After beating Egalantine Rayer in a close sprint last year, Evita Muzic had things a little bit easier in the 2023 Alpes Gresivaudan Classic. For a start, Rayer was on the same team which helped to potentially neutralise that threat, but when Muzic went clear on a wet descent, there were no riders left able to close the gap and challenge her. Muzic reached the finish line solo and had plenty of time to celebrate her second victory in this race.
The early steep climb saw the peloton in absolute bits from the off. By the time the live coverage started there were only around 20-25 riders still at the front of the race. 3 of those were off the front and were for a long time. Camille Fahy, Jade Wiel and Spela Kern spent 100 kilometres off the front of the bunch before eventually getting clawed back.
Their gap was never much more than 1 minute but the tough climbing reduced team numbers to the point where it was tough to launch any concerted steady chase. Once Fahy was dropped, her teammates on St Michel-Mavic-Auber93 tried their best to close the gap. With Dilyxine Miermont looking the strongest rider on the day from the team in orange, Coralie Demay and Simone Boilard were spotted regularly doing stints, dropping and then coming back.
On the second of two ascents of the Côte des Petites Roches, Evita Muzic attacked and only Ursa Pintar and Morgane Coston were able to react and go with the star rider and pre-race favourite. Coston was then dropped on a horseshoe bend before gradually reeling in the two riders ahead up to the summit of the climb. Whilst we were treated to an ad break about all that the Gresivaudan region has to offer, the lead riders were subjected to a huge downpour that changed the dynamics of the race. With a long descent, Evita Muzic proved to be the most comfortable with the conditions and was able to go clear through her technique. Pintar and Coston were relatively close behind but unable to close the gap.
By the finish line, Muzic was the only rider in sight and was able to celebrate alone, Pintar finished 2nd with a small gap on Coston in 3rd. Dilyxine Miermont was 4th the best result of her UCI-level career.
2023 Alpes Gresivaudan Classic
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