The weather has been predictably cloudy today, and the cobbles are still muddy from last night. But as we get ready to begin the race, the sun is just starting to peak out from behind the cloud cover. Hopefully that's a good sign for a bright and energetic race.
A note on the route before we begin - the race today takes place primarily on a series of intertwining circuits. This will make things complex for the riders to navigate and confusing for the viewers. At any point, there will likely be lapped riders in the fray, and potentially even riders going the opposite direction in the road's other lane. Make sure to pay attention to whose in contention at any given moment so you know what lap everyone is on.
Our first four attackers are off: Delgerbayar, Kalf, Menten, and Kaislavuo.
As more riders scramble up the road, the peloton continues to grind along and try to catch up. There's nobody especially dangerous there, but they probably want to stop the break from getting too big.
As the pack catches up we therefore see more attacks going off. A couple of riders are dropped as attacks are countered and brought back.
But Tinkoff and Andorra are not satisfied to let this break go at all, and 26 km into the race we're back to square one.
Of course, the neutrality was not going to last long, and quickly we see another surge of attacks. In a couple of minutes there is an eight man group up the road:
Basso van der Poel Cavagna Hsu Dakteris Sanikwathi Peng Venturini
None of these guys are especially dangerous, but none of them are slouches either. All have some sort of classics aptitude which makes them perfect for the break on a day like today.
The pack isn't chasing as frantically this time, but they haven't let the foot off the gas and really let the gap grow either. It stays at a couple of minutes.
The clouds return and rain starts to fall coming off of the first cobbled section. Though the breakaway riders are fairly evenly matched, perhaps the weather has played a role in forcing a selection. We're already down to four:
Cavagna Venturini Dakteris Peng
While a selection up front is not too crazy, moves in the peloton certainly are, with 140 km still remaining. Yet that's Wisniowski at the front of the pack pushing the tempo already, and its sending the lesser riders quickly out the back.
The side effect is that they're quickly making time into the break, which continues to split up. Dakteris is the leader on the road now, but as you can see, his advantage is quickly being pulled back.
However, after picking up everyone but Dakteris and Venturini, the impetus is gone. Nobody wants to burn matches too early here, and so there's a calm.
The duo up front come together and begin to slowly eek out an advantage again, but both of them look dead tired, and it's hard to see them recovering much on this course.
Naturally, this leaves the door open for some counter attacks - this time, from stronger riders. Young Pedersen kicks it off followed by Nooytens, and more seem antsy to follow.
Indeed, outsiders begin to attack and it starts a domino effect of counters. Some are getting gaps, some cannot.
The previous duo, plus Declerq, reach the original two breakaway riders and quickly dispose of them as more riders surge ahead.
As the cobbles subside for the time being, it all comes together. Everyone important is either in this new group or back in the peloton.
Nooytens Pedersen Declerq Ringheim Weber Okbamariam Potts Burghardt Boros Insausti Per Dakteris hangs on the back for now.
Boros is the first rider of the second wave of escapees to drop, although one might wonder if he was called back to help Bewley.
Meanwhile, we see our first big splits in the peloton. A few people couldn't hold the wheel, a few people were out of position, the wind has picked up a bit, etc. The strongest guy missing out is Polanc. Other than that it's a lot of domestiques of similar level to the guys in the breakaway. With most guys having leaders up the road, there's little impetus to chase back on. That means the race will likely be decided between the 40 man peloton and the breakaway.
Burghardt is the next to go up front. The old man still tried his best today, but he is just a shell of his former self on the cobbles.
With 67 km to go with see the first major problem for a contender. Spanish champion Altur has had a puncture and is calling for his team car!
The entire Podium Ambition team remaining in the group comes back to help him. They're putting all their eggs in his basket.
A split has occurred up front, sending Potts, Insausti, Declerq, and Okbamariam out the back.
The peloton creeps along 3 minutes behind the front of the race, led by a visibly tired Polnicky. The slower pace allows Altur and his team to safely return, along with a few other outsiders.
With 54 km to go, Sam Bewley himself decides to take to the front. He's not really putting any pressure on, but it's obvious the favorites are already starting to play a little cat and mouse here.
It seems like the king can send people out the back just by pedaling though. The Podium Ambition domestiques all get caught out, clearly paying for their earlier efforts. Thomas hops over the top and tries to claw back on.
The five riders in front still have about 2'30'' on the peloton, but they aren't looking very spry. One might expect some tactical games from the two Grieg riders, but neither looks fresh at all.
As we reach another cobbled sector with 45 km to go, Summerhill takes a pull on the front. 23 riders are left in the peloton.
5 km later, we're still all together, with a fairly high pace and riders spread across the road.
Sulimov, one of the strongest superdomestiques left, now puts on a fierce tempo with 35 km left. He obviously is trying to make the race as difficult as possible for Senechal.
But suddenly, as Summerhill starts to relay, an absorbed Okbamariam sits up, and a gap has formed letting three riders get away!
Bewley, Summerhill, and Sulimov suddenly have a small gap on the peloton. They are neither going all out or sitting up, which is causing a scramble behind. Lampaert leads the charge to bring the move back.
He manages to get there, but as he pulls off, there's a major split! Teunissen, Kamyshev, Trentin, Altur, Van Avermaet, Kristoff, Gerts, Daniel, Lampaert, David, and Thomas are those caught out, leaving just eight men in front.
Unsurprisingly, the front of the race has contemporaneously exploded. Nooytens pushes on alone now.
As we leave the cobbled sector, GVA manages to bring the second group back in, and we're back to a status quo 19 man group, with Sulimov on the front. Thomas appears to be the only casualty
A few moments later, all the remaining breakaway riders are caught. This is the front of the race at 25 km left.
But for how long? They hit a cobbled hill and Bewley kicks into high gear. This is not just a feigned maneuver like last time, this is real pressure!
And it's carnage behind! The former breakaway riders crack, and some big names are letting gaps go! Trentin is in the worst spot.
And just as the Kiwi legend sits up, Blythe launches an attack! This is key, because it's going to make those small gaps very important. Those with a slipstream follow in it, those who can't grab it are no in no man's land!
Eight men are in this new front group with 18 km to go.
Bewley Summerhill Senechal Blythe Kamyshev Wisniowski Teunissen Van Avermaet
The rest are in a second group about 45 seconds behind.
Make that seven. Kamyshev goes pop!
Daniel is next on the road, trying to bridge the gap. Then we have this seven man chase group:
Trentin Altur Vanmarcke Theuns Sulimov Gerts David Kristoff
Can they still bridge back up?
A monster attack by Bewley goes off, and he has instant road between him and the others. Senechal desperately tries to hang on, but he just can't match this burst of pure power! He quickly pulls out 30 seconds.
Daniel has caught and passed Kamyshev, but the chase group is hot on their tails, and the gaps in front of him are now 30 seconds to the next group and a further 30 to the leader.
As the front chase relays and pulls back Senechal, Van Avermaet loses contact. 14 km too far for the 34 year old.
The chase group is working well together, weaving through lapped riders. It's now just four men:
Summerhill Blythe Wisniowski Teunissen
Senechal is having a lot of trouble following now as he pays for his over exertions in Bewley's attack. Speaking of which, despite the strong relaying going on, Bewley has extended his lead to 45 seconds.
With 10 km to and a single cobbled sector left, the four men work well together, but can't make a dent in the gap.
A mud covered Bewley puts his head down and grinds. He's done this a million times before, and he knows how to get to the finish line first.
Meanwhile, Altur is having a resurgence behind. He has disposed of Kristoff, David, Kamyshev, Daniel, and by far most surprisingly, Matteo Trentin! What a horrendous day for the T-Mobile rider. He has constantly been out of position and is now cracking hard.
We're on the final cobbled sector, and despite their earnest efforts, the chase has not managed to bring Bewley back. In fact, he has vanished from their sights, and is now a full minute ahead. His win seems inevitable.
Altur and Vanmarcke continue moving forward. They have now caught and passed Van Avermaet, done away with Gerts and Theuns, and are approaching Senechal.
We're done with the cobbles, but not the attrition. Though he hoped to hang on and use his sprint, Blythe can no longer keep up under the 5 km to go banner. The other three continue, but Sam Bewley is well out of their reach.
And he knows it! Coming perilously close to hitting a misplaced barrier, Bewley takes the time to celebrate early as the 2019 winner of the East Midlands Cicle Classic!
Teunissen leads the chasers under the 1 km to go banner.
And the sprint is launched. Wisniowski takes the inside line, but Summerhill has more speed.
Summerhill wins the battle and gets 2nd by half a bike length. A good result for him, but also remember that he belongs to a wildcard team, so that's a lot of points that PT teams will not be getting today!
Wisniowski rounds out the podium in a very solid race. He had two guys up the road early, but they didn't turn into a tactical advantage. I wonder if they had been saved, if they could have been of use.
Teunissen comes in 4th. A very good result for him and Gazelle. He was caught behind the first split, and was very lucky it didn't prove to be the decisive one. His head was up the second time, and he was rewarded.
He is followed by Blythe in 5th. His attack solidified that front group as the winner, but he might be wishing he had saved a little for the sprint, where he might have gotten 2nd.
Senechal survives for 6th. Sulimov really blew the race up for him, and he looked strong, but trying to follow the Bewley attack really blew him up. Still, 6th is not a bad position.
Vanmarcke finishes 7th. A fairly anonymous race, but he did put it together for a solid finish.
After running into trouble early Altur clearly showed he had strong legs today. But he missed the split when it mattered, and he'll have to settle for 8th.
Van Avermaet is next, having re-found his legs enough to almost rejoin them. A courageous if not ultimately successful performance gets him 9th place.
Theuns rounds out the top 10 alone for Generali.
11th, 12th, and 13th go to Kamyshev, Gerts, and Daniel respectively.
A couple of minutes later, a sad Trentin crosses the line 16th. Today, most of the favorites really showed up, and the results made sense. He is the one outlier, and it's never good to be that guy, or that team. T-Mobile really needed him to step up, and he failed.
All told, 138 riders were able to finish this grueling race, meaning 44 did not. Their names are listed below.
