Jeffry Romero (Colombia) proved that he does not only have a fast sprint when he survived the many climbs with the lead group in today's Brabantse Pijl. In the end, he sprinted to 13th to show that Colombia are ready for the Ardennes classics.

Team Colombia’s Jeffry Romero provided a solid performance in Belgian semiclassic Fleche Brabançonne, closing in 13th place in the final uphill sprint to Overijsse after 202 km, that saw Belgian Philippe Gilbert (BMC) come to the edge on the finish line over Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE).

A hectic and entertaining race, with several attacks from the beginning, finally saw a reduced group contes

t the win over the final cotes, with both Romero and Fabio Duarte (21st to the line) consistently showing in the top positions of the bunch.

Early in the race, six riders, Pozzo and Cecchinel (Neri Sottoli), Williams (Novo Nordisk), Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare), Brandle (IAM) and Quemeneur (Europcar), went on the attack, but were held under control by the bunch. When they came within reach, several riders tried to bridge over the leaders – including Team Colombia’s Juan Esteban Arango – and finally another attempt by a group of strong men, joined also by Philippe Gilbert, was reeled in with 8 km to go.

“We had a good race today, with both Romero and Duarte providing some good indications," Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi said. “The race was nervous from the beginning, with many strong names in the bunch, and we held our own just fine. In the finale, Romero had also tried to break away, and he probably lacked some of those energies for the sprint, but it was worth trying indeed.”

Another Team Colombia rider, Rodolfo Torres, was pedaling in the main group until one lap to go, when he crashed on a descent along with two more riders – fortunately without major consequences.

Tomorrow, the same line-up will be at the start in Denain for GP Denain – Porte du Hainaut.