Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) scored an impressive victory on debut with a devastating sprint following a pulsating, high-octane edition of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday.
Tudor Pro Cycling redeemed a difficult weekend in which they lost both Stefan Küng and Rick Pluimers following brutal crashes during Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, rounding out the podium courtesy of Luca Mozzato and Matteo Trentin who finished second and third respectively.
“All day I was a little bit nervous after yesterday’s crash,” Brennan said. “I hit the floor pretty hard and unfortunately I was caught out, but I had a great guy, Pietro Mattio, who really burnt all his bullets to bring me back and from there. I think it was on the Kruisberg I was able to move forward and get in the move with all the guys, and we just went full gas.
“We really wanted to make it hard, we knew we were in the best possible position there and we took the initiative and I’m so happy that it paid off.”
Speaking about his lead-out, Brennan said, “We had basically the whole team until the last 2km. In the end, Christophe did an amazing pull towards the finish and I just did the easy part and just did 100 metres. I can’t thank them enough.”
When asked what it means for a British rider to win this race, Brennan said, “I’ve ridden this race twice as a junior and we’ve always stood at the finish line and watched all the pros come through, and to be in that situation now where I can finally say I put my hands up in the air and I’ve actually won the pro race is fantastic.”
On it being his first Belgian Classics victory, he added, “First one – hopefully more to come. That’s the ambition anyway. Flanders, Roubaix, all these races are super iconic; one day I’d like to have my hands up in the air in one of them. It might take a while but we’ll give it our best shot.”
How the race unfolded
Beginning in Kortrijk, part two of Opening Weekend in Belgium offered a challenge of 195km, with just over 2,000m of elevation to contend with. Taking to the start line as defending champion, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was looking to make it a perfect weekend for his team following an imperious victory by teammate Mathieu van der Poel at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad yesterday.
An early breakaway of five riders – Cole Kessler (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), Matis Louvel (NSN Pro Cycling), Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), Frits Biesterbos (Picnic-PostNL) and Johan Jacobs (Groupama-United) – made it clear after just over 30km of racing.
They were later joined by Roger Adrià (Movistar) and Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X), with the leaders enjoying a gap of 4:00 ahead of the key action of the day. A few significant crashes early in the day saw abandons including Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), and Rory Townsend and Elmar Reinders (Unibet Tietema Rockets).
Usually considered a race for the sprinters, recent editions have seen teams willing to take the race on from the front succeed and scupper the fast men, and it looked as though this edition may follow a similar pattern, with multiple attacks from a series of hopefuls repeatedly splitting the bunch.
With 90km remaining, Lotto-Intermarché took charge of the chase, using one of the day’s punchy climbs to crank up the pace on behalf of Arnaud De Lie with the result of stretching out the peloton, and causing some of the big favourites to lose touch, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
Heading onto the Mont Saint-Laurent cobbles, however, it was Philipsen himself who struck out with an attack of his own, immediately gapping the rest of the bunch. Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) suffered a puncture, putting him into difficulty for the second day running after his mechanical issue at Omloop yesterday.
Arnaud De Lie paid for his aggressive efforts, dropping away from the bunch, and with Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Tietema Rockets) dropping alongside Milan, it once again looked ominous for the pure sprinters.
There was a temporary entente cordiale with 80km remaining in the race, until Decathlon-CMA CGM imposed themselves at the head of the bunch ahead of the Kruisberg, but as they hit the cobbles, Philipsen attacked again, and briefly moved clear with a small group of nine riders that included three from Decathlon.
Dylan van Baarle (Soudal-QuickStep) tried his luck attacking towards the summit of the Côte du Trieu and he was followed by Visma-Lease a Bike’s Timo Kielich. Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious), prominent at the front of the peloton for some time, was able to work his way over to the pair along with a handful of others, and the impact of the climb and the attack was noticeable, with the bunch splitting in the wake of Van Baarle and the rest, who pushed on the descent, eating into the advantage of the break which dropped to 40 seconds.
The group contained some serious firepower, but a concerted effort from Alpecin-Premier Tech amongst others brought the bunch back with just over 60km remaining.
Two distinct pelotons regrouped just in time for the final climb of the day, the Kluisberg, only to split again, around 13 riders pushing clear including Van Baarle and Kielich again, this time with two teammates including Matthew Brennan, and they bridged to the early break to form a substantial lead group that nursed a slender lead for a few kilometres.
The peloton managed to sew it back up again and with 48km remaining, the group turned into crosswinds and split into echelons, with Philipsen anticipating and instigating the front group with Decathlon and Visma-Lease a Bike.
A second group, driven by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, made contact with the leaders shortly after, and with 39km to go Lidl-Trek’s Héctor Álvarez launched solo from the lead group of 22 riders and found some space. The 19-year-old impressed, maintaining his lead for a short while but was caught on a section of cobbles.
With Philipsen taking a bike change, it was Decathlon-CMA CGM and Visma-Lease a Bike who led the regrouped peloton over the finish line for the first time, and it looked promising for the sprinters remaining in the front group.
Despite a last-gasp effort from a late breakaway group to force a different outcome, a huge effort from Decathlon ensured the race would end in a bunch finish. It wasn’t to go the way of the French team, however, as Visma-Lease a Bike executed the perfect final to position Brennan, and once the Briton had launched, with the likes of Philipsen and Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon-CMA CGM) out of position, there was no doubting the outcome.
Brennan powered to victory and concluded Opening Weekend with hope for a bright future for both Visma-Lease a Bike and his home nation.
Results
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