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Mark Donovan second in Geraardsbergen

Mark Donovan scored a second place in the Muur Classic Geraardsbergen, a one-day race over the iconic climb in Flanders. Milan Vader also finished in the top ten of the 177.8 kilometer long race that featured the ‘Muur’ three times and finished on De Vesten in Geraardsbergen.

It was a fast race from the start for the 22 teams. There never was an established breakaway as attacks followed each other in quick succession. The decisive attack happened at 56 kilometers and Donovan was part of it.

27 August 2025

“I knew I had good legs from the start,” Donovan reacted. “The race was full on from the first time up the Muur at 90 kilometers. We missed the first attack but it all came back. Then another group went and I ended up in this group of eight riders. I think those were eight of the strongest in the race today. In the penultimate lap Abrahamsen attacked and I was the only one to follow.”

After that attack at 36 kilometers Donovan and Abrahamsen worked well together up the Muur for the last time and into the final lap. At 5,5 kilometers from the line the Norwegian attacked and Donovan didn’t have an answer. He did fight on to secure second place, one of his best results this season.

“It was a hot and a hard day so I did get a bit of cramp,” he said. “On the final lap it just started to hurt and when he did that effort I didn’t have much left. I could hold on for second though. It was a hard day of racing and there was not much I could do about Abrahamsen.”

Sports director Jens Zemke wanted to repeat the great performance the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team had in 2024 with Fabio Christen in third and Mark Donovan in sixth.

“I really encouraged the boys to try and get this good result again in this race. We saw halfway into the race we had Mark, Milan, Frederik Frison and Rory Townsend in the first group which was a good team effort already. Then that group of eight went. I think second was the best outcome for Mark although he did close in on Abrahamsen in the final. He pushed hard. Happy team here with an allround good team performance with Milan in tenth place.”