De Brabantse Pijl 2020 [FULL RACE]

October 7, 2020

De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne 2020 – Leuven – Overijse : 197 km

The 60th edition of De Brabantse Pijl for men will take place on a new fall date, Wednesday, October 7, and in a lead-off position for the four Flanders Classics races on the revised fall cycling calendar. There are no changes with the start in Leuven, the finish in Overijse, with climbs of Hagaard, Hertstraat, Holstheide and Schavei. There is a slightly shorter route than in past years, 184km in 2020, due to the quick succession of these races, from October 7 to 18. Of the 26 climbs on tap for the men, the Moskesstraat will take the place of the Ijskelderlaan this year. This year will feature one circuit in and round Beersel, which will include the ascent of the Bruine Put, Menisberg and Lotsestraat.

World champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the 2020 Brabantse Pijl, his first victory in the rainbow stripes.

For a moment, it looked as though the Frenchman might have made the same mistake as three days ago at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, as he stopped halfway through celebrating over the finish line, fearing that Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Felix) had pipped him at the line.

But a photo finish confirmed that the victory was Alaphilippe’s, with a boxed-in Van der Poel in second and Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) third in a three-man sprint.

The three riders had broken clear on the cobbled Moskesstraat climb, 11km from the finish, following a hectic, action-packed day of racing.

Alaphilippe had been the main instigator throughout the race and had already broken clear with Van der Poel on several occasions over the route’s many climbs.

Each time, however, the duo was joined by other determined riders who dug deep to rejoin on the sections between the climbs, until the decisive move was made on the Moskesstraat.

Asked whether he saw victory today as retribution for what happened on Sunday, Alaphilippe insisted that “It is never revenge. I was really happy to be at the start here. I just wanted to give my best and enjoy my jersey. I raced it like I like, and I’m really happy to win.

“It’s a really nice feeling [to win in the rainbow jersey]. Even to wear in the morning is something special. So to take the victory is amazing”

How it unfolded

A group of six riders broke clear at the start of the day. They were: Clement Chevrier (AG2R La Mondiale), Juraj Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Storer (Sunweb), Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Trek-Segafredo), Thomas Sprengers (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Andrea Peron (Novo Nordisk)

They were allowed a gap of over five minutes by the peloton, with Deceuninck-QuickStep doing much of the pace-setting during a steady and uneventful first two-thirds of the race.

That gap steadily decreased and stood at 2 minutes by the time the riders crossed the finishing circuit’s finish line for the third to last time, with 65km left to ride.

The action kicked off in earnest on the second of four ascents of Hertstraat, 60km from the finish, when Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-QuickStep) upped the pace with teammate Julian Alaphilippe on his wheel. Alaphilippe then accelerated himself, bringing just five riders with him, including the Ineos Grenadiers duo of Michal Kwiatkowski and Luke Rowe.

It looked like a promising group, but the momentum sagged when a few riders, including Mathieu van der Poel, bridged up to it, and the peloton shortly brought them all back in.

Bora-Hansgrohe were intent on making the race difficult, firing up first Lennard Kamna (54km from the finish) then Marcus Burghardt (46km from the finish), but each attack ended in regroupment.

Burghardt was again involved in the next attack to go up the road 42km from the finish, along with Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) and Laurens Huys (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles). They quickly caught the four remaining riders from the early break, then broke clear of them on the penultimate ascent of the Hertstraat to form a new leading trio.

Their time at the front was also short-lived, however, as Stybar again set a ferocious pace up the first ascent of Moskesstraat, summited 34km from the finish. Alaphilippe once again sat on his wheel and was joined this time by Van der Poel, who himself accelerated towards the top of the climb to drop Stybar.

That left Alaphilippe and Van der Poel, the two pre-race favourites, at the front of the race, and the two decided to work together and commit. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) attempted to bridge up to them but was unable to, after which a three-man chase group formed consisting of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-McLaren), Omar Fraile (Astana) and Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2r La Mondiale). After dangling for a little while at ten seconds behind, they joined the leading duo with 27km left to ride.

Five became six when Kwiatkowski put in an attack to join the leaders on the climb of Schavei, capitalising on a huge turn at the front of the peloton from his teammate Luke Rowe.

The group continued to swell on the next climb of the Hagaard, as several more riders from the peloton made the gap. Subsequently, 13 riders were together at the base of the last time up the Hertstraat, on which Alaphilippe made another attack, with Van der Poel again following. They were later joined by Cosnefroy, Kwiatkowski, Colbrelli, Dries Devenyns (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates).

Alaphilippe continued to be the instigator, putting in several more digs, eventually dropping everyone but Van der Poel and Cosnefroy on the Moskesstraet.

At last, after multiple attacks and a continually fluctuating race situation, the decisive group had formed and would stay together until the sprint at the finish. Cosnefroy was the first to launch his sprint, just over 200 metres from the line, but Alaphilippe comfortably overtook him for victory, with Van der Poel finding himself boxed-in between the two.

Results :
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 4:36:52
2 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
3 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
4 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:13
5 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
6 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
8 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
9 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
10 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
11 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:17
13 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:25
14 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
15 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
16 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
18 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez
19 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
21 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:00:28
22 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
23 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
24 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:00:30
25 Michael Valgren (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
26 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:32
27 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
28 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
29 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez 0:00:54
30 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:04
31 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:01:38
32 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team 0:01:44
33 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal WB
34 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
35 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
36 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:49
37 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:01:55
38 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:58
39 Petr Vakoč (Cze) Alpecin – Fenix
40 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
41 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis
42 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
43 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:32
44 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:58
45 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
46 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek – Segafredo
47 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
48 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
49 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:25
50 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:22
51 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
52 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
53 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
54 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
55 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
56 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
57 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
58 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
59 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
60 James Shaw (GBr) Riwal Readynez
61 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team Sunweb
62 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
63 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
64 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
65 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain – Mclaren
66 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
67 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
68 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
69 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:41
70 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
71 Laurens Huys (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:04:48
72 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Sunweb
73 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:04:52
74 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
75 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team 0:05:06
76 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:05
77 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Mitchelton-Scott
78 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
79 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
80 Carlos Barbero (Spa) NTT Pro Cycling
81 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
82 Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Riwal Readynez
83 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
84 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
85 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
86 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
87 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
88 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
89 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
90 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
91 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain McLaren
92 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
93 Valentin Ferron (Fra) Total Direct Energie
94 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
95 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
96 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
97 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
98 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez
99 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
100 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
101 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
102 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
103 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep
104 Anthony Jullien (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
105 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:07:19
106 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Development Team Sunweb
107 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:10:10
108 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
109 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept
110 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
111 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
112 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
113 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
114 Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek – Segafredo 0:15:07
DNF Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team Sunweb
DNF Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
DNF Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Wesley Kreder (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
DNF Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Wb
DNF Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
DNF Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
DNF Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Jarno Mobach (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept