Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won a tight bunch sprint at Brussels Cycling Classic, edging Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) at the line on Sunday.
Once under the 1km kite, Picnic-PostNL charged with four riders at the front until one rider hit the right-side curb and crashed. From the opposite side of the stampede, Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost) accelerated, but Meeus' teammate Danny van Poppel launched his move with 500 metres remaining and reached him, allowing Meeus to make the final pass.
Even with a quickly-closing Fretin, the Belgian rider was able to take his fourth win of the season by around a tyre's width.
The peloton allowed five riders to go up the road for a triple-set of bergs and then closed down what remained of the breakaway with 15km to go for the sprinters to seize the day.
How it unfolded
It took nearly 55km into the 206.3km contest for the first attacks to blend as a lead group, Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep), Titouan Fontaine (Groupama-FDJ United), Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Intermarché), Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro) and Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) forming the breakaway of the day.
Another 25km later, the trio of the cobbled climbs on mid-race laps hit in succession, 10km from the Muur-Kapelmuur (475 metres at 7.4%), then Bosberg (1km at 5.8%) and then the Congoberg (1.3km at 5%). A flat pave section with around 20km to go signalled a 10th climb, Heiligekruiswegstraat. The short 700-metre uphill, hitting a pitch of 7%, left 13.9km to the finish.
By the time the leaders rolled a second time on the hilly section, they had a gap of 3:01 across the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Just 3km on, Mayrhofer suffered a mechanical and was dropped by his companions.
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Cofidis and NSN Pro Cycling drove the peloton as a long line of riders trailed after the climb of the Congoberg, the pace picking slightly but no panic yet, with one circuit of climbing to unfold.
A final pass of the Muur-Kapelmuur saw the quartet lose some steam on the section that maxed out at 19% gradient before the chapel at the top. As the tempo began to lose vigour, likewise did the gap drop to 1:26.
The peloton saw splits on that section, most of the work on the Muur-Kapelmuur was done by Cofidis and about 30 riders remained for the main chase at the bottom of the Bosberg.
The breakaway had one minute in their favour on the climb, but Fontaine could no longer hold the pace and dropped back leaving a trio to carry on.
Once across the Congoberg a third time, Pedersen, Pedersen and Grignard pounded the pedals with a 40-second margin. There were no glances back until they closed on 40km to go, and on a long stretch of road between farmland, the tip of the peloton encroached, Cofidis still present at the front along with the yellow colours of Flanders-Baloise and Unbo-X Mobility.
A reorganised peloton tried to squeeze around a sharp corner onto the final pave, and Alex De Bock (Alpecin-Premier Tech) crashed on the outside. Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) switched to high gear at the front of the bunch and had the breakaway in his sights, just 12 seconds up the road.
The cobbled section at Rosweg spelt the end for the breakaway, as the peloton sailed past them for the final 15km. With survival completed across 191km, the sprinters could taste the opportunity of a drag race on wide, flat, fast roads that remained.
Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Uno-X Mobility) attacked with 10km to go, but dangled at the front without effect for 5km. Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost), Kamil Malecki (Pinarello Q36.5) and Ferre Geeraerts (Flanders-Baloise) crashed with 4.6km to go, the speed ramping up as the sprinters' teams began to position.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
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