Welcome to the Ronde Van Girmay! Wait, I mean the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The same teams as in the 2023 Avenir will today conquer the cobbles of Flanders' Finest. The route is not much shorter than what the PT peloton has to race, as is seen below in the race profile.
A reminder that you can either read the report below, or also watch the race recorded by Ezeefreak on youtube in the link below. You can obviously do both as well.
Whether it's the real thing or just the U23 version, the break is hotly contested. In the end 12 riders form the break of the day: Toumire (Ekoi), Sillankorva (Genii), Sander Hansen (Team Denmark), Page (Team Switzerland), Calzoni (Lierse), Loland (Gjensidige), Huby (Bordeaux), Juneau (Glanbia), Berhe (Bralirwa), Moutsios (Lierse), top stage racer Rodriguez (Spark) and the Slovenian Murn (Kraftwerk). Best cobblers of this group should be Sillankorva, Huby and Moutsios. Their top lead is around seven minutes. By the time they reach the first cobbles with 170 km to go, this lead has been reduced to four minutes already. Sauber, the Conglomerate and Zwift among the chasing teams.
With around 140 km to go they reach the third cobbled sector of the day, and the uphill Oude Kwaremont is far from an easy one. The leaders are now in several different small groups, with Sillankorva and Huby the better ones so far. In the peloton, Girmay is already showing some superiority to the others, with Bonello the only one in his wheel at the top. Top talent Evenepoel also racing in the picture with a good ascent.
With 90 km to the finish line our eleven leaders (Rodriguez gone) reach the top of the infamous Muur van Geraardsbergen. A reduced peloton of 80 riders coming 3'30" behind them, with the Sanmarinese Rossi setting the pace in the peloton of +- 80 riders on the hard climb. Just before this climb we have seen Blume Levy missing in the peloton, which is surprising! He might have been a victim of some of the punctures mentioned on Radio Tour!
A second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont with 55 km to go, and it's Lierse's/ELCO's Moutsios who shows himself as the best of the breakaway! He gets a gap over his companions, as a peloton of less than fourty riders as it's actually Girmay who reaches the top second, fourty seconds ahead already of Mick Van Dijke and the other favourites! Will Girmay be able to do what Pidcock just came short of last time?!
Girmay quickly joins Moutsios, and the Greek is unable to follow his pace on the Paterberg! Van Dijke leads the other favourites here as well, but their deficit is well over a minute now. 50 km left! Behind Van Dijke the first riders are Bdadou, Bonello and Duric.
The Eritrean reaches the top of the Koppenberg with a lead of over two minutes now! Have the riders behind decided they're racing for the number two spot? Evenepoel still has some hope, he attacks in the following group! 43 km to go! The following group of eight riders exists out of De La Cruz Chapulin (Los ZARA), Habimana (Bralirwa), M. Van Dijke (Conglomerate), Duric (Genii), Bonello (Udo), Laurance (Ekoi), Serrano (Bordeaux) and Bdadou (Udo). Just behind this group is Rossi (Sauber), with Balmer and Vermaerke the next up the road.
It's not over yet! Evenepoel comes back to 1'35" now, as Girmay reaches the top of the Taaienberg with still 38 km to go! The group behind Remco, including Rossi as well, at an additional minute.
But the Eritrean seems to be standing strong again! With 25 km lef the gap has gone up to two minutes again! Evenepoel losing some time against the following group now, where Bdadou and Duric are joining forces with an attack!
The two chasers reach Evenepoel quickly, but so do the other seven chasers. As Girmay climbs the Oude Kwaremont and Koppenberg for the last time, his lead with 5 km to go is still around two minutes. Behind him a group of four has formed, including two more Africans and two other riders from micro nations. Bonello and Bdadou for Udo Colombini, Habimana for Cegeka and Rossi for Sauber. At an additional 45" we find Van Dijke, with Evenepoel and Duric twenty seconds behind the Dutchman.
And that is how you say goodbye in style. A 55 km solo to win the U23 Ronde van Vlaanderen ends Girmay's career at Zwift!
In a sprint of dying swans it is Rossi who grabs second ahead of Bdadou (3rd) and Habimana (4th). Bonello in fifth still makes this a great race for the Sanmarinese teams!
Very close call for sixth but it's Evenepoel who takes it, after a very brave effort by the Belgian earlier in the race. Duric is seventh ahead of M. Van Dijke in eighth. Serrano and De La Cruz Chapulin complete the top-10 at four minutes of winner Biniam Girmay. Mexican time trialist Aguilar Mendez closes the line at 1h30 of the winner.
