The 21-year-old American racked up another top ten in an important one-day race.
The final Belgian event of the season came down to a bunch sprint, as expected, but it was far from being a straightforward one, due to the cobbles and the numerous tricky corners that spiced up the final kilometers of this 37th edition.
Soudal Quick-Step controlled the 198.6km race from the beginning, posting Ayco Bastiaens at the front of the peloton to keep the escapees’ gap in check, and later – after the breakaway was brought back – made sure of being present in all the dangerous moves, with the likes of Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert. Late accelerations kept coming, but they were all neutralized by the peloton, who entered the final kilometer as one.
There, the sprint trains derailed and it was soon every man for himself. Luke Lamperti was left to carry the flag for our team and the young American didn’t disappoint, taking a solid sixth at the end of the race won by Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) for what was his tenth top-ten result since the beginning of the season.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
Luke Lamperti 