Finally, Andre Greipel (Lotto) took his first big classics win when the German champion crushed his sprint rivals in the one of the major one-day races in the autumn, Brussels Cycling Classic. An impressive team performance kept the aggressive race firmly under control and Greipel paid back his teammates by easily beating John Degenkolb (Argos) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) in the final sprint.

Andre Greipel has almost  collected 100 professional victories but until today, a big classics win had escaped the strong German. Finally, he has closed that gaping hole on his palmares by taking a dominant win in the Brussels Cycling Classic.

The race - formerly known as Paris-Bruxelles but now held entirely on Belgian soil - is one of the oldest cycling races on the calendar and one most prestigious one-day races in autumn. Usually, it ends in a big bunch sprint and Lotto Belisol had a clear plan to create such an outcome once again.

The Belgian team controlled the race from start to finish, keeping the early break under control and promptly reacting to the many attacks that were launched on the many small climbs that were littered throughout the course. In the end, several teams came to the fore while Greipel hid himself a little further back in the main group.

Inside the final kilometre, he appeared to be badly positioned and had to open a long sprint as FDJ gave Nacer Bouhanni the perfect lead-out. Making a swerve to avoid fading lead-out man Mickael Delage (FDJ), he powered clear of his rivals and no one was even close to matching his impressive speed.

John Degenkolb had made a wise decision to position himself on the wheel of his compatriot and he used the slipstream to take 2nd. Bouhanni did a fine sprint to complete the podium and so rewarded his teammates for a huge workload in the race finale.

Most of the riders will get a chance to take revenge in tomorrow's GP de Fourmies which has a similar profile and start list. Greipel will be back as the main favourite and may take back-to-back wins in major one-day races.

A fast start

The 197km race started and ended in Brussels and had been renamed to reflect the new nature of the course. The route was mostly flat but contained 9 small hellingen that could serve as launch pads for attacks.

The race was off to a fast start and it took some time for the day's early break to be established. At the 29km mark, Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), Björn Thurau (Europcar) and Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) escaped and Koen Barbe (Crelan), Florent Barle (Cofidis) and Laurens De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen) bridged across after a short chase.

Lotto in control

Those 6 riders were allowed to build up a 5-minute gap before Lotto Belisol started to control proceedings. The Belgian team put Olivier Kaisen on the front and he was later joined by Yann Huguet and Francois Parisien (both Argos-Shimano) who hoped to see Degenkolb take his second big classics win this year.

With 70km to go, the riders hit the hilly zone of the race, and the gap was now down to three minutes. Barle lost contact on one of the climbs but managed to rejoin the leaders.

The attacks are launched

With 59km to go, the attacking started when Jos Van Emden (Belkin) accelerated. He was joined by Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil) and Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM) but Lotto reacted promptly, putting Jens Debusschere and Lars Bak on the front. Ligthart and Van Emden were reeled in while Bert-Jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil) and Cristiano Salerno (Cannondale) joined Saramotins.

Those three riders stayed ahead for a little while but Bak and Debusschere had everything under control and finally neutralized the move. Saramotins tried to prolong the attacks but it was soon brought back together.

Van Emden tries again

Van Emden launched another attack and was joined by Lindeman, Tom Dumoulin (Argos), Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Kenny Dehaes (Lotto), Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Saramotins. Marcel Sieberg (Lotto) dug deep on the front of the peloton to bring it back together, only to see Trentin go off the front on his own.

He was joined by Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) and Dumoulin and those three riders stayed away for a little while. However, Dumoulin refused to do any work and Lotto brought it back together.

The attacking stops

The peloton now hit a flatter section and the attacking stopped. Sander Cordeel and Stig Broeckx (Lotto) set a high pace in the peloton that made all aggressors rethink their plans.

With 39km to go, the riders once again hit the hilly zone. Castroviejo set a fierce pace in the front group and Barle, Barbe and De Vreese all fell behind. While the former two were caught by the peloton, the latter managed to rejoin the front group.

Breschel creates a dangerous group

Matti Breschel (Saxo-Tinkoff) launched an attack and created a small group containing the likes of Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil), Trentin, Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin), Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) and Yoann Offredo (FDJ) but the move was quickly neutralized by Lotto. Offredo refused to give up and made another attack. He was joined by Rui Costa (Movistar), Vanmarcke, Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Elia Favilli (Lampre) but as Greipel had also made it into the move, it fell apart.

Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) was the next to try his hand and he managed to stay clear for a little while. When he was brought back, Jurgen Van Goolen (Accent), Offredo and Vandenbergh tried a move but Cordeel and Broeckx always had things under control.

The chase gets organized

When they exited the hilly zone with 30km to go, Argos once again joined forces with Lotto and for a long time Cordeel, Broeckx and Parisien set the pace. FDJ put Matthieu Ladagnous and Benoit Vaugrenard on the front and later Katusha also came to the fore. With 13km to go, Van Goolen tried one final attack but he had no success.

Inside the final 10km, the early break was about to get caught. De Vreese and Vermote decided to continue their attack a little longer but with 8km to go, it was all back together.

FDJ in control

FDJ was now in complete control and the French team kept the pace high for a long time while the trains started to get organized a little further behind.

However, things got more complicated with 4km to go when Lars Boom (Belkin), Marcato, Vanmarcke and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) attacked. Boom set off on his own and he managed to build up a big gap.

Behind, Omega Pharma-Quick Step took control and the Belgian team managed to catch Boom just after the passage of the flamme rouge. That was when FDJ launched their lead-out and Bouhanni appeared to be in perfect position on Delage's wheel. However, Greipel made a long sprint from far behind and no one was any match to the fast German who finally took a big classics win.

Result:

1. Andre Greipel 4.55.58

2. John Degenkolb

3. Nacer Bouhanni

4. Alexander Kristoff

5. Davide Cimolai

6. Gerald Ciolek

7. Danny Van Poppel

8. Nikolas Maes

9. Kevin Reza

10. Samuel Dumoulin