Image 1 of 7
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne got here all the way down to a bunch dash after a brilliantly attacking race by the cobbles and hills of Flanders, with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) storming to victory forward of Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-PremierTech) on his twenty seventh birthday.
The 77th addition of this race took on a 196.9km route beginning in Kortrijk and ending in Kuurne, together with seven cobbled sectors and 20 named hills with the basic lap across the ending circuit.
This race has seen something from solo winners to mass bunch sprints. Various assaults went off the entrance of the peloton because the race left the beginning nevertheless it took a particularly very long time for the breakaway to type. But, after 45km of racing a gaggle of seven riders managed to pressure a significant hole and get away from the peloton.
Wave after wave of counter-attack from behind introduced again the break, with the sprinters’ groups taking full management and drag the break again with one lap to go.
The tempo was fast and Alpecin-Deceuninck timed their leadout superbly for his or her predominant man, Philipsen, who took the victory in a really highly effective sprinting efficiency.
“It’s slightly bit unbelievable to win in the present day on my twenty seventh birthday, for positive offers me some further energy!” the Belgian joked on the end. “It all got here collectively in the present day, we had a very sturdy group ultimately and it would not be potential with out them.
“I knew the possibilities of a bunch [sprint] had been fairly excessive, the half in between with the hills there have been some actions however there was at all times nonetheless a giant bunch combating to get again at all times, so it is actually tough to get away.”
How it unfolded
The riders concerned within the day’s break had been Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), Huub Artz (Intermarche-Wanty), Ward Vanhoof (Flanders-Baloise), Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor), Tomáš Kopecký (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Ceriel Desal (Wagner Bazin WB), Axandre Van Petegem (Wagner Bazin WB). They had a most hole of over 4 and a half minutes on the peloton.
Heading into the ultimate 100km Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) was dropped from the bunch, whereas there was an assault by Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) and Thimo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
The latter had a entrance wheel puncture which noticed him drop out of the attacking group and to the again of the peloton. Behind this new transfer there was wave after wave of assaults, primarily led by Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson and Tiesj Benoot, however Lidl-Trek saved a stranglehold on the race with Jonathan Milan a giant favorite at the beginning of the day.
On the toughest climb of the race, the cobbled Mont Saint Laurent, there have been extra assaults with Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Stan Dewulf getting clear and bridging to Askey, who was dropped by Narváez.
This group swelled with 16 riders getting away from the principle peloton with 80km to go, and Narváez dropping again into the group too. Just 5km later the brand new attacking group was dragged again below management by the sprinters’ groups, however the likes of Wellens saved on attempting to pressure a break.
On the ultimate cobbled climb, the Oude Kruisberg, Jorgenson and Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) tried as soon as once more: Van Aert put in a really lengthy acceleration on the entrance however he wasn’t capable of break up the group.
Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) went off the entrance of the pack on his personal and put in an awesome effort pushing throughout to the break. Behind him, Wellens kicked once more and made his means throughout to Bissegger earlier than he obtained to the break.
In the peloton the tempo dropped dramatically because the favourites blocked any assaults on the Côte du Trieu earlier than kicking arduous excessive, stretching the bunch out into one lengthy line and two large teams, however Soudal-QuickStep dragged all of it again collectively.
On the ultimate climb of the day, the Kluisberg, with 60km to go, Van Aert attacked arduous with solely Roger Adrià (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) capable of observe the celebrity. But with Adrià not working, Van Aert determined that he would not drag the Spaniard to the end and sat as much as rejoin the Soudal-QuickStep-led peloton.
After the duo had been introduced again it was the sprinters’ groups that took over within the peloton, maintaining the tempo excessive as they tried to manage the hole to the break and dragging them again. An assault within the break by De Bondt with slightly below 40km to go managed to do nothing however drop his teammate, Bissegger, in addition to Van Petegem with them each rapidly getting caught by the peloton.
The remaining seven riders within the break continued to assault one another with Wellens going solo on the ultimate cobbled sector of the Beerbosstraat with De Bondt, Mayrhofer and Desal capable of observe him.
The 4 riders who kicked clear obtained their hole as much as 42” once more however the sprinters’ groups within the peloton obtained every little thing below management and the leaders had simply 15” heading into the ultimate 20km.
As they crossed the circuit’s end line for the penultimate time the breakaway tried another time to get away, with Mayrhofer the final man clear earlier than the break was caught, with simply over 10km to go.
The tempo continued to ratchet up because the kilometres ticked down by the technical lap round Kuurne, with Alpecin-Deceuninck ready till the ultimate 2km to carry Philipsen in direction of the entrance. The group executed the leadout completely with Jonas Rickaert and Kaden Groves organising their man, with Kooij not capable of swing across the Belgian, and Israel-Premier Tech’s Hofstetter following the wheels all the way in which to 3rd place on the day.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling