Welcome to the race! Without much ado, let's just jump right in!
The riders in the back of the peloton have hardly started to pedal as Philipsen accelerates. Williams and Jung are the first to follow.
A few hundred meters later, another batch of riders attack. They are: Neuman, Moschetti, Rui Oliveira and Gallego Martin.
Even more riders attacked in numerous waves to form a 21 men group that established a lead of more than two minutes on the peloton at this point. In addition to the riders above, it includes Helme, Major, Young, Van Niekerk, Hirschi, Kozhatayev, Schäppi, Lindahl, Dillier, Bernal, Korosec, Moricz, Cullaigh and Juarez.
As if we don’t have enough riders up front already, four more attack: Eaton, Allegaert, Russo and Grellier actually manage to make contact with the break a few kilometers later to make it 25.
They stayed up front for more than 50 kilometers, but the first combination of cobble sections immediately shatters the breakaway. At the end of it, only Allegaert, Kozhatayev, Moricz and Gallego Martin stay ahead of the peloton …
… which itself splits into smaller groups already! This will get back together, but riders like Spengler or Debesay are caught behind and will have to expend extra energy.
The next few cobblestone segments prove rather uneventful. Ferreira suffers a puncture but gets back to the peloton in no time. 94 riders exit the section within the peloton. The quartet up front has an advantage of almost four minutes.
It has now started to rain, and after a few calm kilometers, we have the first notable action from the peloton! Saber attacks, obviously convinced that this race won’t end in a bunch sprint! Kosic tries to respond but can’t match his speed. But the Philips rider opens a gap of more than half a minute. A curious move at this point in the race.
The peloton is led by a lot of the same teams the entire day so far. Carlsberg, Volvo, Kulczyk and Andorra take responsibility.
Saber’s efforts eventually were futile despite Allegaert dropping back from the break to help, but it’s a sign of things to come: This race will be hard-fought, a war of attrition. With what is still left to race, don’t expect a bunch sprint at this point.
Shortly after, Kozhatayev and Gallego Martin are the last riders to be caught. They managed to stay in front for some 140 kilometers, but this is now the favorites’ race.
Speaking of favorites: After a lot of work by his team, Baugnies is unattentive for a minute and suddenly in a pretty bad position. The pace is brutal up front – this will be a tough way back!
And that brutal pace has consequences. Following a tough uphill cobble section, only 23 riders remain in the front group, with 5 close behind including Bohli. Most top riders are there, but a few outsiders are caught behind, like Debesay, Bolivar or Havik. Baugnies is a whole two minutes behind the lead group!
Sinkeldam falls behind, Vanspeybrouck is now without a teammate up front. The remaining riders with him are: Vanbilsen, Joseph, Summerhill, Machado, Breen, Van der Haar, Spengler, Grand, Stallaert, Sweeck, Broers, Ferreira, Lhotellerie, Fenn, Thwaites, Sibilla, Saya Kuroeda, Bush, Zepuntke, Kulppi and Chatarunga.
Then, things are getting serious! Summerhill launches the first major attack in this finale. Vanbilsen, Stallaert, Vanspeybrouck and Spengler are attentive and follow him.
Zepuntke, Fenn and Bush are leading the chase while the five leaders don’t cooperate well. And indeed, they are caught again quickly, after a strong effort of Van der Haar.
The chase has cost some of the riders at the back of the group, though. Machado, Kuroeda, Joseph and Broers fell behind. They’re joined by a few other riders who fell behind earlier. 18 left up front.
On the penultimate major cobblestone sector, Summerhill increases the pace again – not attacking, just pedaling harder. Vanspeybrouck, Stallaert and Vanbilsen can follow, but there’s a gap behind them.
At the other end of the group, Kulppi, Sibilla and Grand drop off. They most likely won’t make the Top 10 today – 15 riders left in front of them.
Zepuntke and Bush lead the remaining chasers, but the quartet has already half a minute on them. Meanwhile, Sweeck, Van der Haar and Thwaites can’t hold on anymore – but strong performances for their team captains! Lhotellerie is now the last helper left, but he doesn’t look like he has much left in the tank.
Indeed, he’s the next to fall behind followed by Fenn. In front of them, Ferreira and Chatarunga also lose contact …
… because Bush is pushing! Breen is on his wheel with Zepuntke and Spengler still there as well. But the gap to the front is now about a minute – that could already be enough, 20 kilometers left to go!
A quick look back at Baugnies, who’s been riding his own pace and is now slowly overtaking a lot of riders. He’s 2’30 behind the leading four riders, but a Top 15, maybe even a Top 10 seems to be possible – damage control.
The pace was slowing down a bit up front, much to the dismay of Vanspeybrouck, it seems: He attacks! His companions are very attentive, but the acceleration brings their lead back up to about a minute.
Behind them, Zepuntke is the strongest: He drops Spengler first, then Breen and Bush as well. Can he maybe make a final push to catch up to the front?
Not like this! Stallaert attacks and creates a small gap! The other three try to follow.
Exiting the final cobble sector of the day, Summerhill managed to catch up. But there’s a gap between the two duos! Zepuntke is now more than a minute behind – these four will fight for the win!
Nearing the final kilometers, the gap has only widened. It’s Summerhill versus Stallaert for the win, Vanspeybrouck versus Vanbilsen for third place!
Under the red kite, Summerhill leads Stallaert – the Belgian is by far the superior sprinter, but does he have enough left in the tank?
It very much looks like it! He sprints by and Summerhill doesn’t seem to have an answer.
A similar scenario behind them: Vanbilsen, the faster rider, is in the slipstream.
Summerhill has nothing to counter – Stallaert takes KBK 2019!
Vanbilsen easily overtakes Vanspeybrouck to finish third! He even almost catches Summerhill in the process.
Behind them, we see that Zepuntke’s effort to catch up to the Top 4 was too much for him. Bush conserved his energy better to overtake him in the final meters and take fifth place!
Breen follows up his fifth from last year with rank seven this year. Spengler follows on eight.
Thwaites made up a lot of ground, jumps from his group with a strong acceleration and is nineth.
Behind him, there’s a very slow sprint for the final Top 10 spot and Baugnies actually takes it by mere centimeters. Certainly not what he had in mind when he started, but far better than what it looked like at some point. Grand finishes 11th, followed by Fenn, Sweeck, Lhotellerie, Ferreira and Chatarunga.
Machado crosses the line 17th next to Broers.
Saya and Shiki Koroeda round out the Top 20.
Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne
