Clear favorites are Summerhill and Vanspeybrouck, with some well known veterans like Boonen or even Pozzato trying to make their impressions in this division as well. Bring it on.
It didn't take too long for a group of 4 riders being allowed to go for the break of the day, establishing a 3-minutes-gap already into the second lap:
Kulppi Tulik Bercz Ayoune
Kulppi as the best cobbler, Tullik the best puncheur in this group..
Halfway through the race (the break leading by about 5 minutes at this point) we saw the next attacks out of the bunch, with a few good cobblers quickly joining the early break just a few minutes later:
Grashev Veelers Steurs Naesen Del Nero
So Risa (Steurs) and Gazelle (Veelers) going for a tactical move to benefit from their strong second tier leaders. This putting some pressure on the other chasing teams like Azteca and BPost!
About 50km before finish, the pacing peloton would begin to fall into pieces. Also the big guns themselves would now start to control the front of the peloton, causing some serious damage inside the field.
8 riders open up a gap on the remaining bunch/groups with now still 47km remaining:
The first favorite being dropped was Lagab, who's already more than a minute down on group Summerhill, who keeps the pace up!
And what an impressive ride by Summerhill in this last 10kms: with still 36km remaining, the US boy is the main reason for the group of favorites to catch the breakaway group! And that's not enough, apparently, as the top-favorite goes for another acceleration to drop this group now!
Most of the early escapees can't follow now, but the mid-stage attackers are still there. A few favorites in trouble to follow this pace though:
Boonen Maes Langeveld
as the most notable names struggling to hang on! Pozzato though managed to catch up to group Vanspeybrouck/Vanmarcke/Veelers.
Vanspeybrouck feels like Summerhill goes strong towards a huge gap and so the Belgian tries to follow with 30km to go. He's down by 35" at this point.
55" behind him, the chasing group keeps going into pieces: Veelers/Pozzato, Vanmarcke and mid-stage attackers Del Nero and Steurs build a thrid group now, dropping Breschel, Langeveld and Trentin!
It's an elimination race behind the two solo-leaders now: Gazelle's duo working very well together, but Vanmarcke fights his way back after looking in troubles for a few minutes. This third group is likely to fight for the podium, as we take a look at the gaps now:
It's pretty much the same picture for the final laps: with now 9km remaining, Summerhill keeps pacing and holding off Vanspeybrouck rather easily.
Group Vanmarcke/Veelers/Pozzato comfortably ahead of a next group with Breschel/Steurs and a strong fighting Del Nero! Boonen finds himself in a bigger group another minute in arrears, probably only going to fight for a Top-10 today.
What a one-man-show from Summerhill though: the top-favorite kept controlling the race about 50km before finish, kept reducing the bunch almost on his own, then soloing away from the remaining contenders without any sign of weakness today. Epic ride, truly deserved victory!
Vanspeybrouck crosses the line 2 minutes later, securing himself a nice 2nd place at least. He's a deserved runner-up and has to accept, that Summerhill was a class of his own today.
Almost 5 minutes behind Summerhill, Vanmarcke "outsprints" the totally exhausted Gazelle duo Pozzato/Veelers. Great tactics from the latter though to finish with two inside the Top-5 here.
Steurs and Breschel come in next, holding off group Boonen til the end. A strong effort from Del Nero as 8th today.
Also Tulik as the only early escapee to hang on with all those stronger cobblers with an outstanding Top-10 placing in this tough race!
Boonen completes the Top-10 ahead of Maes, Langeveld and Vandenbergh. The veteran might have hoped for more, but didn't look in best shape when being dropped by still a 10-men-group earlier on. Also Lagab (32nd) clearly with a horrible day.
