The first cobbled classic of the season, held in and around the beautiful city of Bahir Dar, and the peloton faces a tough route with 35kms of pavement and 36 sun-drenched degrees.
But as the finish-climb is only 1km short, the likes of Geraint Thomas (Boeing), Pieter Jacobs (Bouygues) or Tom Veelers (UPC) are worth to be mentioned as well, while other team-leaders like Damien Gaudin (VW-Mapei) or Sven Nooytens (PFG) possess outside chances, too.
It wasn't long before the first riders broke free from the pack: Tesfay Abraha and Arnoldas Valiausa attacked right from the start, being joined by Irakli Bablidze and Joon Yong Seo. As usual for a cobbled classic, it's the less stronger cobblers to launch the first attacks.
As the peloton enters the first paved section with still 115km to go, we have the first moment of shock for one of today's favorites! Damien Gaudin has a puncture. That's exactly what a manager doesn't want to see..
Meanwhile the breakaway leads by 3'00" with about 102km remaining. The first cobbles already proved to be a real break-killer, as the gap used to be 5'00" before the escapees entered the circuit of Bahir Dar.
Just a couple of minutes later, Gaudin is brought back to the front of the bunch, with his teammates working in an exemplary manner. The earlier a puncture like this, the better. He never lost contact to the peloton.
But some other riders have less luck than Gaudin had: HTC's domestique Sander Armee goes down with 85km to go, and so does Remco Broers just a few minutes later.
That doesn't mean, team HTC-Nieuwsblad won't set the pace. Armee is (and will stay) dropped and with now 56km remaining, the favorite's teams (HTC, BPost) start taking control of the race. The early escapees still maintain a 2'30"-lead though. And there's good news for BPost: Broers managed to fight back from his crash and is back in the pack (which is down to 90 riders now).
Østergaard and Tom Veelers bridge the gap quickly and several riders took this attacks seriously and followed Baugnies' move. It's still 50km to go. This is going to be interesting.
And chaotic, of course. Pieter Vanspeybrouck counter-attacks and passes group Baugnies/Veelers/Steegmans, while some more riders like Boeing-Vivacom's Geraint Thomas and Martin Grashev joined the action and try to hang on.
It's stroke upon stroke now! It's again Baugnies with a powerful kick, soloing away from the group of mid-race attackers. Vanspeybrouck couldn't maintain his small lead and now finds himself a few seconds behind, while Steegmans once again tries to catch Baugnies! Anyway, all of the attackers are within sight..
..and so the early escapees remain the only victims of those attacks yet: with now 38km to go, everyone (both BOTD and Baugnies/Steegmans) is brought back to the peloton, where Team BPost pulled the strings hard. With now 58 riders in the pack (with only the weaker cobblers being dropped.. plus HTC's Armee) it's getting a bit quieter now.
But it's just a snapshot, the attacking continues a few seconds later! This time, Vanspeybrouck is the first to launch the attack, with Baugnies and Steegmans following quickly.
Early-punctured Gaudin seems strong and joined Steegmans a couple of seconds later, while a group of 5 riders is 30" in arrears: Nikolas Maes, Bernhard Eisel, Niels Albert, Pieter Jacobs and Marcel Sieberg build a strong chasing-group.
Meanwhile, Vanspeybrouck and Baugnies managed to create a small advantage over Steegmans/Gaudin and with 32km remaining, we have the following constellation:
E1
<- 20" ->
E2
<- 35" ->
E3
Vanspeybrouck
Gaudin
Eisel
Baugnies
Steegmans
Maes
Sieberg
Albert
Jacobs
Those groups seem to be today's strongest riders, as solo-pursuer Johan Vansummeren is already 1'35" in arrears and the pack (with riders like Thomas, Grashev, Breschel, Veelers, Nooytens) is already down by 2'35"!
26km to go and Baugnies/Vanspeybrouck couldn't hold on to their small lead, as both chasing groups (Steegmans/Gaudin and group Eisel) bridged the gap. It's an uncommon moment of silence.. the now 9 leading riders are lying in wait for a decisive move..
..and here we go again: Jacobs and Eisel go on the attack, attempting to move ahead of the group! It's now 23km remaining as nothing appears to be settled.
Eisel and Jacobs got brought back immediately and as soon as the group of favorites was back together, it's Baugnies with yet another kick! Maes (who worked hard in the pursuit) and a strong Vanspeybrouck join his move.
Guess what? Baugnies' attack ended empty-handed, just as Eisel's before.. and so it's a second attack by Jacobs, with now 18km to go! This time, most of the leading group jump behind quickly and another attack is short-lived!
Next in line? Bernhard Eisel! We've reached the 15km-mark, the race continues to be thrilling and the favorites to be aggressive. It seems that no one of the leading 9 wants to wait for the finish-climb.
Eisel couldn't hold on to his lead, as Maes, Gaudin and Jacobs easily bridged the gap. But we have the first two riders to suffer from those attacks: Steegmans, who was very active himself, and Albert couldn't hang on and got dropped late in the race!
Vanspeybrouck and Baugnies struggled for a few moments, but just like Sieberg, they manage to catch up to group Eisel/Gaudin. With now only 5km remaining, we have 7 riders fighting for the win. Will we see yet another late attack?
The cobbled sections are left behind as the leading group enters the final kilometres with the finish-climb within sight! For those, who lost track of that chaotic race, here's what we have:
Baugnies Vanspeybrouck Maes Eisel Jacobs Gaudin and Sieberg
Vanspeybrouck takes the leading position with now less than 2kms to go. We've seen so many attacks, but in the end, it's still a 7-men-sprint of today's strongest!
Vanspeybrouck is the first to sprint, while Baugnies is passed by a small VW-train (Gaudin/Sieberg)! The riders are now entering the short but steep climb up to the finish line.
Nothing's changed as the group turns the next to last corner. Today's most aggressive rider Baugnies seems to suffer though, as he sees not only Maes, but Eisel passing. Jacobs looks way off to fight for the win.
Final corner, the strong Vanspeybrouck maintains his advantage, while Sieberg tries to make his finish-move. Gaudin spent a lot to bring Sieberg into this position and backdrops, with Maes taking the provisional 3rd by now!
With the finish-line approaching, Vanspeybrouck keeps his leading position easily. Sieberg even loses some ground as today's winner looks more and more certain. Maes, Eisel and Baugnies overtake Gaudin, with the podium in reach.
But first, credit where credit is due: Pieter Vanspeybrouck held on to his lead and claims the victory in style! He was one of the most aggressive riders today (beside Baugnies) and is a well deserved winner of Bahir Dar 2013!
Marcel Sieberg took advantage of a nice lead-out by Gaudin and sprinted for a surprising 2nd place, just ahead of Nikolas Maes, while the next three will foto-finish over the line..
..and the 4th place is given to Bernhard Eisel, who has an imperceptible advantage over Baugnies, who may have deserved more today. Still, a 5th place is not too bad for HTC-Nieuwsblad, as this was their sponsor-goal here. Gaudin finishes 6th ahead of Jacobs, who couldn't compete on that steep climb.
Bpost's Albert (8th) and Vansummeren (10th) complete a great result for their team, while Steegmans may have expected more than his 9th place: he obviously felt good today, launching several attacks halfway through the race.
Amex's Matti Breschel appeared almost invisible today. A rather disappointing 11th place for him, especially as he easily dropped the whole peloton on final climb. He could have been a great support for Eisel (or even leader?).
