2017 Primus Classic Impanis-Van Petegem (HC), Belgium
20th edition: Saturday, September 16, 2017
Primus Classic Impanis-Van Petegem podium history | 2016 edition | 2018 edition
Brakel - Boortmeerbeek, 199.6 km
Matteo Trentin takes the solo victory in Boortmeerbeek
The race: Here's the report from winner Matteo Trentin's Quick-Step Floors team.
Twenty four hours after Fernando Gaviria sprinted to victory at the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, Matteo Trentin made it two out of two for Quick-Step Floors with a spectacular win at the 20th Primus Classic, for many riders the last race before heading to the World Championships in Bergen.
Quick-Step Floors were once again the main protagonists, taking the race by the scruff of its neck and attacking once the peloton was blown to pieces, with 60 kilometers to go. Dries Devenyns and Vuelta a España multiple stage winner Matteo Trentin pushed hard and soon were part of the group which made the junction with the six escapees who were at the front since the opening kilometers.
The race came back together inside the final 40 kilometers, but only for a short while, as the attack continued to come. Soon, 16 men extricated themselves from the bunch, Quick-Step Floors having the numbers there, thanks to the presence of Devenyns, Trentin, Fernando Gaviria and Maximiliano Richeze. Twenty kilometers from the finish, they were more than half a minute clear, thanks to our riders, the only ones to pull in order to ensure the group stayed at the front.
With five kilometers remaining, just as the peloton was preparing to make the catch, Matteo Trentin attacked from the group, only Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) being capable of following him. It looked like the two would go together all the way to the line and contest the win in a sprint, but the Italian had other plans and on a small bridge he attacked, dropping the Luxembourger and quickly putting ten seconds between them, as well as extending his lead on the chasers.
A short glance over his shoulder convinced Trentin to ease up with 200 meters to go and celebrate his sixth victory of the season arms aloft, as he became the first Italian winner of the Primus Classic. Fernando Gaviria – who, as Matteo, will travel to Norway for the World Championships – sprinted from the bunch and finished the 199.6km-long Belgian race just outside the podium.
"It was a really nice race today. Together with Fernando, we asked the guys to make the race hard and they split the field in the final hour of racing. Once the selection was made, we had four riders in the group and that was the perfect situation for us", said Matteo Trentin after his fine victory. "With five kilometers remaining, I wasn't going for an attack, my only intention was to pull hard knowing the chasers were coming back, but after getting a gap together with Drucker, I decided to continue. I was aware he too was fast and after a long race you can never know what will happen, so on that bridge I gave it a try and fortunately I dropped him, soloing to this nice win, which bodes really well for the World Championships."
Primus Classic was one of Matteo Trentin's last races in the Quick-Step Floors jersey, and the 28-year-old had many words of praise for his teammates: "I love to see the professionalism of the team, they helped me a lot not only here, but also at the Vuelta, just as I prepare to close this beautiful six-year chapter with Quick-Step Floors. I too wanted to make the most out of these races and repay the guys for their hard work, so I made sure of giving everything for the squad, be it by taking victories or helping my teammates win."
Complete Results:
199.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.383 km/hr
| 1 | Matteo Trentin | Quick-Step Floors | 4hr 36min 3sec |
| 2 | Jempy Drücker | BMC | @ 8sec |
| 3 | André Greipel | Lotto-Soudal | +18'' |
| 4 | Fernando Gaviria | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 5 | Andrea Pasqualon | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 6 | Romain Cardis | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 7 | Coen Vermeltfoort | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 8 | Amund Grøndahl | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 9 | Jonas Rickaert | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 10 | Benjamin Giraud | Delko-Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 11 | Kevyn Ista | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 12 | Charlie Arimont | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 13 | Olivier Pardini | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 14 | Floris Gerts | BMC | s.t. |
| 15 | Rick Zabel | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 16 | Benoît Jarrier | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 17 | Timothy Dupont | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 18 | Kenny Dehaes | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 19 | Martin Elmiger | BMC | s.t. |
| 20 | Mark Renshaw | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 21 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 22 | Angelo Tulik | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 23 | Dimitri Peyskens | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 24 | Iljo Keisse | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 25 | Franklin Six | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 26 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 27 | Frederik Backaert | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 28 | Maximiliano Richeze | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 29 | Niels De Rooze | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 30 | Dennis Coenen | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 31 | André Looij | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 32 | Taco van der Hoorn | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 33 | Stijn Devolder | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 34 | Piotr Havik | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 35 | Gerry Druyts | Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 36 | Alexey Vermeulen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 37 | Roy Jans | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 38 | Arnaud Gérard | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 39 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz | An Post-Chainreaction | s.t. |
| 40 | Ludovic Robeet | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 41 | Rob Ruijgh | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 42 | Twan Castelijns | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 43 | Mark McNally | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 44 | Jacob Scott | An Post-Chainreaction | s.t. |
| 45 | Dries De Bondt | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 46 | Maarten Wynants | LottoNL-Jumbo | +23'' |
| 47 | Fabio Sabatini | Quick-Step Floors | +25'' |
| 48 | Mathias De Witte | Cibel-Cebon | +28'' |
| 49 | Florian Vachon | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 50 | Marvin Tasset | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 51 | Antoine Warnier | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 52 | Ludwig De Winter | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 53 | Wim Reynaerts | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 54 | Jimmy Janssens | Cibel-Cebon | +32'' |
| 55 | Anthony Debuy | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 56 | Jenthe Biermans | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 57 | Robby Cobbaert | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 58 | Jordi Van Dingenen | Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 59 | Berden de Vries | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 60 | Ben Hermans | BMC | s.t. |
| 61 | Antoine Loy | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 62 | Patrick Müller | BMC | s.t. |
| 63 | Paul Martens | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 64 | Martijn Keizer | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 65 | Kévin Ledanois | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 66 | Loïc Vliegen | BMC | +39'' |
| 67 | Maximilien Picoux | T.Palm-Pole | s.t. |
| 68 | Brecht Ruyters | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 69 | Marcel Sieberg | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 70 | Jens Debusschere | Lotto-Soudal | +42'' |
| 71 | Otto Vergaerde | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +44'' |
| 72 | Bert Van Lerberghe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 73 | Bernhard Eisel | Dimension Data | +48'' |
| 74 | Eliot Lietaer | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 75 | Tom Devriendt | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 76 | Dries Devenyns | Quick-Step Floors | +1' 01'' |
| 77 | Kenny Molly | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 78 | Nicolas Dougall | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 79 | Martijn Budding | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 80 | Alex Kirsch | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 81 | Vyacheslav Kuznetsov | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 82 | Aidis Kruopis | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +1' 15'' |
| 83 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto-Soudal | +1' 22'' |
| 84 | Gatis Smukulis | Delko-Marseille Provence | +1' 32'' |
| 85 | Thomas Sprengers | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +1' 57'' |
| 86 | Jasper De Buyst | Lotto-Soudal | +2' 09'' |
| 87 | Stijn Steels | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +2' 16'' |
| 88 | Perrig Quémeneur | Direct Energie | +4' 13'' |
| 89 | Lilian Calmejane | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 90 | Romain Sicard | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 91 | Jérémy Cornu | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 92 | Jonathan Hivert | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 93 | José Gonçalves | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
| 94 | Jonathan Couanon | Delko-Marseille Provence | +6' 22'' |
| 95 | Emils Liepins | Rietumu | s.t. |
| 96 | Sean McKenna | An Post-Chainreaction | s.t. |
| 97 | Romain Guillemois | Direct Energie | +8' 25'' |
| 98 | David Boucher | Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice | +9' 46'' |
| 99 | Norman Vahtra | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 100 | Arthur Baude | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 101 | Christophe Prémont | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 102 | Jelle Mannaerts | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 103 | Timothy Stevens | Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 104 | Edward Walsh | T.Palm-Pole | s.t. |
| 105 | Kevin De Jonghe | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 106 | Thierry Hupond | Delko-Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 107 | Robert Wagner | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 108 | Nikolas Maes | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 109 | Sean De Bie | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 110 | Thomas Gibbons | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 111 | Johannes De Paepe | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 112 | Merlijn Decoster | T.Palm-Pole | s.t. |
| 113 | Bram Welten | BMC | s.t. |
| 114 | Francisco Ventoso | BMC | s.t. |
| 115 | Pierre Goebeert | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 116 | Franck Bonnamour | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |