Brabantse Pijl 2017 [FULL RACE]

April 12, 2017

Brabantse Pijl 2017– Leuven – Overijse – 197 km

The Brabantse Pijl (English: Brabant Arrow, French: Flèche Brabançonne or Flèche Branconne) is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant and in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2011, it was upgraded to a 1.HC event.

Bahrain-Merida’s Sonny Colbrelli surged to victory at Wednesday’s Brabantse Pijl, getting clear of the peloton with a select group in the final 40 kilometres and taking a convincing win at the line in Overijse.

Defending champion Petr Vakoc (Quick-Step Floors) bridged up to the move in the closing kilometres to claim runner-up honours on the day, while Lotto Soudal’s Tiesj Benoot rounded out the podium in third.

Colbrelli was instrumental in springing the decisive move, jumping clear just as the bunch was closing down on the day’s main breakaway. With teammate Grega Bole in the escape, along with the likes of Benoot, Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing) and Christopher Juul-Jensen (Orica-Scott), the move quickly opened up a gap as the peloton reabsorbed the early breakers.

Although their advantage never stretched out too much more than 30 seconds, and with several teams in the peloton hoping to close things down before the finish, the escape stubbornly hung on out front, with Colbrelli exhorting his fellow escapees to push on at every opportunity.

Vakoc and Lotto Soudal’s Tim Wellens came across in the run-in to the uphill finish, but Colbrelli was not to be denied, easily winning the sprint to the line.

How it unfolded

The breakaway wasted little time animating the 197km Belgian 1.HC race from Leuven to Overijse, with a group of six going clear in the early kilometres to face the many Ardennes climbs dotted along the course.

The six were Jacques Van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport), Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani CSF), Zak Dempster (Israel Cycling Academy), Christophe Prémont (Vérandas Willems-Crelan) and Christophe Masson (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect).

The group lost Prémont on the first hills of the day, but after just 27km of racing, the five remaining escapees extended their lead to 6:45 over a peloton recovering from a fast opening salvo. Quick-Step Floors and Team Sunweb took up the chasing duties and brought the gap down to 5:50 as the leaders’ advantage continued to slowly come back down.

With 90km remaining, the breakaway’s advantage was down to just 2:42, and the leaders’ effort suffered another blow when Dempster dropped his chain on a cobbled climb and was unable to regain contact.

Van Rensburg, Blythe, Rota and Masson continued on, but their gap was down to less than a minute with 65km to go as they started the first of three 23km finishing circuits that featured five climbs – Hagaard, Hertstraat, Holstheide, IJskelderlaan and Schavei – on each lap.

With the quartet up front leading by just a handful of seconds, the Colbrelli-led counter-attack of about a dozen riders formed a chase, closing in on the breakaway as they approached the start of the penultimate lap.

The chase group quickly caught and dispatched the early breakaway riders, with the new lead group including Bole, Benoot, Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors), Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Toms Skujins (Cannondale-Drapac), Juul Jensen (Orica-Scott), Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing), Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Victor Campenaerts (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Stijn Devolder (Vérandas Willems-Crelan), among others.

The punchy cobbled climbs on the closing circuit quickly whittled that group down to eight, and they carried just 18 seconds into the final lap. Direct Energie took up the chasing duties, eventually handing off to Cannondale-Drapac, but the leaders’ advantage jumped to 28 seconds with 8.5km to go.

The leaders carried less than 10 seconds into the final climb at 2km, and whether the winner would come from the escape or the chase remained unclear, although the breakaway got a boost when Vakoc bridged up with Wellens and immediately went to the front to add some horsepower.

Results :
1 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 4:44:22
2 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
3 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
5 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
6 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-Scott
7 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
8 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
9 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:06
10 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
11 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:12
12 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
13 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
14 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
16 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:16
17 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
18 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
19 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
20 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport
22 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
23 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
24 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
25 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
27 Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott
28 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
29 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data
30 Huub Duijn (Ned) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
31 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
32 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
33 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
34 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
35 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
36 Martijn Budding (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
37 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
38 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
39 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
40 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
41 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
42 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
43 Bernardo Suaza (Col) Manzana Postobon
44 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:00:24
45 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:00:27
46 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
47 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
48 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
49 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott 0:00:31
50 Aleksei Tcatevich (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:00:41
51 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
52 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott
53 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect 0:00:46
54 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
55 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
56 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
57 Gregory Habeaux (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
58 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
59 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
60 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
61 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott
62 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
63 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:04
64 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:07
65 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:35
66 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:46
67 Nathan Haas (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:52
68 Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac 0:02:18
69 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:29
70 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Srandi Polkowice
71 Gaetan Bille (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:02:56
72 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:59
73 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:23
74 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac 0:04:45
75 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
76 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
77 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
78 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
79 Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
80 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
81 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:19
82 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie 0:06:51
83 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:08
84 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
85 José Manuel Díaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
86 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
87 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
88 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
89 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
90 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
91 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
92 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
93 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
94 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
95 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
96 Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
97 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
98 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
99 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
100 Antoine Warnier (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
101 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data
102 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
103 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
104 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
105 Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
106 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
107 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
108 Fernando Orjuela (Col) Manzana Postobon
109 Juan Pablo Villegas (Col) Manzana Postobon
110 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
111 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
112 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott
113 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
114 Javier Megias (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
115 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
116 Jhojan Garcia (Col) Manzana Postobon 0:07:51
117 Christophe Masson (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
118 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
119 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:08:11
120 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
121 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
122 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
123 Roman Maikin (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
124 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
125 Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale-Drapac 0:08:15
126 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:45
127 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:12:29
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Justin Jules (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
DNF Lukas Spengler (Swi) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
DNF Yecid Arturo Sierra (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Juan Jose Amador (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Romain Guillemois (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Andrei Solomennikov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
DNF Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Dries De Bondt (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data
DNF Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-Scott
DNF Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Martyne Irvine (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Aqua Blue Sport
DNF Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Hendrikus Van Ijzendoorn (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
DNF Christophe Prémont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Stef Van Zummeren (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Martin Velits (Svk) Quick-Step Floors
DNF David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
DNS Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert