The riders had to compete in a challenging stage over 174 kilometers from Brugge to Harelbeke on the second day of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Cobble stone sectors and the climb, up the famous Kwaremont led to a selection in the field. A group of five riders was able to maintain a small gap until the finish. Yves Lampaert (Etixx-Quick Step) won ahead of Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Soudal) and Sander Cordeel (Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace). Lampaert, fourth in yesterday’s prologue with a gap of 3 seconds to Jan Barta, secured precious seconds with his win. He is now leading the GC. Barta finished with the first chasing group and is now in fourth place in the GC – just a second away from the podium.

“We can’t be satisfied with the race today. Given the tight gaps in the GC, we knew that the Kwaremont will be decisive. Against our tactical guidelines, Jan was too far behind at that point. That’s why he ended up in the third group after the climb. An experienced and strong rider as Jan shouldn’t make such a mistake. The other guys waited for him and thanks to a great team performance they managed to close the gap to the second group. But that was quite an energy-sapping effort, so we couldn’t help to chase down the lead-group. Given the circumstances, our tactics for tomorrow are quite obvious now: race aggressively and fight for the podium“, summarizes BORA – ARGON 18 Sport Director Andre Schulze the day. 

The final stage will cover 184 kilometers from Nieuwpoort to Ichtegem. Once again, cobble stone sectors and climbs like the Kemmelberg are on the program.