With two Top 10 places in De Brabantse Pijl, CCC Sprandi Polkowice confirmed good shape ahead of Amstel Gold Race. Davide Rebellin and Maciej Paterski were the top-finishers from the “orange team”.

The race kicked off with a very high pace. The first two hours of racing were very lively with many riders trying to pull away. It took over 70 kilometers to established the breakaway of the day. It consisted of three riders - Thomas DeGendt (Lotto-Soudal), Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) and Alex Kirsch (Cult Energy Pro Cycling). They stretched out their lead to around 4 minutes but the bunch was controlling the gap and the escapees were never a big threat. When Kirsch got dropped their chances got even smaller.

74 kilometers from the line, there was a big crash in the middle of the peloton. One of the riders involved was Grega Bole. He abandoned the race but he didn’t suffer any serious injuries or fractures. He came out of this situation battered and bruised.

The breakaway was caught with 37km to go. A few kilometers later Bartłomiej Matysiak tried to break clear alongside 4 other riders. Unfortunately only two of them managed to create a gap – David Tanner (IAM Cycling) and Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team).

The final kilometers saw lots of attacks from the chasing group. Davide Rebellin and Maciej Paterski were riding very attentively and stayed in the front, waiting for other riders to make their move. The leading duo entered the final 5km with a 35 second lead but it went down quickly to only 10 with 2km to go. This is when Tanner gave up and got caught. Hermans continued to ride alone and was able to hold on to win the race.

Rebellin and Paterski both finished in the group with the pre-race favorites, two seconds behind the winner, claiming 5th and 9th respectively. Michael Matthews took 2nd and Philippe Gilbert 3rd.

"I started to sprint with 300m to go, but the final 200m were flat. I'm not at my best in such terrain, so I was passed by couple of riders. The finale of Amstel Gold Race suits me better and I hope that I will do better in that race," Davide Rebellin said afterwards.  

The next race for CCC Sprandi Polkowice is Amstel Gold Race, which is part of UCI WorldTour.