Brussels Cycling Classic podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition

Brussels - Brussels, 201.0 km

The race is Pascal Ackermann's

The race: here's the report from winner Pascal Ackermann's Bora-hansgrohe team.

The 98th edition of the Brussels Cycling Classic was an occasion for the fast men, who finished the day with a hectic fight for the win on the line. As is typical for the Belgian classic races, the race was characterised by a number of hellingen, which, however, didn’t spoil the sprinters’ party. In the bunch sprint in Brussels, Pascal Ackermann took the win convincingly over the other fast men.

The Course
Today’s one-day race, one of the oldest classics, led the riders around Brussels on a 201km-long route. The parcours contained no less than 13 slight climbs, the last of which appeared 40km ahead of the finish line. The race began in Jubelpark in the Belgian capital city and meandered through slightly hilly terrain initially towards the south east, where the first of the 13 ascents waited for the peloton 14.3km after the start. The race proceeded further south from there towards Nivelles, where several small climbs had to be contended with in succession. Afterwards, the race headed back towards Brussels, but this time not to the centre, but rather the northern edge of the city, where the finish line awaited the riders near the King Baudouin Stadium. The last 35km were not particularly demanding in nature. Ahead of the flamme rouge, the riders had to negotiate a left-hand turn before heading straight towards the finish, which kicked up ever so slightly.

The Team Tactics
Although 13 ascents were on the menu today, they were not overly challenging, and like in the past years, it was to be expected that a mass sprint in Brussels would cap off the day this year as well. The teams with fast men would attempt to bring about a bunch sprint. Because the last small ascent came 40km before the finish, it would not be difficult for the peloton to reel in a breakaway in time. Pascal Ackermann, who has already notched up some impressive results this season, was among the favourites today. The team was to support the German champion and bring him safely to the finish while positioning him well for the final sprint. However, Pascal wasn’t to be without rivals on the course, and BORA – hansgrohe therefore had to prepare for a difficult finale.

The Race
The second ascent of the day saw several attacks, after which a group of 6 was able to establish itself at the head of the race. During the day, the advantage of the group hovered around 2:30 and the race situation remained largely unchanged. Entering into the last third of the course, under the tempo meted out by Groupama – FDJ, the gap slowly began to whittle down. On the penultimate climb, several riders broke free from the peloton and tried to bridge the gap to the leading group, but BORA – hansgrohe remained attentive and came to the front of the main field to pursue the attackers. With 15km remaining, several riders in the breakaway hit the deck, and everything came together a few kilometres later. Not long afterwards, the sprinters’ teams took a renewed interest in setting the tempo and the preparations for the final sprint began in earnest. BORA – hansgrohe was also in position at the front as the team attempted to navigate Pascal Ackermann into a good position for the final sprint. As expected, it came down to a bunch sprint between the fast men in Brussels. However, just before the finish line, many riders went down in a crash. In a hectic sprint, Pascal Ackermann was able to pull of a convincing victory, his first win on Belgian soil.

From the Finish Line
“The race was not easy today. We had to contend with 13 ascents and that made the race quite difficult. The team rode fantastically and worked for me the whole day. I am very happy about my win here in Brussels, because it is my first victory on Belgian soil. I hope that I am able to achieve more success here in the future.“ – Pascal Ackermann

“It all went according to plan today. We tried to control the race and although the breakaway was relatively strong today, we were able to reel them back in time. Peter [Kennaugh] and Juraj [Sagan] rode for a long time at the front in order to prevent any further attacks. Our goal was to bring Pascal into a good position for the final sprint, and the entire team worked well together to bring him safely to the finishing straight. He launched his sprint relatively early, but he had good legs and was able to win convincingly. I am very happy with the performance of the whole team.” – Christian Pömer, Sport Director

Complete results:

201.0 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.82 km/hr

1	ACKERMANN Pascal	Bora-hansgrohe	4hr 35min 12sec
2	STUYVEN Jasper	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
3	BOUDAT Thomas	Direct Energie	@ 1sec
4	SÉNÉCHAL Florian	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
5	LOBATO Juan José	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
6	MANZIN Lorrenzo	Vital Concept	s.t.
7	DEHAES Kenny	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
8	VAN LERBERGHE Bert	Cofidis	s.t.
9	DUPONT Timothy	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
10	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
11	DECLERCQ Benjamin	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
12	RUSSO Clément	Fortuneo-Samsic	s.t.
13	PLANCKAERT Edward	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
14	KRISTOFF Alexander	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
15	ŠIŠKEVIČIUS Evaldas	Delko-Marseille Provence	s.t.
16	WAEYTENS Zico	Veranda's Willems-Crelan	s.t.
17	LEVEAU Jérémy	Delko-Marseille Provence	s.t.
18	MAES Nikolas	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
19	DE WITTE Mathias	Veranda's Willems-Crelan	s.t.
20	MENTEN Milan	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
21	ISTA Kevyn	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
22	KREDER Wesley	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
23	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
24	KUREK Adrian	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
25	DEGENKOLB John	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
26	PERRY Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	0:08
27	WOUTERS Enzo	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
28	NIEUWENHUIS Joris	Sunweb Development Team	s.t.
29	VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
30	DE GREEF Robbert	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	s.t.
31	VAN HECKE Preben	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
32	DENZ Nico	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
33	OFFREDO Yoann	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
34	DE VREESE Laurens	Astana	s.t.
35	CORT Magnus	Astana	0:11
36	MULLEN Ryan	Trek-Segafredo	0:13
37	VANDENBERGH Stijn	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
38	VAN MELSEN Kevin	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
39	COSTA Rui	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
40	VANTOMME Maxime	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
41	LAMPAERT Yves	Quick-Step Floors	0:15
42	SIEBERG Marcel	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
43	DEBUSSCHERE Jens	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
44	PEYSKENS Dimitri	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
45	SCHÖNBERGER Sebastian	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	0:19
46	RAYMACKERS Cedric	Cibel-Cebon	s.t.
47	WILLIAMS Tyler	Israel Cycling Academy	0:22
48	MARCHAND Gianni	Cibel-Cebon	0:27
49	TURGIS Jimmy	Cofidis	s.t.
50	TEUGELS Lennert	Cibel-Cebon	s.t.
51	REZA Kévin	Vital Concept	s.t.
52	MASSON Christophe	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
53	MÜLLER Patrick	Vital Concept	s.t.
54	HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
55	KENNAUGH Peter	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
56	KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar	Astana	s.t.
57	OWSIAN Lukasz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
58	SELIG Rüdiger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
59	PALUTA Michał	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
60	PEÁK Barnabás	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
61	REINDERS Elmar	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	s.t.
62	SMUKULIS Gatis	Delko-Marseille Provence	s.t.
63	SISR František	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
64	DEVOLDER Stijn	Veranda's Willems-Crelan	s.t.
65	MERTZ Rémy	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
66	BERNAS Paweł	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
67	VAN STAEYEN Michael	Cofidis	s.t.
68	SAGAN Juraj	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
69	TIVANI German Nicolás	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
70	BAGDONAS Gediminas	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
71	GUARNIERI Jacopo	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
72	NAESEN Oliver	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
73	BONIFAZIO Leonardo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
74	JANSSENS Jimmy	Cibel-Cebon	s.t.
75	DÉMARE Arnaud	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
76	GRUZDEV Dmitriy	Astana	s.t.
77	BONNET William	Groupama-FDJ	0:36
78	LE GAC Olivier	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
79	ENGER Sondre Holst	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
80	ERMENAULT Corentin	Vital Concept	s.t.
81	CLAEYS Dimitri	Cofidis	s.t.
82	DE GENDT Aimé	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
83	PICHON Laurent	Fortuneo-Samsic	s.t.
84	VAN BREUSSEGEM Elias	Veranda's Willems-Crelan	s.t.
85	RIESEBEEK Oscar	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	0:39
86	WIPPERT Wouter	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	s.t.
87	SCHILLINGER Andreas	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
88	VAN GOETHEM Brian	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	s.t.
89	SELLIER Simon	Direct Energie	0:48
90	GÈNE Yohann	Direct Energie	s.t.
91	SINKELDAM Ramon	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
92	PONZI Simone	Nippo-Vini Fantini	0:57
93	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
94	JAKOBSEN Fabio	Quick-Step Floors	0:58
95	SPRENGERS Thomas	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	1:01
96	BAUGNIES Jérôme	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	1:18
97	KIRSCH Alex	WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic	s.t.
98	DILLIER Silvan	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
99	RAST Grégory	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
100	BONO Matteo	UAE-Team Emirates	1:24
101	MARTINELLI Davide	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
102	FEILLU Brice	Fortuneo-Samsic	1:30
103	BAK Lars Ytting	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
104	DE BONDT Dries	Veranda's Willems-Crelan	1:58
105	COENEN Dennis	Cibel-Cebon	2:00
106	DIELEMAN Michiel	Cibel-Cebon	s.t.
107	MORIN Emmanuel	Cofidis	s.t.
108	MARCATO Marco	UAE-Team Emirates	2:32
109	MÄRKL Niklas	Sunweb Development Team	3:17
110	CARISEY Clément	Israel Cycling Academy	3:20
111	CAVAGNA Rémi	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
112	HOELGAARD Daniel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
113	FRISON Frederik	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
114	JONES Brenton	Delko-Marseille Provence	4:35
115	KASPERKIEWICZ Przemysław	Delko-Marseille Provence	s.t.
116	CORNU Jérémy	Direct Energie	s.t.
117	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
118	KONOVALOVAS Ignatas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
119	GREGAARD Jonas	Astana	5:19
120	MINALI Riccardo	Astana	5:32
121	TROIA Oliviero	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
122	LUNKE Sindre	Fortuneo-Samsic	s.t.
123	VAN DER LIJKE Nick	Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij	s.t.
124	VAN POPPEL Boy	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
125	CAPIOT Amaury	Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise	s.t.
126	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
127	EINHORN Itamar	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
128	HEINSCHKE Leon	Sunweb Development Team	s.t.
129	GALL Felix	Sunweb Development Team	s.t.
130	GRADEK Kamil	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.