The youngsters in action at Brabantse Pijl

Soudal Quick-Step neo-pros put in a good effort at the Belgian Classic.

Our team came to the start of the 195.2km Brabantse Pijl with a seven-man squad led by two experienced riders, Pieter Serry and Louis Vervaeke, who were joined by five young teammates, including neo-pros Gil Gelders, Antoine Huby and Pepijn Reinderink.

Following the trend of this spring, the race got underway to a fast start, which meant that despite multiple attacks, there was no breakaway for more than 50 kilometers. When one finally was established, Soudal Quick-Step was present there with Jordi Warlop, who together with his companions managed to stay off the front until 75 kilometers to go. As soon as they got caught, Antoine Huby went on the attack, and the Frenchman – who has had some solid outings in the team’s colors since the start of the season – was joined by two men and together they forged out an interesting advantage.

The newly-formed leading trio had at some point 30 seconds over the peloton, where confusion reigned for some moments, as no team was committed to the chase. Eventually, despite their best efforts, the three were caught when the attacks began coming, but Soudal Quick-Step remained prominent, this time with Pepijn Reinderink. The U23 Dutch Champion got involved in a strong move, which despite having the numbers was brought back as the cooperation lacked.

Huby tried again later, despite a bike change, but his race was over on the final lap due to a crash, fortunately without serious consequences. In the end, Pieter Serry was our first rider home, as Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R) took the win from a small group.

“We had a young and ambitious team at the start today. We went in the break with Jordi, and then – having entered on the circuit in a good position – we tried something and put in a strong effort. On the closing lap, we didn’t have the firepower to chase the guys at the front, but despite this, our young riders did a good race and can look with confidence to the next race”, said sports director Dries Devenyns.

Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images