Welcome to the 2022 Betonexpressz GP! Today we have lovely sunny & mild conditions - perfect for racing!
Here we are on the start line here in Hungary – here’s hoping for an exciting race!
10 riders easily ride away from the pack and quickly open a gap of 3 minutes – they are:
Aguilar Mendez
Waerenskjold
Van den Berg
Johansen
Nzeke
La Lavandier
Morales Ortega
Gonzalez
Savini
Pajur
Interestingly, 3 teams have sent 2 riders so it will be interesting to see their strategy unfold.
We skip to the halfway point and the gap is down to 2’30 after peaking at just under 5 minutes. Glanbia, Tryg, Tafjord, Caja and Strava are all contributing to the chase.
We skip a little further and with 41km to go, Morales Ortega, Pajur and Johansen attack! The pack has closed in to within a minute of the break now and these three want to extend their vacation in front of the pack for a little bit longer.
The break continues to attack and crack each other as Manakov and Bernas explode out of the ack with 28km to go! They quickly blast past a few of the former BOTD members on their way to the 4 surviving members - Johansen, Morales Ortega, Nzeke and Waerenskjold – these 4 have 32” to the pack, whilst Manakov and Bernas have 20”.
They are quickly brought back before reaching the break, but Manakov goes again! In strange scenes behind, Kanter and Wippert have both done turns on the front and now Keough is second wheel in the peloton behind teammate Feiereisen.
He’s again brought back leaving Morales Ortega solo in front of the peloton for a few kilometres before he is now also caught. The frantic pace in the peloton is causing some splits, we will have to see if any of them stick.
Under the 10k banner and Cheyne leads the peloton, driving a hard pace. There’s a fight for position amongst the top sprinters behind, it doesn’t appear anybody is out of position at this point.
There’s a moment of hesitation between Cheyne pulling off and Frame taking over, and straight away Dakteris and Veyhe launch an attack! 4.7km to go, Glanbia riders line up now to chase.
This sets off a chain reaction and now Breen, Yzeiraj, Dzervus and Jans try to go too. The front 2 have an 11” gap with 3.1km remaining. There’s no organisation behind Glanbia and all sprinters are in it for themselves, things are very disorganised!
They are all caught with 2.1km remaining as most sprinters are looking for the right wheel. The sprinters are positioned like this:
Frame
Bennett
Willwohl
Wippert
Rajovic
Matthews
Kanter
Banicek
Bertilsson
Guardini
Gibbons
Keough
Colbrelli, Major and Merlier are behind this group and will need something special for a good result.
Frame pulls off and releases Bennett with 1.1km to go. Everyone else lined up behind him in the same order more or less.
They round the corner 500m from the line and Willwohl has the lead! Wippert next with Bennett hanging on in 3rd and then Matthews.
Wippert comes flying out of the slipstream around the corner and looks to match Willwohl! Bennett is struggling, and Kanter who has been stuck behind Matthews desperately wants to pass him. 300m.
Kanter manages to get around Mathews and boy is he flying! He flies straight past Willwohl, but is still behind Wippert who he is faster than. Behind Keough is starting to get a move on as well as Rajovic who has turned on the afterburners and is flying through the middle!
Kanter still has the lead as Rajovic blows past Willwohl and Wippert! Has he timed his run to perfection?
Rajovic draws level with Kanter! The order behind remains the same with Bertilsson making a late charge.
And Rajovic takes it! What a fantastic sprint from the Serbian! He played his cards perfectly and is rewarded for his fantastic ride with victory in Hungary!
Kanter seemingly did everything right, it appeared that he had come off of Mathew’s wheel at the perfect moment but he can only place 2nd behind Rajovic. Wippert, Bertilsson and Willwohl round out the top-5.
Matthews, Gibbons, Keough, Guardini and Bennett complete the top-10 here in Hungary. Bennett will be disappointed with his result considering the work his team put in, unfortunately Glanbia pay the price for putting in the hard yards today when a lot of others took it much easier.
Today’s winner of the Betonexpressz GP – Dusan Rajovic
Betonexpressz GP
Dusan Rajovic
