For just a hundred metres, the day’s outcome could have been much different. On Sunday, the opening weekend in Belgium continued and concluded with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and Laurence Pithie made quite an impression for his return to Europe. The New Zealander first found himself in front when the race opened up halfway through. He even followed the trio who fought for victory for a while before he got dropped on one of the last climbs of the course. Then caught in between, the young man kept on going for almost sixty kilometers to score a nice result, but the peloton decided otherwise. Lewis Askey was unable to compete in the sprint due to a crash in the last corner, and the Groupama-FDJ team was therefore unable to complete this great day with a result.
After a dynamic first Flemish act on the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, some riders were ready to go for it again on Sunday on Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, traditionally more suited to the sprinters. As a result, Stefan Küng also left his place in the team to Laurence Pithie, returning from a successful start to the season on the other side of the world. Although the second round of the opening weekend is often more controlled due to the last flat sixty kilometers, this 76th edition offered an almost constant fight. First, there was one for the breakaway, which only established itself after seventy kilometres of racing. Luca Mozzato, Dries De Bondt, Fran Miholjevic, Luke Rowe and Jasper De Buyst were then able to get a small margin of two minutes, but the peloton did not slow down too much, and also experienced a several crashes in the first series of bergs at the halfway point. Before entering the second sequence, starting from the Hameau de Papins, a first bunch even got away with Laurence Pithie, Sam Watson and Clément Russo. On the next hill, that of Le Bourliquet, the breakaway was caught, and the Visma-Lease Bike really opened up the race.
“There were one or two hills too many”, Frédéric Guesdon
At the end of the climb, there were only around fifteen men in the lead, and the New Zealander from Groupama-FDJ was up there. “I had really good positioning,” said Laurence. “The boys kept me in front into the bottom of the climbs. When Visma-Lease a Bike accelerated, I was able to follow. Then, on the steep cobbled climb, when Van Aert went, I had the legs to follow as well.” With 86 kilometres to go, in the Mont Saint-Laurence, the “Kiwi” therefore broke away with the Belgian rider, Oier Lazkano and Tim Wellens. The quartet’s gap was thirty seconds when passing the Kruisberg and Hotond, then even reached one minute at the bottom of the côte de Trieu, penultimate climb of the course. Unfortunately, on these slopes hitting more than 10%, the Groupama-FDJ rider was distanced following another attack from Wout van Aert. “I went super deep to stay with Wout in Saint-Laurent,” he explained. “I was definitely suffering with the accelerations on this climb, so I tried to play my cards right, save energy where I could and recover a little bit. But at the end, I just didn’t have the legs when Wout accelerated on the next climb, and I got stuck in the middle of no man’s land”.
One hundred metres from the top of the côte de Trieu, meaning seventy kilometres from the finish, Laurence Pithie had to let his three rivals go. Although he then remained at fifteen seconds for a few kilometers, he was ultimately forced to manage his effort and wait for the next chasing group. The latter, made up of Matej Mohoric and Matteo Jorgenson, caught him fifty-five kilometers from the finish. The leading trio quickly appeared out of reach, but for more than an hour, the New Zealander kept on pushing in the second group to stay away from the rest of the field. For a long time, this attempt seemed to succeed, but with about twenty kilometres to go, a huge peloton appeared less than a minute behind. Considering the many teams working in the back and the energy already spent at the front, the duel eventually and logically turned in favor of the pack, which caught Laurence Pithie about five kilometres from the line. “Laurence did a great ride, and just missed a little something to go with the three who made it to the end,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “There were one or two hills too many, but what he showed is already very good given that it was his first race in Europe and that he’s not used to the Classics either”. In the end, Wout van Aert won among the leading trio, while the sprint was not successful either for Groupama-FDJ since Lewis Askey hit the ground in the last corner and was therefore unable to defend his chances.
“The level is here”, Laurence Pithie
Despite being at the front throughout the second half of the race, the team couldn’t leave Belgium with a convincing result. “We didn’t live up to our ambitions yesterday, but it was much better today,” said Frédéric. “When the race really got hard, the guys were at the front. It’s a shame that there isn’t a nice result at the end, because we’re still racing for that. It’s a bit frustrating, because we’re eventually concluding this Belgian weekend without results, and it’s a group and a team that loves these races. Still, it’s encouraging.” “It would have been nice to hold on and try to go for that fourth place, but it was a good day out,” said Laurence. “I’m happy with it. I can’t be too disappointed with how I rode today. I just missed a little bit to follow the best guys, but it’s coming. The level is here, so race by race it will get better. Just to be there is a good step in the right direction. I came here with good form, and I really want to do well on these Classics. It’s a positive day. On to the next one! »
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