The promising Belgian took his first victory of the year on the road.
Thibaut Van Damme won the opening stage of the Tour du Bocage et de l’Ernée 53, the French race running its third edition this weekend. Running around Montenay, a small town in the Mayenne department, the 118.3km stage 1 was an undulating one, comprising five small classified climbs before an uphill drag to the line.
The race came to life long before the finish, when a small but strong group rode away as the peloton fragmented under the numerous attacks that came. Soudal Quick-Step U19 had two riders there – Thibaut Van Damme and Maksymilian Matyasik – and the duo’s combined effort was instrumental in helping the group stay away. In the final, the 17-year-old Belgian was the fastest, outsprinting his opponents on the way to our junior’s team first win of the season.
A success on the road that came just two months after Thibaut became double national champion on the track, and a result that puts him in the leader’s jersey ahead of Sunday’s two half-stages: the individual time trial in the morning and the undulating road race in the afternoon.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel