The Sri Lankan golden generation are currently at the peak of their powers, with most having been introduced to professional cycling by Ayubowan!. That teams transformation into Farfetch has limited the amount of future talent coming through. Suranga RANAWEERA, probably the nation's biggest talent, isn't in attendance; not that he would have had much chance on the cobbles. Instead we are expecting a four-way battle between Sameera CHATARUNGA, Nipuna Shira MANAMALAGE, Amith Udaya KUMARA and Nihal SILVA. Indeed, a selection is made relatively early on, with Darshana PRASAD, Madusha PERERA and Tushantha RAJAPAKSHAGE still at the front for now.
Across the next set of cobblestones, the leaders are further whittled down. KUMARA has been the driving force behind the pace thus far. PERERA is still within touching distance (18"), but both RAJAPAKSHAGE and Kashyapa SIRIWARDENA are out of the picture with 20 kilometres remaining.
Nobody is overly willing to pace their competitors at this point, so things come back together for the most part. That is, at least, until SILVA tries to make something happen on the run in to the final cobbled sector. All he succeeds in doing was tiring himself out. MANAMALAGE is the next to try and make something happen; he needs to dislodge both SILVA and PRASAD, who have survived the cobblestones. He doesn't have the acceleration to force separation and instead provides a leadout into the sprint.
It is, obviously, SILVA and PRASAD who get the best launches, with the former taking the centre of the road while the latter skirts the barriers on the right. CHATARUNGA is slower to start but does eventually manage to keep pace with the pair, several bikelengths back. As we approach 500m to go it looks as though PRASAD has started to fade, perhaps his poor bikehandling is having an effect.
With victory slipping from his grasp, PRASAD cracks completely. He sits up and CHATARUNGA simply doesn't have the pace to match SILVA. After a difficult season for his team, there is finally some joy in the Zwift camp: Nihal SILVA even has time to lift his arms in celebration at this victory.
Sri Lankan National Championships '23 
