At the top of the cobbled climb with one lap complete a total of 12 riders would go clear never to be caught again, eight riders alongside the four riders from Drops-Le Col; Alice Barnes (CANYON – SRAM RACING), Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM), Anna Henderson (Team Jumbo-Visma), Josie Nelson (Team Coop-Hitec Products), Anna Shackley (Team SD Worx), Danielle Shrosbree (Team LDN – Brother UK), Jo Tindley (Pro-Noctis – Redchilli Bikes – Heidi Kjeldse) and Sophie Wright (Alè BTC Ljubljana).
The time gap would grow each time around and up the cobbled climb, and by the time the lead group reached the halfway point in the race (four laps remaining), the group of 12 had over a minute on the peloton behind.
Various attacks would come and go, a notable one for four riders, however a solo effort by Leah Dixon (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) looked to do the most damage to the time split, but nothing would come of it.
At the head of the race and with two laps to go, Pfeiffer Georgi produced the first attack out of the leading group on the climb through Lincoln, with only Henderson and Lowden being able to follow.
Behind, it would be Anna Shackley chasing hard to pull back the leading three riders a few kilometres later, Barnes, Nelson, and Wright alongside her making it a group of seven. A brief counter-attack over the top immediately by reigning national champion Alice Barnes was then pulled back.
The group would become 12 once again towards the end of the penultimate lap, with the remaining five riders re-joining the leaders, and with one lap to go they would cross the line and hear the final lap bell altogether.
