Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2018 [FULL RACE]

February 25, 2018

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2018 – Kuurne – Kuurne : 200 km

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cyling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season. It is ranked a 1.HC event of the UCI Europe Tour.

Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) added another victory to his early-season success after sprinting to win Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. He led the reduced field sprint across the line ahead of Arnaud Démare (FDJ)) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida).

Late-race breakaway riders Julien Duval (AG2R La Mondiale) and Julien Vermote (Dimension Data), joined by Loic Vliegen (BMC Racing) in the final kilometres, where pulled back into the fold by a charging reduced peloton led by Lotto Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo. Despite spending much of his energy in the breakaway attempt, Vermote hung on for ninth on the day.

Duval had initiated the move on the final lap and was joined by Vermote first and then Vliegen, who had already been on the attack earlier in the race. Vermote looked the strongest of the three as they held a slim advantage over the closing kilometres, but the peloton behind never appeared too troubled with FDJ taking control to set things up for Demare.

A rider well used to pulling on the front for hours on end, Vermote held out the longest and forged on in the hope that he might be able to pull off an upset, but he had no response when the sprinters began their dive for the line.

Groenewegen struck out first, catching Démare on the hop and putting enough distance between them to stop him from coming back.

Groenewegen was almost not in contention after he missed a big split in the bunch that saw riders such as Jasper Stuyven, Greg Van Avermaet and Matteo Trentin go up the road. Thanks to some solid work from his teammates and some help from Astana, who also missed out, he was given a second chance.

“We came into the Kwaremont and it all broke up. My teammates brought me back perfectly. When we got back, Stuyven was still a bit further up but we caught him and in the final kilometres I was able to put myself into the right position,” said Groenewegen. “We were coming from behind with a fair amount of speed so I was able to come around Arnaud Démare. I do like these kinds of races and I like it when it is harder.”

How it happened

Bright blue skies and big crowds welcomed the riders Kuurne on Sunday morning. Roger De Vlaeminck – winner in 1970 and 1971 – was one of those there after receiving the honour of firing the start gun. Seven riders dared to challenge the headwind that marked the first half of the race towards Brussels. The seven were Truls Korsaeth (Astana), Gedaminas Bagdonas (AG2R), Matteo Bono (UAE Team Emirates), Piet Allegaert (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Kenneth Van Bilsen (Cofidis), Romain Cardis (Direct Energie) and Ben Perry (Israel Cycling Academy). It was the second day in a row that Van Bilsen featured in the long breakaway move, after going up the road at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

The seven leaders worked well together but didn’t gain much more than two minutes on the peloton. As the first hills started to feature, the gap started to come back down and quickly. Belgian champion Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) had a chain problem and lost a lot of time before receiving a new bike. The nervousness was rising as the often crucial long cobbled Oude Kwaremont climb approached. A high-speed crash in the descent towards the Oude Kwaremont included Trek’s sprinter Boy van Poppel and German champion Marcus Burghardt; Van Poppel abandoned the race.

On the Oude Kwaremont, Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) upped the pace and stormed by most of the breakaway riders. Specialists Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First-Drapac) were quick to get on his wheel. The trio exited the Oude Kwaremont together with breakaway survivors Bagdonas and Korsaeth.

The pace dropped and the five leaders allowed a large group to bridge across, creating a large leading group. On the following Kluisberg climb, Quick-Step Floors sprinter Fernando Gaviria struggled and dropped out of the group. A few moments later, Gaviria’s lead-out man Max Richeze punctured.

The first group of 21 riders gained a lead of more than half a minute on the main peloton. The move included fast men like Arnaud Démare (FDJ), Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott), Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrein-Merida) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). The chase in the first peloton was led by the LottoNL-Jumbo team, whose sprinter Groenewegen had missed the cut.

The leaders reached the two-kilometre cobbled Varent street with an advantage of 25 seconds on the peloton. Lampaert led the group with Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida), Van Avermaet and Vanmarcke working too. All of the leaders, and most of the peloton, rode on the smooth path next to the cobbles. The pace in the peloton dropped away on the cobbles and the bonus grew up to a minute once off the cobbles. Astana charged forward in the peloton and brought the gap back down to forty seconds at Nokereberg, the final climb of the day.

Former winner Stuyven sneaked away at the top of Nokereberg and Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe) joined him up the road, while Démare opted to hold back and stay with the group. When passing through the Dwars door Vlaanderen finish town of Waregem, the two leaders had a lead of 20 seconds on the group and 45 seconds on the Astana-led peloton. The group sat up and was caught back by the peloton at 40 kilometres from the finish. The two leaders still had a bonus of 45 seconds when Oss punctured away at 33 kilometres from the finish. Stuyven picked up the prize money at stake at the finish line and hit the two local laps with a bonus of nearly a minute on the Bahrain-Merida-led peloton.

EF Education First-Drapac lost Modolo, when he crashed as the peloton rode through the centre of Kortrijk and looked to be in a lot of pain after hitting the tarmac hard. Meanwhile, Stuyven’s lead came down as Lotto-Soudal took the initiative when heading back to Kuurne. The move caused splits in the peloton and at 18 kilometres from the finish Stuyven was brought back.

There was a brief hiatus in hostilities as the peloton entered the final lap until two brief moves from Niki Terpstra and Guillaume van Keirsbulck. As the latter was brought back to the fold, Duval went clear on his own, soon to be joined by Vermote. The pair worked together, but Duval appeared to be struggling compared to Vermote and they began slipping back to the peloton. Vliegen saw his chance and joined the two leaders and helped them build a bigger advantage.

With some big sprinters behind, the three were not given much in the way of space out front. As they turned onto the final stretch, Duval was slipping back and Vermote made one last push. Once the fast men began sprinting, Vermote was quickly overhauled and Groenewegen had a clear run to the line.

Results :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 4:51:41
2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
3 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
4 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
5 Justin Jules (Fra) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
6 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
7 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
8 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
9 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
10 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
11 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
12 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
13 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
14 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
15 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
16 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
18 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
20 Michael Goolaerts (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
21 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
22 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
23 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
24 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe
25 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
26 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
29 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
30 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
31 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
32 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
33 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
35 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
36 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
37 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
38 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
39 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
40 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
41 Julien Mortier (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
42 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
43 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
45 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
46 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
47 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
48 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
49 Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
50 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
51 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
52 August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
53 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
55 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
56 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
57 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
58 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
59 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
60 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
61 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
62 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) FDJ 0:00:17
63 Huub Duijn (Ned) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
64 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
65 Pieter Weening (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
66 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
67 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team
68 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:31
69 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) FDJ 0:00:33
70 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:50
71 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:20
72 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
73 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:21
74 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:52
75 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
76 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
77 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
78 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
79 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
80 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
81 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
82 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
83 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic
84 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
86 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
87 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
88 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
89 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team
90 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
91 Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij
DNS Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
DNF Antoine Duchesne (Can) FDJ
DNF Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ
DNF Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
DNF Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
DNF Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Bram Welten (Ned) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF SVENDGAARD Michael Carbel
DNF Maxime Daniel (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic
DNF Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Simon Sellier (Fra) Direct Energie