We're in the municipality of Chaudfontaine today, the only place in Belgium where you can find hot springs. We'll ultimately arrive in Namur, the capital of the Wallonia, and famous for, among other things, its citadelle, one of the biggest fortifications in Europe and the backdrop for the short climb to the finish line. That's enough from Wikipedia though, let's turn to the racing at hand:
First, a quick look at the favorites, where the presence of fast guys like Felline, Kump and Calmejane stands out, but of course the usual suspects among the top puncheurs rate highly as well.
And then we're off. Lots and lots of riders attack early and the peloton doesn’t seem to mind. After the dust settles, 13 riders are some 3 minutes ahead. They are:
Gamper
Covi
Bardet
Van Tricht
Lasinis
Tediashvili
Karatsivis
Plapp
Herrera
Antonelli
Main
Miquel
Quinn
The weather is terrible, making both supporting the riders as well as leading the pack extra uncomfortable. Respect to those who do.
It’s also a terrible day to get a puncture, which is what happens to poor Broxham. He would not make it back to the pack, spending the final 130 km alone on the road.
We can skip ahead until the final 40 kilometers, as nothing of note happens. Then, with the peloton within a minute, Quinn attacks from the breakaway. The roads are dry now, better conditions for the finale.
Quinn doesn’t get far, then it’s Antonelli’s turn.
With 22 kilometers to go - Van Tricht currently the lone rider at the head of the race, but about to be caught again as well -, here’s a closer look at the three difficulties that will decide the race. First, it’s the Côte de Lustin, 2.7 kilometers with an average slope of 5.7% and a max of 11.6%. Then, the Tienne aux Pierres, 2.9km at 5.4% and up to 10.2%, and finally the riders go up to the Citadelle de Namur, 1.9km at an average of 5.8%, but the steepest parts go over 20%!
Atop the Côte de Lustin, it’s gruppo compatto as Rohendi catches the remaining breakaway riders. Indosat and Philips have been the driving forces and Benoot and Borges are already very close to the front, as is Eiking. The rain is back up again, too, so it was only a brief respite of dryness.
With 15 kilometers to go, a group of 57 riders have split from the rest of the pack. Teams without a rider up front include Staffbase, and Minions, while Red Bull Zalgiris and Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo are only represented by their former breakaway riders, Errazkin and De Plus have fallen behind. Chaves is another big name in the second group, but Kump is holding on for Volcanica in the first group.
Velasco sets a really high pace up the Tienne aux Pierres, denying the chasers any opportunity to come back. The likes of Benoot, Eiking, Oliveira, Areruya and McCarthy are among the first 15 or so riders, while Kinoshita remains sheltered a few rows further behind.
More and more riders drop, among them Covi, Lierse’s best rider until now. 37 riders left.
But those guys make it back, the pace slowing down a bit. Lane, Lavery and Duchesne try to at least keep the big group around Errazkin and De Plus distanced. 5 kilometers and one climb left.
We’re at the Citadelle!
Duchesne leads the pack into the final climb, but where is his leader? Kinoshita is at around 25th position, surrounded by Oliveira, Paez, Gesbert, Waeytens and Beltran / Gaudu. They all have to make up ground and not a ton of time to do so.
Meanwhile, Van Garderen is furthest ahead of the main contenders in 4th position. Eiking, Areruya, Benoot and McCarthy are next, a couple of rows behind him. We might see some of the domestiques close to the front finish fairly well …
1.5 kilometers to go and Velasco again leads the pack ahead of Stannard and Kreder, who’s looking pretty good. Areruya has managed to come through and is very well positioned now next to Van Garderen.
The final few hundred meters are less steep, so the guys who like steep slopes need to act soon. But it’s Kreder who opens the sprint!
Van Garderen tries his best to stay in the Dutchman’s slipstream. Areruya, McCarthy, Benoot and Eiking are next. They’re followed by three of the quicker guys though in Borges, Felline and Calmejane, then top favorite Kinoshita.
Just that corner to go and you can see the road flatten. Who can stop Kreder?
Borges is clearly the fastest on the road right now while Kreder seems to have overextended himself a bit, he’s struggling!
Indeed, Van Garderen takes the lead but this is far from over! Strava have another option with Felline on the right, Kinoshita is up to 8th for the moment.
Borges is stalling out a bit, as are most others - with the notable exception of Meurisse, who’s coming up on the left side of the road like he’s shot out of a cannon!
Van Garderen grinds his teeth, he seems to be holding on, just 100 meters left! Meurisse attacks the podium, currently occupied by Borges and McCarthy.
Tejay Van Garderen wins the GP Wallonie! A somewhat surprising winner, but perfect positioning heading into the final climb was key today. Meurisse is at least as surprising in second place, terrific finish from him. Borges third, McCarthy fourth.
Areruya takes fifth ahead of Kreder, who is another big surprise. Eiking and a certainly disappointed Kinoshita are next, Felline in ninth makes it two Strava riders in the Top 10, what a result for them!
Paulinho beats teammate Oliveira to take 10th place, combined that’s another good team performance. Calmejane next, then Benoot, who will be disappointed with that 13th place after the amount of work Philips put in today. Paez and Boswell are 14th and 15th, respectively.
More riders trickle in. Gesbert is 16th, followed by Prevar and Beltran, a poor result for Cedevita, who also had Gaudu in the final group as well only for him to finish 26th. Van Niekerk and Chernetskiy complete the Top 20, okay-ish results for them.
Stannard is 21st, then Kump. Looking at what Kreder did, he might wonder what could have been. Moscon next, could have certainly been better, but it could have arguably been worse (and has been for Jura GIANTS in the past). Then Tsatevich and Lienhard, who adds more depth for Binance.
Waeytens in 32nd certainly doesn't look great, but he played second fiddle to Calmejane at Trans today. As mentioned earlier, De Plus (62nd) and Errazkin (80th), who fell behind early, are perhaps the biggest disappointments, though at least Covi and Tediashvilli give them riders in the Top 35, respectively.
That's it for today though. One more shoutout to the rather surprising podium of Van Garderen, Meurisse and Borges - see you next time.
GP Wallonie 
