Kris Boeckmans (Lotto Soudal) confirmed that he is in excellent condition when he added the win in Nokere Koerse to the victory he took in Le Samyn two weeks ago. The Belgian was in a class of his own in the uphill sprint on the Nokereberg as he easily distanced to claim his third win of the year.

A few years ago Kris Boeckmans was regarded as a great sprinting and classics talent but several injuries set him back. He disappeared into anonymity at the Lotto Soudal and Vacansoleil teams where he mostly worked for his sprinters.

This year Boeckmans has had an injury-free build-up to the season and this has put him back on track. Already when he won the first stage of Etoile de Besseges, he indicated that he was going into a great season and after a small break in February, he has been unstoppable.

First he showed his great condition when he was the only rider who could stay with Tom Boonen and Sep Vanmarcke on the Oude Kwaremont in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and three days later he proved his class when he overcame the might of Etixx-QuickStep to win a very hard edition of Le Samyn. Those results made him the man to beat in today’s Nokere Koerse which finished with the usual uphill sprint on the Nokereberg.

All days Lotto Soudal showed confidence in their sprinter by working hard on the front of the peloton to control the many attacks that were launched on the difficult finishing circuit. On the final lap, they brought the final four attackers back and from there they allowed the other sprint teams to get some time in the spotlight.

While the Joker team rode hard on the front, the Belgian team was always looming just a few positions further back and they were quick to react when the Etixx-QuickStep team moved up with 5 riders just 3km from the finish. Boeckmans and his two final lead-out men managed to separate Yves Lampaert and Lukasz Wisniowski from their teammates as they moved into third, fourth and fifth position.

From there, they let the two Etixx riders do their work before they kicked into action. Boeckmans seemed to be in the perfect position but suddenly they lost control.

Gert Steegmans and Danny Van Poppel (both Trek) sprinted ahead and Boeckmans dropped back a few positions. However, a long sprint by Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen) forced the young Dutchman to hit out early and when he started to fade, Boeckmans made his move. The Belgian opened a powerful sprint and distanced his rivals by several metres, with Justin Jules (Veranclassic) and Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon 18) taking the minor spots on the podium.

Today’s race was the start of a series of three sprint races in Belgium and the Netherlands. On Friday, many of today’s riders will be back in action in the Handzame Classic and on Saturday they move across the border to tackle the Ronde van Zeeland.

An uphill sprint

The riders took the start under dry, windy conditions and they got the race off to a very fast start. Many riders wanted to be part of the early action and so it took some time for the early break to be formed.

The break is formed

After 50km of rapid racing, no one had managed to get clear and the attacking continued for a little while. Finally, a break was established when David Boucher (FDJ), Jonas Rickaert (Topsport Vlaanderen), Frederik Backaert (Wanty), Dieter Bouvry (Roubix) and Alphonse Vermote (Vastgoedservice) got clear and after two hours of racing, they had built an advantage of 3.20.

Nick van der Meer briefly tried to bridge the gap but after a long chase, he decided to drop back to the peloton where Etixx-QuickStep had taken control. However, they were not in real chase mode yet and the gap reached a maximum of 5.50. When they started the second lap of the finishing circuit, the advantage had been brought down to 4.20 under the impetus of the biggest Belgian team.

Roompot accelerate

As the riders started the third lap, the Roompot team came to the fore and they started to accelerate. At the end of the lap, they had brought the gap down to 3 minutes. As they continued to ride fast, the peloton split into two groups and the gap to the leaders was quickly whittled down to less than a minute.

With the peloton breathing down their necks, Rickaert attacked from the breakaway but it didn’t take long for all the escapees to have been caught. At this point, the second group was around 30 seconds behind but as they approached the start of the sixth lap, the two groups merged.

The attacking continues

Christophe Premont (Verandas Willems) launched an attack and he hit the Nokereberg with a small advantage over the peloton which was led by Lotto Soudal. On the climb, a Wanty rider tried to bridge the gap but with a fast pace Lotto Soudal borught everything back together.

For a few kilometres, no one wanted to challenge the Belgian team but with 40km to go, the attacking started again. Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Topsport Valanderen) was the first to take off and the next 10km turned into a festival of attacks.

Teuns makes his move

Floris De Tier (Topsport Vlaanderen), Vegard Stake Laengen (Joker) and Rick Ottema (Colba) were among the active riders but as the big teams tried to join the action, it was hard for anyone to get a gap. When Tosh van der Sande briefly made it into a group for Lotto Soudal, Trek were quick to bring it back.

A Roompot rider launched an attack just before the riders hit the Nokereberg again. He was passed by Dylan Teuns (BMC) and Alex Kirsch (Cult) who got a promising gap.

A new break is formed

Going up the climb, Teuns dropped Kirsch who was brought back by the peloton that was led by Lotto Soudal. When the Belgian team again stepped off the gas, the attacking continued and it was Ottema, Stake Laengen and Stef Van Zummeren (Verandas Willems) who finally made it across to Teuns.

While Trek and Lotto Soudal started to chase, the four escapees built an advantage of 15 seconds and it even went out to 24 seconds before they started to lose ground. As they started the final lap, they were only 15 seconds ahead as Gert Dockx (Lotto Soudal) did a huge amount of work with a Trek rider.

Joker take control

Ottema was no longer contributing to the work but when the break was about to be caught, he made a solo move. With 10km to go, it was all back together as Wanty, Lotto Soudal and Trek were now working on the front.

Joker also came to the fore to work with those three teams and they actually managed to take complete control with 8km to go, they were passed by Trek who rode on the front for a few kilometres before the Norwegian team again came to the fore.

Bora-Argon 18 and Roompot were the next teams to play with the muscles before Joker again took over. With 3km to go, however, it was Etixx-QuickStep who came to the fore but in the end, their efforts were in vain as Boeckmans took the win.