Antwerp Port Epic 2021 [FULL RACE]

September 12, 2021

Antwerp Port Epic 2021 – Antwerp – Antwerp : 183,4 km

The Antwerp Port Epic is, as its name suggests, an epic race. Why? Because it sees both pro road racers and cyclo-crossers battle it out on a 200km+ course that mixes both disciplines into one! The first Antwerp Port Epic was held in 2018, starting under the Schengenplein on Het Eilandje in Antwerp before following a 200km-long route through the port and up through to the northern polders of Antwerp. Its off-road appeal did not disappoint, including 32km of cobbles and 30km of off-road surfaces such as gravel and grass. Since its creation the race has been ranked as a 1.1 by the UCI and has been traditionally held in early September. Falling at this point in the season, the race draws both road racers and CX riders looking to warm up (or down) for their upcoming seasons (or off-seasons). While it is a relatively new addition to the calendar, its predecessor – Schaal Sels – is steeped in history and has seen a number of legends etch their names onto its winners list since its debut edition in 1921.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) set out to test his back injury at the Antwerp Port Classic and passed with flying colours, delivering a crushing sprint to top Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert).

Tim Merlier made it two for Alpecin-Fenix on the podium, out-sprinting Danny van Poppel (Intermarché) from the chasing group.

Van der Poel injured his back at the Tokyo Olympics when he crashed on a rocky drop-off in the cross country mountain bike race. He skipped racing the Benelux Tour but opted to race in Antwerp to see if he would be fit for the UCI Road World Championships in Flanders and the postponed Paris-Roubaix.

“It’s nice to win. I missed some important goals but I am happy to be back,” Van der Poel said. “The back gave some problems in final hour but it didn’t bother me as normal. I am relieved. I have to wait to see how I react but this race isn’t like Roubaix or Worlds. We’ll decide this week.”

The cyclo-cross world champion used his off-roading skills to open up a gap on a gravel stretch with 25km to go, with Van der Hoorn the only rider able to match his effort.

Van der Hoorn tried to leap away from Van der Poel in the final kilometre but had no luck, and when Van der Poel opened up his sprint, the Intermarché rider had no answer.

Results :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 4:12:03
2 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:00:01
3 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:14
4 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
5 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
6 Piotr Havik (Ned) Beat Cycling
7 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
8 Thomas Joseph (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
9 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:19
10 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team DSM 0:01:30
11 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
12 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
13 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:43
14 Casper Van Uden (Ned) Development Team Dsm 0:02:50
15 Campbell Stewart (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
16 Tobias Andresen (Den) Development Team Dsm 0:02:51
17 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:09
18 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
19 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:05:10
20 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
21 Martijn Budding (Ned) Beat Cycling 0:05:34
22 Gil D´Heygere (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
23 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
24 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
25 Daan Van Sintmaartensdijk (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
26 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
27 Alfdan De Decker (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
28 Florian Dauphin (Fra) B&B Hotels P/B Ktm
29 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
30 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
31 Thibau Verhofstadt (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
32 Vegard Stokke (Nor) Development Team Dsm
33 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
34 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
35 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
36 Luke Mudgway (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
37 Jules Hesters (Bel) Beat Cycling
38 Adriaan Janssen (Ned) Abloc Ct
39 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
40 Stijn Siemons (Bel) Evopro Racing
41 Seppe Rombouts (Bel) Lviv Cycling Team
42 Bodi Del Grosso (Ned) Abloc Ct
43 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
44 Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
45 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
46 Stefano Museeuw (Bel) Beat Cycling
47 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
48 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Bridgelane
49 Jordy Bouts (Bel) Beat Cycling 0:05:48
50 Jensen Plowright (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:07:13
51 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
52 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
53 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix Development Team
54 Jeroen Eyskens (Bel) Evopro Racing
55 Martin Pluto (Lat) Abloc Ct
56 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
57 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
58 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
59 Dawit Yemane (Eri) Bike Aid
60 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces Wb
61 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
62 Cyrus Monk (Aus) Evopro Racing
63 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
64 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
65 Jesper Schultz (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:07:21
66 Lars Saugstad (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:07:30
DNF Reinier Honig (Ned) Start Cycling Team
DNF Nicolas Vergara Garcia (Chi) Start Cycling Team
DNF Eduardo Ignacio Villanueva (Arg) Start Cycling Team
DNF Max Kroonen (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
DNF Abe Celi (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
DNF Robin Blummel (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
DNF Jorge Peyrot Balvanera (Mex) Start Cycling Team
DNF Jord Baak (Ned) Volkerwessels Cycling Team
DNF Matthew Dinham (Aus) Team Bridgelane
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Wesley Mol (Ned) Xspeed United Continental
DNF Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
DNF Ben Van Dam (Aus) Team Bridgelane
DNF Ryan Schilt (Ned) Team Bridgelane
DNF Gilles Borgers (Bel) Xspeed United Continental
DNF Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Simon Daniels (Bel) Xspeed United Continental
DNF Wesley Kreder (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Taj Mueller (Aus) Xspeed United Continental
DNF Patrick Eddy (Aus) Team Bridgelane
DNF Andreas Goeman (Bel) Tarteletto – Isorex
DNF James Fouche (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
DNF Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Evopro Racing
DNF Daniel Nordemann-Da Silva (Can) Xspeed United Continental
DNF Jasper Levi Pahlke (Ger) Bike Aid
DNF Azzedine Lagab (Alg) Bike Aid
DNF Rasmus Christian Quaade (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Logan Currie (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
DNF Maxwell De Broeder (Bel) Lviv Cycling Team
DNF Brendan Rhim (USA) Evopro Racing
DNF Tom Sexton (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
DNF Oskar Nisu (Est) Evopro Racing
DNF Alexander White (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
DNF Joel Yates (NZl) Black Spoke Pro Cycling
DNF Bernat Font Mas (Spa) Evopro Racing
DNF Marco König (Ger) Bike Aid
DNF Stijn Appel (Ned) Abloc Ct
DNF Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Lucas Carstensen (Ger) Bike Aid
DNF Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Adrie Lindeman (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Oskar Myrestøl Johansson (Nor) Uno-X Dare Development Team
DNF Zak Coleman (GBr) Lviv Cycling Team
DNF Toni Franz (Ger) Lviv Cycling Team
DNF Luuc Bugter (Ned) Beat Cycling
DNF Bram Rombouts (Bel) Lviv Cycling Team
DNF Oliver Robinson (GBr) Lviv Cycling Team
DNF Lars Loohuis (Ned) Abloc Ct
DNF André Luijk (Ned) Abloc Ct
DNF Ivar Slik (Ned) Abloc Ct
DNF Jose Autran Carrillo (Chi) Start Cycling Team
DNF Oleksandr Prevar (Ukr) Lviv Cycling Team