Mathieu van der Poel will not line up at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday. He did briefly consider it, however, especially after his dominant dub at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The Dutch star ultimately opted against adding the second cobbled classic to his schedule.
His team, Alpecin-Premier Tech, now shifts its full focus to defending champion Jasper Philipsen and Australian sprinter Kaden Groves. Race director Peter Debaveye said to Het Laatste Nieuws that it was a shame there’s no MvdP, but also said there is still a very strong peloton racing.
Although there is no women’s race, there are two Canadian men in the mix today. NSN Cycling’s Guillaume Boivin from Montreal, will be there. Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que.’s Nick Zukowsky of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team will also line up.
On Saturday, van der Poel was cool as a komkommer in the race. Always at the front and then making, and driving what became the winning move. He would eventually drop the small break and cruise to victory. This was his first go at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
In the women’s race, Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) broke away and powered to the finish line together. They had to keep working until only a few hundred metres to go, as a chase group was less than half a minute behind.
Laval, Que.’s Emilie Fortin (Minimax Cycling Team) was the hero of the day, however, spending 93km in the break. She was with three other women: Lea Lin Teutenberg, Britt De Grave and Jony Van Den Eijnden. Ultimately it was just Fortin and De Grave in the lead until they were caught with 40 km left.
You can watch Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on FloBikes.com. Coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. EST. Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a full report after.
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