Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2020 [LAST 20 KM]

March 1, 2020

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2020 – Kuurne – Kuurne : 201 km

Kuurne has never shied away from the hills of the Flemish Ardennes but the final climb has traditionally featured around 50km from the finish, meaning sprinters have often been able to triumph. Despite Dylan Groenewegen’s bunch-sprint win two years ago, the recent trend has been for more attritional racing and solo winners, and the organisers seem to have been so pleased, they’re keen to ensure the same outcome from now on. “I think it was time to do something else,” race director Peter Debaveye said recently. “The pure sprinters are going to find a more complicated route beneath their wheels.”
Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) produced a remarkable solo display to fend off the chasing peloton and claim victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).

The Dane bridged across to the remnants of the day’s early break with 29km remaining and maintained his effort even when it was apparent that neither Roy Jans (Alpecin-Fenix) nor Boris Vallée (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) could contribute much to the pace-making after almost 100 miles off the front.

Undeterred, Asgreen’s efforts saw the trio build a lead of 45 seconds over a peloton where his Deceuninck-QuickStep team held a reliable alternative in the shape of sprinter Fabio Jakobsen. Just before reaching the 15km finishing circuit in Kuurne, Asgreen kicked to rid himself of Jans’ company, and he took the bell burdened by Vallée’s presence on his wheel but heartened by their 34-second lead over a peloton led by Sunweb, Lotto Soudal and Ineos.

Asgreen dropped Vallée just inside the last 10km, where his lead stood at 15 seconds. In the last 5km, the 25-year-old briefly looked to be flagging and his advantage dwindled to just 8 seconds but he rallied once more inside the last 3km. He passed beneath the flamme rouge with that gap still in hand, and he freewheeled across the line ahead of Nizzolo, Kristoff and his teammate Jakobsen to claim the first Classic victory of his young career.

“It was so hard,” Asgreen said. “I had to drop the Alpecin rider in the crosswinds because he was not pulling but obviously he had [Tim] Merlier in the group behind so of course he should not pull but of course it was a bit annoying so I had to get rid of him. That effort was really hard and afterwards I was really doubting if I could make it to the line. Then, I didn’t know how fast [Vallée] is in a sprint, so I preferred to arrive alone.”

Asgreen emulated his teammate Bob Jungels, who won the race after a similar lone effort twelve months ago, and his performance was all the more striking given the role he played earlier in the race in attempting to tee up a bunch sprint for Deceuninck-QuickStep’s resident fast man Jakobsen.

“Bob told me in the bus to do like he did last year,” Asgreen said. “We knew it was possible to get away because the roads were so small. I tried to get away and make it to the finish. Otherwise, we had Fabio for the sprint.”

In comparison with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 24 hours previously, the second instalment of Belgium’s Opening Weekend had been slow to ignite. The trek through the Flemish Ardennes had largely failed to provoke much by way of attacking, but a tumultuous final hour of action proved more than compensated.

The peloton fragmented and then reformed after the combination of the Oude Kwaremont and Kluisberg with 50km to go, where the early break still held a lead of 3 minutes. That advantage was slashed dramatically when the bunch splintered once again on the cobbles at Beerbosstraat, and though the respective groups eventually came back together, the race remained lined out.

That breathless form of racing seemed to suit Asgreen, who produced a searing acceleration to bridge across to Vallée and Jans. With almost 30km to go and a host of sprinters still in contention, it was a move that seemed unlikely to go the distance, but after carving out his opportunity, Asgreen was determined not to let it go.

How it unfolded

Former professional rider Zico Waeytens, now a boxer and the star of the 2020 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne race poster flag the peloton away from the start at the Kuurne hippodrome beneath pleasant sunshine. In the small town near Kortrijk, there was, as ever, big support for local riders like Yves Lampaert, Julien Vermote and Sep Vanmarcke.

After a rapid start to proceedings, a break eventually forged clear after 20km. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), Hugo Houle (Astana), Roy Jans (Alpecin-Fenix), Boris Vallée (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Norwegian Development Team) combined well to build a lead of almost seven minutes by the time they hit the day’s fourth climb, the Mont Saint-Laurent.

From there, the gap started to come back down again, albeit very slowly. In the peloton, the pace often increased just ahead of the so-called hellingen where the roads are narrow, but then relented again afterwards. Apart from those accelerations, there were a few minor crashes and mechanicals, but the action was rather less constant than at Omloop Het Nieuwblad 24 hours previously.

At the Côte du Trieu, at 67km from the finish, the leaders still had a lead of more than five minutes. Behind, on the often narrow roads from the Trieu towards the long cobbled Oude Kwaremont climb, a crash occurred in the peloton. Gianni Moscon (Team Ineos) was among the riders to come down, and he could be seen throwing another rider’s bike away from the pile-up and against a rider from B&B Hotels – Vital Concept. Shortly afterwards, the race jury disqualified Moscon for what was just the latest in a long line of disciplinary infractions.

Out in front, Bjerg lost contact with his breakaway companions after a rear wheel mechanical ahead the Oude Kwaremont but the four remaining escapees continued to ride strongly. In the peloton, Jens Keukeleire (EF) set the early tempo on the climb before Matteo Trentin (CCC) took over and split it into pieces.

A group of twenty riders, including Greg Van Avermaet and Jasper Stuyven, had a nice gap but nobody seemed willing to commit fully and, after the final climb of the day, the Kluisberg, the peloton was back together, while the break still had 3 minutes in hand with 50km to go.

The race ignited again, however, on the cobbles of Beerbosstraat, where the Omloop winner Stuyven’s acceleration split the peloton and helped to bring a group of 20 or so strongmen clear in pursuit of the leaders. Van Avermaet, Tiesj Benoot and John Degenkolb were among them, but Deceuninck-QuickStep were eager to bring Fabio Jakobsen back into contention, with Asgreen prominent in the chase.

When the peloton reformed with 30km to go, the break looked on the cusp of being caught, but the move found new momentum when Asgreen bridged across alone. Only Vallée and Jans could follow the Dane’s infernal pace-making as he stretched their buffer back out to 45 seconds.

Julien Vermote (Cofidis) made a forlorn effort to bridge across, and when he relented, Sunweb, Ineos and Lotto Soudal looked to marshal the chase in an expanded peloton. Asgreen continued to perform the bulk of the pace-making out in front, with the flagging Jans and Vallée both reluctant to work. He dropped the former with 20km to go and then dispatched of the latter on the final lap.

Results :
1 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck – Quick – Step 4:47:18
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Ntt Pro Cycling Team 0:00:03
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Uae Team Emirates
4 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek – Segafredo
6 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start – Up Nation
7 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain – Mclaren
8 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
9 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
10 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
11 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Ef Pro Cycling
12 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama – Fdj
13 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
14 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
15 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora – Hansgrohe
17 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
18 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
19 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
20 Clement Venturini (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
21 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
22 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
23 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Ag2R La Mondiale
24 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
25 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix
26 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Ccc Team
27 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
28 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
29 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
30 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Ag2R La Mondiale
31 Jonas Iversby Hvideberg (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
32 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
33 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
34 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
35 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama – Fdj
36 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
37 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start – Up Nation
38 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Ccc Team
39 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain – Mclaren
40 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
41 Jonas Koch (Ger) Ccc Team
42 Zdeněk Štybar (Cze) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
43 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Uae Team Emirates
44 Michael Valgren Hundahl (Den) Ntt Pro Cycling Team
45 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama – Fdj
46 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
47 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start – Up Nation
48 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix
49 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
50 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Ccc Team
51 Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix
52 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
53 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora – Hansgrohe
54 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin – Fenix
55 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
56 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
57 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Lotto Soudal
58 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
59 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Ef Pro Cycling 0:00:15
60 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix 0:00:18
61 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain – Mclaren 0:00:56
62 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:17
63 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
64 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:01:56
65 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Ntt Pro Cycling Team 0:02:08
66 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama – Fdj
67 Michael Gogl (Aut) Ntt Pro Cycling Team
68 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
69 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
70 Casper Phillip Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:03:14
71 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Ntt Pro Cycling Team 0:04:15
72 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) Ef Pro Cycling 0:06:03
73 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
74 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
75 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
76 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin – Fenix
77 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
78 Dorian Godon (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale 0:06:31
79 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek – Segafredo
80 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start – Up Nation
81 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles
82 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek – Segafredo 0:07:10
83 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start – Up Nation
84 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
85 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin – Fenix
86 Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
87 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Ccc Team
88 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora – Hansgrohe
89 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
90 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) Ag2R La Mondiale
91 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
92 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
93 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
94 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
95 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Ntt Pro Cycling Team
96 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
97 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
98 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton – Scott
99 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton – Scott
100 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck – Quick – Step
101 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
102 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek – Segafredo
103 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Team Ineos
104 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton – Scott
105 Julien Duval (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
106 Josef Černý (Cze) Ccc Team
107 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton – Scott
108 Logan Owen (USA) Ef Pro Cycling
109 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
110 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
111 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
112 Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
113 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
114 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Ntt Pro Cycling Team
115 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain – Mclaren
116 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain – Mclaren
117 Tom Bohli (Swi) Uae Team Emirates
118 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora – Hansgrohe
119 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
120 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
121 Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
122 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Uae Team Emirates
123 Mathijs Paasschens (Ned) Wallonie Bruxelles
124 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis
125 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
126 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora – Hansgrohe
127 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
128 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
129 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
130 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
131 Martin Laas (Est) Bora – Hansgrohe
132 Aksel Nõmmela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles
133 Julius Van Den Berg (Ned) Ef Pro Cycling
134 Lars Saugstad (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
135 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton – Scott 0:07:52
136 Marco Marcato (Ita) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Rasmus Byriel Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
DNF Sasha Weemaes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
DNF Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek – Segafredo
DNF Matteo Trentin (Ita) Ccc Team
DNF Adrien Garel (Fra) B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P / B Ktm
DNF Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain – Mclaren
DNF Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain – Mclaren
DNF Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Erik Baska (Svk) Bora – Hansgrohe
DNF Alfdan De Decker (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama – Fdj
DNF Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Ef Pro Cycling
DNF Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start – Up Nation
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Circus – Wanty Gobert
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Mikkel Bjerg (Den) Uae Team Emirates
DNF Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno – X Norwegian Development Team
DNF Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Travis Mccabe (USA) Israel Start – Up Nation
DNF Jonas Castrique (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DSQ Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
DNS Tom Scully (NZl) Ef Pro Cycling
DNS Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
DNS Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal