Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) took his second victory at the Brussels Cycling Classic in a bunch sprint. The Belgian beat Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in what was a technical finale followed by a slight uphill drag to the finish line.
In a team meeting the night before the race, Boonen asked to be the day's protected sprinter, despite Etixx-QuickStep's star sprinter Marcel Kittel being on the roster, and the team put their trust in Boonen to deliver the victory.
“I am very happy for getting this win, the team did a perfect job throughout the day and provided an excellent lead-out in the final kilometer. The race was a fast and frantic one, with many attacks and narrow roads, but I am really satisfied of how things went," Boonen said.
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The one-day 199km event saw a series of breakaways but all were reeled in and the full peloton barrelled through the final 15km. Teams FDJ, Astana and Etixx-QuickStep patrolled the front of the field before they shifted to lead-out speeds for their respective sprinters.
Narrow roads, sections of pavé and tight corners in the closing kilometres, combined with high speeds set at the front of the field, forced the riders in to a long stretched out line making it almost impossible for riders caught behind to make it back up to the front.
Wallonne-Bruxelles led the field under the 10km-to-go banner using their local knowledge of the technical roads to their advantage. AG2R’s Alexis Gougeard attacked and opened an eight-second lead, and although he displayed a great amount of power, it was no match for the Etixx-QuickStep team’s lead-out train.
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