2023 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (1.Pro), Belgium

75th edition: Sunday, February 26, 2023
Complete results

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne podium history | 2022 edition | 2024 edition | Map | Photos | Start list

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, 193.1 km

Tiesj Benoot is first, and his teammate behind him, Nathan Van Hooydonck is headed for second.

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Weather at the start/finish city of Kuurne at 1:30 PM, local time: 4C (40F), sunny, with the wind from the northeast at 29 km/hr (18 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from winner Tiesj Benoot's Team Jumbo-Visma.

Tiesj Benoot has won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne after some incomparable team play to complete a Team Jumbo-Visma domination of the Flemish Opening Weekend. The Belgian of Team Jumbo-Visma seized the perfect moment to ride away from the leading group in a thrilling final. Nathan Van Hooydonck completed the yellow-and-black formation's celebration by finishing second.

Team Jumbo-Visma made another early move and tried to break up the peloton on the Flemish climbs. The attempt succeeded spectacularly. On Le Bourliquet, after an acceleration by Jan Tratnik, a group of five with Van Hooydonck and Benoot rode away from the peloton. They quickly grabbed a one-and-a-half-minute lead.

40 kilometers to go: Jumbo-Visma throws high heat.

Behind the leading group, the sprinters' teams looked to each other to chase. Christophe Laporte, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner Dylan Van Baarle and Tratnik followed in their wheels. Slowly some of the lead was chipped away, but the break worked well together. The peloton couldn't close the gap and the five at the front went on to battle for the win. Van Hooydonck opened the fight by attacking and it was especially hard for Matej Mohoric to catch him. After this the poker began and Benoot attacked at the right moment in the final kilometre. Van Hooydonck paused and the bird had flown. Laporte also won the bunch sprint to finish sixth.

"Two out of two is really incredible," a very happy Benoot stammered. "It was another great performance by the team. We wanted to attack early and it worked perfectly on Le Bourliquet. I want to dedicate this victory to my girlfriend and my little daughter. It's partly thanks to them that I am here at this level. It's brilliant to be able to win already after my difficult period," Benoot referred to his long absence.

The 28-year-old Benoot knew he couldn't let it come down to the sprint. "Nathan and I wanted to play the game with the two of us. I had the impression that Wellens and Mohoric were gambling on the sprint. Nathan attacked strongly at three kilometres from the finish and Mohoric struggled to close that gap. Then I seized my moment in the last kilometre. I knew I had to push full on to exhaust the rest for the sprint, so Nathan could then be the fastest. We executed our plan perfectly."

Runner-up Van Hooydonck also felt excellent throughout the day. "We took full advantage of our opportunity. I worked hard towards this period and this is really a dream start. For the same to be true, I would have managed to win. We wanted to bring on the race early. The main climbs of this race are not in the final. We had made a plan and we were fully committed to it. Christophe is also very fast, but we knew there could be a couple of guys who were faster on this finish. Then you have to try to create a different situation. It's tremendously nice to race in this team."

Complete results:

Photos

193.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.507 km/hr

1	Tiesj Benoot	Jumbo-Visma	4hr 32min 34sec
2	Nathan Van Hooydonck	Jumbo-Visma	@ 1sec
3	Matej Mohoric	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
4	Taco Van Der Hoorn	Intermarché-Circus-Wanty	s.t.
5	Tim Wellens	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
6	Christophe Laporte	Jumbo-Visma	0:43
7	Arnaud De Lie	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
8	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	Fabio Jakobsen	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
10	Jasper Stuyven	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
11	Iván García Cortina	Movistar	s.t.
12	Jonathan Milan	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
13	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
14	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
15	Luca Mozzato	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
16	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
17	Dries Van Gestel	TotalEnergies	s.t.
18	Sam Watson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
19	Olivier Le Gac	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
20	Rui Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
21	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
22	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
23	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
24	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
25	Sean Flynn	Team DSM	s.t.
26	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
27	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
28	Alexis Renard	Cofidis	s.t.
29	Filippo Colombo	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
30	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	0:48
31	Andrea Pasqualon	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
32	Florian Vermeersch	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
33	Peter Sagan	TotalEnergies	0:50
34	Jan Tratnik	Jumbo-Visma	0:52
35	Dylan Van Baarle	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
36	Davide Ballerini	Soudal Quick-Step	0:56
37	Fred Wright	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
38	Connor Swift	INEOS Grenadiers	1:17
39	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	1:43
40	Florian Sénéchal	Soudal Quick-Step	2:43
41	Giacomo Nizzolo	Israel-Premier Tech	7:47
42	Max Walscheid	Cofidis	s.t.
43	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X	s.t.
44	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
45	Filip Maciejuk	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
46	Casper Van Uden	Team DSM	s.t.
47	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	s.t.
48	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	s.t.
49	Erik Resell	Uno-X	7:50
50	Arne Marit	Intermarché-Circus-Wanty	7:52
51	Elias Maris	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
52	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
53	Marco Haller	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
54	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
55	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
56	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	s.t.
57	Luis-Joe Lührs	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
58	Dries De Pooter	Intermarché-Circus-Wanty	s.t.
59	André Carvalho	Cofidis	s.t.
60	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
61	Stanislaw Aniolkowski	Human Powered Health	s.t.
62	Jonas Koch	Bora-hansgrohe	7:58
63	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
64	Imanol Erviti	Movistar	s.t.
65	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
66	Christopher Juul-Jensen	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
67	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	8:03
68	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Max Kanter	Movistar	s.t.
70	Arjen Livyns	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
71	Lluis Mas	Movistar	s.t.
72	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
73	Frederik Frison	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
74	Mathijs Paasschens	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
75	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	s.t.
76	Yves Lampaert	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
77	Jelle Wallays	Cofidis	s.t.
78	Brandon Rivera	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
79	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
80	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
81	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
82	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
83	Yevgeniy Fedorov	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
84	Michael Schär	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
85	Zdenek Stybar	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
86	Sjoerd Bax	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
87	Ide Schelling	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
88	Tobias Ludvigsson	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
89	Jacopo Mosca	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
90	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
91	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
92	Per Strand Hagenes	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
93	Pierre Gautherat	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
94	Antonio Puppio	Q36.5 Pro Cycling	s.t.
95	Anthony Turgis	TotalEnergies	s.t.
96	Lawrence Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	8:17

 

2023 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Course map:

2023 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

The peloton strung out across the Belgian countryside.

Daniel Oss leads a break.

Looks like a nice day for a bike race.

The winning break works to stay away,

The peloton follows.

In the city of Kuurne. This might be the winning attack by Benoot.

Tiesj Benoot beats his fellow breakaways for the win.

Nathan Van Hooydonck wins the field sprint for second.

The podium, from left: Nathan Van Hooydonck (2nd), Tiesj Benoot (1st) & Matej Mohoric (3rd)

Start list with back numbers, February 25, 2023:

	Soudal Quick-Step
1	Fabio Jakobsen
2	Jannik Steimle
3	Davide Ballerini
4	Yves Lampaert
5	Casper Pedersen
6	Florian Sénéchal
7	Stan Van Tricht
	DS: Wilfried Peeters
	Jumbo-Visma
11	Dylan Van Baarle
12	Tiesj Benoot
13	Edoardo Affini
14	Christophe Laporte
15	Jan Tratnik
16	Nathan Van Hooydonck
17	Per Strand Hagenes
	DS: Arthur Van Dongen
	Trek-Segafredo
21	Jasper Stuyven
22	Filippo Baroncini
23	Alex Kirsch
24	Bauke Mollema
25	Jacopo Mosca
26	Toms Skujiņš
27	Mathias Vacek
	DS: Luc Meersman
	Bora-hansgrohe
31	Nico Denz
32	Marco Haller
33	Jonas Koch
34	Luis-Joe Lührs
35	Jordi Meeus
36	Nils Politt
37	Ide Schelling
	DS: Torsten Schmidt
	Arkea-Samsic
41	David Dekker
42	Daniel McLay
43	Alan Riou
44	Clément Russo
45	Kévin Ledanois
46	Luca Mozzato
47	Donavan Grondin
	DS: Sébastien Hinault
	Ag2r-Citroën
51	Greg Van Avermaet
52	Lawrence Naesen
53	Oliver Naesen
54	Valentin Retailleau
55	Michael Schär
56	Bastien Tronchon
57	Pierre Gautherat
	DS: Julien Jurdie
	Bahrain Victorious
61	Jonathan Milan
62	Filip Maciejuk
63	Matej Mohorič
64	Andrea Pasqualon
65	Fred Wright
66	Dušan Rajović
67	Cameron Scott
	DS: Enrico Poitschke
	Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
71	Niccolò Bonifazio
72	Dries De Pooter
73	Rune Herregodts
74	Arne Marit
75	Madis Mihkels
76	Baptiste Planckaert
77	Taco Van Der Hoorn
	DS: Steven De Neef
	Alpecin-Deceuninck
81	Jasper Philipsen
82	Samuel Gaze
83	Kaden Groves
84	Robbe Ghys
85	Silvan Dillier
86	Axel Laurance
87	Timo Kielich
	DS: Frederik Willems
	Groupama-FDJ
91	Lewis Askey
92	Olivier Le Gac
93	Fabian Lienhard
94	Paul Penhoët
95	Miles Scotson
96	Jake Stewart
97	Samuel Watson
	DS: Frédéric Guesdon
	UAE Team Emirates
101	Pascal Ackermann
102	Sjoerd Bax
104	Rui Oliveira
105	Matteo Trentin
106	Michael Vink
107	Tim Wellens
	DS: Marco Marcato
	Astana Qazaqstan
111	Leonardo Basso
113	Manuele Boaro
114	Yevgeniy Gidich
115	Yevgeniy Fedorov
116	Martin Laas
117	Gleb Syritsa
	DS: Stefano Zanini
	Team DSM
121	Patrick Bevin
122	Alberto Dainese
123	Nils Eekhoff
124	Leon Heinschke
125	Sean Flynn
126	Tim Naberman
127	Casper Van Uden
	DS: Pim Ligthart
	INEOS Grenadiers
131	Brandon Rivera
132	Michał Kwiatkowski
134	Luke Rowe
135	Magnus Sheffield
136	Connor Swift
	DS: Ian Stannard
	Lotto Dstny
141	Arnaud De Lie
142	Frederik Frison
143	Arjen Livyns
144	Mathijs Paasschens
145	Liam Slock
146	Brent Van Moer
147	Florian Vermeersch
	DS: Nikolas Maes
	Cofidis
151	Bryan Coquard
152	Piet Allegaert
153	Andre Carvalho
154	Christophe Noppe
155	Alexis Renard
156	Jelle Wallays
157	Max Walscheid
	DS: Alain Deloeuil
	TotalEnergies
161	Peter Sagan
162	Lorrenzo Manzin
163	Daniel Oss
164	Edvald Boasson Hagen
165	Jason Tesson
166	Anthony Turgis
167	Dries Van Gestel
	DS: Dominique Arnould
	Team Jayco Alula
171	Alexandre Balmer
172	Christopher Juul-Jensen
173	Luke Durbridge
174	Felix Engelhardt
175	Kelland O'Brien
176	Lukas Pöstlberger
177	Zdeněk Štybar
	DS: Mathew Hayman
	Team Movistar
181	Iván García Cortina
182	Imanol Erviti
183	Matteo Jorgenson
184	Max Kanter
185	Lluís Mas
186	Mathias Norsgaard
187	Iván Romeo
	DS: José Vicente García Acosta
	Team Flanders-Baloise
191	Ruben Apers
192	Toon Clynhens
193	Gilles De Wilde
194	Milan Fretin
195	Alex Colman
196	Elias Maris
197	Ward Vanhoof
	DS: Hans De Clercq
	Israel-Premier Tech
201	Guillaume Boivin
202	Giacomo Nizzolo
203	Jens Reynders
204	Guy Sagiv
205	Tom Van Asbroeck
206	Sep Vanmarcke
207	Rick Zabel
	DS: Dirk Demol
	Team Uno-X Pro Cycling
211	Alexander Kristoff
212	Rasmus Tiller
213	Kristoffer Halvorsen
214	Anders Skaarseth
215	Erik Nordsaeter Resell
216	Louis Bendixen
217	Søren Waerenskjold
	DS: Leonard Snoeks
	WB-Bingoal
221	Louis Blouwe
222	Rémy Mertz
223	Karl Patrick Lauk
224	Matteo Malucelli
225	Alexander Salby
226	Nathan Vandepitte
227	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
	DS: Sébastien Demarbaix
	Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling
231	Antonio Puppio
232	Jack Bauer
233	Kamil Małecki
234	Matteo Moschetti
235	Alessandro Fedeli
236	Tobias Ludvigsson
237	Filippo Colombo
	DS: Aart Vierhouten
	Human Powered Health
241	Stanisław Aniołkowski
242	Alan Banaszek
243	Matthew Gibson
244	August Jensen
245	Benjamin Perry
246	Sasha Weemaes
247	Stephen Bassett
	DS: Hendrik Redant