Arnaud Demare (FDJ) got a very important confidence boost for his first Tour de France when he won today’s Belgian semi-classic Halle-Ingooigem in a bunch sprint. After the Belgian national team with a lot of stars from the host nation had tried to split things on the finishing circuit, the Frenchman beat Kris Boeckmans (Lotto Belisol) and Michael Van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen) in the final dash to the line.

In less than two weeks Arnaud Demare will line up at his debut Tour de France as the designated sprinter for the FDJ team and today he showed that he is ready for his maiden ride in the world’s biggest race when he won the Belgian semi-classic Halle-Ingooigem. In the race that in 2012 was won by his archrival Nacer Bouhanni, he emerged as the strongest in the final bunch sprint, relegating Kris Boeckmans and Michael Van Staeyen to the minor spots on the podium.

The race is the traditional warm-up race for the Belgian championships and usually has a very strong Belgian national team with most of the foreign-based Belgian stars on the start list and includes several famous Flemish hellingen. However, it is very often decided in a bunch sprint and this year it was again impossible to deny the fast men their shot at glory.

The national team had tried to split the peloton on the finishing circuit that included the Tiegemberg, and brought the final survivor of the early break, Dries Devenyns (Giant-Shimano), back in the process. However, FDJ were always well-placed and finally delivered their fast sprinter to an important win.

The race was marred by a crash that took out Klaas Lodewyck who rode the race in the colours of the national team. The Belgian was taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm.

Most of the riders that did the race, including all three riders on the final podium, will be back in action on Sunday when the national championships road races are held in most of Europe. Apart from the nationals, the next major race in Belgium is the Tour de Wallonie which is held at the end of July.

A classic course

The 67th Halle-Ingooigem was held on a 199.9km course that consisted of two parts. The first brought the riders from Halle to Ingooigem and included several famous hellingen and the race ended with five laps of an 18km finishing circuit that included the Tiegemberg.

The race was off to a start but after 13km five riders managed to get clear. Devenyns, Tom Devriendt (3M), Jonathan Dufrasne (Wallonie), Sam Lemmerts (Vastgoedservice) and Nicola Testi (Androni) made up the early break that had a gap of 2.30 just a few kilometres later. For some time, Edward Theuns (Topsport) tried to bridge the gap but the Belgian never made the junction.

FDJ in control

After 40km of racing, the gap was 5.40 but now FDJ had taken control. The French team kept the gap stable around 5 minutes as they passed some of the first hellingen of the day. At this point, Lodewyck crashed out of the race.

In the hills, Greg Van Avermaet (national team), Pieter Serry (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Yves Lampaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) tried to bridge the gap and got to within 3.30 of the leaders. Gianni Meersman (OPQS) also tried to attack but FDJ reacted quickly and brought all the pursuers back.

The gap comes down

At this point the gap was down to 4.20 but by the time they reached the finishing circuit, the gap reached a maximum of 6 minutes. At this point, Jonas Rickaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) tried to bridge the gap but the young Belgian had no success.

The peloton started to reel in the escapees and with 60km to go, the gap was only 4.30. As OPQS also came to the fore, the advantage continued to melt away and was only 2.40 with two 18km laps to go.

Devenyns takes off

The escapees reacted strongly and managed to keep the gap stable for a little while but the cohesion was broken when Devenyns attacked on his own. At the start of the final lap, he still had a 1.30 gap while his former companions were caught.

As the Belgian national team had now taken control, it was game over for Devenyns midway around the final lap and all was now set for a bunch sprint. Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek) tried to launch a late attack but the sprinters were not to be denied and it was Demare who could raise his arm in celebration of another win.