Second podium in three days for the young American rider.
Luke Lamperti finished runner-up at an exciting edition of the Bredene Koksijde Classic, sprinting to second from a strong leading group that managed to barely stay away in the final meters of the 200km race after more than 80 kilometers at the front.
It was an eventful day of racing, one that had the riders overcome the Baneberg and Kemmelberg while dealing also with some wind, and during which the peloton got split, igniting a full gas chase that lasted until the closing meters of the race. Soudal Quick-Step was again very active, placing Warre Vangheluwe in an eight-man front group that formed on the hardest part of the course, while behind Lamperti made sure of booking a place in the chasing group that pulled hard and eventually managed to bridge across with around 50 kilometers remaining.
Their gap hovered around 50 seconds the entire time, and despite the peloton behind having the numbers on their side, the attackers found a way to hold them off, in part thanks to a wonderful effort of Vangheluwe, who emptied himself on the last lap in Bredene. Like his teammate, Luke gave everything in the sprint just as the groups were coming together, only a wheel separating him in the end from Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek), who took the victory at the end of Friday’s hectic race by the North Sea coast.
“Of course, I am a bit disappointed, but also happy. It’s good that I’m back racing, but you always want to win races, so it’s frustrating when you finish second. Warre did an amazing job in the front group and it’s also thanks to him that I was in a position to fight for victory. We can be happy with the way we raced as a team, and we can take a lot of confidence from this for the next races”, explained after the podium ceremony Luke, the first American to finish on the podium in Bredene Koksijde Classic.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
