The streets around Cambridge are filled with spectators, who are looking forward to another battle between the CT's best cobblers: 204km in total, today's race will also feature notable crosswinds around 40kmh and of course the famous dirt roads.
Van Keirsbulck as the big favorite, but the locals will cheer for Bush and his hopes, that the hills won't destroy his chances for a big victory.
It takes quite a while until a breakaway group is allowed to stay clear. The first few attempts are all brought back quickly:
Eventually, it took almost 40km for a first breakaway group being formed and allowed to stay clear:
Matzka Cimolai Kossouhorou Lecourt De Billot
No cobbled classic without crashes or punctures. The first crash sees 7 riders involved, it's 126km remaining and they will be back on the bike quickly:
Bille Corwin Haussler Per Schreurs Horton Wyss
They would it all make it back to the pack as well and with now 109km to go, the peloton starts to cut down the gap on the breakaway group, that is at 6 minutes now.
Paluta is leading the chase, that is not yet at full speed though. Obviously, there's still a way to go.
It started to rain and we got a real dirt race now! The spectators will love it.
28km to go and the gap is down to 1'24" in the meantime. It's the penultimate cobbles sector though and we haven't seen further attacks yet!
The breakaway group goes into pieces on this challenging cobbles sector:
Matzka and Lecourt De Billot as the new leading duo, dropping Cimolai and Kossouhorou with 26.9km to go. The peloton already in striking distance, as already mentioned.
14km remaining and while the early escapees have been caught - except of Matzka, who's leading solo with a 20 seconds advantage - we see a next crash in the pack (that has been reduced to 55 riders in the meantime):
Dahl-Olsen Pedersen Takenouchi Jallays Meersman
Tough luck for Dahl-Olsen as the best cobbler in this group. They won't make it back to the main group.
Ma has been the first rider to abandon. No news what exactly happened to him.
It's a strangly quiet race so far and we're already inside the final 10km of the race now! It stopped raining and we're on the final cobbles sector. Matzka has been reeled in by the peloton, that is still 51 riders strong.
No more attacks, but a further selection at least - 36 riders remain in the main group with less than 2km remaining.. nothing really happened except of the early breakaway attempts and a couple of crashes. The sprinters in the leading group won't care though.
Let's have a look, who's made the selection today:
And that's how they will enter the final 1.4km of the race: no proper sprint setups or stuff like that. The best positions will surely be a big factor now and we got a few names, that should be considered the top favorites for a bunch sprint.
No good position for Bush and also Harrison is further behind! It's looking better for Van Keirsbulck, Schoonbroodt and of course Havik, while Farrar has to be considered a real threat now as well!
Havik though is sprinting towards the leading position with now less than a kilometre to go!
Schoonbroodt still on his way to a podium result, but it's still an open battle: Van Keirsbulck is struggling to keep his speed though, as Drucker, Gaday, Lindeman, De Vreese, Thwaites and also Van Emden and Grand are coming closer!
200metres left and the fans go crazy, as they see Farrar going head-to-head with Havik! The veteran definitely has something left in the tank!
Quite a gap on Schoonbroodt, who still holds off the other podium contenders: Drucker now ahead of Van Keirsbulck, who's losing ground.
What a thrilling finish this will be: Farrar vs Havik! Just one metre or something..
.. Farrar lungs in for the victory! The 33 years old US boy sprints to an unexpected win. Bush? Somewhere further behind and Van Keirsbulck couldn't compete either. What a big win for an aging local hero. Well done.
Havik has to settle for an unlucky 2nd, but he should be happy with such a result in a hilly classic anyway. It's been a fantastic sprint after a rather disappointing and quiet race.
While Farrar can celebrate his victory, we see Schoonbroodt succesfully defending the position he had early into the sprint: a good 3rd place for him, as he probably wouldn't have expected to beat Havik or Farrar in a sprint.
In a tight decision for the further placings, Thwaites lunged in for 4th ahead of Drucker! A strong finish for Thwaites, who hadn't the best position prior to the sprint. He took advantage of his skillset then.
Lindeman and De Vreese go for a 6-7 and a nice result for their team.
Gaday 8th ahead of Van Emden and Van Keirsbulck completes the Top-10. He had a good position, but couldn't keep up his speed in the sprint. With Farrar taking the victory, it ain't that bad afterall.
