Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 22-year-old Dutchman came close to his fifth victory of the season.
One day from Alvaro Hodeg’s win at Heistse Pijl, Deceuninck – Quick-Step continued its Belgian weekend at Elfstedenronde, the 199km-long race starting and finishing in Bruges, which despite containing several cobblestone stretches, saw the winner emerge again from a bunch gallop, albeit a reduced one.
Having done most of the work throughout the day, in order to make sure the five escapees would be brought back on the finishing circuit, our riders remained in charge and continued to push hard even after overhauling the leaders, with five kilometers to go. Zdenek Stybar kept things together and then expertly guided Fabio Jakobsen to the front of the group on the long finishing stretch, where Tim Merlier (Corendon Circus) took everyone by surprise, anticipating the sprint and powering to the win.
Runner-up on Sunday, Fabio didn’t hide his disappointment, but remained confident other opportunities will soon come: “I always ride to win, so I can’t be satisfied with this result. In the finale, I was thinking that sprinting at 200 meters to go would be too early, whilst opening 150 meters from the line would be too late. For sure, Merlier picked the right moment to do it. The team was great today, they worked hard again, and Styby was still with me inside the last 500 meters. Having the other riders on the wheel meant that I had to find the right timing, but unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it off. Of course, I’m disappointed, but at the same time, I look forward to Wednesday, when we’ll get another chance.”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
