After the victory of Pim Ligthart in the GP la Marseillaise a Lotto Soudal rider could triumph again today. Kris Boeckmans won the first stage of the Etoile de Bessèges. He was the fastest of a front group of thirteen. Edward Theuns was second and Marco Coledan third. The Lotto Soudal rider is the first GC leader in this stage race and he stands on the first place in the points classification as well.
A hectic race
It was already in the first kilometres of the race that the peloton split and a front group of 28 riders was formed, with Tony Gallopin and Dennis Vanendert. The peloton got reunited and started chasing, but still the gap increased to two minutes. After the last hill of the day the peloton split again and there was a counterattack of 25. Three of them were Lotto Soudal riders: Kris Boeckmans, Pim Ligthart and Maxime Monfort. The two groups melted together, so there was a first group of more than fifty riders. Too big, so lots of attacks followed. Those were without any success, until about fifteen kilometres from the finish. Thirteen riders got away. Kris Boeckmans, Pim Ligthart and Dennis Vanendert were part of that front group. Ligthart attacked, but he was caught in the final kilometre. With his teammate in front, Kris Boeckmans had been quite relaxed in the group and he sprinted towards the victory!
At last!
Kris Boeckmans: “After four years without a victory and ten second places this feels great. At last all turned out well and I could take my fourth pro victory. In the last kilometres the situation was ideal for the team. With Dennis Vanendert, Pim Ligthart and myself three riders of our team were part of the right breakaway. Dennis had already lost many energy in the early breakaway, but he still did his part of the job. Pim was the perfect teammate and attacked in the final kilometres, so the other teams had to chase. I only had to follow and I started sprinting at 200 metres of the finish line. There was a headwind, but I could stay ahead of the others.”
Day by day
“At the beginning of the race it didn’t look too good for me. I got surprised by the wind and that’s why I wasn’t part of the big group of 28 with teammates Tony Gallopin and Dennis Vanendert. After the last climb we set up a counterattack. Pim and I helped to set the pace and the peloton split again. We joined the leaders and it was a perfect situation for the team. It will probably be too difficult for me to keep the leader’s jersey. Tony Gallopin and Maxime Monfort are the GC riders in the team. Also Pim Ligthart is really strong. I hope to keep the points jersey, but I’ll see day by day.”
