Kuurne Brussels Kuurne: Part II

After rolling out from Kuurne, the peloton allowed a break to accumulate about 8 minutes before they comfortably reeled the escapees back in. Riders tried again to breakaway, but no one could get a gap to stick. In the final 40km of the 200.7km course, 16 riders went clear. Below: the lead group passes under the finish line for the first of 2 circuits. Jasper Stuyven pulls.

Greg Van Avermaet among the leaders.

Less than a minute behind, Katusha and Cofidis worked to reel the dangerous break in.

With 17km to go, Stuyven attacked the break. The 23 year old neo pro won a stage at the 2015 Vuelta a España with a broken scaphoid and just yesterday was attempting to bridge to the winning move in Omloop Het Niuewsblad when he slid out on a corner and had to settle for rejoining the chase group (he finished 9th overall).

His legs bandaged from yesterday’s crash, Stuyven made himself as aero as possible to conserve energy against the winds.

Tom Boonen, trying to catch his compatriot up the road.

Antoine Duschene, in the chase group, rode with Stuyven under Axel Merckx at Bontrager (now Axeon Cycling).

The peloton galloped after their competition.

Stuyven’s gap held steady around 20 seconds as he time trialled in headwinds, crosswinds, and a tailwind. He’s been busy with more than just training recently as he opened a chocolate shop precisely 10 days ago, but it doesn’t seem to have affected his form. Barring a crash, the win was his with 2km to go and he let up in the finishing straight to sit up and savor the moment.

Seventeen seconds later, the peloton fought it out for the bunch sprint. Repeating last year’s result, Kristoff came in second with Nacer Bouhanni finishing third.

Kristoff and Bouhanni.

Stuyven’s teammates celebrated his win.

The peloton trickled in.

Hugo Houle and Antoine Duschane ride for different teams but the Canadians are roommates during the season in France.

A grimace from Luke Rowe as he finished nearly 2 minutes behind, yesterday’s effort having made a mark.

After a disappointing Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which saw 4 crashes among the team, Orica had a better result today with sprint prodigy Caleb Ewan finishing 15th within the bunch sprint. Below: Luke Durbridge and Mitch Docker.

Sergey Lagutin and Alexey Tsatevich.

The Stuyven fan club proudly waved their flags and sang songs, much to the amusement of the victor.

The podium.

Among the most intriguing prizes in cycling is the stuffed donkey awarded to the winner. For a brief background on why the town of Kuurne is donkey mad, see the final paragraph in this race preview by INRNG.

The Classics are just getting underway, but this weekend will do it for me for Belgium racing for the time being. To see 2 deserving Belgian riders at different points in their careers win Omloop and Kuurne has made it well worth the trip!