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United States >> 2023 Pro Cycling Spring Classics LIVE Coverage

Gent-Wevelgem, Sunday 26th March

09:52 US Eastern, 15:52 Europe -  Van Aert and Laporte attack 50km out on the Kemmelberg and build up a 2 minute lead.

Christophe Laporte wins Gent-Wevelgem alongside Wout van Aert! 

09:52 US Eastern, 15:52 Europe -  5th place is for  PEDERSEN Mads (Trek - Segafredo).

09:52 US Eastern, 15:52 Europe -  VERMEERSCH Florian (Lotto Dstny) is 4th.

09:51 US Eastern, 15:51 Europe -  Third place for  VANMARCKE Sep (Israel - Premier Tech).

09:51 US Eastern, 15:51 Europe -  Vanmarcke, Bjerg and Frison have a decent gap on the rest of the chasers.

09:51 US Eastern, 15:51 Europe -  VAN AERT Wout (Jumbo-Visma) comes in second place.

09:45 US Eastern, 15:45 Europe -  LAPORTE Christophe (Jumbo-Visma) wins!

09:44 US Eastern, 15:44 Europe -  LaPorte and WVA have got this win!

09:36 US Eastern, 15:36 Europe -  5 km to go: Crash by  MOHORIC Matej (Bahrain - Victorious) in peloton

09:35 US Eastern, 15:35 Europe -  12 km to go: LaPorte and WVA grow their lead to 2 minutes

09:16 US Eastern, 15:16 Europe -  27 km to go: and no one is bringing the two jumbo-Visma riders back

09:02 US Eastern, 15:02 Europe -  Up the Kemmelberg: Christophe LAPORTE (Jumbo-Visma) is struggling to hold on to WVA

09:02 US Eastern, 15:02 Europe -  Ben Turner leading the chase for Ineos Grenadiers.

09:01 US Eastern, 15:01 Europe -  38 km to go: LaPorte and WVA have over 1min lead

08:43 US Eastern, 14:43 Europe -  LaPorte and WVA have got a gap!

08:38 US Eastern, 14:38 Europe - 52 km to go: WVA attacks, Ewan, Pedersen and Ackemann there on the Kemmelberg

08:38 US Eastern, 14:38 Europe -  Attack by  TURGIS Anthony (TotalEnergies) in peloton

08:37 US Eastern, 14:37 Europe -  55 km to go: breakaway caught unsurprisingly, only 70 riders left!

08:16 US Eastern, 14:16 Europe -  Asgreen leading the peloton along with several from Groupama-FDJ. They've brought the gap to the leaders down to 40 seconds.

08:16 US Eastern, 14:16 Europe -  69 km to go: The break hits the first section of the plugstreets!

08:10 US Eastern, 14:10 Europe -  Only 50s for this breakaway, can't see this staying away in this weather.

08:10 US Eastern, 14:10 Europe -  74 km to go: LAMPAERT Yves (Soudal - Quick Step) pulling in peloton

08:09 US Eastern, 14:09 Europe -  Counter attack in peloton by  JAKOBSEN Fabio (Soudal - Quick Step)

08:09 US Eastern, 14:09 Europe -  Brutal day out!

08:05 US Eastern, 14:05 Europe -  Groups all over the road here. The peloton behind is much reduced, too.

08:03 US Eastern, 14:03 Europe -  79 km to go: The remining breakaway of 12 riders only have 38s

07:49 US Eastern, 13:49 Europe -  breakaway is now on climb Baneberg (1.2km à 6.6%)

07:49 US Eastern, 13:49 Europe -  89 km to go: Acceleration in peloton by  POLITT Nils (BORA - hansgrohe)

07:40 US Eastern, 13:40 Europe -  Some riders will pull out, not wanting to get sick before Flanders next week.

07:35 US Eastern, 13:35 Europe -  The peloton is going so hard, riders are being shelled out the back, feels like -2C out there!

07:35 US Eastern, 13:35 Europe -  97 km to go: Horrendous weather - Average race speed so far: 45.701 kph!

07:32 US Eastern, 13:32 Europe -  Mechanical problem for  PHILIPSEN Jasper (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in peloton

07:31 US Eastern, 13:31 Europe -  100 kilometers to the finish - things get interesting now!

07:18 US Eastern, 13:18 Europe -  Declercq and Van Emden continue at the head of the peloton. UAE Team Emirates also at the front.

07:14 US Eastern, 13:14 Europe -  Last year's winner Girmay has crashed, he's back on!

07:05 US Eastern, 13:05 Europe -  119 km to go: 14 man break has 2m 35s lead

07:05 US Eastern, 13:05 Europe -  BENNETT Sam (BORA - hansgrohe) abandoned the race.

07:05 US Eastern, 13:05 Europe -  KWIATKOWSKI Michal (INEOS Grenadiers) abandoned the race.

06:45 US Eastern, 12:45 Europe -  GANNA Filippo (INEOS Grenadiers) abandoned the race due to his crash earlier.

06:44 US Eastern, 12:44 Europe -   In the peloton it's Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep doing the work with those well-known workhorses Jos Van Emden and Tim Declercq leading the way.

06:42 US Eastern, 12:42 Europe -  Bad news for EF, though, as Lukasz Wisniowski goes down in a crash.

06:42 US Eastern, 12:42 Europe - 142 km to go: peloton is now on Veurnestraat (1.2km).

06:18 US Eastern, 12:18 Europe -  Looks brutal out there, windy, wet and cold!

06:16 US Eastern, 12:16 Europe -  8C and windy, there is around 50km before the breakaway reaches the fun at the Scherpenberg

06:15 US Eastern, 12:15 Europe -  The Bergs and Cobbles are on their way!

06:14 US Eastern, 12:14 Europe -  Last few winners:

2017 Greg Van Avermaet
2018 Peter Sagan
2019 Alexander Kristoff
2020 Mads Pedersen
2021 Wout Van Aert
2022 Biniam Girmay

06:13 US Eastern, 12:13 Europe -  Good to see Greg van Avermaet in the breakaway today!

06:12 US Eastern, 12:12 Europe -  Its open, windy, wet and cold - a normal spring day in Europe!

06:11 US Eastern, 12:11 Europe -  Flat ground here for the riders – we're still some way away from the hills and cobbles of the second half of the race. The riders are currently heading north towards the coast.

06:10 US Eastern, 12:10 Europe -  14 riders in the breakaway 3m 26s lead with 161km to go

06:10 US Eastern, 12:10 Europe -  14 riders in the breakaway 3m 26s lead with 161km to go

06:05 US Eastern, 12:05 Europe -  Breakaway: Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Milan Fretin, Aaron Van Poucke (Flanders-Baloise), Luca Van Boven, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bingoal WB), Colin Joyce (Human Powered Health), Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën), Yevgeniy Fedorov (Astana Qazaqstan), and Jelle Wallays (Cofidis), Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-Samsic), Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies), Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla)

06:04 US Eastern, 12:04 Europe -  Delayed feed in 5 minutes

06:03 US Eastern, 12:03 Europe -  Hello, welcome to coverage of the finish of Gent-Wevelgem

Gent-Wevelgem serves its traditional mix of cobbles, unpaved roads and 'Hellingen' on a route that adds up to 260.9 kilometres. The race usually comes down to an intriguing game of cat and mouse between leaders and chasers in the flat finale.

The riders set off from under the renowned Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres to traverse the flat fields of Flanders in the first half of the race. Crosswinds are free to do damage on the exposed terrain near the Belgian coast.

Just before reaching De Panne, a town with the widest beaches of the Flemish coast, the riders return. Tension rises as the race approaches the hilly zone and the first obstacle appears at kilometre 166. The Scherpenberg, Baneberg, Monteberg and Kemmelberg follow in quick succession before Gent-Wevelgem continues on a Flemish take to Strade Bianche. Three sections of so-called plugstreets – or unpaved roads – are tackled within 5 kilometres.

Some 10 kilometres after the last plugstreet the combo Monteberg/Kemmelberg returns and with 45 kilometres remaining the riders are back where the climbing started. They hit the Scherpenberg and Baneberg and head for the race’s centerpiece, Kemmelberg, which is now tackled from another side. This final haul up is particularly intimidating. Although it’s only 800 metres long, the average gradient sits at 10.1% and the steepest ramp goes up at 23%. Cobbles round out the experience.

The remaining 34 kilometres are played out on straight and exposed roads. There is only one change of direction, in Ypres, and chasers will have a perfect target if there are any attackers up the road.

The four targets that were up the road last year – Christophe Laporte, Jasper Stuyven, Biniam Girmay, Dries Van Gestel – sneaked away from a group of eighteen just before Ypres. The chase was ineffective and Gent-Wevelgem came down to a four-up sprint. Girmay took the spoils. The Eritrean made history as the first African rider to win a Flemish classic.

Gent-Wevelgem starts at 10:50 and the race is expected to finish around 16:45 – both are local times (CEST).

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