Hello and welcome to the Danish cobbled road, today we have some great C2 action as the riders will take on the 188km long route.
And off to the races we are as we attacks straight off the line! Aebi is the first rider to make a move. He is joined by Osborne, Kawasaki and Kelly.
The four are joined by another quartet of riders as the pack grinds to a halt after just 3 kilometres raced. The four are: Kabas, Belevics, Garcia Pierna and Muhammad.
Or so it seemed like as multiple more riders are trying to make a move for it, and after a hectic session, another four riders have created a gap to the pack: Laurance, Murillo, Berhe, Blum.
This leaves us with a 12-man breakaway for this year’s GP Herning, with 140km to the finish line they have amassed a 4 minute gap: Aebi, Kawasaki , Muhammad , Osborne, Kelly, Kabas, Garcia Pierna, Laurance, Murillo, Berhe, Blum.
As the race hits the first cobbled sector, a lot of work from Stela Vita is done and the gap is down to two minutes as we hit the tarmac again. A bunch of punctures occur, but no punctures to any leaders as Garcia Pierna is dropped from the breakaway.
With 86kms to go Campbell, Domene and Schlechter all make some half-baked efforts that don’t go anywhere. Break to the pack is till around 2 minutes.
Domene and Campbell go again and they are joined by Matthews and Nielsen. They manage to create a gap, right under the minute mark as they attack on a cobbled sector.
Manager Ignacio must have told the team to move early in this stage as the third Caja Rural rider makes a move this stage: Experienced Sinkeldam tries to join Domene and the three others in front of him. Status is 63kms to go and the pack has around 1’20” to the most recent escapees and another 30 seconds separates the new group and the old group. The pack is being controlled by Crabbe and Stela – Vita
As we move closer to the finish line with 45kms to go there is contact in the front group as some of the original escapees are struggling to keep up. The gap to the pack down to just a minute as Stela – Vita have significantly increased the pace.
The collaborative efforts in the front group have fallen apart as the group is also getting pulled in. Gap to the leading group of Nielsen, Domene Campbell and Matthews still at around a minute.
With 28kms to go that group is also brought back and an instant counter is launched by: McLay, Chatarunga, Richardson, Trentin and Kulppi but it doesn’t amount to a gap.
Havik doesn’t make a massive acceleration however he does manage to create a small gap by simply upping the pace. He is quickly shut down again as the riders enter the 20km mark. The front group currently consists of 23 riders. Rathe and Sbaragli are the two riders currently setting the pace.
The group gets shattered to pieces as an acceleration from Chatarunga sends ripples through the group leaving a lot of gaps.
The front group is reduced down to 10 riders these are: Owen, Gaday, Havik, Chatarunga, Lampaert, Taubel, Trentin, Richardson, Kulppi, Teggart
It's hard to really grasp it but they take turns making moves on eachother.
However on a cobbled section with 10kms to go it’s surprisingly Teggart that creates the gap. The Irishman doesn’t make an attack but simply ups the pace and slowly drifts away from the group.
ITS ALL HEATING UP. Trentin gets hit with a disastrous puncture.
And as that occurs, Gaday goes for an attack in the front group! He is however easily shut down by Chatarunga
As we enter the final 5 kilometres, Teggart is brought back to the front group, Breen has managed to bridge the gap and Owen looks like a fallen man that is about to let go of the front group.
With 3kms to the group in front has reached a capacity of 15 riders as we see Kulppi make a move, he is quickly joined by Gaday and they manage to create a gap. With there only being 2 kilometres left as the gap is created will they have to decide the race between them?
The Argentinian absolutely sends the sprint and with 300 meters to go, it looks impossible for him to not win this!
Gaday finishes the job and wins the 2023 GP Herning as it’s a 2-3 for Kulppi and Breen!
Havik and Teggart close out the top 5. Chatarunga, Lampaert, Taubel, Bewley and Richardson close out the top 10. Trentin manages to recover a 14th but will be absolutely devastated by his late puncture.
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