The GP Impanis – Van Petegem took the riders over 196 kilometers from the Belgian town of Brakel to Haagt today. Greg van Avermaet (BMC) managed to sprint from a group and took the win ahead of Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Belisol) and Michal Golas (Omega Pharma Quick Step).
Andreas Schillinger of Team NetApp – Endura, who rode in a leading group from the start of the race, took 10th place after a strong performance.
"The race was characterized by a very fast start on typical classic terrain, with narrow roads and repeated climbs and descents. Andreas delivered a very strong race today. He has been in rather poor health for the last week so we weren't sure about his form. It was good that things went better than we thought. With the difficult route and the fast race, it was more than satisfactory," said Sport Director Andre Schulze after the autumn classic.
After 20 kilometers, ten riders including Andreas Schillinger of Team NetApp – Endura managed to break away from the bunch. At first their lead quickly extended to five minutes before the bunch started to track them down.
However the breakaway riders responded well and maintained the lead at around two minutes over long stretches of the race. Then, 30 kilometers before the finish, there were attacks from the peloton in order to move up into the group following the leaders.
At the same time there were attacks at the front of the field. A small leading group emerged, hanging onto a minimal lead to the finish, which fought out the day's victory among themselves.
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