Our squad showed a lot of determination at the 68th edition of the Belgian Classic.
Soudal Quick-Step approached this year’s E3 Saxo Classic with ambition and confidence, and showed that on the roads of Flanders. Our team made its presence felt early in the 208.5km race, moving to the front of the peloton and setting a brisk tempo behind the breakaway with Warre Vangheluwe and Jonathan Vervenne.
When a chasing group formed behind the leading group, Pepijn Reinderink swiftly jumped from the bunch to cover that move, while the rest of the team set Jasper Stuyven up for an attack on the famous Taaienberg. The Belgian launched a powerful acceleration there, to which only a handful of riders could initially respond, and soon a strong chasing group formed around him.
A couple of kilometers later, they joined the group of Reinderink, who did his best to help his more experienced teammate, but the bunch managed to bridge across. The race remained open behind lone leader Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), and ahead of the Tiegemberg – the last hill of the day – Stuyven once again rolled the dice and went on the attack. Runner-up in Harelbeke two years ago, Soudal Quick-Step’s leader put a few seconds into the others as he left everything out there in his attempt to open a decisive gap and fight for a podium place, only for the peloton to come back again.
“I hoped to follow Mathieu but I wasn’t able to. After that, I tried to get away with a few riders but also that didn’t work out. There was some cooperation but different teams had riders in front so that wasn’t helping us. I felt good today, but in the final kilometers I was empty, like the rest of the guys in that large chasing group. No result today, but a good feeling for the upcoming races”, said Jasper, who will be at the start of In Flanders Fields on Sunday.
Photo credit: ©Nico Vereecken / Getty Images
