After being able to follow P. Gilberts first move, the Austrian rider fights long at the head of the race. In the end he finished in 15th place in the first chasing group. But nobody could challenge Quickstep today in Dwar Door Vlaanderen.
The second race of this year’s “Flandern Classics” series took place today between Roeselare and Waregem, known as Dwars Door Vlaanderen. With 203 kilometres including some of the famous Flanders “Hellinge” like the Oude Kwaremont, the Taaienberg and the Paterberg, the race is also a useful preparation for the Tour of Flanders.
BORA – hansgrohe’s line-up was built around Sam Bennett today. The Irish sprinter of the team showed good shape already in Paris – Nice, but also in the first norther Classics of the season. Hoping to bring Sam into the finale safely, a good result was expected if a bigger group would fight for the win in Waregem.
A 5-men group left the peloton early in the race. After being joined by a 6th rider a little later, the leading group extended their advantage over the bunch to more than 6 minutes. But when Quickstep took over the control in the peloton as they hit the first climb of the day, the gap started to come down immediately.
Due to the strong peace in the peloton and heavy wind, the break was already caught with just less than 80 k to go. When P. Gilbert attacked on the Berendries, about 15 riders could go clear from the bunch again, this time including Lukas Pöstlberger. The group worked well and after the Kwaremont the gap was 50 seconds.
On the Paterberg P. Gilbert forced a split in the leading group, 3 riders were able to stay with him, while also the main bunch did crack into different groups. When the first and second chasing group came together, 26 riders including Lukas Pöstlberger were 1 Minute behind the 4 leaders. But the two Quickstep riders in the leading group started to play cats and mouse with their rivals. Y. Lampaert took a solo win in the end, with Lukas Pöstlberger crossing the line in the chasing group and taking the 15th place.
“The team did a really good job to be at the head of the peloton in the decisive moment, especially Juraj made a big effort. I made the split then when Gilbert made his move. It was good to be up there early, but when the 4 went away, some guys could catch up and everything started to become nervous. In the end were a lot of attacks and I tried to follow several times. That’s why I didn’t have a lot energy left for the sprint, but I am happy with my performance today.” – Lukas Pöstlberger
“I have mixed feelings today. It was a strong ride from Lukas, he was always in the front and did ride aggressively too. I am really happy with his performance today. On the other hand, we had Sam in a group 30 seconds behind, with Rudi and Alex trying to close the gap, but that didn’t work out unfortunately. In the end we knew that Lukas has not the best chances in a sprint, with Sam the chances would have been different.” – Steffen Radochla, sports director
