Here we are, the Chrono d’Arenberg! As the 24 riders prepare to start, the biggest question is: How much of this is actually an ITT, and how much is just cobblestone specialists toughing it out like they do in a regular classic? Let’s go and find out:
Minions rider Flaksis is the first to get on the road. He’s a solid cobblestone rider, but with his attrocious TT stat, he could serve as a good benchmark how much that matters as we go through the day.
Harrison is the first solid time trialist, and he beats Nolf by less than a second at the first time check. He’s decent on cobblestones, but a sector of almost exclusively cobbles, this is a surprise.
Debesay was one of the pre-race favorites with his good combination of cobbles and TT. And he does take the lead, although again by just fractions of a second.
Spengler is the top cobblestone rider here, so it is a bit of a surprise that he doesn’t manage to set a best time. He’s awfully close though. After the first batch of 8 riders are through, here’s the result at the first time check:
It’s incredibly close, only Flaksis is far off. Again, he’s a terrible time trialist, so don’t expect it to get much better for him from here on out.
Ferreira, another strong classics rider, is 5 seconds down on the first time check. Another indication that this is more time trialing heavy than we might have expected.
But then Bolivar takes a surprising lead, who is not elite at any of the two stats in particular.
That lead doesn’t last too long, though. A few riders later, Bohli bests him. After the second group of riders is through Chrono 1, here’s the new standings:
We get a much clearer picture as the first riders pass the second checkpoint. And it underscores that this is actually a TT: Harrison leads Naud and Nolf by a good minute already!
Debesay, who’s already overtaking Taubel, is the only one to come close to him as we see the first 8 riders at the second checkpoint:
Nolf’s and Spengler’s times are especially telling. If you have no time trialing skills at all, your lost today.
As the last riders cross the line at Chrono 1, we have a surprising new lead: Lhotellerie seems to have a good day. In this field, his TT stat is just about average, which puts a good result at least in range.
His time is beaten once though before everyone is through, by Kluge.
The final standings at the first time check, and Dillier is already in striking distance to the top. Van Niekerk and Betilson, the other TT specialists, have both lost more than 10 seconds on Kluge. We’ll see how far they can go today.
Meanwhile, Bolivar has taken the provisional lead at the second time check. He’s put another two seconds on Harrison since the first time check, which is a bit of a surprise considering his inferior TT skills, but he is the better cobblestone rider.
Nolf is the first rider through the third time check. He’s left Flaksis far behind already and aims to salvage some semblance of a good position here.
Bolivar’s time at the second time check holds until Bohli crosses the line as the last rider of the second group there. The Swiss leads Bolivar and Bester by 15 and 18 seconds, respectively. The trend so far favors the „hybrid“ types, cobblers with a good TT stat. That said, Debesay is a bit of a disappointment so far, already 30 seconds off the lead.
Looking further ahead, Langeveld rides a pretty decent race! At the third time check, he’s a minute behind Harrison, losing another 20 seconds sind C2, but he’s also 40 seconds ahead of Naud and 50 ahead of Nolf.
Debesay trails Harrison by 14 seconds at the final time check, heading into the last 10kms. That’s about the same as on C2. With a strong final sector, he might be able to catch up to him still.
Spengler gives it everything he’s got, but this is just not his race. He’s behind Nolf, and with the first 8 riders through, just in 6th position. Here’s another look at the provisional standings:
Harrison and Debesay are in play for maybe a Top 5 result with a strong finish. Langeveld could fight for a Top 10, which I assume he would be pretty happy with.
Meanwhile at C2, Lhotellerie, second at the first time check, has lost a bit of time. He’s 25 seconds behind Bohli, but still in Top 10 contention, as he’s just ahead of the likes of Palyi and Debesay.
Kluge underscores his ambitions! He clears Bohli’s time by 22 seconds!
Betilson is a strong time trialist, but rather poor on the cobbles. Today, this combination is still enough for a provisional third at the second time check, 32 seconds off Kluge.
But as you may have expected, the final best time at the second time check comes from this man!
Dillier goes ahead of Kluge and Van Niekerk. Positions 1 and 2 seem fairly secure at this point, though we’re not even halfway through the race here, so let’s be a bit cautious with predictions. Third place is very hotly contested, though, as are the other positions up until 12th, where there’s a gap behind Debesay.
Spengler is the final rider of the first bunch to finish. Quick overview:
Debesay did not manage to improve much in the final sector. In a race that now seems tailor-made for him, he has a relatively rough day. Harrison rode consistently better, but gaps were very close in their range at the second time check. Time will tell how much this is worth.
A rider we haven’t talked about yet is Bester. He was in striking range of a Top 5 at the second time check, but his third sector wasn’t very good. He loses almost 20 seconds on Bohli, who again was the fastest rider of the second group here, as well as additional time on Bolivar and Harrison. He needs a strong finish to even stay in the Top 10 now.
Also invisible so far: Zepuntke, last year’s runner-up. But he suffers from the emphasis on time trialing and is only in the Top 15 range.
Bohli, meanwhile, is the third (!) rider to overtake poor Archimandritis. They bookend the first 16 riders through the third time check:
Not much has changed here, as Bohli has put a bit more time into his chasers. His fight is now against the riders still coming, most notably Van Niekerk and Betilson, for the podium.
Bolivar comes to the line and he stays ahead of his teammate Harrison to take the lead.
Palyi looked like he was fighting for a Top 10 result at the previous time checks, but he loses a ton of time on the final sector, almost 40 seconds on Bolivar. He really suffered on this final stretch - who else will?
Van Niekerk, third at the second time check, four seconds ahead of Bohli, now trails the Swiss by 27 seconds at C3! He’s even behind Bolivar. His podium ambitions seem to fade before his eyes! Behind him, Dillier loses a bit of time on Kluge, but it’s enough to keep the lead:
With everyone through, here’s a look at the third time check. Dillier still looks set for the win, but Kluge gained some time on him. Lhotellerie is still in the Top 10, as is Betilson, who is proof though that you still need some cobblestone skills to succeed here as he dropped from 5th to 10th.
Van Niekerk’s teammate and compatriot Bester had a weak last sector, similar to Palyi. He finishes almost 20 seconds behind the third Xero rider Debesay, who he still led by 10 seconds on the final time check. A lot can happen on these last kilometers!
At the finish line, we see that Bohli didn’t have the best final sector either, but it’s enough to stay ahead of Bolivar and take the provisional lead. Unless Van Niekerk performs a miracle, this should secure a podium for the Swiss, who’ll now hope that Kluge cracks in the final kilometers to maybe climb another step.
With 8 riders left, another look at the standings at the finish line. With who’s left, Debesay and Bester look set for the Top 10, while Palyi has to hope for a couple of other riders to crack as badly as he did. Langeveld is probably too far off, but is guaranteed in the Top 15.
The last riders are now coming in. Zepuntke did not improve and finishes in the back half of the results, as does Gaudin, who just barely holds off Lhotellerie. The Campari rider finishes provisional 6th with 5 riders left on the road. It’s going to be close for a Top 10, but it’s definetely possible.
We haven’t had much coverage of Arissol today, but he quietly hovered around 10th place at all time checks. He was just four seconds behind Lhotellerie at the previous one, but can’t improve. He falls behind the French and even Palyi, and out of the Top 10.
He is also almost caught by Kluge, who solidifies his spot on the podium as he gains another 2 seconds on Bohli. But is this enough to overtake Dillier?
Two more riders before we find out! Betilson was 10th at the last time check, but he drops behind Palyi and Arissol to finish 12th. A good time trialist, but as we’ve noted before, just too weak on the tough roads.
Van Niekerk is better in that regard, although not by much. He shuffles in between his teammates Debesay and Bester to finish sixth for now, but will of course drop another place, as one more rider is on the road:
And that is Silvan Dillier. He loses five seconds to Kluge compared to the final time check, but he brings home the win!
Few had thought it possible for the Swiss to pull this off, considering how dominant cobble riders were here last year. But circumstances have changed, maybe authorities improved road conditions a little or the time trialists simply learned after last year’s inaugural edition. Still, strong results by Bohli and Bolivar show that cobblestone skills are still necessary - except, as we’ve seen, if you’re a world class time trialist. Considering all this, Mekseb Debesay is possibly the biggest disappointment, as his skillset on paper should have allowed him to compete with Bohli and Kluge.
Chrono d‘Arenberg 
