Benji Naesen

That was the thought process going into this race.

Now,

I was also of the opinion that if the gaps were not made at the top of the Montoso climb, I didn't expect it to happen in the last 60% of this race.

Let's just say that it's pretty wrong about that.

And I'm happy to be wrong about this because today's race ended up being one of the most entertaining races of the entire year, for sure.

No, we had a recap highlight at the start of the footage, and we started in the valley after that second climb.

Cavalier was gone, though, and I think she was in the first group, right?

Am I wrong in saying that?

Cavalier was not present at the top of the climb, right?

Okay.

But she wasn't far.

That's an important factor.

Because FDG Suez has the strongest second best rider in their team.

Dixon is better than Cavallar.

So if FDG Suez decides to open up on Montoso, then there's no way that it's not just van der Beek at the top, unless Cavallar has a great day, which she probably still had a good day, but she wasn't there at the top of the climb.

So...

To be honest, I wasn't too shocked at the group dynamic or the leftover riders in that group at the top of that climb.

It's now that we're trying to piece together what actually happened based on the fact that our ticker suddenly changed, Patrick.

Just before the broadcast started, our ticker went from, oh, this race looks absolutely boring because, okay, race must be over because the gap was not made on the climb to, wait a second, voting an Alav on the Brecken or suddenly two minutes 24 behind the front of the race?

What happened?