Having already scored top 10 results in a stage of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen and in the Ronde van Drenthe, Scott Thwaites was again close to a big win when he sprinted to 6th in today's Nokere Koerse. In the end, the young Brit ran out of power in the uphill sprint on the Nokereberg but the result confirmed his great potential.

 

The 69th edition of the classic Belgian Nokere Koerse ended today as expected with a mass sprint. The route stretches 200 kilometers from Ronse to Nokere. In the last stage, a 15-kilometer circuit had to be completed eight times. Belgian Kenny Dehaes (Lotto Belisol) took the win ahead of fellow countryman Tom van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ). Scott Thwaites led the NetApp-Endura pros, securing sixth place.

 

"It was a tough, fast race, and the boys rode really well, especially starting out. Up until the end we had two riders in the lead group, Jan Barta und Michael Schwarzmann, but the pack unfortunately caught up with them in the last few kilometers. 

 

"The team set up the sprint for Scott, putting him in a good position 350 m before the finish line. You have to keep in mind that it is a technically highly challenging stretch down to the finish, going downhill first then rising in the last several meters on cobblestones. The position came a little bit early for Scott, so he was unable to hold up with the sprint for the podium up front," reported André Schulze.

 

After 50 kilometers, a group of 15 riders had broken away, soon turning into 17 riders. NetApp-Endura’s Jan Barta and Michael Schwarzmann made it into this group. The breakaway group did not achieve a significant lead, however. Instead, the riders fell back one after the other. In the last round, the very last riders from the breakaway group were caught up with, so the race was decided in a mass sprint. 

 

The next race is coming up on Friday: the Handzame Classic. The team will be competing with the same line-up, and will again attempt to win a spot on the podium.