Less than two weeks after taking a breakthrough victory at the Driesdaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Timothy Dupont (Verandas Willems) again proved himself worthy of a WorldTour contract by claiming an impressive victory in the uphill sprint on the Nokereberg at the Nokere Koerse semi-classic. After his Verandas Willems teammates had completely overshadowed the WorldTour teams in the finale, the Belgian powered up the climb in the middle of the road and narrowly held off a fast-finishing Kristoffer Halvorsen (Joker) while pre-race favourite Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) had to settle for third.

 

Timothy Dupont has been riding for small continental teams throughout his entire career but his many top results have often proved that he deserves a chance at a higher level. He has been a perennial top 10 finisher in the sprints in France and Belgium but the big win has always eluded him.

 

He finally opened his account on the final stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen where he won his first race against WorldTour riders. However, the victory came in rather unusual circumstances as he came out on top after having joined a late breakaway.

 

Today he again confirmed his huge potential by winning the Nokere Koerse semi-classic and this time he did so in the way he usually shines. As usual, the race was decided in an uphill sprint on the cobbled Nokereberg and here he turned out to be the fastest.

 

What was even more impressive was the way his small Verandas Willems team dominated the finale despite being up against several WorldTour teams. While the big teams all failed to organize a lead-out, the small Belgian team managed to take control in the hectic run-in to the finish.

 

Dupont’s teammates waited patiently when the peloton started the final lap of the 14.8km circuit that included the 400m Nokereberg at the finish. At this point, the big teams were still playing with the muscles as it was Guillaume Van Keirsbulck who strung things out for Etixx-QuickStep. The Belgian completely strung the peloton out and out everybody in the hurt zone. As a result, the pace went down when he swung off.

 

Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen) launched an attack but Maarten Wynants who was riding for pre-race favourite Dylan Groenewegen did an outstanding job to neutralize all actions. The subsequent move from Juraj Sagan (Tinkoff), Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and Preben Van Hecke (Topsport) had no success either as they only briefly managed to draw small group clear.

 

De Buyst, Van Hecke and a Joker rider had more luck and were joined by a Crelan rider and Frederik Backaert (Wanty). The Crelan rider was dropped but it didn’t matter as Wynants brought it back together.

 

The next move was much better when Pieter Jacobs (Crelan) hit out with 10km to go. Daniele Colli (Nippo) quickly joined him while Roompot started to chase.

 

Verandas Willems showed themselves for the first time as they started to chase but they were unable to prevent Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal) from bridging the gap. That prompted Wnty to come to the fore and they kept the gap at around 5 seconds.

 

Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis) also joined the move with 7km to go and they pushed the gap out to 8 seconds with 5km to go. Wanty was still doing the chase work, with the rest of the teams fighting hard for position. A small crash caused no major drama.

 

With 5km to go, Lukasz Wisniowski (Etixx-QuickStep) powered clear of the peloton and he went straight past the front quartet that was brought back. This is where Verandas Willems proved their strength as they hit the front and quickly brought the lone Pole back with just 3km to go.

 

Everybody wanted to be in a good position as they hit the crosswinds but no one was able to come around the four Verandas riders who made the peloton split. However, they lost the battle to Loic Chetout (Cofidis) who took over as they hit the small descent to the bottom of the Nokereberg.

 

With less than 2km to go, Bora hit the front with one rider bringing Zakkari Dempster and Scott Thwaites forward. Dempster did the lead-out after they had passed the flamme rouge but swung off too early.

 

Aidis Kruopis came to the fore to the lead-out for Dupont but it was Gianni Moscon who hit out, trying to set Andy Fenn up for the sprint at the bottom of the climb. From here, it was every sprinter for himself and Dupont shot down the middle of the road with impressive speed.

 

He looked like he would take an easy win when a fast-finishing Kristoffer Halvorsen suddenly powered up the road at the right-hand side. However, the Norwegian ran out of metres and had to settle for second ina photo finish. Pre-race favourite Groenewegen was completely out of position at the bottom of the climb and had to settle for third.

 

There will be another chance for Dupont to add to his tally on Friday when the Belgian classics season continues with the Handzame Classic which is usually an affair for the sprinters.

 

A difficult circuit

The 71st edition of Nokere Koerse was held on a 199.5km course that brought the riders from Deinze to Nokere. First they covered the 55km from the start to the finish, tackling the Tiegemberg along the way, and then did one lap of a 26.1km circuit that included two cobbled sections. Finally, they ended the race by doing 8 laps of the 14.8km finishing circuit that finished at the top of the 400m cobbled climb of Nokereberg.

 

It was a sunny and windy day when the riders gathered for the start. All riders on the start list were present as the peloton headed out for the ride from Deinze to Nokere.

 

Seven riders get clear

The race started at a brutal speed. A strong tailwind meant that the riders often travelled at 55-65 km/h during the first 30km during which there were constant attacks. However, none of the initiatives had any success

 

The average speed for the first hour was an impressive 48km/h, and the fast pace meant that riders now started to get dropped. The riders had been in the saddle for more than an hour before seven riders finally got a real gap. Tom Devriendt (Wanty), Florian Senechal (Cofidis), David Boucher (Crelan), Kevin Ista (Wallonie), Brian Van Goethem (Roompot), Kenny De Ketele (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Peter Williams (ONE) fought hard with a 30-second advantage before it was finally time for a breather. As a result, the advantage went out to 2.20 after 75km of racing where Lotto Soudal and LottoNL-Jumbo had taken charge of the chase.

 

The peloton splits

A small crash created a bit of chaos in the peloton, but everybody was soon back on the bikes. At the same time the break continued to increase the lead, and by the start of the first lap, they were 240 ahead of the peloton. Devriendt was first at the top of Nokereberg, just as he was at the first passage earlier in the race.

 

The peloton hit a crosswind section where it briefly split in two. The acceleration meant that the gap dropped to 1.30 but when things again became calmer, it went out to 2.10. Not surprisingly, it was LottoNL-Jumbo with race favorite Dylan Groenewegen who controlled the pace. At the same time, thenervousness resulted in another crash involving Josef Cerny (CCC). Another crash with 90km to go brought down Sebastien Chavanel (FDJ) and Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie).

 

The attacking starts

With 86km to go, the gap reached its maximum of 3.10 before LottoNL-Jumbo got some help from Veranclassic and Gazprom-Rusvelo. As a consequence, it was down to 2.20 with 75km to go where Devriendt again won the KOM sprint on the Nokereberg.

 

Nippo tried to accelerate on the climb before Veranclassic attacked. A 12-rider group with the likes of Twan Castelijns, Wynants, Christian Knees, Adrian Kurek and Marcel Sieberg got clear but was soon brought back.

 

More attacks

Veranclassic and LottoNL-Jumbo took control with Jonathan Breyne and Koen Bouwman and Nippo and Gazprom also came to the fore with 65km to go when the gap had already dropped to 1.20. The Russian team accelerated hard as they approached the Nokereberg again before Yoann Offredo (FDJ) took over. Meanwhile, Boucher launched a small attack to win the KOM sprint.

 

Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) and Van Keirsbulck tried to attack in the crosswind after the climb which split the peloton in two. The uncontrollable situation resulted in a few attacks from Joker and Gazprom but things calmed down again when there was a regrouping with 55km to go. At this point, the gap was down to 30 seconds.

 

The gap melts away

Gazprom again hit the front and allowed the gap to grow slightly before Nippo upped the pace. Gazprom, Verandas and Martin Mortensen (ONE) made a short-lived attack but it developed into a nervous fight for position with no real chase while the gap stayed at around 30 seconds.

 

As they approached Nokereberg with 45km to go, Ista attacked from the break and was joined by Devriendt just before the top. However, the group quickly came back together.

 

The break is caught

In the peloton, Loic Vliegen (BMC) attacked on the climb and when Van Keirsbulck took over after the top, they formed a trio with a Topsport rider. The move didn’t work but it set the scene for numerous attacks.

 

Reidar Borgersen (Joker), Laurens De Plus (Etixx), De Bie, Vliegen and Vanbilsen were all active but it was impossible to get clear. However, the fast pace meant that the break was already caught with 40km to while a big group of ridersgot dropped.

 

A festival of attacks

Roompot, One, Boucher, Vliegen, Vanbilsen, Van Hecke, De Bie, Gazprom, Kurek, Chetout were all active but no one had gone clear when order was restored when Verandas hit the front with 36km to go. Chetout used the breather to make another move and this time he surged clear before being joined by Martin Mortensen (ONE).

 

The pair quickly got a gap of 20 seconds while Rasmus Guldhammer (Stölting) crashed hard in the peloton. However, as they hit the crosswind section with 31km to go, Lotto Soudal tried to split things with Frederik Frison and Gert Dockx and that immediately spelled the end for the front du.

 

A promising move

Danny van Popple hit the front for Sky as they approached the climb where Nikolay Trusov (Tinkoff) and Offredo set the pace. Over the top, Moscon, Wisniowski and Danilo Napolitano (Wanty) surged clear and when Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) and Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal) joined them, it looked promising. However, Robert Wagner brought it back together for LottoNL-Jumbo.

 

That started a very aggressive phase with constant attacks. Declercq, De Plus, Roth, Roompot, Michael Gogl (Tinkoff), Jacobs, Van Hecke, Knees, Joker, Floris Gerts (BMC), Bouwman, Jerome Baugnies (Wanty), CCC and Delko were all active in the penultimate lap but nothing managed to stick.

 

A big crash

Instead, the fight for position started again as they approached the climb for the penultimate time. ONE hit the front with Matthew Goss and he continued to ride while a big crash involved many riders, including Lorrenzo Manzin, Michael Schwarzmann, Dockx, Dieberg, Etienne van Empel, Mads Pedersen and Frison who seemed to be worst off.

 

3km from the bottom of the climb, Gerts got a small gap but as Etixx-QuickStep hit the front with De Plus with 16km to go, he was brought back. Together with Van Keirsbulck, the young Belgian tried to split the field before they hit the climb to start the final lap whose action allowed Dupont to take another big win.