Fourth place for 19-year-old Naud De Clercq.
Textielprijs Vichte ran another fast edition, which saw the peloton average more than 48km/h despite the presence of the Tiegemberg climb on each of the sixteen laps. It didn’t take long after the start for a large group to get away, putting more than a minute into the peloton, who had to work hard in order to bring them back.
After the catch was made with two laps to go, other riders went clear, but they too were reeled in. On the last hill of the day, Gil Gelders rolled the dice and launched a ferocious acceleration to which only three men could react. The newly-formed group worked well together and managed to stay in the lead until the final kilometer, where the bunch overhauled them.
The race concluded with a bunch sprint, and Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto Intermarche) took the victory. Devo rider Naud De Clercq, who raced here with the World Tour team, came extremely close to finishing on the podium, the fourth place he took in Vichte being his best result of the season.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
