The Belgian one-day race was our last UCI event of September.
Consisting of eight laps of a flat circuit that made for a total of 199 kilometers, Sunday’s Gooikse Pijl was a quiet race until the final kilometers, when things heated up. Until then, a breakaway of five was easily controlled by several teams, including Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl, who brought the escapees back around ten kilometers from the line.
But other riders had different plans and tried to attack in order to prevent the race from coming down to a bunch gallop. This resulted in a hectic finale in Strijland, without any lead-out trains and many of the sprinters on their own. Gerbert Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) took the win, while neo-pro Stan Van Tricht concluded as our squad’s best placed rider.
While no other UCI races are scheduled next week, with the focus on the World Championships in Australia, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl won’t have time to rest, as it will be in action at two kermesses, Textielprijs Vichte (20 September) and Zwevezele Koers (23 September).
Photo credit: ©Stuart Franklin / Getty Images
