Jens Debusschere has won the Championship of Flanders today, his first victory as a pro! It was the 98th edition of this race in Koolskamp. The riders had to cover sixteen local laps, a total distance of 192 kilometers. It was a fast start. In the first hour 49,4 kilometers were covered. After many attempts of among others Vegard Breen and Kris Boeckmans, these four riders got ahead: Tim Declercq, Christopher Juul Jensen, Pim Ligthart and Floris Smeyers.
In the peloton Lotto Belisol controlled the pace together with Argos Shimano, who had Marcel Kittel in the selection. The leaders got up to a three minute gap. Together they entered the final lap. Juul Jensen survived the longest. A late attack by Kris Boeckmans couldn’t avoid a bunch sprint. After great preparatory work by the team Jens Debusschere was the strongest of the pack before Baptiste Planckaert and Michael Van Staeyen. It was the 25th victory for Lotto Belisol this season.
Jens Debusschere: “I’m very happy with my first victory as a pro. I had been close a few times, now I finally succeeded. It’s very pleasant to win again, it has been a while. The fact that I won a bunch sprint, makes it even more special. I couldn’t be happier. When I was standing on the podium I realized what I had achieved. After the finish people shout to you, but then the interviews follow quickly. On the podium you have a moment to yourself. It’s also nice that this is the Championship of Flanders and you get a jersey at the end. It’s a fun extra.”
“It was a pretty simple race to control. Argos Shimano and we took the lead of the bunch and kept the leaders within a reasonable distance. About four laps from the end the tempo rose. On a certain part of the route there was crosswind and then there’s always a danger for echelons, so you had to keep in front all the time. But for the rest it was pretty easy in the run-up to the sprint. Kenny Dehaes and Jorne Carolus led me to the sprint and as foreseen Jonas Van Genechten was my last man.”