GP Wallonie
196.6km
Chaudfontaine - Namur (Citadelle)
A bit surprised to see Theuns on the list of favorites, but the rest of the group should certainly fight for the win. Maybe the final climb isn’t quite steep enough and he can use his superior sprint for a meanwhile result. Kelderman leads the group for good reason though ahead of Areruya.
The fight for the breakaway was contested, but the peloton immediately chased anytime the numbers reached double digits. That leaves us with a 9-man group hoping that the favorites mistime the catch. They are: McCambridge Van Eetvelt Calzoni Revard Serrano Parashchak Affonso Balmer Pokälä
Pokälä was the last to join and will need to recover before the first set of climbs or he may return quickly back to the peloton.
Controlling the peloton early in the day are Assa Abloy, Xero Racing, Sony Force - India, Zwift, Lampre-Pinarello, Colombini Cycling, and DuckDuckGo Everesting. This group allows the gap to extend to 5:30 by the 160 km to go mark for its maximum difference.
Pokälä does recover well to remain in the breakaway.
100km to go and there have been no major developments. The gap has descended regularly since the 130km to go marker and it stands at 3:20. Areruya is sitting directly on Kelderman’s wheel already and those two are the leaders closest to the front of the peloton.
The cameras return to the breakaway group as they enter the final 75km. The team cars remind our motorbike reporter that the purpose of the early break is for some exposure and we happily oblige. Only McCormick and DK Zalgiris remind us there’s also a shot for the victory as they have the two favorites from this group. With 65km to go, the gap is 2:30 to a full peloton.
Gladysh is the first attacker from the peloton with 61km to go. There’s still a 2:00 gap to the front group and it feels a bit too early for anything meaningful. Maybe they’re trying to wear down other teams in support of Prevar and Beltran later. The potential escape never gets more than 10seconds lead but forces a long chase of 10km. Gladysh is brought in at 51km and the 9 leaders are still intact. They have 1:42.
45km to go and the breakaway can be seen by the peloton. The potential winners are also starting to show their face in the front 10 wheels. Areruya, Benoot, Ackermann, Gesbert, Kelderman and Turgis all sit poised to go with any attacks. The gap to the breakaway is still 1:30.
The race now enters some minor rolling hills. While they shouldn’t be decisive, they’re creating opportunities for tiny gaps to appear. Everyone returns to the peloton but that’s extra energy to expend before the final.
Van Eetvelt realizes that this breakaway of 9 isn’t quite strong enough so he attacks on the Cote D’Ermeton with 35km to go. Affonso and Revard easily cover the move but they gap the other six.
There’s 27km to go and the peloton is about to face its descent into the three major climbs of the day. Lampre-Pinarello is leading the peloton with Meurisse who is clearly putting all his faith in Turgis.
They’ve also created a gap in the peloton who is now only 71 strong. The undulations have created gaps with the following important riders gapped: Eriksson, Kanerva, Waeytens, Van Garderen, Bagioli, Senyenov, Hirschi, Gebrezgabihier, Yates, Prevar.
Beltran is in A2 behind them even with Seigle, Min, Pellaud, Lafay, Azman, Kipkemboi, Dieteren, Asgreen, Izagirre, Moazemi, Grossschartner, Budyak.
Ahead, the three leaders are 21 seconds ahead of the 6 original chasers and 1:01 ahead of the shortened peloton. It’s unclear exactly how the gap came as there were no real difficulties to create the split. Some riders must’ve just given up the wheel and then it was formed.
The peloton reaches the Cote de Lustin, the first of 3 climbs in the final 21km. This one is 2.7km with an average of 5.7%. Lampre-Pinarello is absolutely stomping pedals on the front as they’ve got 4 pacesetters in addition to Meurisse and Turgis. The breakaway is just 18 seconds in front and should be quickly swallowed up.
Just moments later and the finale begins. Affonso tries a small attack in the breakaway but he can’t get the gap. Simultaneously, Kelderman attacks in the peloton and closes the gap to the breakaway officially. Ackermann is first on his wheel with Gesbert and Meurisse the ones following. Areruya seems just off the pace and isn’t quite as close as expected.
The four attackers realize this might not quite be the time to go, but as they’re caught another move follows. Stannard jumps on the shallower slopes of the climbs and creates some distance although Areruya appears willing to close it again.
Stannard holds his lead over the top and is 8 seconds up on the peloton with 17km to go. Still a long way for him to hold off the bunch. Officially the main group is just 23 riders strong, but there’s a huge group turning the corner also ready to chase.
The group is 24 strong heading into Tienne aux Pierres - the 2nd climb which is also 2.9km at 5.4%. Theuns is still here and trying an attack but everyone is lined up not allowing him to go. The group is: Theuns, Schmid Stannard Ackermann Areruya Calmejane, Bystrom Benoot Bobridge Kelderman De Plus Mosca, Gesbert Moscon Meurisse, Turgis Bilbao, Cahyadi Müller, Buchmann Rumac Narvaez, Boswell Dyrnes
A group of 14 join right at the bottom of the climb, but the attacks come immediately at the front.
De Plus leads an attack with 12.5km to go followed by Moscon and Bilbao. Narvaez struggles to hold onto them but does. They’re brought back within the kilometer though.
Just as they’re caught, Narvaez attacks again and creates a new group up front. Gesbert, Bilbao and Stannard are the new four with 13 seconds on the group. Turgis is trying to escape to join them as well.
Narvaez can’t sustain the attack, but Gesbert, Bilbao and Stannard all can. They go under the 10km to go kite together with 20 seconds over the chasing group. The structure of the climb makes it tough to tell how many will actually reach the bottom of the final climb in the group of contenders but Turgis, Schmid, Narvaez, Benoot, and Areruya lead the way.
It’s a fast descent down to the 5km banner where the 3 leaders still have 12 seconds. The peloton is 27 riders strong with all basically everyone mentioned in the earlier section. The new faces seem to include Bagioli, Bagioli, Korosec, Tesfaye Heyi, and Lienhard.
Schmid tries to bring the front three back! He brings the gap to 8 seconds with 3.7km to go and the race should head uphill soon!
The race still hasn’t broken up yet and Bilbao, Gesbert, and Stannard still have some bikelengths on the group. The front three have used a lot of energy, but they’re clearly in the strongest position.
Bilbao is attacking all over the place today! The front three are swooped up and he decides to try one more time with 2.0km to go. Ackermann tries to follow while Turgis leads the rest. Stannard seems unwilling to leave Turgis’ wheel for the time being.
1.5km to go and the group is down to 15 riders! Bilbao is still leading the charge ahead of Ackermann, Turgis, Stannard and Gesbert. Calmejane, Areruya, Benoot, Theuns, Narvaez, Buchmann, Kelderman, Bobridge, Boswell and Bystrom are the remaining members in order. Everyone is pretty much lined up, working extremely hard.
Ackermann is showing everyone that he thinks he’s the strongest with a huge acceleration at 1km to go! Turgis is moving most quickly behind as he passes Stannard and Bilbao. Behind, the line-up stays the same but there’s still some steep sections to go!
The group has shrunk to six with 700m to go. Ackermann holds a gap over a 5 man group of Stannard, Bilbao, Areruya, Turgis and Calmejane. Areruya may be the strongest although Stannard has been holding his own at the front. There’s still 9 very close behind including Kelderman and Theuns.
The finish line just comes too fast for anyone to make the difference! Ackermann wins in a huge surprise upset. What a race for Zwift! Stannard is a clear 2nd place finisher with a very strong and attacking race he should be proud of .
What a battle to the line for the final spot on the podium. Areruya is just a fraction better than the rest for 3rd place! Bilbao does show why he’s a favorite for a race like this in 4th with Turgis narrowly edging Calmejane. The Trans Looney Tunes rider has to be the surprise of the day, even more than Ackermann.
If the race for 3rd was close, they’re 5 abreast at the finish line for 7th. Theuns is the winner of that battle which is not a surprise for a final sprint. Buchmann takes the nod for 8th ahead of Benoot and Gesbert. Kelderman the unlucky loser taking the 11th slot. Bobridge is 12th ahead of two McCormick men - Narvaez and Boswell.
Bystrom is 15th with a long gap to the remaining finishers. Schmid, De Plus, Meurisse, Müller and Bagioli are the leaders across from the big group and finalize the top 20.
While it might be a surprise, it was hugely impressive! Ackermann takes a well-deserved victory!
