Matthew Brennan gives Visma | Lease a Bike victory in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Matthew Brennan has won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. The British rider from Visma | Lease a Bike was by far the fastest in the sprint of a reduced peloton after 195 kilometers.

The day after he took the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad title, Mathieu van der Poel was absent from Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. However, plenty of other top riders lined up at the start. The main focus was on sprinters with endurance, as traditionally, after the hilly section there is still enough time for the fast men to come back. Jasper Philipsen was the defending champion, while riders like Paul Magnier, Jonathan Milan, Christophe Laporte, and Arnaud De Lie were considered major challengers.

De Bondt and Biesterbos in the break, Wellens abandons
The decisive breakaway went clear after about thirty kilometers of racing. Among others, Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla) and Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL) were involved. Initially, they were accompanied only by Cole Kessler (Modern Adventure), Johan Jacobs (Groupama - FDJ United), and Matis Louvel (NSN Cycling Team), but after some pursuit, Roger Adrià (Movistar) and Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility) joined the group as well. So, we had a lead group of seven.

The breakaway riders held a maximum advantage of just over four minutes. The peloton stayed relatively calm initially, but there were a few crashes to report. The most significant victim was Tim Wellens. The Belgian champion crashed with about a hundred kilometers to go, quickly got back up but was clearly in pain. He couldn’t continue and abandoned the race.

De Lie and Milan drop off, Magnier gets a flat tire
Meanwhile, the hill section was approaching. On La Houppe and Hameau des Papins, the group stayed together, but on Le Bourliquet (1,300 m at 6.8%) there was a strong acceleration from Lotto-Intermarché. It looked like a lead-out for Arnaud De Lie, but the team leader clearly didn’t have the legs to respond. In fact, on the next climb, Mont Saint Laurent (1,300 m at 7.8%), he actually fell off the pace.

De Lie ended up in a group with the also dropped Jonathan Milan and Dylan Groenewegen. Paul Magnier, who suffered a flat tire on Mont Saint Laurent, was even further behind.

Up front, we saw some attacks, including from Jasper Philipsen, Tim van Dijke, and Matej Mohoric. However, no one was able to break away for the moment. That seemed to change on the Kruisberg/Hotond when Philipsen accelerated again. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider was joined by Daan Hoole, Matthew Brennan, and brothers Tim and Mick van Dijke. A strong group, but they didn’t want to cooperate, and the move stalled. The peloton came back together.

Van Baarle shows himself
The race then reached the Côte du Trieu (1.1 km at 7.2%). Here we saw a surge from Visma | Lease a Bike’s Timo Kielich, who was immediately followed by Dylan van Baarle. The Soudal Quick-Step recruit put in a powerful effort and escaped with a small group. Alpecin-Premier Tech and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, however, had missed the move and started the chase, reeling the escapees back in.

On the Kluisberg, the peloton split again. A group of counter-attackers formed and soon caught the early breakaway riders. Van Baarle and Kielich were back in the mix, alongside Matthew Brennan, Matisse Van Kerckhove (Visma | Lease a Bike), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché), Nils Politt (UAE Emirates XRG), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Héctor Álvarez (Lidl-Trek), and Carlos Canal (Movistar).

Crosswinds!
Decathlon CMA CGM, who had also missed the move along with Alpecin-Premier Tech, led the chase. Because cooperation up front was far from perfect, the French team quickly restored the situation. At fifty kilometers to go, the peloton was back together once more. So, a quiet ride to Kuurne for a bunch sprint? Not quite. A surge from Visma | Lease a Bike combined with strong wind split the peloton into several echelons.

Philipsen was in the first echelon but dropped back to the second group due to a flat tire. He was somewhat lucky: the front group lacked smooth cooperation, more a series of surges and halts. This was evident as Álvarez suddenly broke away solo. While the 19-year-old Spaniard was away briefly, the others regrouped behind him. With 36 kilometers to go, Álvarez was caught again and calm returned. We now seemed to be heading for a sprint.

Heading towards a sprint
Jonas Abrahamsen made another attempt, but Visma | Lease a Bike immediately closed the gap. They had one of the fastest men in Brennan. Other sprinters in the front group included Jordi Meeus, Tobias Lund Andresen, and of course Philipsen, who switched back to his own bike with fifteen kilometers remaining. After his flat tire, he had been riding Edward Planckaert’s bike.

The sprinters' teams appeared to have control, but with three kilometers to go, a gap opened at the front when Alec Segaert pushed hard. Florian Vermeersch took over and created a small gap. Holding the lead was another matter, however. The pace eased again, setting up a bunch sprint. The various teams fought to be first into the final corner. Visma | Lease a Bike was well positioned.