Brussels Cycling Classic 2021 [FULL RACE]

August 29, 2021

Brussels Cycling Classic 2021 – Brussels – Brussels : 205,3 km

The Brussels Cycling Classic, formerly known as Paris-Brussels, is one of the oldest one-day races on the international cycling calendar. The first edition was held back in 1893 as an amateur race, running for a colossal distance of 397km. Despite attracting some of the strongest riders of the time, the race really struggled to establish itself and it wasn’t until 1906 that it held its second edition. It was in these pre-war years that the race really began to build a reputation for being one of the toughest and most attritional semi-classics on the calendar. Several famous Frenchmen won the race during these years, including the two-time Tour de France winner, Lucien Petit-Breton, and the three-time Paris-Roubaix champion, Octave Lapize. The route is also now entirely contained within Belgium, with the riders undertaking an intrepid tour of the Walloon and Flemish Brabant regions before a long, flat run in to the finish in Brussels. The earlier part of the race may be characterised by a number of short sharp climbs, like the Vossemberg, Smeysberg and Langestraat, but it’s rare that these ‘hellingen’ actually dictate the outcome of the race – especially in more recent years where we’ve seen the race almost exclusively end in a mass bunch sprint.

Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) pulled off another solo victory at the Brussels Cycling Classic, just two days after winning the Druivenkoers-Overijse race.

On Thursday, Evenepoel attacked alone with 60km to go. This time he took advantage of several breakaway companions going the wrong way with 18km to go and then attacked Aime De Gendt (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert) with 10km to go and time trialed to victory.

De Gendt finished 50 seconds behind, while Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) won the sprint for third place at 2:14 after being lead out by teammate Philippe Gilbert. Marc Hirschi and the USA’s Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) finished fifth and sixth after also joining the break of the race with Evenepoel and De Gendt but then also going the wrong way.

“My legs weren’t fresh after the other day but I’m happy to win here, this is almost my home race,” Evenepoel said.

“It’s weird that some of the guys went the wrong way because we all have the route in our computers. I knew we had to go left because we had to go to my home village and across a cobbled street.

“I was surprised when it happened but there was no point in waiting because the peloton was quite close in the end. It’s just a shame for the race because everyone was quite strong and aggressive.”

Evenepoel has still to earn selection for the Belgian team for the Road World Championships but has avoided demanding a place, letting his legs do the talking. He has likely now done enough to secure a secondary leadership role alongside designated team leader Wout van Aert.

He will ride the Benelux Tour next week and then target the time trial and road race at the European Championships in Trento, Italy in early September, a week before the World Championships on home roads in Flanders.

How it happened

The 204km one-day race started in the Belgian capital and headed deep into the Flemish countryside.

An early break led the race to the Muur of Geraardsbergen but the legendary Flemish climb and the fight for position split the race with Evenepoel following a strong attack from Victor Campenaerts (Qhubeka-NextHash).

They caught the early break and were joined by Gilbert, Van der Sande, Hirschi and McNulty, and then quickly opened a 90-second gap on the Alpecin-Fenix lead peloton.

Arkéa–Samsic and Cofidis tried to help the chase on the ride back to Brussels but the remaining climbs and cobbled road, plus occasional rain, made their task difficult.

The riders from the early break were eventually dispatched and everyone was expecting an attack from Evenepoel near his home village of Schepdaal. However, the confusion at the junction with 18km to go split the group and allowed Evenepoel to take advantage of local knowledge of the roads and superb form to win again.

Results :
1 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:28:30
2 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:00:50
3 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:13
4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
5 Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
6 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
7 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:16
8 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
9 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
10 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
11 Martijn Budding (Ned) Beat Cycling
12 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Qhubeka NextHash
13 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Qhubeka NextHash
14 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
15 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
16 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
17 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
18 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
19 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
21 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
22 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
23 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB Sungod
24 Roberto González (Pan) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
25 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
26 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
27 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
28 Gil D´Heygere (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
29 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
30 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
31 Florian Dauphin (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
32 Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Racing
33 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis
34 Max Walker (GBr) Trinity Racing
35 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
36 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
37 Jordy Bouts (Bel) Beat Cycling
38 Kamil Gradek (Pol) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
39 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB Sungod
40 Brent Van De Kerkhove (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
41 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
42 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
43 Luuc Bugter (Ned) Beat Cycling
44 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
45 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
46 Michael Garrison (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
47 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) SEG Racing Academy
48 Axel Laurance (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
49 Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
50 Oliver Rees (GBr) Trinity Racing
51 Thomas Bonnet (Fra) TotalEnergies
52 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
53 Matthew Devins (Irl) Trinity Racing
54 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis 0:02:24
55 Matthew Riccitello (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
56 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:27
57 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Binogal Pauwels Sauzen WB
58 Sven Burger (Ned) Beat Cycling
59 Ylber Sefa (Alb) Tarteletto-Isorex
60 Hugo Toumire (Fra) Cofidis
61 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
62 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
63 Blake Quick (Aus) Trinity Racing
64 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
65 Adrien Petit (Fra) TotalEnergies
66 Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
67 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
68 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
69 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
70 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis 0:02:34
71 Erik Nordsaeter (Nor) Uno-X Pro Team
72 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:38
73 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Qhubeka NextHash 0:02:40
74 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
75 Matis Louvel (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
76 Alan Jousseaume (Fra) TotalEnergies
77 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
78 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
79 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
80 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
81 Mathis le Berre (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:03:10
82 Michael Gogl (Aut) Qhubeka NextHash
83 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) TotalEnergies 0:03:16
84 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:04:26
85 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
86 Julian Mertens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
87 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
88 Yannis Voisard (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy 0:07:37
DNF Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Boy van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Jasper De Plus (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Marc Oliver Pritzen (RSA) Team Qhubeka
DNF Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
DNF Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
DNF Boris Vallee (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
DNF Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
DNF Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Robbe Ceurens (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Logan Lakota Phippen (USA) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) TotalEnergies
DNF Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Joab Schneiter (Swi) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Etienne van Empel (Ned) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNF Jan Willem van Schip (Ned) Beat Cycling
DNF Piotr Havik (Ned) Beat Cycling
DNF Jules Hesters (Bel) Beat Cycling
DNF Jim Brown (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
DNF Damien Clayton (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
DNF Charlie Tanfield (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
DNF Robert Scott (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
DNF Reece Wood (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
DNF Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
DNF Diogo Barbosa (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
DNF Joseph Laverick (GBr) Hagens Berman Axeon
DNF Red Walters (Grn) Hagens Bernam Axeon
DNF Alfdan De Decker (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNF Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNF Maxime De Poorter (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNF Thomas Benton (Aus) Trinity Racing