Mark Cavendish made sure that Etixx-QuickStep won’t have to leave the Belgian opening weekend empty-handed when he took his second victory in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. After the Belgian team had tried to split the race in the hilly zone, it came back together for a bunch sprint where the Brit easily beat Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Elia Viviani (Sky) to win the race for the second time in his career.

 

One year ago Etixx-QuickStep had delivered an unusually poor showing in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but turned it all around one day later when an impressive team performance saw Tom Boonen win Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Today the scenario was repeated when Mark Cavendish won the second classic of the Belgian season.

 

Yesterday the team had found itself in the perfect position to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but some strange tactical choices saw the team come away with 2nd, 3rd and 4th instead of what seemed to be a guaranteed win. Today they went into the race in Kuurne eager to get their revenge and like last year they got it in the most perfect fashion.

 

With a strong crosswinds blowing in the hilly zone, Etixx-QuickStep were keen to make it a hard race and they tried to repeat last year’s great performance when Tom Boonen accelerated hard on the key climb of the Oude Kwaremont. When the dust had settled a 19-rider group had formed and the Belgian team had no less than 5 riders there.

 

Boonen, Cavendish, Zdenek Stybar, Nikolas Maes and Yves Lampaert were joined by Ian Stannard, Elia Viviani (Sky), Kris Boeckmans, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto Soudal), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Sep Vanmarcke, Maarten Wynants (LottoNL-Jumbo), Roger Kluge (IAM), Philippe Gilbert, Jempy Drucker (BMC), Sam Bennett, Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon 18), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar) and Xandro Meurisse (An Post) in the move and as most of them were committed to the project, they managed  to extend their advantage over the peloton to 1.10. Later they turned into a headwind though and as the chase in the peloton got organized, they started to lose ground.

 

MTN-Qhubeka was the first team to start the chase and later Sky, IAM, Cofidis, Ag2r, Roompot, Wanty and Topsport also came to the fore. Their combined power was too much for the escapees and with 35km to go, the front group was caught.

 

Boeckmans made a brief move but he quickly realized that it was not worth the effort and then all was set for a big bunch sprint. Katusha took control of the race and rode on the front for most of the final 30km while the sprinters prepared themselves for the final battle.

 

Gilbert had different intentions though and he made a brave late attack. With 3km to go, he was 6 seconds ahead and when he passed the 2km to go banner, he had extended it to 11 seconds.

 

Sky led the chase with Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard before Etixx-QuickStep took over. As Lotto Soudal also came to the fore, the BMC rider started to lose ground and just after the flamme rouge, he was brought back.

 

Lotto Soudal now launched their famous lead-out with Marcel Sieberg and Greg Henderson putting Jens Debusschere into the perfect position. However, Henderson started to fade and this allowed Marco Haller to sprint past the Lotto riders with his captain Kristoff on his wheel.

 

The Norwegian launched a long sprint but Cavendish had positioned himself perfectly in second position. He easily passed the Katusha rider to win the race for the second time in his career while Viviani completed the podium.

 

With the Flemish opening weekend behind us, racing in Belgium continues on Wednesday when Le Samyn kicks off the Walloon season. The next Flemish race is Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen which starts on Friday while the next cobbled classic is Dwars door Vlaanderen on March 25.

 

A classic course

The 69th edition of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne took place on a 195km course that saw the riders head from Kuurne to a turning point a little bit west of Brussels before they returned back to Kuurne. The first half of the race only contained a single climb but during the journey back to Kuurne, the riders passed straight through the Flemish Ardennes, meaning that they would tackle 8 of the hellingen that are well-known from the Flemish classics. The key point was the difficult Oude Kwaremont with 68km to go and after that climb, the riders tackled the Holstraat and the Nokereberg. The latter summited 51km from the finish and the riders ended the race by doing two laps of a 15.3km finishing circuit around Kuurne.

 

The riders took the start under a dry but cloudy sky and they got the race off to a surprisingly slow opening phase. Despite enjoying a solid tailwind, no one seemed to be inspired by the conditions to try an early attack and after almost 30km of racing, no one had still even tried to escape.

 

A break is formed

Finally, a break was formed when Mattia Pozzo (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Sjoerd van Ginneken (Roompot), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Xandro Meurisse (An Post), Frederik Bacakaert (Wanty), Dimitri Peyskens (3M), Thomas Vaubourzeix (Veranclassic) and Eugert Zhupa (Southeast) went on the attack. However, the peloton was not too happy with its composition and they had to fight hard to get an advantage.

 

Finally, the peloton slowed down and allowed the gap to reach a little more than 3 minutes after 50km of racing. That was the signal for Etixx-QuickStep to take control and Iljo Keisse started to work on the front. He got some help from Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) and those two riders worked well together to keep the gap stable. With 133km to go, it was 3.10 but as the riders approached the hilly zone, the nervousness caused the pace to go up and it came down to 2.20.

 

Boonen accelerates

The peloton again slowed down and when the gap was up to 3.05, Danilo Wyss (BMC) and Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen) tried to bridge the gap on one of the climbs. They were quickly brought back as the fight for position was now intense.

 

Yves Lampaert had taken over the pace-setting for Etixx-QuickStep as the riders went up the Cote de Trieu and he accelerated hard on the descent, stringing the bunch out. As they turned into an exposed crosswind section, Boonen hit the front and his acceleration was enough to split the peloton significantly.

 

Sky take control

A 40-50 rider group was formed before Boonen and Wynants briefly got a gap. Boonen was committed to the move and made an attack on a small climb but moments later Stig Broeckx (Lotto Soudal) brought him back.

 

Sky took control of the 60-rider main group before Matteo Trentin again hit the front for Etixx-QuickStep. Moments later the riders hit the key climb of the Oude Kwaremont where the action really started.

 

Boonen and Vanmarcke split the group

Backaert’s fast pace in the front group was too much for Peyskens, Zhupa, van Ginneken and Pozzo who all got dropped while Boonen accelerated in the peloton. Moments later, Vanmarcke launched a big attack and only Boonen and Boeckmans could match his pace.

 

Stybar bridged the gap before Stannard paced a 15-rider group back up to the leaders. As they made the junction, however, Boonen made another move and Kristoff and Cavendish were among the riders to get distanced.

 

The break is caught

As they swallowed up, Zhupa, Pozzo, van Ginneken and Peyskens, the Cavendish-Kristoff group got back and as they hit a pave section, Drucker accelerated. At that same point, Engoulvent and Meurisse attacked in the front group and managed to distance Vaubourzeix and Backaert.

 

The two duos merged just as they were caught by the main group and Vaubourzeix and Backaert were quickly dropped. With a strong crosswind, most of the riders were taking turns on the front, with Cavendish and Bennett being the only ones to follow wheel.

 

MTN-Qhubeka lead the chase

In the peloton, MTN-Qhubeka had started to chase with Tyler Farrar and Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg but they kept losing ground. With 51km to go, they were 55 seconds behind and despite Ag2r also coming to the fore, the gap reached 1.05 as they hit the Nokereberg.

 

Johan Vansummeren (Ag2r) tried to attack but the Belgian was quickly brought back and instead MTN-Qhubeka went back to work. Moments later Sky also put Christian Knees and Luke Rowe on the front while Stannard and Viviani were still working for the British team in the front group.

 

The chase gets organized

As they turned into a headwind, less rider worked in the front group and at the same time Wanty, IAM, Topsport, Cofidis and Roompot also put riders on the front. With 39km to go, the gap was down to 35 seconds and with 34km to go, they were virtually caught.

 

Boeckmans made a solo move and Vanmarcke and Boonen tried a final acceleration but they were brought back. IAM continued to ride fast with MTN-Qhubeka and Cofidis and so Boeckmans also decided to slow down.

 

Katusha take control

A Topsport Vlaanderen and Wanty rider briefly tried an attack but Etixx-QuickStep shut it down. Iljo Keisse took a short turn on the front before Lotto Soudal and Europcar took over.

 

As they started the first lap on the finishing circuit, Katusha hit the front with Smukulis and he lead the peloton for the entire first lap while the rest of the group prepared themselves for the sprint. As they started the second lap, he got some help from Dmitry Kozontchuk as the peloton clearly accelerated due to the fight for position.

 

Katusha remained in control until 7km remained when LottoNL-Jumbo and Sky moved up alongside them. Moments later Gilbert launched his move but it was Cavendish who took a sprint win.