Our team played again a prominent role in one of the most action-packed races of the week.
The 2019 season is nearing its conclusion, only a handful of races standing between us and the end of what has been another outstanding year for the Wolfpack, one which our team will conclude one month from now at the Tour of Guangxi, the last stop on the World Tour calendar.
But before that, and before the World Championships which will kick off this Sunday in Great Britain, Deceuninck – Quick-Step had an appointment in Belgium, where we took on the 24th edition of the Primus Classic (Brakel – Haacht, 197 kilometers), less than twenty-four hours after notching up a spectacular victory with stagiare and future full-time rider Jannik Steimle at Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen.
A move numbering five riders took shape after the first 20 kilometers of the race, pulling out around six minutes over the peloton which began chasing hard only inside the last 100 kilometers, when attacks began rolling out and threatening both the breakaway and those gunning for a bunch gallop. Once again, Deceuninck – Quick-Step assumed responsibility, shutting down many of these actions and working hard to keep things together, Tim Declercq, Mikkel Honoré and Pieter Serry being among those to put in the watts.
When a selection was made over a short but demanding hilly section, four of our riders were there and they continued to play an important role, as they again took the front of the peloton and set a strong tempo behind two riders who had managed to build a 40-second gap. The duo carried that margin until with eight kilometers to go, when our squad’s efforts paid off and they were overhauled by a thinned-out pack.
A serious lack of commitment from others two kilometers from the finish was speculated by Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), who rode clear, opened a slim gap on the chasers and held them at bay, just as they were preparing to catch him on the line. In the chaotic finish that ensued, Dutch Champion Fabio Jakobsen concluded just outside the top 10, as the squad’s highest-ranked rider, a result which added more points to our total haul in the UCI World Team Classification.
Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield/ Getty Images
