Ladies and gentlemen, here we are - one of the biggest days of the cycling year has arrived, as we're starting our live coverage of the 2020 Ronde van Vlaanderen!
Let's actually first look at today's menu - the profile and map of this monument!
Map shamelessly copied from Tamijo's 2019 report
Actually, the cobble sections have been partially re-evaluated this year, so let's take a look at what actually awaits the riders:
Number
Distance
Name
Length
Difficulty
25
2.94
Mariastraat
1,940
**
24
52.86
Nokereberg
144
****
23
56.62
Huisepontweg
1,441
**
22
59.75
Doorn
1,742
****
21
74.27
Molenberg
186
****
20
83.71
Lippenhovestraat
632
***
19
85.1
Paddestraat
2,641
***
18
91.98
Hostellerie
713
**
17
98.7
Haaghoek
1,930
****
16
115.56
Bontestraat
1,235
***
15
136.35
Bosberg
763
***
14
148
Muur Kappelmuur
1,851
****
13
177.98
Kaperij
581
***
12
195.68
Kerkgate
2,106
***
11
201.72
Kattenberg
1,538
***
10
203.62
Holleweg
1,777
***
9
208.04
Eikenberg
1,063
***
8
223.58
Koppenberg
669
****
7
226.66
Steenbeekdries
2,158
***
6
229.4
Taaienberg
1,106
***
5
233.16
Donerij
695
***
4
241.74
Oude Kruisberg
281
****
3
248.02
Paterberg
533
****
2
251.32
Oude Kwaremont
1,676
****
1
258.5
Varentstraat
1,940
***
The two shortest sections, Nokereberg and Molenberg, aren't visible on the profile - which doesn't make them any easier, though! Furthermore, you can see on the map two separate sections Geraardsbergen and Muur - Kappelmuur; those two have been merged in this race and will be one of the great highlights for any cycling fan!
Actually, Bruges and Oudenaarde are separated by just about 60 kilometers. But that wouldn't be a monument, and so the riders have to do 200 additional kilometers, zigzagging across Flanders to take as many hills and cobbled sections as possible - which finally makes this race the monument it is. Only the strongest will have a chance to win here today - and we'll find out who it is! According to the bookies, the teams with two strong cobblers should have a great chance to get a good result - they even put Kamyshev and Senechal on top of their list, along with reigning World Champion Wisniowski. Defending champion Bewley, PCT star Summerhill and Gerts get two stars, whereas Blythe, Pedersen, Teunissen and Vanspeybrouck complete their Top 10. Team Tinkoff, Grieg and Andorra with two riders each on this list - let's see if they can really play their numbers!
And now, it's time for the start. Probably one last time here in Flanders, it's Bewley against the rest of the world. The current score from the last five years is 4:1 for the Kiwi - let's jump in and see who gets it today!
It's a beautiful day here in Belgium - and so we'll likely not see those dirty faces and bodies we usually have when the weather is a bit nastier. Nonetheless, the length of the race, the cobbles, the hills, the dust, the opposition - all of these will make every rider's life really hard today!
But now, let's get the fun started!
Just about three kilometers from the line, we have the first cobbled section, which is Mariastraat with almost 2km length. This flat 2-star section is just an easy warm-up, though.
But of course, it's still a great opportunity to attack - which Stash gladly takes! He's not known to be a good cobbler, so he has to attack early to get a notable result.
Pretty much the same holds for the next three riders, attacking once the first cobblestones are left behind. Monk, Vliegen and Losch aren't afraid of riding up front for 260km!
And we have two more, with Toupalik and Videika. No reaction so far back in the pack - the race is long, and the attackers aren't really the best cobblers so far.
However, after the attack by van Zyl and De Bondt, who apparently don't agree on the split of the workload and are discussing instead, Kukrle and Schär decide it's too much, and they start chasing halfheartedly.
But the pace in the peloton isn't high enough to discourage further attackers. Halvorsen, Afewerki and Bahamian champion Major ride away from the pack. Meiler tries to catch them, but as the pack now definitely ups its pace, he doesn't get far.
We've only done 15km so far, 250km remaining - whereof the next 35 are still pretty easy, being flat and non-cobbled.
Kukrle has obviously been tasked with reducing the number of escapees, and so he chases those ahead. The breakaway riders are currently split up into three groups:
De Bondt, Monk, Vliegen, Losch, Stash
+ 18" van Zyl, Videika, Toupalik
+ 40" Afewerki, Major, Halvorsen
+ 56"
Peloton
Five kilometers later, the two groups of three have merged - but Cosnefroy catches all of them pretty much at the same time. Which means we currently have just a group of five left up front, leading by a mere half-minute. 25km to go until the next cobbled sector.
However, that gap went up quickly once the pack stopped chasing, and so the frontrunners reach the Nokereberg with already 5 minutes of advantage! They tackle this shortest cobbled section of the race (144m, 20m of elevation gain, max 7%) - which nonetheless is rated with four stars.
And given that the race has really calmed down, let's take a quick look at those five guys who we are likely to see up front for maybe 150 to 200 kilometers - or even until the finish line?
Monk and De Bondt are the best cobblers in this group, but the latter is much stronger on the flat and in sprints, and even slightly better on the hills.
When speaking of hills, however, there's no way past Vliegen. His lower cobbles skills might hold him back, though - and he surely doesn't want to go for a sprint, too.
Sprinting is much more the business of Losch and Stash, who are the strongest in the discipline of this quintet. However, the latter is the weakest cobbler of the group, whereas the former is pretty the "average" man in this discipline.
Let's see if any of these can finally get a decent result - at least Vliegen has got the stamina it takes for this hard race.
Meanwhile, the favorites' teams are sharing the leading work in the pack - we can't really speak of chasing yet, with the deficit still growing. On Nokereberg, we especially see a strong presence of Team Tinkoff riders up front.
Huisepontweg is the next non-tarmaced section. Two stars, 1,5km, flat - maybe the riders will even have some time to enjoy the great landscape out here! But probably not too long, as they surely know what's next...
No, we didn't really mean that - but Wolf is the first rider to lose contact in the peloton, after Nokereberg. That's a bit early, with 200km to go - but well, given his absence of cobbles skills, that doesn't really come unexpected.
The leaders have reached Doorn, one of the longest four-star sections with 1,742m in length. However, it's a flat one again, so that shouldn't cause too many problems. The gap has gone up to 6 minutes - which still is nothing, given that we're only in the warm-up phase!
And by the way, Wolf has made it back in the pack on the asphalted roads. Let's see how long he can stay there...
There's already quite some damage done on these cobbles, with Christensen, Rikunov, Arifin, Padun and again Wolf losing contact and many others already looking tired, too - after not even a quarter of the total race distance. Hard times coming up... although all of them make it back before the next cobbled section.
Which is the second shortest of the race, but again a four-star uphill one. Just below 200m of cobbled roads, but the climb has a total length of almost 500m, with maximum gradients of 14%. Still, it's a warm-up hill, but a serious one!
We have reached section number 20, i.e. five are done, 19 ahead. Lippenhovestraat is flat, about 600m long and our first three-star section of the race.
The gap to the pack had shortly reached 7 minutes and is now slightly down to 6'55".
And now the breakaway riders are on the longest stone paved stretch, which is Paddestraat with its 2,641m. 3 stars again, flat roads - surely not the hardest part of the race, but the more of those roads they do, the harder it will get.
And that's true for the riders and their bikes. Almost simultaneously, Feng and Walsleben suffer a puncture. They probably won't be the last ones...
Right now, they're the only ones trailing the pack, as all the left-behind riders have been strong enough on the tarmac so far to close the gaps.
Hostellerie is the final two-star section of the race - and it's even a downhill one, lasting for about 700m. We're still below the 100km mark, which the riders will reach on the next cobbles.
But first, there's an asphalted hill to be tackled, Rekelberg. 800m long, with a maximum slope of 8% - doing those climbs repeatedly probably starts hurting...
The peloton hasn't gotten much closer, they're still trailing by 6'43". Wolf and Christensen now seem to be left behind for good.
We have now reached section number 17, which is called Haaghoek and is the race's longest four-star stretch with its 1,930m. However, with a part of it descending, it's not among the hardest ones.
And, mentally important for the riders: They have now left the first 100km behind. However, maybe we shouldn't tell them that the following more than 160km will be even harder...
Reynders, Cosnefroy, Zakarin, Townsend, Kukrle and Vermote are taking turns in the pack, bringing the gap down to 6'20".
The riders then have to climb a series of three uncobbled hills; first Valkenberg (875m long, max 15%), followed by Berendries (936m long, max 12%) pictured here, and finally Elverenberg (1.4km long, max 9%).
The peloton has been a bit faster on these "hellings", reducing the deficit to 6 minutes flat.
Flat is a good keyword - not for tires, fortunately, but for the next stone paved road, Bontestraat. 3 stars, 1.2km long - another one to check. But if you look at the map, only four out of these 15 are flat, so we definitely expect some more action soon!
And here we go! Bosberg is just 763m long, having 3 stars, with a maximum gradient of 11%. But see how many fans there are by the roadside already now, although we have just reached the second half of the race and are probably far from seeing any decisive moves!
The peloton is led by Cosnefroy on this hill, the deficit being down to 5 minutes - that went pretty fast now!
And so it's no surprise to see more and more weak cobblers being dropped - most of them however getting back within the next few kilometers on the tarmac.
One of the real highlights of the race is quickly approaching, as the leaders cross the bridge when entering Geraardsbergen - the wall is right ahead!
Here we go, the riders have reached Muur - Kappelmuur, the "Wall of Geraardsbergen" - a total of 1,851m of cobbles, thereof almost one kilometer of climbing with slopes up to almost 20%! And it's a 4-star section, so the cobbles aren't easy to ride - the first real test for everyone!
We're only in the lower gradient slopes here, and the fans are already crazy! But seriously, lady, do you really think that high-heels are the best shoes for walking on cobbles? I hope you won't twist your ankle...
Finally, the escapees - or at least part of them - have reached the top of the Oudeberg, with its chapel - that's why it's called the "chapel wall" - after having left behind the steepest inclines!
Vliegen has just been dropped, whereas Stash was already left behind earlier on this tough climb - can they make it back? And where's the pack?
Here they are! Still 4'30" behind the breakaway, with many of the big guns already close to the front! Sure, this is a climb that used to be decisive when the course was quite different from today's, but of course we don't see any attacks with still more than 110km to go.
As expected, some gaps open after this hill, but no notable names have been dropped so far - and we now have almost 30 kilometers with any cobbles, "just" three tarmaced hills.
The pack is closing in now, with just 4'15" of advantage left for the breakaway - they once had 7 minutes.
The peloton is now in the D'Hoppe (La Houppe) climb (about 900m long, maximum gradient 10%), having drastically reduced their deficit within just a few kilometers - only 3'30" left.
On one hand, the escapees are probably tiring out - which is to be expected after 160km of breakaway - on the other hand, Andorra are now really upping the pace, having 4 riders in the chase with Townsend, Dahl-Olsen, Kireva and Reynders.
The frontrunners are about to enter the Kaperij cobbled section, which is rated with 3 stars and is 581m long. It is mainly flat - but towards the end, the road starts ascending, and the actual climb then is 1.3km long, mainly on tarmac. The maximum gradient is 8%.
Just between the last helling and this cobbled section - about 8km - the gap has again dropped by almost a minute, being down to 2'40" now. Clearly, the breakaway won't win anything today!
Manakov leads the chase over the top of this climb, having gained another 20" on the leaders. The pack is quite stretched already - although there are still 157 riders in it, many are looking completely empty and this number will likely change very soon.
Next is Berg ten Stene - twice as long as the previous one, but "just" 5% steep on average, with the maximum slopes not exceeding 9% this time. The pack has come as close as 1'33", with exactly 80km to go.
As expected, Bakari is the first top cobbler being dropped. As he doesn't like hills at all (actually, he likes nothing bar cobbles), this isn't too surprising to happen on a helling. No other notable riders have been left behind so far.
Up front, the picture has slightly changed, as it's now Moser pushing hard with two riders - it looks like they want to reel in the escapees as soon as possible. Or they just want to make the race as hard as they can.
With just slightly more than a minute left of their advantage, the leaders head into the last climb of that trilogy - Boigneberg, a 1km long hill with an average slope of 5%, but having a section with more than 12%.
After all this climbing, it's time again for some cobbles - and it's even a downhill section! Kerkgate has 3 stars and is one of the longest stone paved segments with 2,106 meters. Kireva leads the pack over these stones, with the breakaway already well in sight. 1'05" is the peloton's deficit.
The pack is only 50" behind now and can more or less choose when they want to make the catch, the escapees looking really tired now.
At the top of this hill, the peloton has almost reached the leading quintet - 26" left, and the next (flat) cobbled section right ahead!
Stash and Losch are already reeled in before the Holleweg cobblestones - 1.777km of flat cobbled roads, rated with three stars again. 9 cobbled sections left after that one - only two of them flat.
More and more riders are now being dropped, the most surprising name among them being Lampaert, who should have been Gerts' most important domestique!
By the end of this section, Vliegen has to fold as well, leaving just Monk and De Bondt up front - a few meters ahead of the raging pack!
And now, we have to report some bigger names among the left-behind riders: David, Puccio and Sanogo, all of which are their team's number 1 rider! Bohli, Neilands and pre-race favorite Pedersen are other riders one would not expected to be distanced so early - can they make it back?
All we know is that the race is about to really take off now, with just 60km to go and the breakaway almost caught. Which is the perfect moment for a little break - stay tuned for the finale!
Here we are again, just in time for the next cobbled section! We still have two breakaway riders ahead, Monk and De Bondt, with the peloton reduced to just about 100 riders. The distanced group including Pedersen, David and others made it back to the front just before the next cobbled climb which the breakaway is about to attack!
And here they are, just in front of the blue car, a few meters ahead of the pack where all the big names are really close to the front now!
The climb they have ahead is Eikenberg, and it's more than one kilometer long, rated with 3 stars - up to 10% steep, with the average being around 6%.
And as expected, that hill marks the end of today's breakaway, as Monk and De Bondt are easily reeled in. Can any of those five brave men hold on to reach a good result?
A group including Pedersen, David, Neilands, Puccio, Grand and Sanogo has again been dropped - they're about to reach the back of the pack just as we head into the second-last non-cobbled climb, Achterberg. The hill is 1,300m long, averaging at 4.3% of slope - but with gradients up to 11%! Let's see who makes it across the top inside the main group!
We still have 88 riders up front as the pack reaches the next cobbled helling, Koppenberg. After quite some 3-star sections, we finally have fours stars again - but that's not all. Even though the climb is just 600m long, it has an average slope of 11.6% - and even sections with up to 22%! Whoever doesn't have the legs today might not survive this one!
Let's just have a look at the front of the pack - where we see all the big favorites: Vanspeybrouck ahead of Summerhill, Pedersen with Wisniowski, Cink and Bewley, Senechal protecting Kamyshev, Teunissen following Potts, Neilands with Blythe, Spengler led by Bohli, Saya Kuroeda with Sibilla, Gaday and Theuns, Gerts protected by Ariesen, Stallaert, Kasperkiewicz, Per and Polanc, Fenn and Van Baarle, Karatzios - most team leaders are still there, and most have at least one helper still with them!
But it's really impressive how Andorra still have five men in the first 10 positions of the pack - and now with Vanspeybrouck pulling, things could quickly deteriorate for the competition!
And so it happened! The Belgian set an absolutely massive pace on that climb, leading to a group of 22 breaking free over the top! Let's see who's on the right side of the split:
Summerhill
Vanspeybrouck
Wisniowski
Pedersen
Neilands
Blythe
Teunissen
Potts
Senechal
Kamyshev
Spengler
Bohli
Theuns
Gaday
Sibilla
Saya Kuroeda
Per
Polanc
Gerts
Ariesen
Bewley
Stallaert
Only two riders don't have a teammate with them - and one of them is last year's winner Bewley! We said in the preview that not having the strongest support cast might hurt him - can someone come back to this group to help him, or will he need to do all the work on his own?
In the second group, we have mainly Van Baarle chasing, with Karatzios and Kasperkiewicz rather trying to stay inside this group. All others have their leader up front.
Van Hooydonck is one of those team leaders who didn't even make it into the second group, but is chasing hard to catch them!
Not quite, but only Saya Kuroeda and Gaday are dropped, leaving the group at 19 members. It's a true elimination race - and it will continue, as the next cobbled helling is shortly on the menu!
We have still Vanspeybrouck powering up the Taaienberg - 1.1km long with 3 stars, including an 800m long climb with gradients of up to 18%!
And now we clearly see riders struggling up front - most importantly Pedersen, Sibilla and surprisingly Teunissen! Bohli and Potts are the other dropped riders.
Behind, we have Kasperkiewicz, Fenn and Karatzios trying to get closer to the front group; all others in this group have their leader ahead and won't provide any help.
This is how the front group looks like after another spectacular climb - and it's still Vanspeybrouck pulling the whole group! We have:
Which means that Andorra, Team Tinkoff, Evonik and Isostar are the only teams having two riders left up front!
We then have Teunissen and Sibilla, 45" down, with group Kasperkiewicz another 30" behind.
It's still the exact same picture as we reach section number 5, Donderij. 3 stars, 700m of just slightly inclined roads sound almost like a little break for the riders - but it isn't, for sure!
And here's the final asphalted climb of the day, Fortuinberg. It's 1.1km long, with an average gradient of 10% and maximum slopes of up to 14% - after more than 230km, that's a real challenge!
It's even a challenge that's too hard for Vanspeybrouck, who is finally tiring a bit, allowing Teunissen to come back to the front group!
He has dropped Sibilla, who is now in the second group with 17 other riders, but already 1'40" down. Here's the composition of the first two groups:
Vanspeybrouck
Summerhill
Bewley
Wisniowski
Neilands
Blythe
Senechal
Kamyshev
Gerts
Stallaert
Spengler
Theuns
Polanc
Per
Teunissen
+ 1'40"
Kasperkiewicz
Fenn
Karatzios
Sibilla
Bohli
Ringheim
Pedersen
Riesebeek
Tiller
Potts
De Buyst
Laporte
Shiki Kuroeda
Malecki
David
Declerq
Jansen
Gaday
A group around Sulimov, Zubov, Saya Kuroeda, Van Hooydonck and Sanogo is one minute further down the road, with Puccio yet another minute behind.
As the front group reaches the Oude Kruisberg - a 1.4km long ascent, including 300m of 4-star cobbles on the steepest sections with 10% slope - Vanspeybrouck definitely throws in the towel - which is the sign for Bewley to attack!
With the group having somewhat slowed down in the last few kilometers, the chasers have come pretty close - but the Kiwi's acceleration may throw them back again.
For the moment, we see Summerhill immediately jumping on Bewley's wheel, whereas Wisniowski leaves a small gap and tries to bring the rest of the group back!
Bewley's attack was really powerful, as he gets a significant gap together with Summerhill and Wisniowski, who has finally left all the others behind! The three biggest favorites united - what a race!
But - will they agree on collaborating? Or can the second group come back again? For the moment, it's Polanc leading, as he's the only domestique left in this group after Neilands was dropped, just as Vanspeybrouck. And the Team Tinkoff duo doesn't look very fresh, either.
Yes, the trio works well together, as they reach the 20km banner - only 20km, but still three cobbled sections including two ascents left!
But they're still in sight of the chasers, where Kamyshev now seems to sacrifice himself, with Senechal at the end of the group.
We currently have the following situation:
Wisniowski
Bewley
Summerhill
+ 27"
Kamyshev
Senechal
Gerts
Blythe
Teunissen
Stallaert
Polanc
Per
Spengler
Theuns
+ 1'56"
Vanspeybrouck
Neilands
Fenn
Kasperkiewicz
Ringheim
Karatzios
Riesebeek
+ 3'06"
Bohli
Tiller
+ 3'27"
Pedersen
Sulimov
Jansen
Potts
De Buyst
Laporte
Malecki
The leaders have reached the second-to-last climb - the Paterberg. 533m of inclined 4-star cobblestones, with an average slope above 10% and maximum gradients of 20% - even for the best of the best, this is a huge challenge after almost 250km!
At least for the moment, no-one wants to attack - or no-one has enough left in the tank to do so.
The 10 chasers are still trailing by a bit more than 20 seconds - will they catch this trio?
At least not before they head into the final climb of the day - finally - the Oude Kwaremont! With more than 1.5km and a difficulty of 4 stars, this climb - averaging at "only" 5% but having slopes of up to 11% - could well decide this race!
Currently, Summerhill rides a steady pace, with Bewley and Wisniowski just following. Who will set the first attack?
And look at those crazy fans once again - these are just beautiful pictures, explaining why this monument is so popular among the riders!
But the racing doesn't really live up to the reputation of this famous climb - there's no attack both in the leading and the chasing group, with the second one definitiely closing in now, led by Gerts!
The order behind the Dutchman is as follows:
Stallaert Blythe Per Theuns Kamyshev Senechal Teunissen Spengler
The last two seem to be really in trouble, while Polanc has just been definitively dropped.
Indeed, the chasing group breaks up on the final meters of the Oude Kwaremont! Gerts, Stallaert, Blythe, Per, Kamyshev and Theuns are still together, while Senechal, Spengler and Teunissen have lost contact!
The main reason for this was yet another attack by Bewley, into the descent! Wisniowski is the first to respond, with Summerhill glued to his wheel - but Gerts is about to definitely catch the US champion!
But that catch didn't quite happen - just a few meters were missing, and so the three biggest favorites - Bewley, Summerhill, Wisniowski - have gone clear again with just 10km to the line!
24" behind, we have another trio, consisting of Gerts, Stallaert and Blythe
Another 21" back are Theuns and Per, whereas Kamyshev trails by 24" more seconds. That's definitely not how the strategy of Team Tinkoff should have worked out - having no rider in the Top 5! But there are still 10,000m to go, including a final cobbled section!
Here we are, the leaders have reached Varentstraat - the final two kilometers of non-asphalted roads today, and with 3 stars not among the most difficult ones, either. Can any of these three still set an attack on these stones?
Gerts, Stallaert and Blythe are still 21" back - they came slightly closer on the tarmac, but are now losing some seconds again on the cobbles.
Nothing happened on the cobbles - but as soon as they again have some asphalt under their wheels, Summerhill attacks his companions! Bewley doesn't respond immediately, trying to share the workload with Wisniowski. 7km to go.
Was this the decisive attack? It's just a few meters now - but can they be closed again? Or can even the second group benefit from this situation, just 25" back? We'll see!
With 5km to the line, the unbelievable happens: Bewley is completely empty and has to let go of Wisniowski! The World Champion is now chasing Summerhill solo - it would be the first win for both of them!
Or is Bewley just bluffing, trying to let the others work to exhaustion and then outsprinting them on the final stretch?
Behind the three "big ones", Blythe seems to be stronger than Gerts and Stallaert, simply riding away from these two! He's 32" behind Bewley - can he even achieve his second podium finish in this race?
Per and Theuns are riding together, in 7th and 8th position - 50" behind Gerts and Stallaert, but only 18" ahead of Kamyshev! Senechal comes next, 32" behind his teammate, and 18" ahead of Spengler and Teunissen.
Only 3 kilometers to go - and Bewley has again overtaken Wisniowski! However, Summerhill is clearly looking the strongest right now, leading by 30"! Only 3,000m to go for winning his first monument!
Blythe may just have overpowered a little, as Stallaert is closing the gap again, with Gerts still in the mix, too. However, the podium is still 32" away - it pretty much looks like they'll have to settle for a fight for 4th...
At least, 4th to 6th should be safe for them, as Per and Theuns are still almost a minute down.
Flame rouge for Summerhill! He's only 1,000m away from what might be the biggest win of his career - a big one it will be in each case!
And things are looking really good for him, having even slightly increased the gap to Wisniowski and Bewley!
And as the US American enters the last kilometer, Blythe still tries to catch up with Wisniowski and Bewley - but the gap seems to be too large. Stallaert hasn't really caught the Brit, either, and Gerts still trails by a few meters. Maybe they should have worked together instead of riding everyone on his own?
That's it! Danny Summerhill wins the 2020 Ronde van Vlaanderen! After a huge effort by his teammate Vanspeybrouck - leaving his closest rivals without any support - he attacked after the final cobbled stretch and pulled it through until the line!
Behind, Wisniowski leaves behind a completely exhausted Bewley, who - luckily for the Pole - isn't even able to sprint anymore!
World Champion Lukasz Wisniowski indeed takes this 2nd place - which at the same time is his best result and his first podium in Flanders, but he definitely wanted to win that one. Maybe his slight disadvantage on the hills made the difference, maybe it was the team support - especially Pedersen didn't do as much as we expected from him - but this doesn't change the result. 2nd place is still great, but for him it surely feels like a huge defeat right now.
Nonetheless, a 2nd place in a monument is worth something - and it clearly shows him he'll be in the mix for the next couple of years!
Disappointment - that must be the current feeling of dethroned champion Sam Bewley. He was the most active of these three riders, but was unable to get clear - and in the end didn't have the energy to respond to the others' attacks. Furthermore, he was the first of the three to be on his own, which may well have had an impact.
But despite the disappointment, let's not forget that he just got his 8th straight podium here in Flanders, which is just insane! He didn't get that 5th win, leaving Tom Boonen the lone King of Flanders, which must hurt him - but when looking back on his career, he'll surely be proud of getting a 3rd place here even as an aging star.
Nothing has changed in the group behind. Adam Blythe holds on to his tiny advantage on Joeri Stallaert to claim 4th, which is his 2nd best result here. Still, he must curse those PCT wildcards, as without Summerhill competing he might actually have gotten that podium spot!
For Joeri Stallaert, it's the second best result, too, after his 2nd place back in 2018. He was probably hoping for slightly more - but he was just empty, hence not even being able to outsprint Blythe. He didn't have any help in the decisive stage of the race, either, which might have cost him this one spot - or even more? We'll never know.
Floris Gerts then gets by far his best result in this race, improving from 15th to 6th. His winter training surely paid out - but he'll probably need to do the same again to really be in the mix for the win. Nonetheless, he can be pretty happy about his result!
This holds for David Per as well. The Slovene must have had a great day to finish even ahead of Edward Theuns; this duo comes in on 7th and 8th place. Both weren't quite able to follow the acceleration by Gerts after the Oude Kwaremont, but at least held on to their positions and got a nice Top 10 finish.
We then have the Team Tinkoff duo completing today's Top 10, with Arman Kamyshev beating Florian Senechal, last year's runner up, who showed a disappointing race today. These two didn't really work together - it might not have been the best strategy by their DS. Nonetheless, two Top 10 places in a monument are surely nothing to be scoffed at!
Mike Teunissen definitely aimed for more than an 11th place, but he missed the split when Vanspeybrouck destroyed the pack and then used up a lot of his energy to come back to the front. Just as last year, he finishes one spot behind Senechal - except that last year this meant a podium, and this time it's not even a Top 10 for him.
Another rather disappointed rider must be Lukas Spengler, whose massive training definitely brought him in the Top 10 region, but his manager (and himself) probably hoped for more. However, he'll need to work on some other skills than just the cobbles if he wants to significantly improve on this year's result.
Jan Polanc finished just ahead of this group, taking 13th place. Andrew Fenn wins the sprint of this group, ahead of luxury domestique Pieter Vanspeybrouck, who was a very important factor in Summerhill's great win today!
Georgios Karatzios is 16th, ahead of Jo Kogstad Ringheim (yeah, right, no Pedersen yet). The next two spots - 18th and 19th, go to Krists Neilands and - attention, please - Oscar Riesebeek! I have got no clue how a man with 73 COB can make the Top 20 in this race, but he did it - a great performance by the Dutchman! And by the whole team, by the way.
The final spot in the Top 20 is taken by Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz.
Mads Pedersen then leads one of the next groups across the line, already 8'07" down. He didn't really do a lot of (visible) work for his captain - he might just have had a really bad day.
Michel Sibilla - as somewhat expected - couldn't stay with the best, taking 28th place today, finishing inside the same group.
And it surely was a disappointing day as well for the likes of Tom David (33rd), Nathan Van Hooydonck (42nd) or Salvatore Puccio (56th, two spots behind B World Champion Aleksandr Pluchkin).
And poor Amadou Bakari? Well, the good news is, he didn't finish last - not even close. He lost 36'07", taking 141st place. Which is still a lot faster than Maxime Bouet, who lost 2h20' and was far off the time limit.
But now, let's no longer talk about the losers - but about the great winner!
Ladies and gentlemen, here is the winner of the 2020 Ronde van Vlaanderen - Danny Summerhill!
His greatest advantage today was that he could rely on an incredible team work - Andorra Cycling Project did by far the greatest amount of work in the peloton, and in Pieter Vanspeybrouck he definitely had the most valuable domestique in this race.
He attacked as no-one was able to react, and went on to win his very first monument - congratulations! Taking a win as a PCT team in a monument is truly special - and even more as it's really well deserved by their great showing today!
Today's runner-up is World Champion Lukasz Wisniowski, who showed a very strong race as well - but was just inattentive or unable to respond when the winner launched his decisive attack. Nonetheless, he did honor to his jersey and takes a well-deserved first podium here in Flanders!
And we don't actually need to present this man, as he's always been on the podium these last few years. Now, he steps up for the 8th time in a row - however, just onto the final step, not on top. Sam Bewley was unable to repeat last year's win. He delivered a great performance as well, being very active in the finale - but maybe too active? He was missing that last bit to seal the win - finally even dropping to 3rd. Nonetheless, thank you for another great show here in Belgium!
That's it, the 2020 Ronde van Vlaanderen is coming to an end. We have a great winner, we have three of the most named favorites on the podium, and we have a few hours of great cycling behind. Now all that remains is wishing everyone good luck for the rest of the season - and we'll likely most of today's participants already next week for the revenge in Paris - Roubaix! See you!
Ronde van Vlaanderen 
