Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) took his first victory of the 2016 season with a late attack that netted him the Grand Prix de Wallonnie.
The Frenchman, who had been in a seven-rider move that imploded at the foot of the final climb to the Citadel of Namur, broke free with just over a kilometre remaining and held his lead to the finish.
He only held it by the skin of his teeth, however, as Etixx-QuickStep’s Petr Vakoc – also part of that earlier move – came roaring back as the road flattened out in the final kilometre and almost pipped him to the line. Coming round the final left-hand bend, Gallopin was slowing, but the Czech rider couldn’t make up his mind which side to try to pass on.
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Jerome Baugnies (Wanty Groupe Gobert) finished a more distant third a couple of bike lengths back, with Huub Duijn (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) fourth and Cofidis fastman Nicolas Edet fifth.
The 205.5km race in the hilly Wallonnia region featured seven short climbs, with three in the first half of the route and the other four packed into the final 40km.
There was an early nine-man breakaway, with Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM), Gert Joeaar (Cofidis), Reinier Honig (Roompot-Oranje Peloton), Felix Pouilly (Roubaix Lille Métropole), and Stef Van Zummeren (Verandas Willems) going clear before being joined by Johan Hemroulle (Color Code), Samuel Leroux (Veranclassic-AGO) and Gregory Habeaux (Wallonnie Bruxelles-Group Protect).
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