Binche-Chimay-Binche 2019 [FULL RACE]

October 8, 2019

Binche-Chimay-Binche 2019 – Binche – Binche : 198,6 km

Binche–Chimay–Binche (also known as Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually between Binche and Chimay, in Wallonia, Belgium. The race is rated as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was originally held between Binche and Tournai as it was first organized in 1911 as Binche-Tournai-Binche; it was suspended between 1931 and 1983, then again between 1997 and 2009. In 2010 it was organized again as “Binche Tournai Binche/Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke”, to commemorate cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke who had died in October 2009 at 34 years of age and was at that time the last winner of the race. In 2013 the routing changed from Tournai to Chimay, hence the name changed to Binche–Chimay–Binche.

Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Cycling Academy) claimed victory in Binche-Chimay-Binche after he edged out Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) by millimetres in a group sprint on the rain-soaked cobbles of the Grand Place in Binche.

The Belgian endured a short wait for the race commissaires to consult the photo finish before he was confirmed as race winner, though Naesen had already offered his congratulations on crossing the finish line as the winner of the Mémorial Frank Vandenbroucke.

Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma) took third place after leading out the sprint on behalf of his teammate Tim Roosen, who was unable to come around and had to settle for fourth. Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Souda) came home in fifth ahead of Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).

“It was a real photo finish,” said Van Asbroeck, who drew on his experience of finishing third on the same finale in Binche in 2015, when Ramon Sinkeldam emerged victorious.

“I know I wanted to be on the left-hand side. I knew the sprint from when Sinkeldam won, so I tried to do the same thing and it worked out perfectly. It was very close with Oli [Naesen] in the end.”

It was the fourth victory of Van Asbroeck’s career and his first since leaving EF Education First for Israel Cycling Academy at the beginning of this season. His last win came in LottoNL-Jumbo colours at the Tour du Poitou Charentes in 2016.

“I’m very happy. It’s my first win of the season, and I’m delighted to end my year like that,” said Van Asbroeck, who is also set to line out at Paris-Bourges and Paris-Tours later this week.

A group of 17 riders disputed the honours on a sodden day in Wallonia, with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-QuickStep) among those bridging across to Van Asbroeck, Naesen and the earlier escapees on the final lap of the finishing circuit.

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) made a bold solo bid for victory on the last lap, but he was pegged back with a little under 6km to go. Küng, Stuyven and Sénéchal were all prominent in forcing the pace on the uphill stretch of cobbles in the final kilometre, but they were unable to forge clear as Van Emden looked to set up Roosen for the sprint.

Naesen came from a long way back in the chaotic sprint, but Van Asbroeck timed his effort well along the barriers. They both dived for the line at the same time and, by the narrowest of margins, victory fell to Van Asbroeck.

How it unfolded

Low clouds and steady drizzle greeted the peloton at the start in Binche, where the late Frank Vandebroucke was remembered in the week of the tenth anniversary of his tragically premature death.

The opening segment of the parcours brought the race to Chimay, and a group of four riders had established a lead over the peloton by the time they reached the home of the eponymous beer and Trappist monastery. Conor Dunne (Israel Cycling Academy), Lasse Norman Hansen (Corendon-Circus), Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) and Gianni Marchand (Cibel) built up a buffer just shy of 4 minutes over the bunch before Groupama-FDJ began to claw them back on behalf of Arnaud Démare.

The four leaders were caught as the race reached the finishing circuit around Binche, and a new break formed on the first of five laps. Pieter Serry (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Dries De Bondt (Corendon-Circus) and Jenthe Biermans (Katusha-Alpecin) broke away with a little under 60km to go, and they were soon joined by Taco van der Hoorn (Jumbo-Visma), Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal), Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Cycling Academy), Stan Dewulf (Lotto Soudal), Bert Van Lerberghe (Cofidis), Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) and Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

That dozen had a lead of a minute with two laps remaining, though a notable cameo from Niki Terpstra, whose Direct Energie team had missed the move, saw their lead drop steadily on the approach to the bell.

Out in front, De Bondt piled on the pressure on the uphill stretch of cobbles at Pépinière for the penultimate, dropping Serry and Van Lerberghe from the break in the process. Behind, meanwhile, Küng accelerated forcefully from the main peloton, bringing Stuyven, Sénéchal, Timo Roosen (Jumbo-Visma), Jos van Emden (Jumbo-Visma), Alan Riou (Arkea-Samsic), Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) and Damien Touze (Cofidis) with him.

Just after taking the bell, Campenaerts launched a forceful attack, building up a lead of 25 seconds over the chasers, but his solo effort was doomed once the Küng group merged with Naesen et al. and they duly clawed back the Hour Record holder with a little over 5km to go.

Sénéchal, Küng, Dewulf and Van der Hoorn briefly threatened to drift clear on the run-in, but Theuns managed to pin them back on behalf of Stuyven. Jumbo-Visma had strength in numbers as the leaders clattered across the cobbles in Binche, but they were unable to use them to their advantage as Van Asbroeck had the staying power in the sprint to claim victory.

Results :
1 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 4:32:37
2 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Ag2r la Mondiale
3 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
5 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
7 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
8 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
9 Stefan Kung (Swi) Groupama-Fdj
10 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin
11 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
12 Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-Fdj
13 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
15 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
16 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:19
17 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:29
18 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:34
19 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team 0:01:23
20 Tim Merlier (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:01:24
21 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
22 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
23 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Roy Jans (Bel) Corendon-Circus
25 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
26 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
27 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
28 Clement Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Mikkel Froelich Honore (Den) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
30 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
31 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Leopard pro Cycling
32 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles
33 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Ag2r la Mondiale
34 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
35 Glenn Debruyne (Bel) Cibel
36 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
37 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-Fdj
38 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Team Katusha Alpecin
39 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles
40 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
41 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
42 Tuur Deprez (Bel) Cibel
43 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) Ag2r la Mondiale
44 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Leopard pro Cycling
45 Yves Coolen (Bel) Beat Cycling Club
46 Alex Mengoulas (Ned) Beat Cycling Club
47 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:01:35
48 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
49 Senne Leysen (Bel) Roompot-Charles
50 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:01:41
51 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:47
52 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:01:55
53 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
54 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin
55 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:57
56 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:05
57 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
59 Jerome Baugnies (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team 0:02:07
60 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:11
61 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
62 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:15
63 Julien Duval (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale 0:02:23
64 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:12
65 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step 0:05:40
66 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-Fdj
67 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step 0:05:44
68 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
69 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:57
70 Franklin Six (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:06:00
71 Nils Politt (Ger) Team Katusha Alpecin 0:06:25
72 Aksel Nemmela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:08:00
73 Colin Heiderscheid (Lux) Leopard pro Cycling
74 Gaetan Pons (Lux) Leopard pro Cycling
75 Anthony Jullien (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale
76 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
77 Florentin Lecamus Lambert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:08:10
78 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
79 Jack Burke (Can) Leopard pro Cycling 0:09:35
80 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy 0:09:57
81 Enzo Bernard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Ag2r la Mondiale
DNF Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
DNF Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick-Step
DNF Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
DNF Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-Fdj
DNF Alex Dowsett (GBr) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Harry Tanfield (GBr) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNF Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal
DNF Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Robert Thomas Wagner (Ger) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Zico Waeytens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Corendon-Circus
DNF Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus
DNF Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Romain Cardis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Roompot-Charles
DNF Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles
DNF Justin Timmermans (Ned) Roompot-Charles
DNF Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Adrien Garel (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Jeremy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Justin Mottier (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF David Riviere (Fra) Vital Concept-b&b Hotels
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
DNF Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
DNF Emils Liepins (Lat) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNF Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNF Martijn Budding (Ned) Beat Cycling Club
DNF Piotr Havik (Ned) Beat Cycling Club
DNF Adam Lewis (GBr) Beat Cycling Club
DNF Guillaume Seye (Bel) Beat Cycling Club
DNF Michiel Dieleman (Bel) Cibel
DNF Jeroen Eyskens (Bel) Cibel
DNF Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel
DNF Jacob Relaes (Bel) Cibel
DNF Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Iam Excelsior
DNF Dylan Page (Swi) Iam Excelsior
DNF Simon Pellaud (Swi) Iam Excelsior
DNF Anthony Rappo (Swi) Iam Excelsior
DNF Martin Schoeppi (Swi) Iam Excelsior
DNF Corey Davis (USA) Iam Excelsior
DNF Szymon Rekita (Pol) Leopard pro Cycling
DNF Mario Spengler (Swi) Leopard pro Cycling
DNS Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Beat Cycling Club