Lecerf turns heads at La Vuelta

Lecerf turns heads at La Vuelta

After a sweltering opening week, during which he found his place in the peloton and got accustomed to the rigours and speed of a Grand Tour, William Junior Lecerf had a first opportunity to show what he is capable off on the roads of Galicia, and T-Rex Quick-Step’s diminutive climber didn’t disappoint.

The demanding stage ten concluded in Baiona, which on 1 March 1493 became the first European port to receive the news of the discovery of America, when the Pinta – one of Columbus’ three ships for his first voyage to the New World – arrived there, captained by Martin Alonzo Pinzon. Baiona is also the place where our team took one of its many La Vuelta wins, back in 2016, when Gianni Meersman was the fastest in a bunch sprint.

On Tuesday, it took some time for a breakaway to form, as numerous riders tried to snap the elastic and make it to the front of the race. Among them, also Mauri Vansevenant, who was reeled in during the first hour of the race, despite a brave attempt. Then, with around 100 kilometers to go, William Junior Lecerf attacked together with two men, opening a gap that looked promising. This move was joined by another pair of riders, and the quintet worked well together, sharing the workload.

The 21-year-old Belgian neo-pro – a stage winner at the Tour du Rwanda in February – was one of the group’s engines, not being afraid of taking some long pulls at the front and contributing to the breakaway’s six-minute maximum advantage, which made them favourites for the win in front of the peloton. The concord between the escapees was maintained until 30 kilometers to go, when two of them attacked going through the intermediate sprint. William did his best to join them, pulling hard on both the flat and the subsequent Alto de Mougas, the stage’s last ascent, but it soon became clear that the duo would fight for the win.

Lecerf arrived around one minute after winner Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and came extremely close to a podium finish, concluding this tough day in fourth place – the first time this season that he cracked the top ten in a World Tour race and a result that underlined his blossoming talent.

“I am a bit disappointed because I missed out on the podium, as I felt that I could have been there. The breakaway was a strong one, and when the group split, I did my best to follow, but it was very difficult to take the wheel of a guy like Van Aert on those roads. On the other hand, I am satisfied with how I felt and with being in the mix for a good result on such a tough stage”, William explained at the finish.

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

Race details

1 Wout van Aert
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
3:50:47
2 Quentin Pacher
Groupama - FDJ
0:03
3 Marc Soler Giménez
UAE Team Emirates
2:01
4 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
2:01
5 Juri Hollmann
Alpecin - Deceuninck
2:01
6 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta
Euskaltel - Euskadi
5:13
7 Jhonatan Narváez Prado
INEOS Grenadiers
5:31
8 Stefan Küng
Groupama - FDJ
5:31
9 George Bennett
Israel - Premier Tech
5:31
10 Harold Tejada Canacue
Astana Qazaqstan Team
5:31
38 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
5:31
42 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
5:31
59 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
5:45
63 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
9:06
64 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
9:06
93 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
19:15
142 Casper Pedersen
Soudal Quick-Step
20:40
1 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
40:05:54
2 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
3:53
3 Richard Carapaz Montenegro
EF Education - EasyPost
4:32
4 Enric Mas Nicolau
Movistar Team
4:35
5 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
5:17
6 Florian Lipowitz
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
5:29
7 Adam Yates
UAE Team Emirates
5:30
8 Felix Gall
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
5:30
9 Carlos Rodríguez Cano
INEOS Grenadiers
6:00
10 David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
6:32
41 Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal Quick-Step
42:01
45 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
49:50
51 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
54:15
53 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
56:57
90 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
1:24:31
129 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
1:49:10
147 Casper Pedersen
Soudal Quick-Step
1:58:22
1 Wout van Aert
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
243 pt
2 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
162 pt
3 Pavel Bittner
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
81 pt
4 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
66 pt
5 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
65 pt
6 Stefan Küng
Groupama - FDJ
59 pt
7 Mathias Vacek
Lidl - Trek
57 pt
8 Harold Tejada Canacue
Astana Qazaqstan Team
52 pt
9 Quentin Pacher
Groupama - FDJ
49 pt
10 Corbin Strong
Israel - Premier Tech
49 pt
14 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
44 pt
27 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
28 pt
51 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
13 pt
82 Kasper Asgreen
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
1 Adam Yates
UAE Team Emirates
22 pt
2 Wout van Aert
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
22 pt
3 Primož Roglič
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
18 pt
4 David Gaudu
Groupama - FDJ
18 pt
5 Jay Vine
UAE Team Emirates
17 pt
6 Sylvain Moniquet
Lotto Dstny
16 pt
7 Marc Soler Giménez
UAE Team Emirates
12 pt
8 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
11 pt
9 Pelayo Sánchez Mayo
Movistar Team
10 pt
10 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
10 pt
30 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
31 Mikel Landa Meana
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
1 Florian Lipowitz
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
40:11:23
2 Carlos Rodríguez Cano
INEOS Grenadiers
0:31
3 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Lidl - Trek
1:49
4 Lennert Van Eetvelt
Lotto Dstny
3:26
5 Isaac del Toro Romero
UAE Team Emirates
33:17
6 Matthew Riccitello
Israel - Premier Tech
36:30
7 Giovanni Aleotti
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
43:23
8 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
44:21
9 Max Poole
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
45:48
10 William Junior Lecerf
Soudal Quick-Step
51:28
1 UAE Team Emirates 120:28:40
2 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 8:44
3 Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 9:40
4 Groupama - FDJ 28:03
5 Israel - Premier Tech 46:19
6 Team Visma | Lease a Bike 46:51
7 INEOS Grenadiers 49:38
8 Movistar Team 52:51
9 Soudal Quick-Step 58:37
10 Lidl - Trek 1:01:31

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