Welcome to Sri Lanka for the second edition of the Colombo Classic. The route is quite simple, with bumpy terrain during 150 kms, before the only climb of the day, then a kinda false flat after the summit before descending to the finish line in Colombo. The favourites are the numerous puncheurs present here, and with a high quality field, maybe we have a rather big group sprinting for the win
From the very first km, three riders would launch an attack to go in the breakaway
Restrepo Thwaites Eliad
Absolutely nothing happened from that point to the bottom of the only climb of the day, which has 10 kms at 4%, though it peaks at 16%. The breakaway reached a max of 6 minutes of advantage during the race, but with 21 kms to go, and already starting the climb, they only held a 30-second gap, with the bunch being led by Meiji, Puma and Air France
Weird moments in the bunch as everyone stopped for 1 km, until Kratochvila got to the front of the group.
Meanwhile, Restrepo dropped Thwaites and Eliad in the front, hoping to stay ahead for longer
Kratochvila rhythm was insane, and just a couple of kms into the climb, only 13 riders were able to follow the Czech
Behind the group, Bellis was trying to bridge the gap, while some puncheurs might be blocked by worse riders and can’t join that group
That’s an attack of Hagen! Ponzi, Bakelants and Gastauer quickly follow the Norwegian, who won the inagural edition in 2017
Kelderman has struggled to follow that attack, but it doesn’t matter, as Gastauer provoked a split on the group, leaving Hagen, Ponzi and Bakelants a few seconds ahead. Spilak has two team-mates in this group, so he must put them to work in order to avoid those riders to go away
Hagen is still working alone in the front, as neither Ponzi or Bakelants, who looks to be struggling, are helping him. Same thing happening with Gastauer in the chasing group, despite Isostar having 3 riders there
The breakaway riders and Barbero were dropped of the chasing group, a group where Kelderman wasn’t able to reach.
The leading trio seems to be out of reach for the 10 riders that are chasing them, as Kelderman and Barbero were able to comeback to that group. Bellis is a few metres behind, fighting to get in this group, while even more behind, Anuar Aziz and Koretzky have broke free from the bunch
In the final part of the climb, finally Ponzi and Bakelants are collaborating with Hagen. Anyway all of them know that they have to drop Ponzi here, or he’ll win it in the sprint. The gap to the chasing group is already 40 seconds
Bakelants has opened a little gap in that 16% slope! Hagen reacted late to his acceleration, and Ponzi is leaving the Norwegian to close the gap
Same thing happening in the chasing group, as Ginanni attacks and has no response from the rest of the group!
They reach the top of the climb with 10 kms to go, and the trio is back together. Ginanni is just 25 seconds behind, and the rest of the chasing group, led by De Bie is 15 seconds further behind
Can Mohoric use his supreme descending skills to bring back all the attackers in the 8 kms left in the race? That’s the hope of Spilak
Bakelants still leads the first group with 5 kms to go, while Hagen and Ponzi sit confortably on his wheel. Ginanni’s been caught by Mohoric, but it looks like the Slovenian will run out of road to catch the leading trio
Mohoric is doing it! 3 kms to go, and as the leading trio start to slow down with the sprint being so close, the two groups are going to be together for the sprint
And here we are, just 2 kms to go, and 12 riders will sprint for the win here in Colombo!
Hagen leads the group into the final km, with Bakelants, Ponzi, Mohoric, Spilak, De Bie, Ginanni, Kinoshita, Kelderman, Gastauer, Claeys and Barbero being the order of the group ahead of the sprint
400 metres to go and Bakelants is trying to leave Hagen’s slipstream! That the final km is on a 4% downhill clearly benefits those in the front before the sprint, and Ponzi might not have the chance to overtake these riders
With 200 metres left, it’s between Hagen and Bakelants. The Belgian is coming faster, but the Norwegian still has a bit of advantage. Ponzi looks a safe third, while Spilak and Mohoric are struggling to keep riders like De Bie, Ginanni or Kinoshita behind
Edvald Boasson Hagen holds the late kick of Jan Bakelants to win the Colombo Classic for the second year in-a-row!
Ponzi has to settle for the third pace, after clearly being fooled by the final km being in descent, not giving him the chance to use his better sprint
Spilak gets a great fourth place, ahead of De Bie. Kinoshita is sixth, ahead of Ginanni and the amazing Barbero! Kelderman and Gastauer complete the Top10, with Claeys and Mohoric just outside of it
Almost two minutes behind, Bellis outsprints Koretky, Anuar Aziz and Kratochvila to get 13th place
Borges, Caruso, Bilbao and Chernetskii round up the Top20, with Brataschuk, Senechal and Zingle behind them
Two years this race has been held, two years Edvald Boasson Hagen has won it
