GP de Denain 2019 [FULL RACE]

March 24, 2019

GP de Denain 2019 – Denain – Denain : 198 km

Grand Prix de Denain is a professional cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before becoming a 1.HC event for the 2016 season. It is also part of the Coupe de France de cyclisme sur route.

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) took the second victory of his road season at ‘mini-cobbled Classic’ the Grand Prix de Denain on Sunday. The Dutch road race champion soloed to the line ahead of a charging peloton after attacking on the final cobbled sector of the race.

Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ) won the sprint for second place, three seconds back, while Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) took third place.

Van der Poel, who looked like his spring campaign was in danger after crashing hard in the final of Nokere Koerse earlier this week, attacked 40km from the line to catch the breakaway before later going all out for the win.

Used to solo victories during the cyclo-cross season, the 24-year-old rode the final eight kilometres alone after his stinging attack left companions Mihkel Raïm (Israel Cycling Academy) and Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo) in the dust.

“I was still a little bad [from the crash], but when we got to the final, we were in another world,” said Van der Poel after the finish. “I knew I had to get to this last sector of cobbles 9km from the finish.

“I was really going deep to stay ahead. In the final, you are thinking about it, but I didn’t look back to see the peloton. I just gave everything for the line.

“Today we saw how strong the team was – their work was incredible. It was one of the first times I have finished solo at this level and I’m proud of that. It was one of the most difficult victories.”

How it happened

The GP de Denain is one of the newer cobbled one-day races on the calendar, having been a race for the sprinters until last year’s edition. This time around there was 21km of cobbles, spread over 12 sectors, including the Wallers à Haveluy sector which regularly features in Paris-Roubaix.

A group of 15 men got up the road after a fast opening, with their advantage over the peloton reaching a maximum of two minutes at the midway point of the race.

Bert De Backer (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels), Jimmy Janssens, Lasse Norman Hansen (both Corendon-Circus), Mihkel Raïm, Guillaume Boivin (both Israel Cycling Academy) and Alexandre Pichot (Direct Énergie) were among the more notable names to make the break.

As the sectors passed by, the gap decreased, coming down to 45 seconds with 45km and four cobbled sectors left to race. Back in the peloton, van der Poel went on the attack first, going clear on the Marquette à Abscon sector 41km out.

Kirsch followed him, sticking with the cyclocross champion. A couple of kilometres later they had caught the break, and Janssens and Hansen were put to work on the front in service of the team leader. Some 30 seconds back Roompot-Charles were driving the peloton.

Heading into the final 20km, it was back to the cobbles and action in the peloton as attacks flew. Up front, it was Kirsch pushing the pace, with Van der Poel alert to the moves as the break shrunk to 10 riders under the pressure.

With the peloton closing in as the break reached the penultimate cobbled sector, Van der Poel struck again. Only Kirsch and Raïm could follow, forming a leading trio heading into the final 10km.

Van der Poel went for it again with a brutal attack on the final sector. His companions were left floundering in his wake and were swallowed up by the peloton on the run-in. The 20-second gap looked fragile but Van der Poel was in full solo time trial mode and held strong on the run-in to secure an impressive victory.

Results :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 4:21:39
2 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:03
3 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
4 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
5 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
6 Justin Jules (Fra) Wallonie Bruxelles
7 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
8 Bram Welten (Ned) Arkea Samsic
9 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
11 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
12 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
13 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
14 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
15 Andreas Stokbo Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
16 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
18 Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH
19 Jelle Mannaerts (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
20 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
21 Kevin Le Cunff (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
22 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
23 Josip Rumac (Cro) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
24 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
25 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
26 Thomas Joseph (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
27 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
28 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
29 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
30 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Arkea Samsic
31 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
32 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
33 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
34 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
35 AurŽlien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
36 Aksel Nommela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:08
37 Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
38 Krister Hagen (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
39 Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4Ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
40 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:11
41 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:14
42 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:00:17
43 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:21
44 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Corendon-Circus
45 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:00:26
46 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:00:30
47 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
48 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:47
49 Alo Jakin (Est) St Michel-Auber 93 0:00:48
50 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:27
51 Mihkel Raim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
52 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie 0:02:42
53 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Direct Energie
54 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:02:43
55 Jan-Andre Freuler (Swi) Amore & Vita-Prodir 0:02:53
56 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea Samsic
57 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
58 Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
59 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
60 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
61 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
62 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
63 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
64 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:02:56
65 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
66 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
67 Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:03:38
68 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:03:56
69 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea Samsic 0:04:49
70 Sjoerd van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:05:49
71 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:08:37
72 Maarten van Trijp (Ned) Corendon-Circus
73 Marco Benfatto (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
74 Jeremy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
75 Lukas Spengler (Swi) Wallonie Bruxelles
76 Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:09:17
77 Tobias Morch Kongstad (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
78 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea Samsic
79 Julien Morice (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:09:49
80 Corentin Ermenault (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
81 Franklin Six (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles 0:10:19
82 Jeremy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:20
83 Robbe Ghys (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:12:14
84 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:03
85 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:17:08
86 Roy Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
87 Alvaro Robredo Crespo (Spa) Burgos-BH
88 Nils Sinschek (Ned) Team Sunweb Development
89 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
90 Manuel Penalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
91 Joseph Areruya (Rwa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
92 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team Sunweb Development
93 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
DNF Deins Kanepejs (Lat) Amore & Vita-Prodir
DNF Niklas Markl (Ger) Team Sunweb Development
DNS Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH