Coming back from the Tour du Rwanda, we can only say: Wow!
The race has been a major success for us, and it really shows us what our boys are capable of, at least when the WT riders aren't around to dictate the race.
I'm very happy I choose to go with the team to Rwanda as a DS, because it was a wonderful trip. Meanwhile the boys back home fought in the Belgian Opening weekend, I'll give a small update on that first.
For the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there oddly wasn't a very strong startlist. Daniel Dierickx profited fully from that and actually managed to pull off a major achievement by finishing 6th! That only goes to show how big his engine is. Talk about making a good first impression in Flanders!
We also had Arthur Roets riding in the breakaway all day!
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - Top 15
1
Marcus Burghardt
BORA - hansgrohe
5h31'31
2
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
CCC Team
s.t.
3
Nils Politt
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
4
Luke Rowe
Team Sky
s.t.
5
Damien Gaudin
Direct Energie
s.t.
6
Daniel Dierickx
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
+ 35
7
Phil Bauhaus
Bahrain - Merida
+ 1'18
8
Daryl Impey
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
9
Fabio Sabatini
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
10
Sean De Bie
Roompot-Charles
s.t.
11
Jens Debusschere
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
12
Jean Pierre Drucker
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
13
Gediminas Bagdonas
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
14
Roel Huyge
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
15
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
Kuurne the next day was perhaps another good chance for our boys. Dierickx and Roets completely sacrificed themselves for Huyge, hoping for his fast kick to get us another top 10, but it wasn't meant to be. In the mass sprint, he finished 16th. Not bad, but not amazingly good either.
And so let's go to Rwanda, because exciting things have happened there!
Tour du Rwanda :: Part I - Charmed!
When we asked Maxime Thomas who his favorite rider was, he said Thomas De Gendt, without thinking. Turns out this is not a coincidence. Maxime was relentless in his attacking in this 8-day stage race. Sometimes at the start of the race, sometimes in the middle, sometimes near the end. It didn't yield to any result, besides the occasional intermediate sprint reward, but he charmed the whole cycling community, without a doubt.
The one I'll remember most is when he had attacked, but been brought back. The tempo went up and he had to let the front group go. When things slowed down a little, he caught up, went to the front and immediately attacked again.
It's the folly of youth. But what a wonderful folly to watch!
Tour du Rwanda :: Part II - A Battle of Kings!
Maxime wasn't the only one to show his strength. Joris Cuyper, not even 20 years old, managed to get in the breakaway on the second stage. He took the King of the Mountain jersey there.
Asking him about it after the race, we decided to try and defend it until the end.
And so we did. Maxime was a major help, but mostly Joris did it himself. Especially Nikodemus Holler was dead set on the jersey himself, he wanted to crown himself King of the Mountains.
What followed was a battle for kingship, with these two together at the front, almost every day. In the end, Joris prevailed, bringing home our very first jersey for 2019!
Tour du Rwanda :: Part III - Fighting Spirit
The list goes on! During all these fighting, the other boys were looking for their chance to shine. And one of them found it.
On stage 5, three of our guys were in the front group of 35 riders. There were 20 km left to go and it went uphill, at a slope of about 5-6%. Waiting for a sprint would not result in a win, so Noah Poulin decided to gamble. All or nothing. He went and attacked and got a 40 second lead pretty easily. But he had to keep his lead until the end!
He fought hard, and it payed off. A second victory for our team! This one tastes very sweet indeed!
Tour du Rwanda :: Part IV - Mental Strength
And finally, arguably the greatest achievement over the entire race (though we can't underestimate the other riders' efforts!), Damien Michaud tried to ride a decent GC for this race. After two stages, he was placed 12th, so it looked good.
Damien performed on the level day after day and slowly moved up the GC, to 11th, to 8th, back to 12th. And just when you think he might crack, he pulls out his greatest performance on the final stage, only to end up 7th in the Final Classification.
Well done, Damien! And a big congratulations to the entire squad. I was proud to be with these boys during this race!
Tour du Rwanda - General Classification - Top 20
1
Ben Hermans
Israël - Cycling Academy
24h01'40
2
Lilian Calmejane
Direct Energie
+ 2'00
3
Laurens De Plus
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 5'47
4
Dries Devenyns
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 7'07
5
Sander Armée
Lotto Soudal
+ 7'34
6
Matej Mohoric
Bahrain - Merida
+ 9'31
7
Damien Michaud
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
+ 12'03
8
Fabio Felline
Trek - Segafredo
+ 12'51
9
Jack Haig
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 12'54
10
Amanuel Gebreigzabhier
Team Dimension Data
+ 14'20
11
Rohan Dennis
Bahrain - Merida
+ 14'22
12
Niklas Eg
Trek - Segafredo
+ 16'18
13
Nicolas Roche
Team Sunweb
+ 16'26
14
Anthony Roux
Groupama - FDJ
+ 18'08
15
Tomasz Marczynski
Lotto Soudal
+ 19'06
16
Manuel Senni
Bardiani CSF
+ 20'10
17
Moreno Moser
Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè
+ 21'46
18
Marco Canola
Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè
+ 22'16
19
Frederik Backaert
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 22'44
20
Matteo Montaguti
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
+ 22'45
Tour du Rwanda - Mountain Classification - Top 5
1
Joris Cuyper
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
99
2
Ben Hermans
Israël - Cycling Academy
70
3
Nikodemus Holler
Bike Aid
60
4
Jack Haig
Mitchelton-Scott
56
5
Lilian Calmejane
Direct Energie
42
Unfortunately, the bad news is that Louis Leroy's back injury is healing more slowly than we hoped, he might be out until mid April. Sad to see his early season ruined like that. Let's hope he can kick back later this year!
- Ian
Wow, a great result in Omloop but also a fantastic team race in Rwanda in a very strong field it must be said. Already a Maxime Thomas De Gendt fan
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
I had forgotten how great it was to write on PCM.Daily, with the daily support! That's really great! Thanks!
canojuancho - Thanks. It's a great team, I really like them!
sutty68 - Nice to be back, Mr. S Thanks! It wouldn't be a story without a comment from you!
Tamijo - It was a great race. Some of our boys in excellent form, too. I'm still getting to know the game, I may have peaked some boys too early...
VoetsT - Most definitely!
jandal7 - Glad to see Maxime already has some fans
the_hoyle - Yes, very welcome points for the CQ ranking, too!
I think I'm getting the hang of this game. Just raced a few nice races, so I will probably up the difficulty now Edited by Ian Butler on 06-03-2019 20:34
It's not easy, leading a team of 20 neopros in the PCT circuit. Obviously we've already gotten lots of criticism, people saying our license as a PCT shouldn't be valid with such a change of squad. I hope our results so far have proven the critics wrong, we're definitely not the worst ranked team in the PCT so far.
Yet, the last few races have been tough. But there's a reason for that. Our project has been very deliberate with working with climbers, boys from Belgium who otherwise would have to find Italian, French or Spanish teams to get their real chance at improving their craft. Unfortunately, we've been having a tough time securing invitations for several races. We're missing out on a few stage races we'd liked to be part of.
On the other hand, the sponsor asks us to ride in many Belgian races, and we do, with pleasure. But the results there are very mixed. Besides a great Omloop, our Classics riders haven't been performing very well. We got another top 10 spot in GP Monseré, but after that we've had some tough races.
Still, we are not without hope. The stage races we will enter, we'll just have to prove we belong there. And our Classics riders can step up their game, for certain. And we also have the hilly classics to look forward, too. Both the WT ones, and the smaller ones, where we might have a chance at a victory.
In other news, Sporza has been very interested in our project. Since we've received a wildcard for the Ronde van Vlaanderen, they intend to follow us all day that day with a camera crew. A team full of neopros starting at the Ronde, they think it's very special.
I agree.
A grand reversal of fortune! Only 9 days ago I posted that it was a rough time for us, that we were having some tough races.
Well, the boys certainly picked up on the message! Oh and how!
Today I have three achievements for you. It's up to you to vote which achievement is the greatest. Search within your heart and tell us whose performance you rank the highest!
A. Huyge and the Sprint Train
In GP de Denain, the peloton was headed for a mass sprint. We had a few strong riders ready to make way for our sprinter, Roel Huyge. He was feeling good that day, so if we could get him in position, that'd be great!
It all started with Maxime Thomas, who pulled more than his weight. He set the pace for over 25 km, discouraging any further attacks and bringing the peloton closer to that mass sprint.
After that, Mustafa Bousaid took up the role of bringing Huyge to the front, and keeping him there. He set a tremendous pace and made sure our sprinter could contend for the victory.
Yet, a sprint train is useless without a finisher. Roel Huyge went from wheel to wheel and timed his final punch perfectly. A second victory for him this season. The 23 year old is definitely making use of his chances!
Final Top 10 - GP de Denain
1
Roel Huyge
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
4h53'20
2
Matteo Pelucchi
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
s.t.
3
Clément Venturini
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
4
Samuel Dumoulin
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
5
Boy Van Poppel
Roompot-Charles
s.t.
6
Juan Jose Lobato
Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè
s.t.
7
Sondre Holst Enger
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
8
Daniele Bennati
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Jonas Rickaert
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
10
Anthony Roux
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
B. Breakaway of the day - with benefits!
Obviously the Record Bank E3 - Harelbeke is going to be super important for us. We had high hopes of Dierickx. And while he certainly didn't disappoint, finishing 21th on his first E3, another rider of our team took all the glory for himself.
Tim Baets was the first attacker of the day, and one of the five riders to spend the entire day at the front. Baets is a monster rider, the biggest engine I've ever seen on a 22 year old.
Suddenly it started looking close for the peloton, would they even catch the breakaway group? Had they miscalculated? Greg Van Avermaet wouldn't leave it up to chance and attacked - and reached the breakaway group.
But the five brave men refused to let Van Avermaet go. They held on to the pace and Van Avermaet took them to the finish line. The peloton had, in fact, miscalculated. That meant we were in for a top 6!
Even greater, Van Avermaet had jumped and was in it, all or nothing. The other riders at the front had spent the entire day riding, so Van Avermaet did all the work himself. But maybe he dug a little too deep? Either way, he had no punch left at the end. Vuillermoz was the fastest and took the victory, while Baets surprised everyone, including me, by finishing 2nd, just ahead of Van Avermaet, in this E3 Harelbeke.
HO-LY COW!
Final Top 15 - Record Bank E3 - Harelbeke
1
Alexis Vuillermoz
Ag2r La Mondiale
5h20'42
2
Tim Baets
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
s.t.
4
Kenny Molly
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
5
Arjen Livyns
Roompot-Charles
s.t.
6
Jorge Arcas
Movistar Team
s.t.
7
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 33
8
Arnaud Démare
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
9
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
10
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
11
Oliver Naesen
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
12
Jasper Stuyven
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
13
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
14
Zdeněk Štybar
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
15
Mike Teunissen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
C. Attack, Attack, Attack
Three guesses who this is about. You're right, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite and not without reason. Maxime Thomas, the boy from Wallonie who admires Thomas De Gendt and who resembles him in riding style.
In Classic Loire Atlantique, he showed off a little more of his attacking magic. You can't win if you don't try, that's his motto.
And you know what that means. If you do try, you can win. He went looking for glory some 40 km from the finish. He brought along four others. They worked together extremely well and went to the final kilometers together. There, Maxime launched yet another attack. He got a few dozen meters, that's about it. He kept that lead straight until the finish line. If the finish line were five meters further, he might've lost, but he calculated his efforts perfectly.
A fourth victory this season for us, three months into the season. We've had our ups and downs, but the ups are leading!
Final Top 10 - Classic Loire Atlantique
1
Maxime Thomas
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
4h33'49
2
Odd Christian Eiking
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
3
Delio Fernández
Delko Marseille Provence KTM
s.t.
4
Matteo Busato
Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
+ 12
5
Yoann Bagot
Vital Concept - B&B Hotels
s.t.
6
Maxime Bouet
Arkéa - Samsic
+ 24
7
Rudy Molard
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
8
Romain Hardy
Arkéa - Samsic
s.t.
9
Axel Domont
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
10
Elie Gesbert
Arkéa - Samsic
s.t.
So let us know below which performance ranks the highest in your book!
Here are the candidates once more:
A) Huyge and the Sprint Train
B) Breakaway of the day - with benefits!
C) Attack, Attack, Attack!
Wow three great races. Super happy to see Maxime get a victory already due to his attacking, Huyge looks like a strong and intelligent sprinter, but you can’t argue with an E3 podium for a Belgian neo-pro, Baets gets my vote!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
valverde321 - It probably depends on what team you play with? If you have favorites or not. And, of course, a bit of luck never hurts!
sutty68 - Sure are!
the_hoyle - Yeah, so unexpected, too. That never happened to me in PCM before, that the breakaway makes it to the finish line in a WT classic!
Hope you don't mind about this pace for now. Like I said, for the first time in forever I have nothing to do for a few days, and I'm quite excited about this new PCM so that explains it.
Next week, busy schedule kicks in again, while the new-ness of PCM wears off, it'll be a much more leisurely pace!
For now, I've put it on normal difficulty, I'm getting the hang of the game. Eventually I'll probably end up on Hard difficulty.
Even though our main focus lies in climbing, and finding talented climbers in Belgium, we have plenty of stakes in the fire in the cobbled races. Some of our guys are born Flandriens and we want to develop our team in all possible directions.
Gent - Wevelgem and the Ronde Van Vlaanderen were two big goals for this early season. Especially for Dierickx, Huyge and Leroy. Unfortunately, Leroy is still injured and won't be back until after the early season. Shows how important your back is, and how easily it can give you a lot of pain.
After our very surprising result in Record Bank E3 - Harelbeke, some pressure was already off our shoulders. The sponsors are already quite happy with what we've shown. Still, a team of 20 neopros means, besides inexperience, that these boys are always hungry!
Oh, and before you ask, yes we also raced in Dwars Door Vlaanderen. But we didn't even make the top 50 there, so nothing to report from that race.
Gent - Wevelgem
The story of Wevelgem is easily told. An early breakaway getting caught some 30 km before the finish line, and then a sprint of 24 riders.
Kris Catelyn was in the breakaway of the day, and actually attacked out of it with 50 km to go. He rode some 20 km at the front of the race, before being swallowed by the peloton.
Unfortunately, Huyge was not strong enough to survive the hills, and we had no man in the first group of the race. Catelyn was our best finisher, at 30th place.
Gent - Wevelgem Top 10
1
Sonny Colbrelli
Bahrain - Merida
5h54'09
2
Sam Bennett
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
3
John Degenkolb
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
4
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
5
Arnaud Démare
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
6
Elia Viviani
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
7
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
8
Jens Debusschere
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
9
Gianni Moscon
Team Sky
s.t.
10
Jurgen Roelandts
Movistar Team
s.t.
Ronde Van Vlaanderen
A more exciting story, both for the average cycling fan and for our fans! Sporza followed our team for an entire day with camera crews. So don't be afraid if you see my face on television any day soon. Just remember that my wife has to look at that face every day. You'll be okay.
Back to the race. It was important for our sponsor to get in the breakaway of the day in the most important race in Flanders.
We could count on Maxime Thomas to do that. That's why we brought him here!
Better yet, when the peloton started breaking up in pieces in the last half of the race, Thomas easied up a little, let himself get caught and then rode his heart out for about 10 km, not allowing riders in the background to catch back up. This was invaluable work for Dierickx, who had been racing very attentively and was still in this favorites' group!
And still it gets better. Dierickx, as a neopro, managed to hang on to the accelerations on the Kwaremont. With 40 km left to go, he was within the top 13 of the race. Nobody expected him to set the pace, and - acting on our counsil - he kept a low profile.
Further attacks wore him down, though, and when a group of 4 riders sped away, he had a tough moment. However, he did hang on in the chasing group and even took turns now. And that with the whole of Flanders watching!
Unfortunately, the four attackers worked together well and managed to sprint for the top spots. Kristoff was unbeatable in the sprint and takes this year's Ronde Van Vlaanderen.
Despite his best efforts, Dierickx is not a sprinter, and so he finished next to last in the chasing group. But that's only a footnoot in today's story. He finishes 10th in his first Ronde Van Vlaanderen.
I need only to remind you that he is 21 years old, and then you might figure out that our ambitious goal of winning a monument might not be so far fetched after all...
Ronde Van Vlaanderen - Full Result
1
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
6h31'14
2
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
s.t.
3
Oliver Naesen
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
4
Tiesj Benoot
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
5
Arnaud Démare
Groupama - FDJ
+ 1'36
6
Matteo Trentin
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
7
Laurens De Vreese
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
8
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
9
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
10
Daniel Dierickx
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Dylan Van Baarle
Team Sky
s.t.
12
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 3'41
13
Philippe Gilbert
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 4'27
14
Gianni Moscon
Team Sky
+ 5'12
15
Silvan Dillier
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
Spoiler
16
Marcus Burghardt
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
17
Jens Debusschere
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
18
Niki Terpstra
Direct Energie
s.t.
19
Lukas Pöstlberger
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
20
John Degenkolb
Trek - Segafredo
+ 6'14
21
Zdeněk Štybar
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 6'45
22
Sacha Modolo
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
23
Jens Keukeleire
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
24
Ian Stannard
Team Sky
s.t.
25
Sonny Colbrelli
Bahrain - Merida
s.t.
26
Luke Rowe
Team Sky
s.t.
27
Mike Teunissen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
28
Magnus Cort Nielsen
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
29
Sebastian Langeveld
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
30
Gijs Van Hoecke
CCC Team
s.t.
31
Adrien Petit
Direct Energie
+ 8'23
32
Ignatas Konovalovas
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
33
Daniel Oss
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
34
Danny Van Poppel
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
35
Stijn Vandenbergh
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
36
Nelson Oliveira
Movistar Team
s.t.
37
Nikolas Maes
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
38
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
39
Piet Allegaert
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
40
Dries Devenyns
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
41
Elia Viviani
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
42
Jurgen Roelandts
Movistar Team
s.t.
43
Salvatore Puccio
Team Sky
s.t.
44
Nils Politt
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
45
Bert Van Lerberghe
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
46
Alexis Gougeard
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
47
Dion Smith
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 10'14
48
Edward Theuns
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
49
Sven Erik Bystrøm
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
50
Maxime Thomas
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
51
Julien Vermote
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
52
Luka Mezgec
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
53
Andrea Pasqualon
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
54
Ramon Sinkeldam
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
55
Mads Pedersen
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
56
Marc Sarreau
Groupama - FDJ
+ 11'37
57
Maarten Wynants
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
58
Max Walscheid
Team Sunweb
s.t.
59
Preben Van Hecke
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
60
Martijn Van Amstel
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
61
Grega Bole
Bahrain - Merida
s.t.
62
Tim Baets
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
+ 12'30
63
Jos Van Emden
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
64
Nikias Arndt
Team Sunweb
s.t.
65
Baptiste Planckaert
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
66
Matthieu Ladagnous
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
67
Damien Gaudin
Direct Energie
+ 14'09
68
Søren Kragh Andersen
Team Sunweb
+ 14'49
69
Kris Catelyn
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
70
Mads Würtz
Team Katusha- Alpecin
+ 15'36
71
Sam Bennett
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
72
Jhonatan Narváez
Team Sky
+ 16'08
73
Stijn Devolder
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
74
Jan Polanc
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
75
Yves Lampaert
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 16'39
76
Mustafa Bousaid
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
77
Pascal Eenkhoorn
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 17'27
78
Roel Huyge
Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team
s.t.
79
Jérôme Baugnies
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
80
Iljo Keisse
Deceuninck-Quick Step
+ 18'18
81
Christophe Laporte
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 19'00
82
Héctor Carretero
Movistar Team
s.t.
83
Kenneth Vanbilsen
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
84
Thomas Sprengers
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
85
Pieter Vanspeybrouck
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
86
Michael Gogl
Trek - Segafredo
s.t.
87
Tom Devriendt
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
88
Serge Pauwels
CCC Team
+ 20'50
89
Lasse Norman Hansen
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
90
Dries Van Gestel
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
+ 21'25
91
Lilian Calmejane
Direct Energie
s.t.
92
Jan Tratnik
Bahrain - Merida
s.t.
93
Leonardo Basso
Team Sky
+ 21'56
94
Nathan Van Hooydonck
CCC Team
s.t.
95
Guillaume Boivin
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
96
Lionel Taminiaux
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
97
Jordi Warlop
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
98
Anthony Roux
Groupama - FDJ
+ 22'52
99
Nicolas Roche
Team Sunweb
s.t.
100
Petr Vakoc
Deceuninck-Quick Step
s.t.
101
Nacer Bouhanni
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
102
Zico Waeytens
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
s.t.
103
Marc Hirschi
Team Sunweb
s.t.
104
Bernhard Eisel
Team Dimension Data
+ 24'31
105
Mark Cavendish
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
106
Vegard Stake Laengen
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
107
Niccolo Bonifazio
Direct Energie
+ 25'28
108
Benoit Vaugrenard
Groupama - FDJ
s.t.
109
Mathias Frank
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
110
Jan Bakelants
Team Sunweb
s.t.
111
Mitchell Docker
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
112
James Whelan
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
113
Pawel Bernas
CCC Team
+ 26'57
114
Dmitriy Gruzdev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
115
Jenthe Biermans
Team Katusha- Alpecin
s.t.
116
Thomas Degand
Bahrain - Merida
+ 27'49
117
Damien Howson
Mitchelton-Scott
+ 28'27
118
Tom Bohli
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
119
Maxime Monfort
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
120
Daniel Turek
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
121
Patrick Bevin
CCC Team
+ 30'03
122
Robert Stannard
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
123
Krists Neilands
Israël - Cycling Academy
+ 30'30
124
Antwan Tolhoek
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 30'57
125
Alexander Cataford
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
126
Ludovic Robeet
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
127
Tanel Kangert
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
128
Lukas Spengler
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
129
Enrico Battaglin
Team Katusha- Alpecin
+ 32'25
130
Rasmus Tiller
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
131
Jaco Venter
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
132
Bart De Clercq
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
s.t.
133
Joeri Stallaert
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
134
Domen Novak
Bahrain - Merida
+ 34'13
135
Tejay Van Garderen
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
136
Julien Mortier
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
137
Lawson Craddock
EF Education First p/b Cannondale
s.t.
138
Franklin Six
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
s.t.
139
Mark Padun
Bahrain - Merida
s.t.
140
Steff Cras
Team Katusha- Alpecin
+ 36'58
141
David Van der Poel
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
142
Brent Bookwalter
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
143
Leopold König
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
144
Antonio Pedrero
Movistar Team
+ 38'20
145
Cesare Benedetti
BORA - hansgrohe
+ 38'43
146
Christopher Juul Jensen
Mitchelton-Scott
s.t.
147
Amanuel Gebreigzabhier
Team Dimension Data
s.t.
148
Carl Fredrik Hagen
Lotto Soudal
+ 41'16
149
Michael Storer
Team Sunweb
+ 41'41
150
Manuel Amaro Antunes
CCC Team
s.t.
151
Boris Vallée
Trek - Segafredo
+ 42'47
152
Paul Ourselin
Direct Energie
s.t.
153
Ruben Fernandez
Movistar Team
+ 43'54
154
Harm Vanhoucke
Lotto Soudal
+ 46'05
155
Hernando Bohórquez
Astana Pro Team
+ 46'38
156
Jimmy Janssens
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
157
Odd Christian Eiking
Cycling Team Wallonie-Bruxelles
+ 47'41
158
Bryan Nauleau
Direct Energie
s.t.
159
Ben Gastauer
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 48'38
160
Jaime Castrillo
Movistar Team
+ 49'39
161
Yuriy Natarov
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
162
Larry Warbasse
Ag2r La Mondiale
+ 53'14
163
Matteo Badilatti
Israël - Cycling Academy
s.t.
164
Eduard Prades
Movistar Team
+ 55'50
165
Merhawi Kudus
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
166
Emmanuel Morin
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 56'39
167
Otto Vergaerde
Corendon - Circus
s.t.
168
Stephen Williams
Bahrain - Merida
s.t.
169
Aaron Van Poucke
Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise
+ 58'04
170
Nathan Earle
Israël - Cycling Academy
+ 1h02'18
171
Victor Lafay
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
+ 1h06'15
172
Petter Fagerhaug
Corendon - Circus
+ 1h12'32
We did not get an invitation to Paris - Roubaix, so that's it for our first cobbled season. And what a success it was!
- Ian
A good showing from Catelyn in GW, but a fantastic one from Dierickx in De Ronde - wow! Sagan, Gilbert, Moscon, Terpstra, Stybar all beaten - by a neo pro with no breakaway or luck, a pure performance and what a statement. Belgium is watching, surely the world is too - and ASO must be kicking themselves over not giving you a Roubaix wildcard!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
support! That's really great! Thanks!
