Andre Greipel has won the first edition of the Brussels Cycling Classic, the race that succeeds Paris – Bruxelles. A breakaway of six was formed in two times. After Jonathan Castroviejo, Björn Thurau and Julien Vermote had took off they got the company of Koen Barbé, Florent Barle and Laurens De Vreese 51 kilometers after the start. They had a maximal lead of five minutes. In the peloton Lotto Belisol took control.
Between 60 and 35 kilometers from the finish a battle began in the background. Several riders jumped away. Kenny Dehaes joined one attempt. None of the actions were successful. On the second ascent of the Smeysberg the front group fell apart. Barbé and Barle were dropped for good. The peloton broke in two pieces for a moment, but Lotto Belisol was well in front. Sander Cordeel and trainee Stig Broeckx were leading the chase on the leaders.
Seven kilometers from the end, when Jens Debusschere just had a puncture, the escapees were caught. Lars Boom set up a late attack, but in the final kilometer he was caught. German national champion André Greipel sprinted to the victory before his fellow countryman John Degenkolb and Nacer Bouhanni.
André Greipel: “We started with the idea to try to win this race, everybody was very motivated. The whole team really deserved the victory today, because we took the responsibility. The guys really did a great job to keep the break close enough, between a 1’ and 1’30” gap. Everybody of us was committed to prepare for a bunch sprint. This was good teamwork. It turned out well and I’m really happy. Every victory is special, but certainly here in Brussels as we are a Belgian team. The sponsors and riders are happy with the victory.”
“At the end Lars Boom jumped away, he is one of the guys who always tries a stunt like this. We had to gamble for the bunch sprint and hope he couldn’t hold the gap. In the last corner I was a bit far back, but Marcel Sieberg brought me in about tenth position. Then I had to go really early for the sprint, I already started with 350 meters to go. I think that’s why I could surprise everyone. When the last lead-out guy for Bouhanni finished his job I had to move to the left, but luckily I could pass. Without that I think I would have even gotten a bigger gap.”
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.