Rain greeted the riders as they began the first of 12, 14km laps around the Glasgow city centre and unlike in the women’s race, it didn’t take long for the first attack of the day. Peter Kennaugh (Isle of Man) broke away from the peloton just 3km into the race and despite a short chase by Tobyn Horton (Guernsey), Kennaugh was able to get clear on his own, beginning a long solo escape.
After the first of 12 laps Kennaugh had 30 seconds over the peloton and his gap was growing. Three riders got clear in the second lap — Svein Tuft (Canada), Nathan Haas (Australia) and Peter Hawkins (Northern Ireland) — but their escape didn’t last long, the peloton catching them a short time later.
Shortly after the catch Tuft’s compatriot Remi Pelletier attacked solo and by the end of the second lap he was 38 seconds behind Kennaugh and 11 seconds ahead of the peloton. At that stage, just 41 of 140 starters remained in the main field. Pelletier’s chase didn’t last much longer, getting caught by the peloton which was led by Australia’s Rohan Dennis.
With 130km to go Kennaugh had a lead of one minute, and with three laps complete the gap was up to 1:20, Rohan Dennis still controlling the peloton for Australia.
On lap four, Rohan Dennis, just days after joining BMC in a rare mid-season move, crashed on a right-hand bend and abandoned the race, his right elbow bleeding heavily.
With 120km remaining Kennaugh was 1:33 ahead of the peloton, now being led by Australia’s reigning time trial champion, Michael Hepburn. And by the end of the fourth lap, the gap was up to 1:49 as Geraint Thomas was busy chasing back on after a mechanical.
As the heavy rain continued to fall on Glasgow, Hepburn remained on the front with teammates Caleb Ewan and Nathan Haas immediately behind him. With five laps done the gap was 1:51 and halfway through the race, after six laps, the gap was up to 1:55. At that point, with 84km left to race, just 27 riders remained in the peloton, the dreadful conditions forcing the majority of riders to abandon.
Early in the eighth lap Nathan Haas attacked solo, but he was soon caught as Michael Hepburn drifted back after nearly 60km spent setting the pace for the peloton. Shane Archbold (New Zealand) came to the front and put in a huge turn of pace, reducing the gap to the lone leader in Kennaugh.
With eight laps completed and 56km left to race the gap was down to 1:15 and just 15 riders remained in the peloton. A mechanical issue forced Simon Clarke (Australia) to change bikes, before the Victorian moved back towards the peloton.
After his big effort on the front of the peloton Archbold cracked while his compatriot Jack Bauer attacked on one of the many short climbs littered around the 14km circuit. In the following kilometres he would be joined by a handful of riders as Peter Kennaugh, finally, began to fade.
Roughly 52km from the finish Mark Renshaw had a front-tyre puncture, continuing a luckless day for the Australian team. Meanwhile Simon Clarke was catching back on to the peloton and launching an attack of his own.
With 48.9km to go Peter Kennaugh was caught by Geraint Thomas, Jack Bauer and Scott Thwaites, the Manxman’s 116km solo breakaway coming to an end. Kennaugh managed to hang on with the trio for a few kilometres but a short climb soon after saw the Sky rider popped off the back, his day at the front of the bike race over.
With Australia’s plans for the race in tatters, young sprinter Caleb Ewan attacked solo from the remains of the peloton, trying to get to the head of the race. With nine laps completed Ewan was 27 seconds behind the three leaders, but he was making little progress.
With roughly 35km left to race Ewan seemed aware that his chase was destined to fail, the young Australian sitting up slightly and waiting for the chasers behind. The three leaders, meanwhile, enjoyed a gap of close to a minute on the next riders on the road.
Thwaites, Thomas and Bauer had 1:47 over Caleb Ewan with 10 laps completed (and 28km to go), with a “peloton” of six riders another 18 seconds behind: Peter Kennaugh, Mark Renshaw, Russell Downing (England), Greg Henderson (New Zealand), Luke Rowe (Wales), and Simon Clarke (Australia).
Caleb Ewan was caught roughly 25km from the finish, and after 4km spent riding with the other chasers, Ewan was out the back, his race over for the day. Simon Clarke, too, was falling off the pace, leaving just Kennaugh, Renshaw, Downing, Henderson and Rowe in the chase group.
With 11 laps completed and 14km to go, the rain appeared to have stopped for the first time all race, and some sunshine was starting to peek through the clouds. The gap from the three leaders to the five-rider “peloton” was up above 3:10 and it was clear that, barring a crash or serious mechanical, these three riders would share the medals.
Geraint Thomas attacked on a short climb 11.6km from the finish and Thwaites and Bauer were unable to respond. The Welshman quickly built up a 20-second advantage which grew to more than 40 seconds with 6km to go.
But just when it looked like Thomas was about to ride away to a comfortable win, a front-wheel puncture stopped the Sky rider in his tracks. A slow wheel change from neutral service saw the Sky rider’s lead cut back down to 20 seconds before he was able to get going again and get back up to speed.
But once he was back up to speed there was no stopping the Welshman. He put his head down and powered away to a gold medal just days after his bronze in the Commonwealth Games individual time trial. In the race for the minor medals it was Jack Bauer who narrowly outsprinted Scott Thwaites for silver, going someway to alleviating the pain of his near-miss on stage 15 of the Tour de France.
In the end just 12 of the 140 starters finished the race, the wet and miserable conditions having well and truly taken their toll.
Commonwealth Games - Road Race
: Glasgow > Glasgow
Sunday 3rd August (2014)
Classification: Int
Category: Int. Men
Distance: 168.2km
| 1. |  |
THOMAS Geraint
Team Sky
|
04:13:05 |
| 2. |  |
BAUER Jack
Garmin Sharp
|
1:21 |
| 3. | |
THWAITES Scott
Team NetApp Endura
|
- |
| 4. | |
DOWNING Russell
NFTO
|
4:29 |
| 5. |  |
RENSHAW Mark
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step
|
- |
| 6. | |
ROWE Luke
Team Sky
|
4:32 |
| 7. | |
HENDERSON Gregory
Lotto Belisol
|
5:15 |
| 8. | |
KENNAUGH Peter
Team Sky
|
- |
| 9. |  |
CRAVEN Dan
Team Europcar
|
9:03 |
| 10. | |
DAVIES Scott
Madison Genesis
|
10:10 |
| 11. | |
MILLAR David
Garmin Sharp
|
10:21 |
| 12. | |
EWAN Caleb
|
11:22 |
| DNF. |  |
MONESE Phetetso
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
SINGH Amarjeet
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
SESAY Moses
|
- |
| DNF. | |
BISHNOI Suresh
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HAAS Nathan
Garmin Sharp
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HEPBURN Michael
Orica GreenEDGE
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
ROUTLEY Will
Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies
|
- |
| DNF. | |
KELLY Jake
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
MCCONVEY Connor
Synergy Baku Cycling Project
|
- |
| DNF. | |
TUFT Svein
Orica GreenEDGE
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
LOH Sea Keong
Team Giant-Shimano
|
- |
| DNF. | |
MCCALLUM James
NFTO
|
- |
| DNF. | |
NORTHEY Michael James
Madison Genesis
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DOWSETT Alex
Movistar Team
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
SIMON Andre
|
- |
| DNF. | |
BELL Zach
Team SmartStop
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
SMITH Michele
|
- |
| DNF. | KANGANGI Suleiman
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
VEAL Ed
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
HADI Janvier
Garneau - Québecor
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
LAIZER Richard
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
MAYHO Dominique
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DUNCAN Frazer
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
ATHANASIADES Marios
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
LINCOLN Yannick
|
- |
| DNF. | |
LOIZOU Christos
Kastro Team
|
- |
| DNF. | |
MCLAUGHLIN James
|
- |
| DNF. | |
OLDHAM Paul
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SOMBIR Sombir
|
- |
| DNF. | |
STANNARD Ian
Team Sky
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HAMILTON Nic
Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DENNIS Rohan
Garmin Sharp
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
JEFFREY Raynauth
|
- |
| DNF. | |
OSBORN Matthew
|
- |
| DNF. | |
WILLIAMS Geron Oliver
Champion System - Stan\'s No Tubes
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
EASTMOND Jamol
|
- |
| DNF. | |
WILLIAMS Marlon
|
- |
| DNF. | GREAVES Alanzo
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
MANS Gerhard
|
- |
| DNF. | |
REDECKER Heiko
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
ANIM Samuel
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
JAYASINGHE Jeevan
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HATEGEKA Gasore
|
- |
| DNF. | AGORIR Paul
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
JYME Bridges
|
- |
| DNF. | MUYA John
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
HARRISON Samuel
NFTO
|
- |
| DNF. | |
AHMAD LUTFI Mohd Fauzan
|
- |
| DNF. | |
FENN Andrew
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step
|
- |
| DNF. | NJAU David
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
ROE James
|
- |
| DNF. | |
LEBON Jordan
|
- |
| DNF. | |
KHANTSI Teboho
|
- |
| DNF. | |
OLIPHANT Evan
Team Raleigh
|
- |
| DNF. | |
PULLAR Jack
|
- |
| DNF. | |
ROCHE Andrew
|
- |
| DNF. | |
BAXTER Elliot
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SEIBEB Raul Costa
|
- |
| DNF. | |
PELLETIER-ROY Rémi
Garneau - Québecor
|
- |
| DNF. | |
MOLLELY Emmanuel Philimon
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SERAFIN Michael
|
- |
| DNF. | |
CHRISTIAN Mark
Team Raleigh
|
- |
| DNF. | |
BAILEY Aaron
|
- |
| DNF. | |
NIYONSHUTI Adrien
MTN - Qhubeka
|
- |
| DNF. | STIRRUP Deangelo
|
- | |
| DNF. | ANDREWS Orano
|
- | |
| DNF. | ADAMS Cameron
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
WARNAKULASOORIYA Buddhika
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
POTHIN Edward
|
- |
| DNF. | |
GERMAIN Chris
|
- |
| DNF. | |
ARRISOL Antoine
|
- |
| DNF. | |
PETRUS Loto
|
- |
| DNF. | |
TYACK Sébastien
|
- |
| DNF. | |
PANWAR Arvind
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DOWNEY Sean Patrick
An Post - Chain Reaction
|
- |
| DNF. | |
CLARKE Simon
Orica GreenEDGE
|
- |
| DNF. | PRADEL Kris
|
- | |
| DNF. | COLEBROOK Roy
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
MONDJEM Ara
|
- |
| DNF. | |
RUDD Morgan
|
- |
| DNF. | |
MOULD Jon
NFTO
|
- |
| DNF. | KATHUMBA Missi
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
TANGUY Richard
|
- |
| DNF. | |
KUMAR Amit
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SAVANUR Shreedhar
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
ABD AZIZ Muhammad I Maadi
|
- |
| DNF. |  |
VASQUEZ Ron
|
- |
| DNF. | |
LOVELL Gregory
|
- |
| DNF. | |
LOVELL Giovanni
|
- |
| DNF. | |
TSOYO Leonard
|
- |
| DNF. | |
CHIN Mike Cong
|
- |
| DNF. | |
UWIZEYIMANA Bonaventure
|
- |
| DNF. | |
NSENGIMANA Jean Bosco
|
- |
| DNF. | |
NDAYISENGA Valens
|
- |
| DNF. | SEMAKULA Sebastian
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
SAVORY Scott
|
- |
| DNF. | ONEIL Samuels
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
PHILIP Benjamin
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SPENCE Christian
|
- |
| DNF. | |
KELLY Jesse
|
- |
| DNF. | |
KELLY Joe
|
- |
| DNF. | |
OSBORNE Sherwin
|
- |
| DNF. | MATOVU Leone
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
UMAR Abdulrazak
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DOULL Owain
An Post - Chain Reaction
|
- |
| DNF. | BARNES Robert
|
- | |
| DNF. | RODMAN Marlor
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
AIKEN Roger
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DROBISCH Till
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SERGENT Jesse
Trek Factory Racing
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HAWKINS Peter
Madison Genesis
|
- |
| DNF. | |
LAVERY Philip
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HODGE Justin
|
- |
| DNF. | MUITE Antony
|
- | |
| DNF. | COLEBROOK Anthony
|
- | |
| DNF. | |
LAUD Danny
|
- |
| DNF. | ALBURY Chad
|
- | |
| DNF. |  |
MAJOR Jay
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SPENCER Marvin
|
- |
| DNF. | |
BORLAND Joel
|
- |
| DNF. | |
HORTON Tobyn
Madison Genesis
|
- |
| DNF. | |
DANKWA Anthony Boakye
|
- |
| DNF. | |
OSMAN Mohammed
|
- |
| DNF. | |
GRANT Ferguson
|
- |
| DNF. | |
MOSES Thomas
Rapha Condor JLT
|
- |
| DNF. | |
SCULLY Thomas
Madison Genesis
|
- |
| DNF. | |
ARCHBOLD Shane
An Post - Chain Reaction
|
- |
| DNS. | |
SYMONDS Christopher
|
- |