The Belgian was our team’s top finisher Sunday afternoon.
The Super 8 Classic, formerly known as the Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem, took in ten climbs – the last of which came in the final 15 kilometers – on the roads between Brakel and Haacht, many of these having been used at the 2021 World Championships in Leuven, won by Julian Alaphilippe.
In the past, the race usually came down to a bunch sprint, but this time the peloton made sure of ramping up the pace at the right moment and dropping the fast men long before the last hill. That small but steep climb, the Bosstraat, was where Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates) made his move, opening a gap of 20 seconds and taking a solo victory ahead of a 15-man chasing group.
Soudal Quick-Step had there Ilan Van Wilder, a top five finisher this season at the UAE Tour and the Tour de Romandie, and the 24-year-old from Jette came very close to concluding the day in the first ten.
“I think we did a good race. We tried to cover every move, as we didn’t have a sprinter here, we gave everything and we can be content with our effort. In the end, it was a bit of a lottery and the race was very hard, but the way we rode today makes us even more confident for the races left until the end of the season”, Ilan said at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Alex Broadway / Getty Images
Ilan Van Wilder 
