Written by Hans of Svalbard Trek
  
  Copenhagen finally comes into sight on the Danish tour, Fast on Wheels, the teams know their work is almost done. This year, it was extremely tough racing and the competitors made the race extremely interesting. As the winners of the separate competitions gear up for their victory speeches, we look back at the race.
  
  Esbjerg Prolog (ITT)
  
  The Esbjerg prologue is extremely short and the time gaps between the favourites for the final red jersey will be very small. However, it is a very good opportunity for a time trial specialist or sprinter to take a stage win and the first red jersey. This season the 24 year old English time trial specialist Felix Redmon powered to victory and secured only his second stage victory and a first stage win for Fighting in their first ever tour, an impressive result. Pankrác Sobotka took an even more impressive second for West Columbia and Georg Strømmen occupied the final podium spot just a few seconds back for Kindergarten CT.
  
  The best of the favourites, Heinz Gleisenberg, finished in sixth. Morten Holen lost 15 seconds to Gleisenberg in 10th, Jørg Lundberg a further 8 seconds in 14th and Felix Fencl lost 26 seconds to Gleisenberg in 17th.
  
  Esbjerg – Holstebro
  
  The second stage is completely flat and despite the risk of cross winds, the stage should finish with a bunch finish and the fastest sprinter on the day taking the 10 second win bonus. Despite cross winds playing havoc with the back of the peloton, all of the favourites finished in a reduced lead group. Despite this, there were a few major names that were left behind on the long straight roads of the Danish roads. Dican Flórián was the fastest of the sprinters left, with a surprise second place for Gerard Cygan. Salesh Delai took third and the rest of the favourites were all close behind keeping the time gaps the same.
  
  Although the favourites were shadow boxing for the final red jersey, Florian had closed in on taking it off of Redmon.
  
  Holstebro – Århus
  
  The third stage Århus is more difficult than the previous stage but should end in a sprint finish up the main street of the second biggest port in Denmark. The hills on the road are not too difficult, not a stage for pure hill specialists, but some ability is required. And it showed, as for the second stage in a row, the big sprinters were dropped near the end. However,

Dican Florian proved he still has the ability to finish stages off even when the going gets tough, taking an incredible second stage win and beating Aarón Chedraui into second and Gerard Cygan into third, taking his second podium of the tour.Florian improved his position in the over everyone else in the race, finally taking the red jersey as Redmon could not deal with the pace.
  
  All of the favourites were in the front group and lost no time.
  
  Århus – Vejle
  
  
  This is the toughest of all of the stages in the Fast on Wheels tour, and despite the presence of a hill top finish, a pure climber will not win. The explosive power of a hill specialist will triumph, while the sprinters will trail in behind.
  
  As the final climb approached, it was clear that the red jersey would change hands once again, possibly to one of the favourites. Half way up, the leading group had been whittled down to just 8. Despite repeated attacks, none of the group could stay away. In the final kilometer, Gleisenberg jumped away, and this time no one would chase him down for fear of towing their rivals to the line. He would gain an impressive stage win and 29 seconds on second place, taking the red jersey. Theo Bruintjes took second on the stage and moved second overall, with Jørg Lundberg third. Morten Holen and Felix Fencl lost time surprisingly but both were inside a minute of the new leader.
  
  
  Odense - Odense (ITT)
  
  The time trial. The extremely small gaps between the lead riders in GC contention were sure to be the main focus of the day.
  
  The riders fighting for the stage win would be going off in the first half of the riders, and by the time the last ten were to set off the winner was clear. Paco Santiseban had the fastest time ahead of Felix Redmon and Georg Strømmen.
  
  In the final battle of the red jersey, Felix Fencl had judged his effort incredibly well to finish fourth, finishing ahead of Morten Holen by just 7 seconds to take a three second lead over him in the GC standings. Soon it appeared that those that had set off behind the Norwegian and Czech riders were struggling. The red jersey lost just over a minute and a half finishing 18th while Jorg Lundberg also overtook Gleisenburg on GC. The biggest loser was Theo Bruintjes, losing two minutes on the stage and dropping to fifth overall.
  
  So, the question was, would Holen try to come in the top

three of the next stage, grabbing a time bonus and win the tour.
  
  Odense – København
  
  The final stage, normally a procession, but not this time for a small time bonus could mean one final shake up of the podium. But neither Gleisenburg nor Holen attempted to take time off of their nearest rivals. As expected, the breakaway was reeled back in before the finish and it finished in a bunch sprint. Salesh Dalei prevented Dican Florian from taking his third stage win of the tour by taking the top step of the podium. Kjartan Kolstad took an impressive third.
  
  Despite a crash just outside of the final three kilometers that disrupted most of the riders, all the favourites and leaders of the tour finished together.
  
  The final standings then looked like this in an incredibly tight final classification result;
  
  1. Felix Fencl, WEST COLUMBIA 15h 47 min 13 sec
  
  2. Morten Holen, Lysskar Nabolag 3"
  
  3. Jørg Lundberg, Team Albatros 23"
  
  4. Heinz Gleisenberg, Allgäu 29"
  
  5. Hunter Samuels, squadra sora 1'18"
  
  6. Theo Bruintjes, TJ Banik OKD 1'34"
  
  7. Gerard Cygan, Red Brigade CT 1'55"
  
  8. Bart?omiej Krajewski, Fighting. 2'27"
  
  9. Paco Santiseban, Drake Racing 2'39"
  
  10. Felix Redmon, Fighting. 2'40
  
  The Blue Jersey
  
  The destination of this jersey was never in doubt. Dican Florian took two stage wins and a second place to easily win the competition.
  
  1. Dican Flórián, Biertje 180 p
  
  2. Salesh Delai, Riftes Hobbysyklister 145 p
  
  3. Gerard Cygan, Red Brigade CT 135 p
  
  The White Jersey
  
  As with the blue jersey, it took a smaller role in the race. With the battles intensifying for the red jersey, very few watched the masterclass set by Heinz Gleisenburg as the youngster made a name for himself and surely a spot on next seasons podium in this tour or a similar one.
  
  1. Heinz Gleisenberg, Allgäu. 15h 47 min 42 sec
  
  2. Hunter Samuels, squadra sora 49"
  
  3. Felix Redmon, Fighting. 2'11"