but it is a very difficult time both for

the governing body and the team. It is. Cycling as a whole, the

slightest discrepancy or confusion, because it's also very complicated

demands a lot of scrutiny, the way the sport has been for 15 years. He

is talking about wild accusations, but some of the facts are there for

all to see. What was your impression when you realised that these TUEs

had been given to Bradley Wiggins ahead of free big races? No

suggestion he broken rules. GB having clear that they will push the

limits and not break rules. Some athletes really suffer from TUEs and

allergies cost of -- from asthma and allergies. It can ruin your day. My

opinion is that Bradley Wiggins did push the limits and he wanted to be

sure that the big events he wouldn't be affected by the allergies or

asthma. Yeah, you know, everybody is trying to take in all of the facts.

David, you know these riders well, you have ridden alongside them many

times, you've been embedded in British cycling and you served a ban

after admitting doping offences in the past. Do you think there is a

problem in Team Sky? I don't think so. I trust all of those riders and

the staff. Perhaps this is a bigger problem. A TUE is a big problem and

there are some products on the list you shouldn't be allowed to use

because they have performance enhancing properties. But Team GB is

such a leader in the anti-doping movement and these young guys coming

through don't deserve to have this scrutiny on them. I trust them.

Let's concentrate on today's race. The reigning world champion, Peter

Sagan from Slovakia, is one of the most popular guys you will find in

the professional pellet on. Peter Sagan, one of life 's great showman.

Come the World Championships in Richmond, it was likely have point

to prove. The world title is almost within his grasp. He consulted, one

hand on the rainbow jersey. This will be a very popular victory.

Peter Sagan from Slovakia is world champion. It was evident he was a

popular winner but what is about him that makes so loved? He rides with

real character, great fun to watch. He takes risks. He is the most

popular cyclist in the world, let off the bike. Is engaging,

mischievous, and people get value from him on the bike. Peter Sagan,

climbing over the biggest mountain is, he descends well, he can sprint,

he is the Swiss Army knife of modern bike riders. All sports in need of

characters, so how good for cycling is Peter Sagan? I just go to in

part. All of the great sports stories are built on characters,

drama and emotion. You don't get a bigger in cycling then Peter Sagan.

I am happy you support me. Thank you very much. This victory is because

also view. No matter how long he's been struggling to get up the

mountain in the Tour de France he will still pull a wheelie as he the

line. Characters like Peter Sagan are more than just crossing the line

first, they are entertainers, fun to watch and they are surprising. The

sport would be poorer without him. Cross your fingers for me. Peter

Sagan suits the rainbow jersey. He has had an outstanding season and,

luckily for us, he's not going anywhere soon. Surely one of the

quotes of the day from Chris Morgan, Peter Sagan, the Swiss Army knife of

cycling. Yes, he has a full Arsenal on weaponry. He can win sprints,

breakaways, you can climb well, he does everything. He is the best

rider we have seen in decades. West he loves to animate a race. He is

exciting to watch. He puts it all on the line. Very exciting. So many

other top names here. The championships have attracted the

best. Who are the other main contenders? Michael Matthews, Andre

Greipel, Elia Viviani, Tom Bowland. It is a great World Championships.

When you look at the German team, we already saw Tony Martin looking in

fine form and winning the time trial World Championship. The Germans that

they few sprinters but they might be lacking support. But he is a few men

out there. When the German team come to the finish, if they have some

sprinters there they will be difficult to beat. Whoever deals

with this course best, it starts in the desert. We send these guys out

to see what the course likes. I was on the windy side protecting

you. I was in the gutter. They are going to ride 150 kilometres in the

desert. There is a road running parallel, they will go up that, then

do a U-turn. You can feel the wind coming from the side. If they have

this type of wind, they will have it all the way out, crosswinds, all the

way back. It is so technical to be able to ride in the gutter. You have

to be technically good. It doesn't matter how good a sprinter you are,

you need an incredible team around you. In crosswinds, you rely on your

team to protect you. It will be 150 kilometres potentially of hell.

Fingers crossed for them it isn't too windy but, for us, fingers

crossed it is that it will make for a great race. Let's get out of the

desert. I prefer to be in the buildings without all this wind.

Traditionally all World Championships take part in a

circuit. This year is no different and this is the pearl. That will be

the entrance to the circuit. A gorgeous man-made island, quite

flat. They will raise seven laps of 15.2 kilometres around the circuit.

Plenty of technical hairpins and corners. That wasn't what we

expected. On the map, this looks like a hairpin and it's actually a

fast, sweeping bend. The boys have been thinking for months. It's not

as technical as it looked. Nowhere near. For the sprinters, they will

barely touch the pedals. Very much a sprinter's course. That is why I was

never a sprinter. I think Rochelle could beat me every time. But this

is a sprinter's course. They won't see the finish line until 200 metres

to go but, at the same time, they have several laps to check it out.

At the finish, if have more men left, it could make a big

difference. The road is so wide. Very rarely do sprinters get an

opportunity like this, three lanes coming into the final kilometre.

There is no reason why it shouldn't be a clean sprint. You think care

might be a favourite? -- Mark Cavendish? It has his name all over

it. The riders face a long, hot day in the saddle, starting at the

Aspire zone in Doha before heading north past the education city, by

the Qatar foundation, north, away from the city. All the way up to the

sports complex and an into the desert. Where the race heads north,

all the way to Abu Yazoul, where they turn around and come back.

Heading south back towards the city of Doha. They will travel past the

sports complex for a second time, where the World Cup final will take

place, and eventually onto the Pearl for seven 15.2 kilometres long laps

of the circuit. It's the same circuit used in all of the races

this week and eventually, when they reach the finish line, at the end of

257.3 kilometres, we will know who is going to -- to wear a coveted

rainbow jersey for the next 12 months. So that's the route for

today's race. I'm Simon Brotherton. Rochelle Gilmore and David Miller

are alongside me. Peter Sagan is here to defend his title, just one

of any number of riders who will fancy their chances. Great Britain

are well represented. A rare opportunity, David, once more for

Mark Cavendish, whose name will appear on the screen now, to become

world champion for what would be the second time in his career. Sprinters

rarely have a -- and opportunity in the World Championships. It is rare.

In the last 15 years, only three opportunities. The first sprinter to

have two valid opportunities where they are at the peak for those

chances. Mark Cavendish is a rider capable of doing it. It's a big day

for him in the British team. Rochelle Gilmore one of the big

things, just looking at the commentary box, it is quite windy.

You have raced in Qatar with some success, but a flat course makes the

difference. Absolutely. That will make today challenging. The first

150 kilometres out into the desert, they know it can be challenging. You

have to stay so mentally focused. The fact that it's windy out there,

I think the winner is going to come from one of the strongest teams, and

a sprinter like Mark Cavendish will have to rely on his team-mates to

protect him. The riders in the Zone of Doha roll

away from the start for the neutralised section of the race,

about ten kilometres long. And here we go, the road race is now

officially underway. Immediately you can see the acceleration of the

peleton once the flag has dropped in the league car as moved away. -- and

the lead car. 257.3 kilometres to cover. Ian Stannard already on the

front of the main field. There are a few committed riders here, really

wanting to get this away. Ukrainian, we saw him in good form in Spain

recently. A strong rider, perfect for these scenarios.

Adam Blythe, a slight mechanical problem. His computer melt is loose.

-- mount. So, six minutes, the gap already for

the leading riders, the leading group of seven. Ramirez of Columbia,

MacDougall of South Africa, the Mexican, Ukrainian. And Eritrea.

Followed by a Moroccan and Ryan Ross of Canada. These riders going almost

from when the flag dropped. A small flurry of attacks for five, ten

minutes. It didn't take long for it to go. None of the favourites' teams

are here, apart from the Colombian team-mate. All of the other

favourite teams were happy to see a move like this go in order that they

can save their weaponry for later in the race when it's really required.

Over eight minutes now for the leading group seven. As you can see,

they are heading out into the wide open spaces of the Kalahari desert.

They will be shortly. -- the Qatari desert. They will have to

communicate with each other and keep each other awake and motivated to

keep pushing on, now they have committed to being in this

breakaway. You can see a bit of communication between the riders,

they will want to motivate each other. Everybody doing their equal

share of turns out in the desert. Dan McLay has a slight mechanical

problem. Not allowed to pull over on the left-hand side of the road. He

just remembered that at the last minute.

You will see Great Britain gathering towards the front. Stannard, Luke

Rowe, Mark Cavendish, Adam Blythe. A rider for Team Sky. He is with

Dimension Data now. Steve Cummings on the front at the moment. With the

white helmet. We had our first crash of the day.

Chad Hagar of the United States caught up in that, unfortunately. I

think that was Bernie Eissel riding a wave, one of the Canadian riders.

-- riding away. I think it's Adam De Voss back on his bike. Fortunately

it looks as if there is no major damage as a result of that little

spill. Sandstorms out there. Looking out of our window on the Pearl,

there is quite a lot of wind. It's going to be very interesting. The

peloton looks so controlled that it looks like it's still out there, but

certainly not. There are some more sandstorms. Going to whack into the

peloton by the looks of it. It's a tornado. That's extraordinary. Well,

it's windy. The peloton just dodged one. Buried those come on the right

side the road. Straight in front -- there it goes, on the right side of

the road. Straight in front of them. 720 now the gap. Sitcoming down all

the time. You can see the strain on some of

the riders' faces. Those Belgian riders loitering near the back of

the pelly on the a short while ago are showing their faces at the

front. They know that now is the time they need to do it.

Look at the battle for the front and for the prime spots on the road.

Nobody wants to miss out here. Once the echelons start to form, you want

to be in the right form. They make the right-hand turn. Up at the top

end of the course now. The British team well placed at the front of the

peloton. We saw the Mexican ride frer the break away group having a

little bit of difficulty. That rocky landscape must feel like

running across the moon as Luke Rowe and Mark Cavendish up at the front

here and look at the speed. That's Adam Blyth Blyth at the front

there, in second place at the moment.

GB with a really strong line up here. Backing Mark Cavendish with

Blyth, Cummings, Thomas and Thwaites, as well in there for Team

GB. Great Britain and Belgium are

asserting some authority at the front of the pelly on the at the

moment. -- peloton at the moment. And you

can see the potential for splits to start to appear. One of the German

riders is having to work hard to close the gap now already.

And Great Britain are making life really difficult for everybody else.

Look how quickly the gap is whittling down. Look at the

difference in the speed between the two groups of riders.

Oh, it is really kicking off here, with 176 K to go. The Belgians are

making sure they are well placed. Australia have got a rider or two up

there. The Italians as well. And this peloton is going to split to

pieces here on this stretch of road now and the next one as well.

As the peloton turn right and they are beginning to journey south, back

down towards Doha. From Mark Cavendish's point of view

I think so far, so good. Right up at the front end.

Cavendish tucked in there on the second row of riders.

Just out the back of the peloton there, one of the Dutch, not sure

who that was actually. Dumoulin requiring medical

assistance for a flat. He is out the back.

Great Britain are working really hard there to make sure they were in

the right place at the right time when the race really kicked off and

it did and Luke Rowe, as I said a few moments ago, made sure he was at

the front of the peloton and they have certainly put the pressure on

here. That was the advantage of them being

in the front position. It was a little bit of a gamble, sort of a

wasting energy so early in the race. There's Doumouulin. You are forced

into the gut e the race is in pieces, which is exactly what we

wanted. Cavendish is right up there. Everybody has to contribute. I mean

looking at Viviani there as well. You have got... Look at it. Really

strung out it is only going to get worse for a lot of those riders.

Matthews couldn't handle it. He can handle Ewan, he's out of his depth

in these conditions, which is what we expected would be the case. They

had to risk it because it is an early race. This is what we expected

to see in Qatar and we're lucky that the wind is like that today to force

it to happen. But I am very surprised that Stanard either kouth

out or something happened to him. He will be massively disappointed. Adam

Blythe. I am not sure if there are any more riders in there.

Mark Cavendish looks relaxed, given he's not had as many team-mates

around him as in the early stages of the race. That can be a little bit

of a problem. That is Demoulin at the back. A wrong time to get a

puncture for him. Ireland represented in the front group as

well. Somebody's gone down in a crash. This is what happens. People

start to see cross eyed they are going so hard. That is not Sagan, is

it? That is a nasty-looking crash. Look at that. It is an American

rider. Looks like a collarbone for Marctt.

Three riders at least brought down in that one. Belgians, they are

there. They are present. They knew exactly a moment ago. Five Belgians.

They were super relaxed at the start of the race, weren't they, when GB

were taking control and the Australians were up there as well.

Now Belgium come to the front, full force. They are really taking

control now in the tougher part of the race.

The slight issue at the moment is the race radio seems to have

disappeared too. Any further involvement in -- information on

those involved in crashes we are not receiving any background information

at the moment. That looks like Durbridge up at the front.

This is one of the things about riding in this, it took me a long

time in my career as a sprinter that understanding that rolling through

and doing your turn on the front is easier than just trying to hold that

position on the edge of the road. So you see the sprinteders, like Mark

Cavendish, have rolled over for a turf.

One of the riders from Switzerland with the green jersey to his body.

Australia still present there. Cannot see much from Germany. No,

Germany seems to have been caught out as well. Even if they had a dark

red alert, it is Sagan sitting there, pretty. He's fine. GB, I

think there are only three riders from GB in there, are there? The

Belgians sat at the back. They when they didn't knee need to be at the

front. The moment they knew they were needed they attacked it.

One of the Dutch riders. It is a wilted struggle at the back for

these riders who moments ago were sitting in the peloton comfortably,

now they are under pressure. 170kms still to go there.

A lot of big riders. In the distance, you can see, there is

nothing you can do. This is Darwinism in that the front are in

the front. If you cannot get to the second or first group, they are

stronger than you. When the race pans out like this, once that group

has gone, that is it. You will not see them again, usually. Definitely.

A lot of the times, and they will turn into the tail winds soon. Look

at the strain on the face there. He knows is the moment he'll have to

dig deep. He has to fight for these wheels. And keep rolling over.

That is Thomas in trouble as wesmt this is what I feared. That tactic

of riding the front in the first section has backfired. They almost

needed to mark the Belgians. The Belgians have done what they were,

what you expect them to do, which is attack at the key moment. It is not

verien If you blow up. If you get yourself,

because you can be one of the strongest riders and if you find

yourself in the gutter, you are in the wind. You go so deep into the

red, so over your threshold that you explode. To recover from that takes

a good two or three minutes depending on your fitness. In the

mean time you are caught by another group. You cannot launch on to them.

By the time you have recovered from that effort from, that explosion you

are back three groups. That is what is happening to riders all over the

place here. A well-oiled machine the Belgian

team looks at this moment in time. In the mean time this is the karnage

behind. The rider with his arm in the air, from Italy.

The Belgians are very much in control of this at the front.

Another motorbike coming up or it is Luke Rowe. The fact is on the radio,

it would imply he's had a mechanical. You get yourself caught

out and in the wind, you explode and there is nothing you can do about

it. These are enormous gaps in such a short space of time. Because it is

tail wind all the way to The Pearl, no-one is coming back on. If you are

dropped now, it is over. These two groups ahead and up ahead there are

more groups. This is pure... There's Tony Martin. That is the first of

the Germans on the road, from what we know. It is chaos for us to see

what is going on as wesmt this is group one. It is split in two. It

has more than likely been dropped from it. They are. They are being

distanced. They are being blown off the first group. If it is the first

group. No, it isn't. There is another group in front. Look at

this. This is probably the fourth group on the road. Ignore that

graphic. This is one, two, three, this is the third group on the road

right here. Xa an extraordinary turn of events. There's another German

rider. There is at least one Belgian rider there in this group. They

certainly do have a lot in the front. Got that timing right. Took

some nations by surprise. When we look at the front group, be able to

see how the Team GB are doing with Mark Cavendish, if he's still in

that front group. A hard task for him. So far to go left in the race

and having lost so many team-mates in this moment of panic.

He's the rider in that small group that everybody will want to drop.

He's got a hard task ahead of him. Look at the gap to get up to the

next group. Wow! Just to think a few moments ago we were watching a dull

race. It is the thing about racing in the desert and with these

cross-winds, there is such a very small period of time that you can't

afford to lose the wheel and it is all over. It is not like you can

take a chance that you just releaks and maybe it will come back together

in the desert here in the cross winds, you cannot lose the will. You

lose a few centimetres and it is all over. The Belgian team are ripping

this up at the front. Belgium in control here. Having a

look, Germany with a rider newspaper this riding group.

That is the major built up area. They will continue down towards Doha

and the party. -- and The Pearl. We saw the Mexican

rider drop out of the lead group a little bit earlier on. As soon as

they turned right into the wind at the top of the course and he's being

swept up by the lead chase group now.

I am sure that is Thwaites towards the back.

It is the slow veenian rider. -- Slovenia rider. This is the

second group... A little swerve. Oh!

Got a bash there, but managed to stay upright. It is Durbridge. He

stopped. He had a mechanical. I don't know if it was from further

forward and they rode into the back of him. That is the thing when you

are concentrating on the white line. He took pressure off the pedals and

he went straight into him. It was the second group on the road. It

looked as if he stopped at the side of the road. There was a collision.

He was the guy hit from behind. It wasn't so his fault.

Everybody has got their head down and it is so beyond their limit,

they have only got their little part they are concentrating on and they

cannot see... The British team has been destroyed by the Belgians. They

have destroyed them. It is not looking great for either of those

two. That was nasty.

This is the front of the race. Now we have the little confirmation.

There's another crash. Just behind there. Caught a glimpse of a crash

further back in this group. I don't think the director has seen it yet.

Michael Matthews, yes? He was the right choice for the Australians.

Kristoff... The Norwegians have four. All these teams have done a

good job. They have known the danger. They have seen where they

had to be present and they got up there.

Griepel is there as well Most of the people you expect to be there are

there. . No, wait, this is group two.

As you can see, this is what happens as well. Race over. He's got blood

coming out. He collided, but he was able to stay on his bike. He didn't

crash. Clearly there was a collision though. He seems to have caught

something, punctured himself. The Belgians will keep contributing,

even though there are six riders up there. What you see as well, they

tend to find their organic size. It is dictated by the width of the

road. Each group seems to be made up of about 20 riders. There are about

190 peloton is stripped into groups of 15/20 road riders. The strongest

at the front and the second strongest on the road... That was a

German in the front group who has been picked up, given a spare bike.

That might have been that crash we saw before. This is group two,

anyway. He didn't touch down. He might have

caught it and then he's hit his own stem. Looks like he twisted his body

so far around, he hit himself on his bike. It is on the inside... He

punctured through his skin. So Adam Blythe, Mark Cavendish, that

is all that's left up there now. The GB team only has two riders in this

group as far as we know. The Belgians have got...

So, yes, they have a pretty good team tlup still.

-- team up there still. This is Brian Ramirez from the

breakaway. He's obviously crashed. This is not good, and Columbia...

Shredded his shorts to pieces. Desert Storm. This is it. Oh, wow.

That was a strange crash. Ouch. An awkward fall. I don't think I've

ever seen... His front wheel got lifted off the ground. It almost

looked like he got blown off. He won't be sitting comfortably for a

week or two after that. Well, it's a constantly changing

scenario peer -- scenario here, as you can tell. The computer system

has given up it's giving us no at all! Which is a tad disappointing.

-- no information at all. It's just a blank screen, which is pretty much

what the riders at the front are looking at as they look at that

Desert Storm. This is the group we need to look at at the moment. As

you said, a few kilometres ago, we had no idea what this race was going

to turn out like, what it's going to be one of the most boring World

Championships ever, and now it's turned into... It was! And now we've

got a scenario we've never seen before. The field destroyed so far

from the finish. 158 kilometres to go and only 25, 30 riders in the

race. Only two British riders in that group. Six Belgians, four

Norwegians, three Australians, I think. That is Matt Heymann. Two

Australians, just Matt Heymann is Michael Matthews. So is Michael

Matthews is going to have one rider, Matt Damon is a good one to have.

Adam Blythe is a good driver -- rider for Mark Cavendish to have. He

understands the Belgian tactics. He would have known what was going on.

His first two years pro was spent racing with the Belgians on their

home to rain so he understands how they race. He has probably

anticipated what happened. -- on their home to rain. If anybody ought

to be able to ride in conditions like this, it is the Belgians. They

are giving a masterclass so far today. Had to be expected. We could

see the wind picking up and sandstorms, there was talk of that,

and the Belgians played it so cool at the start. We saw Tom relaxing

Amrabat. -- relaxing down the back. They have done a brilliant job to

get so many riders in the front group. A long way from the finish.

They'll have to take responsibility, getting riders in their luck Matt

Heymann. It's going to be a tactical game into the finish.

Their time at the front of the race will be up in the not too distant

future. Two and a half minutes and closing rapidly. They are in a rare

position now. When their group comes up to them, they'll be able to hang

on. The real damage has been done. There will have been 25 kilometres

of absolute max out destruction and now it settles into this very high

paced, high rhythm, if you like, and you don't have those explosive

moments again because it's not physically possible. The team that

there are quite happy. Andre Greipel coming through, he isn't where he

wanted to be. There are some remnants of the British team. There

is Scott Swift. Haven't seen anything of Marcel Kippel. That

doesn't really surprise me. We wouldn't really have anticipated...

So we are getting a make up of the first group.

Out on the course, I was having a chat with the Australian team

director, Brad McGee, who said that if any of them make it to the finish

of this race, they will be completely legless. It will be a

sprint they'll have to do pretty much on their knees. This is the

second group at the moment but, in the front group, Mark Cavendish is

well protected but still having to work so hard. It's evidence that, if

it continues like this for another 30, 40 kilometres, the sprinters are

really going to be exhausted by the time they get to the name -- by the

time they get to The Pearl. Magnus Corte Nielsen is in that

front group. He is a dark horse. Basically, people make up of that

front group is the specialists, you'd expect, for these conditions.

These are such specialised conditions. There are clear tactics

and the type of riders who revel in it. The Belgians being particularly

excellent at it, as they are proving. The most represented team

up there. Here is the front group. Look at

that. Only two team-mates, Peter Sagan, and he's got one of them up

there. Just getting confirmation of the make up of the group.

Norwegians, to riders as well. The Netherlands, two riders. So you've

got Sagan and Michael Cole from Slovakia, Adrian Petit from France

and from Belgium Tom Boonen, Jess Glynne colour, -- Jens Keukeleire

Lower, Italy well represented, Daniele Bennati. Elia Viviani. Tom

Leezer from the Netherlands. The two Norwegians. And then we have

Alexander Christoph. And Sam Bennett from Ireland and Magnus Corte from

Denmark. A lot of quality in that group. And what a turn of events in

a very short space of time. Marcel Kippel is two minutes behind

the leading group. He is two minutes behind the Belgians group, the group

of six. So Marcel Kittel is behind, I can't see him making him back into

the sharp end. And presumably Andre Greipel would be in that group. I

think he is further forward. We are looking at the leaders. Group one,

55. Group two is 48 seconds behind. Further back, group three will be

the Kittel group. And in fact that strip could go all the way along

back to group six, seven... 18. It's probably the case at the moment.

There probably 18 groups. The early breakaway group are now finally

caught, with 145 kilometres to go. Tom Boonen from Belgium leads the

Belgian train straight past them. The Olympian champion right on his

heels. The initial leading group, which was seven, now have company

and they will struggle to hang on to the coat-tails of this for more than

a couple of minutes. Ramirez Carranza: Columbia showing the scars

of his rather painful crash. -- Ramirez from Columbia. His front

wheel lifted up into the air. This is impressive stuff from the Belgian

team. Among the big names in this leading group in this race which has

gone absolutely mad in the last half an hour or so, the defending

champion, Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish with Adam Blythe, Tom

Boonen, Michael Matthews from Australia. The wind has changed and

they are in a tailwind because they are not spread across the road. That

will make it even more difficult. The group one is the group with

Andre Greipel and the leaders of the Belgians.

We saw images of Sam Bennett, who was in this front group, did a

fantastic group to get into the group. Looked like he was nursing an

injury. He may have touched down. We didn't get pictures of that. He's

not in that front group now, which is devastating for him. He did look

like he was going backwards there. We saw him briefly. It looked like

he had a hand injury. He may have had a crash or... It is great for

the breakaway riders. They got caught the moment it got into the

tail wind. They can sit on the back and get a free ride to The Pearl.

When I say a free ride... Not an armchair ride, is it, really? But we

know what you mean. And they are just, to prove the

point... Is that Kittel in the middle of the road. Griepel there,

second in line. An interesting one here is the fact

that it is the leaders who are riding. I cannot see them bringing

this group back. 53 seconds between the two groups.

When they say group one, they mean group two on the road in real terms.

Yes. Leaders get, leaders and then, yes...

Look at the way guys are dropping back.

It is not full on, it is, this chase? That goes to show how big

that gap is in real terms on the road. It has taken that long with

him essentially slowing down and for them to reel him in. When you've

got, and it seems only six riders in the front, seven riders, I see

Griepel slotted back in, he's only in eighth position. You can tell

with the weaving around on the road. This is not a concerted effort to

close this gap. It is not a very business-like... That is it. It is

over a kilometres, 52 seconds. It is a long way up the road. They will go

over 60 kilometres in these conditions. It is a dot on the

horizon. It is a long road. If you are riding at 60 kilometres per

hour, which these guys are, you cannot go much faster. Everyone is

at their terminal velocity. You need to go into a headwind, because then

the front group might start to play around and then you can drive into

it and make big differences of speed. A tail wind, a cross-tail is

the most dangerous F a gap opens, it is so difficult to close. We saw

Sagan taking on two bottles from the vehicle. He's got two bottles there.

Moving back through... So this has turned into a kind of, a genius

tactical move from the early break away. They are in a position now in

the race they would not have been before. They spent a lot of energy.

They will now be with the best riders in the world for the final of

the World Championships. So that second group, so in this

group, this is leaders, we have Mark Cavendish and Blythe for Great

Britain. There is Thwaites and Swift, two British riders. We don't

know where the rest of the British riders are. They are scattered in

groups behind. There we can see the two groups. The leaders on the left.

Group one on the right. If they do catch this group, they

will race: And they are shaking their heads, because no-one is

contributing. There is some confusion. It is not consistent.

There are not enough riders committed to bringing this back.

Even Griepel there swings over and takes a look. Not prepared to do all

the work. And the other riders not coming through to share. That will

be very frustrating for them. But working well at the front, in the

lead peloton. The Belgians doing the majority of the work. And Tom

Boonen, the protected rider of the day. He's pulled a lot of strong

turns out here in the front. This is not the front group we are looking

at now. This is group one by the graphic. Second group on the road.

So you can see, that is it, that I have cracked. That is not coming

back now. 55 seconds. So that group one now will wait for the group two,

the third group on the road, which is group two in the graphics, come

up to them. They have a long wait. They are one minute, 20, behind

them. This is going to be hugely disappointing. It is always very

disappointing when you get caught out in an echelon like that. After

the initial fur flurry, the break up, then you feel great again and

you are caught in a group which will not contribute and there is not much

you can do. It is as much mental attention as anything else. If you

are in the wrong gap or position, this is the third group we are

looking at now, called group number two, closing in on group number one,

which is second group on the road. They are working a little bit more,

better together. There are more riders there contributing. This

group is made mainly of domestics and team-mates trying to get to

their leaders. That is why the second group, you see them riding

themselves because they have to, nobody else is contributing. There

are riders in there which have riders in the leader's group who

don't want to help. It turns into a tactical and frustrating game.

The Spanish... Their leader today, there you go. They are trying to

keep this rolling through. What has happened to Adam Blythe? It is the

leader's group: Oh, I got confused there!

Mark Cavendish cannot afford to lose his one team-mate in that group. All

the groups, apart from, can they are finding their rhythm now. It is

stabilising everywhere. And think I that is because it is simply so

fast. Here we have the Griepel group. This is chasing the leader's

group. Have they found more momentum again? I think some riders have gone

back and shouted at others. Again Griepel comes through. Nobody is on

his wheels. His team-mate comes up. That is it. What you need is all,

well 20 of those riders rotating in one big rotation. At the moment it

is not happening. After every three riders come through, somebody else

doesn't go through. It breaks the rhythm. People are trust traited.

They don't work with each other and it slows the pace down. Riders peel

off into the middle of the road like Kittel. He's shaking has his head.

Even maybe he's saying, I don't think it will happen. You cannot

give up. That is the thing. So, it is one minute and two seconds

between the two first groups on the road. This is the first group.

Greg Van Avermaet. Belgians with six riders in this group. A significant

group with the tail wind back to The Pearl. These riders are working

welling to and they have all the incentive to keep the pressure on

the pedals. Like you said, they are the team leaders who have to do the

work for themselves and maybe there is a point soon when they say, OK,

let's sit up and wait for group number three to catch up and we will

see if we can take our chance. The only hope is if this team were to

sit up and play cat and mouse. Which I don't think will happen. The

Belgians, you see there are too many riders in this to keep the group up

the road. Why make it bigger? The Belgians obviously this is a great

opportunity for them. Six riders, I mean they can control this group.

They can launch offence. I imagine if this group is up behind... And

the world champion will come out of this group again, they can play

different tactical games. They can launch attacks on The Pearl. Even

Tom Boonen will not trust his ability to beat Cavendish in the

sprint. Boonen has come through for good turns too. When they get close

tore the finish he will question how fresh the legs are of Mark

Cavendish, who has been riding quite smart at the moment. He's well

protecte focussed. Not to miss that move. He was there and that was

probably the hardest task of the day. Now he's... ... Oil in his

chain. He's in the biggest gear and he's spinning like that. It must be

65 k an hour. Over 40 miles per hour. That is why everyone is giving

off that sort of impression of being slightly relaxed because everybody

is in their biggest gear. You cannot go much faster. They are at the

terminal velocity and the damage has been done. It will be difficult to

fix it. Well you hear us in the commentary

box talking about raises radio. What is it? We went with the voice of

radio in one of the earlier races this week to find out. So radio the

radio for all of the team cars but also the commentators. The idea is

to give out information on the race, throughout the race, to the finish

on what happens, who are the riders, concerned by the breakaway. The

gaps. If I see a rider suffering a puncture, I will call the car. The

idea is to give out short sentences on what goes on and call a car if

necessary. So this is the office of Radio Tour

H is how it works. I basically work with this headset. I work with a

pedal. So basically when I press on the pedal and I speak, everyone

hears me. I have to be careful with what I do with my foot, basically.

The challenge of every race is to stay focussed all the time. I cannot

stop being focussed because anything can happen at any moment.

A crash, a crash in the pack on the right-hand side. Be careful behind.

Several riders on the ground. Race radio helps commentators. If you

have a break away it established how many riders there are and who it is.

It clarifies that quickly I tells you thinks going on within the race.

You can hear everything that the team cars can hear.

USA, mechanical problem for one of your riders. These are the two

motorbikes, these are the two guys who give me information on what goes

on at the front. Most of the drivers and the guys on the motorbikes are

former riders. It is really important to know how a rider will

react and how to drive next to a pack. The guy driving this car rode

the Tour de France on several occasions and wore the yellow

jersey. I give out the information and it goes to this lady here, who

is the black board girl. All the information goes on the black board.

She shows this to the riders so they know the gap is one minute 30 or 30

seconds. I am always behind pack. That is where I see things in the

best possible way and because the pack becomes the leader's group. In

12 years of doing this I have never seen the finish of a race because we

are behind the pack. I tend not to see what goes on at the front. A

nice look behind the scenes there. Let's get back to the race now. At

last the leaders coming to The Pearl, heading on to the finishing

Sir it is. Seven laps of this circuit.

The way the circle is laid out they will catch glimpse. There are

roundabouts and all sorts. It will play mind tricks on both groups

because you will see, they will be able to see quite quickly because a

good bike racer can look at a group and get the feeling of how that

group is operating. If this group... What I would do now if I was the

Belgians is put all six on the front for this first lap, so each time the

chasing group came through they would see the Belgians leading and

think, we don't have a chance. That would start to blow the minds of the

chasing group and they would give up one by one. You want to create that

seed of doubt in that group. As soon as they have cracked, because that

is when you crack them, let that group go to two or three minutes and

then they can put more of an order. The last thing the Belgians would

want to do is allow Germany back in through the back door. Can't do

that. This is the perfect mission for the

moment from Belgium. Belgium they have got rid of Griepel and others.

So far they couldn't have wished for a better scenario. Germany have

three fantastic riders who would be desperate to get back into the

reckoning of this race and would be a major problem for all the riders

as a the front if they were to join that group. Look at this group. We

have four Belgians, two/three Norwegians up there.

Just so you can show that for the first lap or so and that will mess

with their heads and then we can sit back and play it tactically. Mark

Cavendish is very much in contention here in this men's road race, a

title which he won in Copenhagen in 2011. Very much so. This is almost a

perfect scenario for him. He would have preferred to have his team

there but, at the same time, he knows Belgium are going to control

it. Their leader will be Tom Boonen. They will play games. Norway are

well presented and the Italians, so he can play off their work. That's

what Peter Sagan is going to have to do. He's got one team-mate up there,

so he is in the same position as Cavendish. Peter Sagan started with

only two team-mates and Mark Cavendish started with eight but

they are both down to one now, so they will both have to play

tactically. Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish are both following

incredibly strong athletes, very tactically astute. They won't panic.

Mark will not be panicking and neither will be Peter Sagan. They

will have to figure out how they are going to play this.

The first chase group, that with Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel. The

Belgians are keeping the pace on. People hesitating because they don't

want to go through and contribute and it's causing splinters.

Tempers are starting to fray here. People are starting to get

frustrated and angry with each other. Daniele Bennati in fourth.

They all looked across, having a look at what the other group is

doing, and they will have done the same. That little glance is trying

to read what's going on. They will have seen the gap at the front, with

Andre Greipel chasing. With the Belgians. The Belgians will think

they've got it under control. He is coming around the Belgian rider to

shut down the American. You can imagine the psychological warfare.

When they see Belgian controlling the front, and then Belgium shutting

down the front of their group... It's a mess, isn't it, that second

group. Totally. That's thanks to the tactics of Belgium being up there

and controlling it. It's not because they're two team-mates missed that

move and will be feeling bad they are not up there with their

team-mates, they realise it is better that they are there and can

get in the way of the chase. Neither of them are going to ride through.

Second wheel... Andre Greipel looks under his arm and sees another

Belgian rider. Very angry. I don't see Marcel Kittel coming to the

front now. The Belgian swings back in again. You see? It's too easy for

the Belgians. They are getting angry. The Austrian rider is going

to have a go. It's going to be even more frustrating for the riders of

the German team when they see that and they just keep shaking their

heads. Nothing they can do can fall into place or pick up momentum. It's

a bad state of play, when Andre Greipel is the man doing the work in

that group, with over 100 kilometres still to go, and this is a guy who

could win the World Championships. At the start, he could. Yes, that

whole group is now being controlled by the Belgians, two riders

controlling 25. They are just wearing them down psychologically,

and that's why it's important for the Belgians to have their riders in

the brunt of this circuit, for the first lap at least, so the other

guys, their heads will drop. -- in the front of this circuit. They are

controlling it on all fronts. Psychological warfare out there. We

are going into the final 100 kilometres in this race. It is in

pieces. That's what we wanted, a bit of wind today out in the desert to

shake things up a bit, and the Belgian team certainly did shake it

up. It was a phenomenal macro the group behind is in a mess still.

They are all over the place, attacking each other. He's banging

his head against a brick wall. He loves it. He won't get much love

from the others when they rejoin him. He will be Mr popular.

On the back of that group from Ireland, Sam Bennett. He'll be

gutted. He'd made it into that from split, that leaders group, and he

couldn't hang on for whatever reason. -- he made it that front

split. A Swiss rider. Michael Schar, I think. It's going

up a bit, that gap. That is the riders in the second group on the

road in group one. Coming to the realisation they are just not

getting it together, so they are splitting, the riders who have

something left in their legs, taking their chance at jumping across. It

is a very big task with the calibre of riders out there in front.

Seemingly impossible. These are the final death throes of this group.

When the little attacks start going, that's just before it completely

dies, because it shows the momentum has gone, people are not working

well together, people are taking these desperate moves. I mean, look

is all closing down. This is the group, Michael Schar attacking,

grouping up like that. It's done. Australia still represented further

up the road in the front group. We are just looking at Mitch Docker.

If this second group on the road, which they call group one on the

screen, if they give up and they sit up, like David said, there will only

be a small number of people finishing this race at the World

Championships, and probably not what we predicted at the start of the day

on get flat course in Doha. Especially after watching yesterday.

Up to the finish, where not many riders will drop throughout the

race. A slightly different course, given they didn't go out into the

desert, just on the circuit. Being dead flat, we assume is going to be

a bunch sprint, like everybody said, but this is a smaller group than

many predicted. What crazy about this, and this is bike racing

completely, there are 257 kilometres racing today and the race happened

in five kilometres, the initial part. If they didn't have

crosswinds, we would have been arriving here with 190 riders. It is

such a tactical game, bike racing. You look at the map and you see

where that's going to happen and that's the only point to focus on.

The two kilometres before that corner and then be ready for a one

kilometre effort after that. So you had three kilometres where you had

to be game on, and so many people missed it. It looks like these

riders are being pulled off the course. That is the Dan Stannard

group. That is the fourth group in a row.

The day has ended early for a sizeable proportion of the number of

riders in the field here. Some big names in there, some talented

riders. Hopefully a quick change so they can

get straight back into the race. Not so quick at the moment,

unfortunately. There you go. A good convoy. Because of the nature of

this circuit with all of the turns and roundabouts, it means the cars

are often slowed down. It's also possible you carry debris from the

desert on your tyres. Andre Greipel on the attack on the second group.

They got out to one minute 50 seconds before he decided to have a

go, and guess who is on his tail. The Belgians. Tony Martin, his work

done for the day. Two gold medals from his week's work. It looks like

he's getting supplies to ride back to the hotel. The Belgian riders are

quick to come to the front to join in and then break it up. In a way,

it's almost been better, when we saw the race falling to pieces during

the crosswinds, we saw one of the Belgian riders cause a split and

pull off Harper Lee. He must have seemed that he had so many

team-mates ahead in the group that he pulled the left. It's ingenious.

He goes, I could force a split and not move it. That's quite advanced

racing to do that in those conditions. If they had the full

team up there, they'd have no team-mates behind the block was the

so they've got a bunch of strong riders in the front group. Was there

a crash? Scott Thwaites. That is in the second group. It looks like he's

OK. That's exactly the corner we saw

before where Daniele Bennati came ripping round and Jens Keukeleire

came round behind and said, don't go that fast. The Belgian riders just

policing it so well. It's almost like they are in a track race,

looking their shoulders. That in itself, like I said, if those

Belgian riders haven't been there and they've had their full team up

the front, this group would have had more momentum, but they have served

an equally important role for the team of the riders up the front with

Tom Boonen, causing these guys to ride defensively behind. Scott

Thwaites safely back. It goes John Degenkolb again. And the Belgians,

and Mitch Docker behind them. Two minutes, the gap, starting to make

that move. Well, at least they are not giving up. That shows the

calibre of the riders. It's a hell of a time trial to close a

two-minute gap if nobody is going to help pupils the it will be a

struggle. You can't fully commit ever because you have got a Belgian

rider on your wheel. They will not help because they will be annoyed by

riders from other groups. What the point of doing a two-minute time

trial to close a gap if it is going to drop you immediately? The

selection was made a long way out in this race. 184 kilometres from the

finish. Almost exactly 100 kilometres ago. So that is how long

the race has been on for. All these splits happened in the space of two,

three kilometres. Adam Blythe making it back on. There you go, that is

John Degenkolb being angry with the Belgian riders for doing their job.

Yeah, the Belgian riders in the chase group have done a fabulous job

of frustrating the momentum. Chasing down John Degenkolb again. He's not

going to throw his bottle at them, is he? He squirted it. That's

fantastic. Oh, come on, John! . -- what does he expect the Belgian

rider to do? The job of the Belgian riders, only doing what they are

supposed to do. They are in control. I like John Degenkolb, he's a great

guy, but you can see how you lose your mind. Such unexpected behaviour

from John Degenkolb. You wouldn't expect it from anybody. I thought it

was just fun and jokes between two mates but then you could see he

raised his hands in frustration. It's still going on. Turning round,

shaking his at him. John Degenkolb has lost the plot. Now the Belgians

are going to rub it in. He's going to stick to his wheel. It's perfect.

It's exactly what I'd do. Look, he's just not stopping. Let's see if we

can hear it. No, we can't hear it. Very strange behaviour from John

Degenkolb. That is just the role of the Belgian team. That's what they

have the right to do. You lose your mind after a while. But, second up,

he will probably get fined for that. -- the commerce there coming up. He

is doing his job and doing it exceptionally well, to the point

where he has closed that group down Jens Debusschere getting an earful

and I fall from John Degenkolb. With most of the Belgian team at the

front of the race, I've no idea what John Degenkolb expects Jens

Debusschere to do. We haven't had any information. One assumes they

did just all miss that breakaway at the vital moment and there wasn't a

mechanical issue at an important juncture. It's interesting that all

three of them would there, which implies they couldn't make it. There

was no clear attack from any team. It was the perfect crosswind. They

were there. They were in the first 40, the right place, but you needed

to be in the first 20 and that was the problem. Such a perfect

crosswind that, even when they did the final right-hander, they still

looked reasonably safe in the tail would section. Then they just

started to drop. -- the tailwind section. One minute you think you

are safe but then riders start popping out everywhere. That's

what's happened. Mark Cavendish was right at the front, Tom Boonen, all

these guys. The 20 riders who made it.

He did ride himself into the ground. When he needed people to join in and

help the chase there was virtually nobody there. There's Kittel. One of

those who would have travelled out to Qatar with hopes of claiming the

Rainbow jersey. There is a rider suffer from the effects of the heat

and the effort and the disappointment. He's upset. He's

genuinely gutted. 35.6kms to go. One of these riders in the picture now

will become the 2016 world road race champion. Blythe and Cavendish are

in this group. The notable absentees, all of the German riders.

No Kittel, no Griepel. Sagan is in this group, of Slovakia.

France have got a couple of riders in the group, they have Bonnet.

There's Bonnet there we are looking at.

I am sure Bonnet didn't expect himself to be this the World

Championship with the weight of the nation on his shoulders. Neither of

the designated ones have made they way into it.

A big shift from some of these Belgian riders.

Of all the stars in the lead group, in your opinion which would be the

most confident with the way the race has played out, and their position

at the moment? Mark Cavendish would have to be pretty confident with how

things have gone until this point. Obviously Sagan as well. It is

difficult to say. Boonen, obviously because he's controlling the race.

He decides if they ride, he could decide right now, stop riding guys

and the whole thing would stop moving. He's in control of

everything and his confidence and abilities. I think for Cavendish he

will be happy to have Blythe there. He's been in the wheels, which has

been exceptionally hard. He's not had to exert himself yet apart from

the perfect moment, which he did. Couldn't have executed better. Hence

why he's here in this group. It is the same for Peter Sagan, Michael

Matthews, Kristoff. Think I they are all in a bit of a stalemate at the

moment. At the moment it is as if, as it stands, you get the impression

Belgium, Italy and Norway want to take it to the line for a sprint, in

which case you are like, OK, it will be a real proper sprint and we will

see who is the best and best today. And that will be quite the match

with Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan, Viviani, Cavendish. You cannot

predict that. I mean you could, you could say Mark

Cavendish. But at the same time it is a long race. Some others will

fancy their races. If Kristoff has got his team up there, if Boonen is

continuing to let Belgium ride like this, he's obviously confident.

Kristoff might not have the speed of Cavendish. He's a good spread

sprinter. This has been a long, hard day, it is often where Boonen excels

and we have seen Mark Cavendish do the same. The current form from Tom

Boonen would dictate he's the man of the moment. He's beaten Mark

Cavendish. He's beaten Kristoff. He's beaten others.

Michael Matthews will be less, he's younger. At the moment they are

playing the same tactic. The Belgian team must have high morale after

their success at the Olympic Games. They knew they had the ability to

win that gold medal, but to walk away with it, obviously a lot of

celebrations and great morale amongst the Belgian team. That was

not necessarily the train where you would have expected Belgium to win.

It was a physically demanding race. I wonder what Peter Sagan was

thinking that night, whether he, once he saw the result of that race,

whether he thought, maybe I could have done that after all, maybe that

course was doable? That is a decision you have to make.

There was a gamble on that one taken by Greg Van Avermaet.

Peter had ridden the test road. He essentially trained and worked for a

year for that one race, which is, it takes a lot of courage and

confidence to do that. Yes, it paid off. He's a pretty quick finisher,

isn't he, Avermaet. I saw him outsprinteding Sagan for the stage

win, just the two of them. He did it resentment in Quebec and Montreal.

Sagan won the first one and it was Greg Van Avermaet who beat Sagan in

the second one. It was only a month ago. We know Avermaet and Sagan, it

is not the first time they have got one-twos. Greg Van Avermaet is a

great all rounder. So, in that way you could describe

Peter Sagan and Greg Van Avermaet as best all-rounders.

What a job he has done for Belgium today. That was a very impressive

shift. Looks like he is relaxed. No facial

expressions. It is clear he's emptied the tank if he just shuts it

down like that. That makes it interesting because Oliver Nasen is

looking tired address well. -- Naesen is looking tired as well.

Meanwhile Avermaet it ises near the back. Sagan just behind him.

I can see everybody now getting a bit of the jitters, getting close to

the finish. Two laps to go. We would probably have expected a few attacks

to have gone before this point. The Belgian team keeping the pace high.

A lot of pace put into Tom Boonen for today.

We are inside the final two laps here on The Pearl. We have a sizable

leading group. Any of these could become the world champion. We still

have remnants from the early break away among these elite riders here.

Hanging in at the front end of the race. That has been as dumb -- has

been a bizarre day for them. Roth, from Canada. Two riders at the back,

they were in that early break away. Dougall is there also from South

Africa. The shadows are growing longer with

every passing minute now. The fierce heat of the day just

eases in Doha. It is now just hot rather thanes by

teringly so. -- rather than blisteringly so.

Belgian TV is hovering before he's had a chance to have a drink. The

second group on the road here, still chugging along.

And very shortly they'll have two laps to go over the line this time.

Griepel in the group, Thwaites of Great Britain and Ben Swift as well.

A big, big gap between this group and those at the front of the race.

So very much minor placings will be up for grabs for these riders.

Sitting on the back of that group is the younger brother of Peter Sagan.

Slovakia have a full compliment in the race. All three riders.

Inside the last couple of laps now, this road racing championship. Can

Mark Cavendish land the title for the second time in his career? Will

it be his day? Britain with two cards to play here in this leading

group. A long, long day in the saddle.

257.3kms the distance. It was out in the desert where the damage was

really done. Looks like Viviani going back to the

team car for instructions, or is he looking for fluids. He seemed

nervous to be. Repeatedly going back, hovering up and down the

group. It can work both ways. It can mean he's feeling good and is

nervous because of that, or he's just confused.

He's gone back to get some more... Get some more direction from the

team director in the car. Calm down! It is interesting because some

athletes don't want communication in the final 30-40 minutes of the race,

but he's just taken on some food as well. That is not a great sign, is

it? It is a motivational chat there. He's looking good, Viviani. He's

looking smooth and in control on the bike.

At the moment, all the leaders, they have got the same workload under the

belt. Since the initial split, where they were all contributing and Tom

Boonen, 160 K ago, they have all sat on the wheels as Belgium and Italy

have done the work. They have not had a chance, normally if it is a

heavy course, you see who is feeling good on the climb, you can tell by

their pedalling action, their body language. At the moment none of the

leaders will know how well each is going, unless somebody has cracked

and you can see that, which co you can.

But because dumb of the nature of the surface, it is difficult to see

if somebody is suffering or not. A good ride from the Moroccan as

well to hang in this group. Number 156 who has been in the lead

group all the way through the race. The closer they come to the finish

now, 23.5 kilometres to go. Mark Cavendish's confidence must be

building without those attacks that we are predicting to come at some

point, the further they get, close tore the finish, the more confident

Mark Cavendish will be. He's been well positioned and well focussed.

Having a look around now. Mark Cavendish is almost always in

the drops, that lower position. He keeps himself smaller. Over a

shortish race, that wouldn't make much difference but, when you have

been in the wheels for that long, that micro-difference it will make,

making you more aerodynamic, that adds up. Those of the details Mark

Cavendish thinks about. It isn't that comfortable but, holding that

for hours on end, it a lot of training and work and discipline. He

has a very small frontal area when he gets down into that sprinting

position, Cavendish. No sign of any liveliness from the

front of the leading group at the moment. Not yet. Some very

disciplined, controlled. It's still a high pace, the way wit around

these roundabouts and corners. That goes to show. -- the way it

whiplashs. One of the benefits of them having

had six riders in the group when it split, it means they can save their

good riders. They put their three leaders in that group, Jurgen

Roelandts, Tom Boonen and the other one. If the Belgians and have those

riders, they would have all had to be riding. The Belgians sacrificed

those three riders for the other three.

Daniele Bennati has been up near the front for a long time. It's been the

Belgians leading the way, though. There you go, Elia Viviani dropping

back, sitting on Peter Sagan's wheel. His team-mates are up there,

doing the work. He is down there, monitoring things, getting technical

-- tactical insight from the Italian team boss in the car. There is Mark

Cavendish. Looking very skinny actually. That could be the heat as

well. It's sort of dehydrates you as the race goes on. Mat Hayman,

checking that Michael Matthews, his team-mate, is still OK and up with

him. Mat Hayman physically be bigger of the two Australians. It will be a

huge benefit for Michael Matthews to have had somebody so big and strong

in front of him, being protected from the wind. A bit more than the

other riders, because of the size of Mat Hayman. He's had a great wheel

to sit on for the whole day. The third group in a row pulled out, so

only the first two groups out there now, a grand total of probably 50

odd riders. They will roll towards the pits.

And here we are, back at the front of the race. It's been a phenomenal

display of teamwork and strength in numbers from the Belgian team. We

predicted they would be quite strong, but did we predicted they'd

be this strong? They have really dominated today. I think we expected

the other teams to expect it as well. But crosswind racing is so

particular that you can be incredibly strong and just in the

wrong place, about five metres behind where the action is happening

and, all of a sudden, it explodes and you have no hope. That's what

happened to a lot of riders. They had the legs to be in here today but

they were just a bit too far back when it all happened. You can see

three teams at the front, Belgium, Italy and Norway. They are the three

teams that have the highest representation in the front group.

Belgium, six, Italy, four, Norway, four. Those teams are controlling

it. That's where, with three leaders, Michael Matthews Australia,

with Mat Hayman, Mark Cavendish, he only has Adam Blythe and then for

Peter Sagan, he's only got Michael Kolar. They are going to have to

watch those three teams. If it starts attacking, they've got to be

very careful with what they follow and don't. They can't follow

everything, they don't have the energy. They have to make sure they

don't let a move though that has a Belgian, an Italian and a Norwegian

rider. If that happens, they need to chase it. But if an Italian and a

Belgian get up the road and there is no Norwegian, they know that the

Norwegians will chase it down. So that's all they've got to worry

about. You've got to watch those moves happening at the moment those

three teams are represented, you go. If not, you chill out and expect

them to chase it down. Nice and simple! A nice phrase at this stage

of the race, just chill out! We get the sentiment. You have to be very

instinctive on it, where the whole time, watching what's going on and

not hesitating the moment something goes. -- I wear the whole time.

Normally you'd expect it to need it to his team-mate, Peter Sagan. Some

shaking of the legs in this front group. Cavendish, he won't be phased

by not having a really strong lead. He is very good at surfing the

wheels. When he started to win his first Tour de France victories, he

was a master at that, staying calm and surfing the wheels. 20

kilometres to go. Very exciting, coming into the finish.

Italy and Norway contributing mouth at the pointy end of the race. --

contributing now. Ryan Roth taking a go at the Canadian. -- taking an

edge on Canadian. A good day for him, hanging in at the front of the

race. It's very unusual that the leading group is caught. It was and

they are still there with the leading riders. It doesn't happen

normally. It's nigh on unprecedented, I think. Good on him.

That also goes to show the make-up of the race, the fact there was only

one very hard section that also in the middle and caused all this

damage. After that, it hasn't been so demanding, the fact that the

riders left in the initial break are still there. On a daily course,

they'd probably only have lasted two laps. Since they come onto The Pearl

and nothing has actually happened. A steady, consistent pace. For the

riders sitting on the wheel, it hasn't been too demanding. Even

though it looks technical with tight corners, it isn't like you really

have to get out of the seat and stamp on the pedals. It's been very

flowing for those riders not on the front, pulling the case. It's that

little spell where they have two keep the chase group at arms length

and make it obvious that, no matter what they try and do, they are not

going to gain ground on them and come back into attention. --

contention. Other than that, certainly no activity off the front

of this group. No sign of it splitting up attacks or counter

attacks. The sheer looming presence of those blue jerseys has helped

ensure that. We were saying the Belgian team would probably want to

do some attacking to drop the likes of Mark Cavendish but, it looks like

the closer they get to the finish, Tom Boonen is putting a lot of faith

in his legs for this sprint against the likes of Cavendish and Peter

Sagan, because the Belgian team are holding the pace high. There is no

bunch at all. It would leaders go to show how confident Tom Boonen must

be. He's got a great leader. He's got to riders left, Jurgen Roelandts

is one of them. He will be at his disposal. It is a courageous, very

courageous move. I suppose you have to be bold to win the World

Championships. Oliver Naesen's tag must be almost

empty, the amount of time he has been at the front of the race.

Jasper Stuyven as well. Is a great rider in his own right. He is tipped

as being the next Tom Boonen. He has won some good races. You can wind

sprints. He is broadly somebody we going to see off the front in years

to come. -- he can wind sprints. That is the reason he can do a big

stint like this. The winner in Brussels this year. A couple of six

places in the Tour de France, including in Paris. Anti-won a stage

last year. Yes, he did. -- and he won a stage. One of the early

breakaway riders cramping. Goes to riders in the middle of the picture

actually are both in their day job team-mates with Mark Cavendish.

I don't think they'll be able to help him much though. It's

interesting, looking back down the line, Elia Viviani is this from the

back of that line. Sitting on the wheel of another rider. Tom Boonen

isn't going to attack but if anybody does it will be Greg. A bit of an

indication that Elia Viviani doesn't back himself against the likes of

Tom Boonen and Cavendish or else he would be playing that game and

marking their wheels. He's looking for his best opportunity to win and

he sees that if there is a late attack from elsewhere he will be

there and he's obviously very fast at the finish. Elia Viviani having

that gold medal in the Omnium this year. All the pressure is off. His

road form hasn't been the same this year because he has been

concentrating on the track. He did win a stage in the Dubai Tour

earlier in the year. He had a great year last year, four stage wins in

the Tour of Britain. A stage won elsewhere and a gold medal in Rio

this summer in the Omnium. Mark Cavendish at halfway, back the

groove. -- back in the group. Adam Blythe. Clearing up what is going

on. Adam Blythe will be asking Mark what he wants him to do. Just

sitting on his wheel now. That is often what you do in this situation,

Adam Blythe sitting behind Mark Cavendish because then, if anything

happens, you can see it happening. At this point in the race, you are

so concentrated, tired, and they are still talking, figuring out what to

do. It looks like he has set to Adam Blythe, I want the wheel of Peter

Sagan. He is holding that very tight. Adam Blythe needs to be there

in case a get opened up. This is where it is going to happen in the

next few minutes and we will find out who will become the new world

champion for the next 12 months, as they cross the line, one lap to go

in the World Championship road race. Great Britain with two cards to

play. Mark Cavendish and Adam Blythe in this leading group. If a star

studded leading group of riders many of whom will feel they can become

the world champion. So many riders in this group could legitimately

win. All of these riders you would

definitely call is being potential winners. In all honesty, I wouldn't

dare call any of them at the moment. But I will call Mark Cavendish. He's

got the experience. Tom Boonen and mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan I guess

they be a bit less confidence against those two, but he has looked

very comfortable through this race. Mark Cavendish and Tom Boonen in

Qatar have that history. They have got through today's race, the

hardest part of the race, very well. Tom Boonen has the confidence of

having the team worked so hard for him. These printers will be trying

to take every positive that they can at the moment to try and get revved

up for the finish. -- the sprinters. With a rider of Tom Boonen's

stature, if he has the confidence to call a spread like this, you got

enough team-mates to play different tactics but he is choosing not to do

that. Very little chance in launching attacks now. Unless they

want to cause chaos in the last few kilometres, which is possible. You

might try and launch one from Van Avermaet. It's possible they might

try and wreak some havoc in the final and then let Tom Boonen

six-pack. He will anticipate that everybody else is unsure what's

going to happen. -- let Tom Boonen sit back.

Or you could do it all for one, clinical, traditional lead out. But

do you want to lead Mark out that way? Let's face it, he won four

stages of the Tour de France this year. The all-time greatest ever

sprinter, perhaps. You want to make it a bit more difficult for him.

So far it stays together. . 13.3kms to go. Tom Boonen is so confident in

his condition here at the World Championships that he wants a

head-to-head sprint. It looks more like it will be that way. The

question eis whether Belgium will throw out attacks. Tom Boonen is

showing confidence in himself for a sprint today. Adam Blythe has a

massive weight on shoulders. He will have to take Cavendish to the line.

Either shuts things down. When Cavendish asks you to do something,

normally if you can do it for him he will fulfil the contract. That is

how he operates. It is a lot of responsibility to have. We saw the

discussion between them, cross the line before. Some decisions being

made by Mark Cavendish. It looks as if he allowed him to have the wheel

of Sagan. Cavendish has been glued to the wheel of Sagan for the last

few kilometres. Here comes the second group.

Over the line. One lap for them. Disappointment for Andre Griepel.

This was no not the group he wanted to be in at all. One of the big

pre-race favourites. Here we are with the leaders.

Still all together. Only 12kms remaining now in this World

Championship race. Adam Blythe is glued to Mark

Cavendish's wheel. Mark Cavendish is stuck to Peter Sagan. What will

happen is Blythe will sweep around the back and make sure no-one gets

on Cavendish's wheel. That will be his first job. After that it will be

a case of protecting him if anything happens, moving past him and

positioning him if he loses a wheel. That is what Adam Blythe will have

to do. He'll have to do an exceptional performance at some

point, when the heat is on, to make sure Cavendish is delivered. He's

the delivery man for Mark Cavendish. The tension goes up as the

kilometres slowly click by and the finish comes on to the horizon. The

last lap here on The Pearl, in Doha. The Belgians are dominating this

leading group. A superb ride from them as a team. Not only did they

get most of their team in the lead group, they had two in the front

group disruptding the chase. Dis-- disrupting the chase. Disrupting,

frustrating, but what a display of strength in numbers from the Belgian

team today. They have not been under pressure since they made their move.

They have been so in control. We saw in the women's race that the

Netherlands took control, but didn't finish it off. They are speaking

again at the back. There is Blythe and Cavendish. The four behind are

left over from that initial break. It is a good place to be because you

can see everything that is going on and it forces everybody else to

question where you are and what you are doing. They are almost in the

driving seat. It is like the back seat of the bus - they can see what

is going on and nobody can see them. The reason he's doing that, he knows

Sagan and his team-mates will move up at some point. If that doesn't

happen, he has got Adam Blythe to come by and pull him up. At the

moment they are counting on the two Slovaks to pull them up and they

will use them as a sort of team. Boonen will get ready. He's sat in

there, with his team-mates having done so much throughout the day.

Will it work out for Belgium? Will they end up in the same boat as the

Dutch, 24 hours ago, when they too were dominant in numbers in the

women's road race and got into the perfect condition, a perfect leadout

in the sprint, but ultimately the leader couldn't get over the line in

first place. It is a difficult sprint to judge. You cannot see the

finish line until the last 250 metres. There is the potential to

accidentally go a little bit too early. That is the big fear of a lot

of riders here, so the timing has to be right. It is an ever such slight

little rise. How late do you have to leave it on this run-in? For

different riders it is a different timing, obviously. Mark Cavendish

can leave it quite late to pop out of the wheels and obviously these

riders have had a demanding race. There are a lot of tired legs.

Taking a look at the wind here, it has dropped off a little bit. It

looks like it could be a little bit of a head-wind address well. -- as

well. Definitely a slight head-wind. Who

has got the coolest head because crow come around in the last 50

metre, so you have to ride the right wheel and if you ride out early it

is unlikely you will make it to the line. After hard racing it would be

hard to have a sprint last 200 metres in these conditions. Whereas

normally you would expect a sprint, a big rider could launch at 200 and

hold it to the line, I think it will be more difficult in these

conditions. That is the type of sprint where Cavendish excels. He

can ride out in the final 75 metres and come by.

And finally, the job is done of Naesen, I think. He pulls off the

front. Just over eight kilometres remaining

in Doha. The second Belgian ride tore go out of the job. What a job

he's done as well. Not giving up yet. Maybe he's decided he's got a

second wind, just in case he's needed again. He will hang in there.

It is amazing how athletes can do that. They can squeeze every last

little bit out of themselves. When they get to the back there, they

find that extra motivation to get back in. We saw it yesterday with

Danni King. A big turn, she was able to get back in. Look at the effort

there in the front. His final pool I image fwin. Empty now. -- imagine.

Empty now and peel off. Stuyven forcing the pace and drawing

some of the sting from one or two other riders here who may fancy

their chances. You can see the speed at the back. There is Mark Cavendish

peeling out. Stuyven doing the big turn. It is levelling the playing

field a little bit. Now Boonen only has two team-mates left. The same as

Matthews and Sagan, Mark Cavendish - they only have one team-mate left.

He's used up the majority of his team controlling the race now. At

the moment it will look like a chaotic sprint. Norway and Italy

still have three team-mates left for their respective leaders. You would

count on them doing a slightly bigger leadout. There is a strong

chance they would have burnt them out before the final K. It will be

one leader with one man. So many riders who have genuine hopes of

winning. Realistic hopes of winning. Stuyven has pulled off as well.

Two team-mates left. So, this is going to make it even more chaotic.

The three nor Norwegians... Each rider at the

front for a while has to do one big turn. That is all they have left in

them. To the final leadout now. It will all stall a little bit because

there is a long way to go. Norway with six K to go. It is unusual

taking bottles on with six kilometres to go. Some relaxed

riders with six kilometres to go. Terpstra in there. Michael Matthews

has been determined. Confident to have Heyman there to

put him into a position. I think the only chance for Tom Leezer is quick,

with the Dutch rider. He has used a leadout man in his professional

team. Whether he would be convinced to do the sprint, I don't think so.

That It is a slim chance on an occasion

such as this. 1.3kms to go. You can see Blythe and

Cavendish positioned. They have to be alert. Terpstra makes his move.

He has a little go. Doesn't last for long.