Perm Tour had surprises from the very start, and gave us many memorable images. Some hard ones, as Teodor Lidahl (Karelracing) in intense pain after hitting the icy ground in the starting race, some others idyllic as Rafael Boezeman (Wizzyweb) winning the Parade while the sunset was occurring, some funny ones as Emanuele Manale (Arrano) with tons of clothes heading to the podium of stage two or Marcos Xalmiento (Ocaña) putting vodka on his canteen for the time trial (where he got injured…) and, of course, the joyful tears of Manale hugging his girlfriend before getting to the podium.
  
  On the paper, as said in the Magazine’s preview, this was a Caluwé-Drejbo affair, but many other names appeared later on the road.
  
  Ochjor – Ochjor
  The tough terrain near the finishing line in Ochjor allowed Erwin Caluwé (SprintingKings) to make a tough and incontestable attack with 7 to go. Under the flamme rouge he had Will Ferrin (Luke2105) and Abbot Kerwin (IndieRock) close to him, but he was never caught. He enjoyed the win crossing the line with 3 seconds of advantage over a happy Ferrin (who later joked to the camera: “I gon for a great result because I wanted to gon back to the hotel as soon as possible, it’s freaking cold here!”. Remember that he is Jamaican…). With that, Caluwé hit his main rival, Drejbo, in his own terrain.
  
  GC contenders benefited from this stage were Raposo, who got 20 seconds from the bunch, Plowman with almost 30 and, of course, Caluwé with 45. Kerwin, with 40 seconds over the peloton, started to think about doing a good GC. Luke2105 expected to do well in his first Tour, but seeing a rider of his team on the podium seemed a bit complicated. However, there it was Will Ferrin to get the first YC maillot.
  
  Ochjor – Perm
  “Once you arrive to Perm, you never leave it”. Mountainous and king stage of this Tour had a surprising winner that proved me wrong (I rather thought Arrano would bet for Adrián Romero). Emanuele Manale topped a consistent performance in his career-best-day. In style, as only the big ones win. Followed by Raposo,

Ploeger, Caluwé and Plowman his victory gets even more significance. No big GC favourites failed, and the stage seekers had not much luck despite being close (Rasmussen finished 8th and Vaquero 16th, to name a few). Drejbo, 18th, did what was expected from him in this stage.
  
  Unbelievably, Will “the Russian Jamaican” Ferrin hold into the Youth Classification by 11 seconds margin over Billy Omblet. This last did great finishing 7th, but Ferrin was an astonishing 12th. Svejstrup, the other big contender, was one minute down.
  
  Caluwé remained as the Sprint Classification leader, while the GC showed the following: Caluwé keeping 13 seconds over Raposo, 22 over Plowman, 24 over Manale, 30 over Ploeger and 43 over Ferrin, that is, extremely close and undecided. Drejbo was almost two minutes down.
  
  Perm – Perm (ITT)
  Such a long time trial could be (and was) a “torture near to death” in Duvelke’s words. It was for many, in part, thanks to the fast tempo set by the inspired Speedyb squad. They got a one-two with Demy Schiphouwer and Edoardo Iuccaro, who did a conservative start of the Tour to shine here, so they got a great reward from being patient. Mapei Bianchi, the Italian virgin-in-Tours outfit, got a nice third place with Slovak Slavo Béres.
  
  As an experienced man, Drejbo defeated the coldness and finished fifth. Manale, seventh, seemed to be the more confident rider of the whole Tour, and Caluwé, 13th, was not able to hold the GC top spot. “Frozen” ones were Aleixo (11th), Plowman (21st), Bemmel (22nd), Levin (23rd), Schild (26th), Omblet (44th) or Raposo (45th). Noe Garate (Ocaña) lost his chances after a crash: problems with the mafia?
  
  Finishing 14th, the only decent performance from the young ones, Jimmi Svejstrup (EpoTopTeam) jumped into the Youth Classification lead with a clear gap over Ferrin and Omblet.
  
  As said above, Caluwé was not able to hold the GC top spot, that went to Manale by just 4 seconds. Third, one minute down, was Abbot Kerwin, and Drejbo jumped into the fourth place.
  
  Perm

Parade
  With only 69km to battle on flat terrain, Caluwé had to try to do what he was not supposed to be able but he already proved in the first stage: that he can do great in sprinter’s terrain. However, this time an attack would be more difficult so doing a great sprint was his bet.
  
  Caluwé indeed launched the sprint very strong, but Wizzyweb’s train didn’t gave others a chance: they got a 1-2 (as Speedyb did the day before) with Rafael Boezeman winning and Leon Bodker in second place. Kerwin finished third, leaving Caluwé, fourth, without options to get a bonus second, meaning that Emanuele Manale, the Italian from Arrano, is the new winner.
  
  Will Ferrin, already favourite of Perm’s inhabitants, finished fifth in this stage while Drejbo, eleventh, was clearly out of place: this was not his Tour, and spot holders didn’t stand a chance as Raposo finished 9th in the GC.
  
  The Youth Classification was mastered by Jimmi Svejstrum (EpoTopTeam), finishing 7th in the GC, who outpaced Ferrin (12th in the GC) and Omblet (14th in the GC).
  
  The Sprint Classification went to Caluwé, with 82 points, where Kerwin had 65 in the second place and Ferrin 62 to complete the podium.
  
  Winners of the Tour:
  1. Division 3
  2. Arrano
  3. Kerwin/Ferrin
  
  Losers of the Tour:
  1. Top Division
  2. Drejbo
  3. Raposo
  
  Final GC
  1. Emanuele Manale (Arrano)
  2. Erwin Caluwé (SprintingKings) 4’’
  3. Abbot Kerwin (IndieRock) 1’03’’
  4. Matthias Drejbo (Skils) 1’15’’
  5. Travis Plowman (Cider Riders) 1’16’’
  
  Written by Holger Czukay to OCM Magazine