A packed field of top riders in the Pro/Am Invitational Zwift Classics Crit City Slam contested a fast and furious eRace, with Irishman Christopher McGlinchey (Vitus) taking the sprint after a huge late attack from Gavin Dempster (Draft) failed in the last moments.
The riders faced the short, mostly flat circuit ten times, and the high power output needed just to stay in the front group led to a number of riders using their power-ups early then fading out the back.
An attack from Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee (Super League Triathlon) stirred up the pot with 12km to go but the move was too soon and he was quickly marked by his rivals. Rory Townsend (Canyon DHB) tried to shake things up, but Brownlee's teammate Vincent Luis came to the front to reel him in.
Article continues below
With less than 1km to go, Dempster put in his dig, going all out with more than 10W/Kg to open a strong gap. Wessel Krul (SEG) tried to join him but both riders faded at the last moment and McGlinchey claimed the victory by a hair.
It was a big upgrade for the 26-year-old who was eighth in the Zwift London International earlier this month.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Brief Results
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Christopher McGlinchey (Irl) Virtu Pro cycling
2
Ollie Jones (NZl) Canyon
3
Brad Gouveris (RSA) Turbo
4
Samuel Brännlund (Swe)
5
Ryan Larson (USA)
6
Jonathan Levie (KISS)
7
Lionel Vujasin (Bel) Canyon
8
Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon dhb
9
Gavin Dempster (GBr)
10
Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon dhb
Zwift Classics
April 5 - Yorkshire Grand Prix Pro/Am Invitational race, 7pm BST / 2pm EDT
April 9 - London International Pro/Am Invitational race, 7pm BST / 2pm EDT
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
Cyclingnews' regular columnist Philippa York casts her eye over the favourites and hopefuls for the maglia rosa and other competitions before the Giro gets underway in Bulgaria
