Pieter Serry finishes the race as the best placed member of the Wolfpack.
Full gas action from the start over a demanding course packed with hills was in store at the 81st edition of the Circuit Franco-Belge, the 175.2km one-day race which marked Fabio Jakobsen’s first appearance since concluding his debut the Tour de France three weeks ago.
In the first part of the race, a breakaway formed and established a five-minute lead over a peloton who had its sights on the undulating local laps around La Louvière, where the race exploded and the peloton was split into pieces. Numerous groups were spread across the road before the bunch came back together, but only for a brief moment as the group was once again fragmented with 50 kilometers to go.
Pieter Serry was among those showing his intentions when he zipped away inside the final two laps, but the daring Belgian was caught by the reduced bunch from where four men then attacked and opened a decisive gap helped by the rolling terrain. Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) won the race, while Pieter arrived together with the main chasing group as the team’s top finisher, inside the top 20.
Photo credit: ©Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images
