Sunny skies and no rain in the forecast. Ideal day for an already challenging 227km course. Let's head straight to the start line to get things underway.
Right from the flag drop, the first attack comes from Syritsa.
He is chased after by Sheffield and Colombo. And further back Van Moer and Van der Hoorn are also looking to come along for the ride.
However, the peloton doesn't seem happy with letting them all up the road.
Van Moer drops back to the peloton and triggers another series of attacks:
Sweeny Teggart Duric Askey Costiou
Only the Bolt - Eesti duo of Teggart and Costiou reach the other three leaders Sheffield, Colombo, and Van der Hoorn once they got some assistance from Joung, who helped them all bridge the 30-second gap.
Our first attacker of the day, Syritsa, has been dropped from the front group and back into the peloton. He simply didn't have the power he thought he did.
Colombo doesn't have the legs as well or already sees the writing on the wall and drops back into the rather aggressive peloton. Sheffield and Van der Hoorn have also been detached and are moving backwards. They rejoin the peloton shortly after.
Another group of four, though seemingly four individuals unwilling to work together, has gone after the three leaders with 190kms to go. The gap is hovering around 40 seconds.
Steimle Forbes Askey Fetter
The peloton is happy with those four getting away. The attackers catch the remaining two leaders and leave a struggling Costiou behind.
So, that will give us six riders in what we can officially call the breakaway of the day. They're all be dreaming about what happened a decade ago and becoming the next Egoitz Garcia. Let's do a deep dive on who is here.
BOTD Breakdown
Name
Team
Age
MM
HI
ST
RS
SP
AC
DH
Career Wins
Teggart
Bolt-Eesti
30
66
69
76
73
72
70
64
2
Joung
King Power
23
68
68
71
71
69
70
66
2
Steimle
cycleYorkshire
30
68
70
68
69
75
77
62
2
Forbes
Ekoi-Renault
24
67
70
72
70
69
70
67
4
Askey
Carlsberg-D.B.
25
67
71
73
68
69
74
67
1
Fetter
DK Zalgiris
26
64
68
72
69
67
70
72
0
Just under 100kms to go and not much to report on. The BOTD had its biggest lead at 5'35" but the peloton is now keeping a close eye on them with the gap already trimmed to 1'36". Lots of teams are helping with the chase but the jersey we have seen on the front the most has been Assa Abloy for Herklotz.
With 59kms to go on a steep incline and the breakaway in sight, we see the first attack from the peloton.
Budenieks Schiffer Mulubrhan Lopez
Not sure what race favourite Lopez is thinking here. Seems like an unneeded risk to go from this far out.
The four of them have gone clear from the peloton have joined the BOTD now 50 seconds up the road. All of the other favourites in the peloton are on their team radios trying to figure out what they should do about Lopez.
Do they try to join him? Work together to bring him back? This bold move has derailed a handful of race tactics from the other teams today.
Now how will they respond?
The next ramp up sees the four late attackers shed the original breakaway members. With 49kms to go, we have four up front.
Budenieks Schiffer Mulubrhan Lopez
The other three don't seem to mind that Lopez is with them, and haven't been too upset that the former world champion has yet to do a pull on the front. But I'm sure they will be asking more from him the longer this group stays away.
Rabobank is doing most of the tempo setting in the peloton with some help from Xero Racing.
Conca attacks with 46kms to go when the peloton reels back the original BOTD. Nobody follows at first as the peloton is starting to point fingers at each other on who should be doing the work here.
Lopez and his three companions now have a cushion of 1'26".
Conca has ignited a fuse. The front of the peloton is exploding with attacks with 45kms to go. Krasts was first and managed to get on Conca's wheel.
Chasing them is Areruya and last year's winner Higuita.
Behind them, Herklotz has kicked with Champoussin, Gerts, Novak, and Healy trying to keep pace. As is the rest of the peloton is being dragged along by Lyu.
Herklotz gets neutralized quickly and sits up.
So, it's Plan B for Assa Abloy, sending Kvist and B. Van Aert to the front to keep the chase going. Somewhat confused why that wasn't just Plan A, but I digress. Everyone is in panic mode right now.
With 40kms to go, here is how things stand. The peloton is 16 seconds behind Areruya and Higuita, but the gap has grown to 1'40" to the race leaders.
Areruya and Higuita are caught with 38kms left. Assa Abloy is now getting help chasing from Specialized and Duvel - Tsingtao.
Specialized worked until the next hill before launching Romo up the road. It seems like most teams want Assa Abloy to be the only team doing the tempo, and are getting frustrated when they start asking around for help.
The in-fighting has the four leaders two minutes ahead now with Conca and Krasts caught in no man's land.
Fellow Spanish countryman Mas and Moscon try to join Romo, but that allows the 132-cyclist peloton to suck all three of them back in.
Krasts is also pulled back soon after with Blums setting a hard pace.
More questionable tactics as Herklotz takes his own turn on the front now and quickly tracks down Conca.
Meanwhile, up the road...
Lopez has outlasted his attacking partners and is free to fly solo with a long and grueling 30.5kms still left to ride. But, if there was one man in the peloton that was capable of doing the impossible, many wouldn't doubt it would be MAL given his extensive accolades.
Out of the saddle once more, Lopez is the last one standing in front of the race with 21kms to go. The gap is just 51 seconds as the 57-cyclist peloton look to abruptly end this glory ride.
Herklotz and Higuita personally make the catch of Lopez at the top of the hill with 18kms to go. It was a dare adventure, but can Lopez at least recover enough to still get a good result?
Herklotz is done playing games and done chasing. He attacks with 16kms left.
That attack is marked extremely well, as Herklotz is joined by 13 other contenders looking to win today.
On this penultimate climb, Mas is giving it a go with 7.5kms to go.
Over the top of the climb, six riders have gone on the pursuit of Mas.
Soulious Benoot Moscon Herklotz Champoussin Lopez
We start the final climb to the line with 3.3kms to go. Mas looks back and sees Herklotz leading the charge to bring the six-rider chase group to his back wheel. Those six chasers have a 20-second advantage over the 18 others they have left behind.
Mas is brought back and Herklotz, now leading the race, can look around the bend and see the 1km to go banner.
But things have slowed down drastically after Mas was caught allowing 19 cyclists back into this race. It would be easier to name those who didn't make it back from the previous 29-man group: Roman, Rodriguez, Chiu, and Skaarseth.
Those just getting back on terms, however, will still to need to push their way to the front with time quickly running out.
It's still Herklotz leading with 600 meters left, unwilling to relinquish the lead. Benoot and Champoussin are battling shoulder-to-shoulder for his wheel and Moscon sits fourth. What a day for the two PCT wildcard teams!
A gap has opened behind them. Lopez can be seen scrambling behind trying to make this elite group, but he is exhausted and not going to make it. It's clear one of these four are going to win today!
And all of them are desperate to get their first win of the 2026 season.
Leaders Breakdown
Name
Team
Age
MM
HI
ST
RS
SP
AC
DH
Career Wins
Herklotz
Assa Abloy
32
83
81
79
80
68
76
76
83
Benoot
Duvel-Tsingtao
32
78
81
75
74
69
71
66
9
Champoussin
Rabobank
28
79
79
76
76
59
76
74
2
Moscon
Bianchi Enel
32
77
80
76
77
60
73
69
9
With 150 meters to go, Benoot gets the jump on Herklotz.
Will the Belgian upset one of the best cyclists in the world?
Two on the podium for the PCT wildcard teams. The Pro Tour squads aren't going to be pleased with that, but they didn't exactly control the race well today.
It's a very crowded sprint for fifth place. Crossing the line 26 seconds after the winner is Areruya, followed by Schultz, Romo, and Zambanini.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Higuita and Primozic, ahead of Novak, Ayuso, Trakhov, and Gaudu.
Further back are the two guys who at least made this race very fun to follow. But, they aren't going to get the points they deserve for their efforts. Mas takes 15th and Lopez fades hard in the final meters to finish 17th. Right between them is Firdaus finishing 16th.
The Top 20 concludes with Lopez's teammate Eenkhoorn, Soulious, and Gregaard. All depleted after a hard day on the bike.
Here is the man of the hour. Benoot wins his 10th career race, first with his new team Duvel - Tsingtao, and his first at the Pro Tour level. It's just too bad this result won't count in the PCT standings.
Classique du Grand-Duché
