Tom Devriendt finished third in the GP Pino Cerami on Wednesday. The first-year pro and his teammate Yannick Eijssen were on the attack from start to finish. Philippe Gilbert won the semi-classic in the south of Belgium.

Next to Eijssen and Devriendt, Lander Seynaeve, Bjorn Leukemans, James Vanlandschoot, Tim De Troyer, Roy Jans and Fréderique Robert lined up for Wanty-Groupe Gobert in the 211 kilometre long race.

“Straight from the start a group of twelve riders took off. Yannick was one of them. Then a pretty large group of 25 riders bridged across including Tom Devriendt," sports director Hilaire Van Der Schueren explains.

“The fact that Yannick was there, was really great," Tom Devriendt tells his story. "Especially when he attacked with four others at 1,5 laps from the finish. That means that I could just sit in that group and do nothing. It was ideal." 

There were many strong blocks of the WorldTour teams represented up front: Lotto-Soudal, LottoNL-Jumbo, Trek Factory Racing and Etixx-QuickStep. They chased down the five leaders.

“In the finishing straight I chose the wheel of Kris Boeckmans. He was in tenth position which was rather far. When I saw he stayed put when they started the sprint up front, I passed several riders on the left. I finished third today but really think more would have been possible. I really felt superstrong today."

"After the Belgian Championships, I rested. I was not sure what to expect since it was my first race over 200 kilometers. I soon felt that I was well. I know I have a good top speed so I fcused everything on my sprint. I waited at the back of the group for most of the day. I chose Boeckmans' wheel but he was not involved in the fight for victory. I had to pas a lot of people so I think there isroom for improvement. Now I will do the Tour of Denmark."

“Tom could ride for himself today while he normally works very hard for others. He comes in third which is a good result. It's nice to see and good for the self confidence," Van Der Schueren adds. 

Yannick Eijssen was the only other rider to finish the race for Wanty-Groupe Gobert. It was the first race he completed after his crash in Boucles de la Mayenne early June where he sustained a small fissure in the pelvis and the sacrum. 

“I have made a full recovery and loved being able to race again today. We did a strong race and personally I am very content," Eijssen concluded.