Flandrien 0.0 Classic: Hendrik Pedersen surges from back of breakaway to take first pro win ahead of Laurence Pithie
Florian Vermeersch is third in Haacht
In a tremendous turn of speed, Hendrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) surged from the back of a 14-rider break to win the Flandrien 0.0 Classic on Saturday.
Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took second, and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was third in a chaotic finale.
In a technical finale, the breakaway sped towards the finish line, spread across the road, as the peloton was 15 seconds behind. Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché) was the first rider to open up his sprint early, but Hendrik Pedersen, the 21-year-old Dane, was able to overtake all to claim his first professional victory.
The winning breakaway formed with 75 kilometres to go, after the early move was reeled in, and included Pedersen, Pithie, Vermeersch, Berckmoes, Dries de Bondt (Jayco-Alula), Samuele Battistella and his EF Education-EasyPost teammate Luke Lamperti, Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto Intermarché) and Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Rose Rockets).
Working well together, the group was able to stay away from a disorganised peloton.
"It feels amazing. Two races ago in Wallonie, I was like really disappointed about my performance, and was really like ‘I need to do this better. Then yesterday [at the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen], I was really feeling like I have good legs," Pedersen said.
"That was a really amazing feeling, after a big disappointment going back and taking my first victory."
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Boxed in, Pedersen was forced to move to the back of the group.
"I started to try to go on the left side and actually hit the barrier, and then now it's like ‘oh there is not a space here’, so I had to go the other way around, go all the way back on the right side," he said.
"So it was quite a tricky road, but, I knew I had some good speed and I felt really good legs like all the way from Moskesstraat that first time. So, I was really like feeling that I could do a good result today."
Classics style racing at the former Super 8
The 15th edition of the Flandrien 0.0 Classic, formerly known as Super 8 Classic, offered up a Belgian Classic-style course from Brakel to Boortmeerbeek/Haacht. The 199.4km route ran through East Flanders, Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, and Flemish Brabant, taking on 15 climbs, including several tough ascents with gradients of up to 20%. Well-known ascents such as the Moskesstraat, Smeysberg, and Holstheide were tackled twice.
Five riders made it into the early breakaway with Battistella, De Bondt, Kamil Malecki (Pinarello-Q36.5), Leander Van Hautegem (Baloise Lions) and Gianni Marchand (Tarteletto-Isorex) escaping.
After pushing their gap to 2:10, the quintet’s lead was down to 35 seconds with 79 kilometres to go. Four kilometres later, the race exploded on the steep climb as the peloton connected with the break. Attacks continued to fly off the front, with a big group pulling away.
The new lead group, of 17 riders, had 26 seconds as they approached the cobbled wall Moskesstraat with 68 km to go. Teams that missed the move made their way to the front of the peloton, but the gap increased up to 48 seconds as they tackled the Smeysberg for the first time.
With 57 kilometres to go, Lidl-Trek’s Thibau Nys initiated a large chase group to try and make it across to the lead group which included his teammate Tim Torn Teutenberg. But the lack of cooperation doomed the chase group, as they were reeled in with 39 kilometres to go.
Continuing to work well together, the break, down to 14 riders, held a 53-second lead with 20 kilometres to go as they crested Hulstbergstraat, the final climb of the day. TotalEnergies took over the pacemaking at the front of the peloton, bringing the gap down to 24 seconds inside of 10 kilometres to go.
The gap dwindled to eight seconds with 3.4 kilometres to go, with Groupama and Intermarché riders continuing to push the pace in the break. But the break held on and Pedersen claimed a memorable victory from it.
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Results
Pos |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Henrik Pedersen (Den) Uno-X Mobility |
04:18:14 |
2 |
Laurence Pithie (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
00:00:00 |
3 |
Florian Vermeersch (Bel) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:00:00 |
4 |
Jenno Berckmoes (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:00:00 |
5 |
Tim Torn Teutenberg (Ger) Lidl-Trek |
00:00:00 |
6 |
Thibaud Gruel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
00:00:00 |
7 |
Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:00 |
8 |
Aime de Gendt (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:00:00 |
9 |
Luke Lamperti (USA) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:00:00 |
10 |
Axel Huens (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
00:00:00 |
11 |
Brent van Moer (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:00:00 |
12 |
Carl-Frederik Bévort (Den) Uno-X Mobility |
00:00:00 |
13 |
Matys Grisel (Fra) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:00:00 |
14 |
Samuele Battistella (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:00:04 |
15 |
Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis |
00:00:12 |
16 |
Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana |
00:00:12 |
17 |
Luca Mozzato (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling |
00:00:12 |
18 |
Emils Liepins (Lat) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:00:12 |
19 |
Anthony Turgis (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:00:12 |
20 |
Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Movistar Team |
00:00:12 |
21 |
Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious |
00:00:12 |
22 |
Lander Loockx (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:12 |
23 |
Biniam Girmay (Eri) NSN Cycling Team |
00:00:12 |
24 |
Pavel Bittner (Cze) Picnic PostNL |
00:00:12 |
25 |
Robert Donaldson (GBr) Jayco-AlUla |
00:00:12 |
26 |
Erik Nordsaeter Resell (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
00:00:12 |
27 |
Noah Hobbs (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:00:12 |
28 |
Matyáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:12 |
29 |
Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:00:12 |
30 |
Dylan Vandenstorme (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
00:00:12 |
31 |
Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:00:12 |
32 |
Florian Senechal (Fra) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
00:00:12 |
33 |
Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
00:00:12 |
34 |
Mike Teunissen (Ned) XDS Astana |
00:00:12 |
35 |
Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:00:12 |
36 |
Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
00:00:12 |
37 |
Hartthijs de Vries (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:12 |
38 |
Emilien Jeanniere (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:00:12 |
39 |
Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep |
00:00:12 |
40 |
William Levy (Den) Uno-X Mobility |
00:00:12 |
41 |
Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
00:00:12 |
42 |
Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:00:12 |
43 |
Simone Consonni (Ita) Lidl-Trek |
00:00:12 |
44 |
Edward Theuns (Bel) Lidl-Trek |
00:00:12 |
45 |
Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:00:12 |
46 |
Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto - Isorex |
00:00:12 |
47 |
Fabio Christen (Swi) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
00:00:12 |
48 |
Natnael Tesfatsion (Eri) Movistar Team |
00:00:12 |
49 |
Jonas Rutsch (Ger) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:00:12 |
50 |
Michiel Lambrecht (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
00:00:20 |
51 |
Tomas Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:21 |
52 |
Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Movistar Team |
00:00:22 |
53 |
Nikiforos Arvanitou (Gre) Team United Shipping |
00:00:22 |
54 |
Marco Haller (Aut) Tudor Pro Cycling |
00:00:22 |
55 |
Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Soudal-QuickStep |
00:00:22 |
56 |
Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Lidl-Trek |
00:00:22 |
57 |
Julius van den Berg (Ned) Picnic PostNL |
00:00:26 |
58 |
Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
00:00:26 |
59 |
Dries de Pooter (Bel) Jayco-AlUla |
00:00:26 |
60 |
Madis Mihkels (Est) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:00:26 |
61 |
Abram Stockman (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets |
00:00:26 |
62 |
Davide Donati (Ita) Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe Rookies |
00:00:26 |
63 |
Juan David Sierra (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling Team U23 |
00:00:26 |
64 |
Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:00:26 |
65 |
Johan Jacobs (Swi) Groupama-FDJ United |
00:00:26 |
66 |
Ferre Geeraerts (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
00:00:26 |
67 |
Arjen Livyns (Bel) XDS Astana |
00:00:32 |
68 |
Thibau Nys (Bel) Lidl-Trek |
00:00:32 |
69 |
Dries de Bondt (Bel) Jayco-AlUla |
00:00:36 |
70 |
Jonas Geens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
00:00:38 |
71 |
Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis |
00:00:41 |
72 |
Laurenz Rex (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep |
00:00:54 |
73 |
Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
00:01:01 |
74 |
Mathis le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:01:16 |
75 |
António Tomas Morgado (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:01:17 |
76 |
Lewis Askey (GBr) NSN Cycling Team |
00:01:24 |
77 |
Baptiste Vadic (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:01:47 |
78 |
Sebastian Grindley (GBr) Lidl-Trek Future Racing |
00:01:48 |
79 |
Florian Dauphin (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:01:48 |
80 |
Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis |
00:01:48 |
81 |
Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling |
00:02:34 |
82 |
Tibor Del Grosso (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
00:02:46 |
83 |
Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Movistar Team |
00:04:58 |
84 |
Yorben Lauryssen (Bel) Tarteletto - Isorex |
00:04:58 |
85 |
Tom van Asbroeck (Bel) NSN Cycling Team |
00:04:58 |
86 |
Thor Michielsen (Bel) Lidl-Trek Future Racing |
00:04:58 |
87 |
Lorenz van de Wynkele (Bel) Lotto - Groupe Wanty |
00:04:58 |
88 |
Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto - Isorex |
00:04:58 |
89 |
Luca Giaimi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates-XRG |
00:04:58 |
90 |
Jan Maas (Ned) Cofidis |
00:04:58 |
91 |
Bálint Feldhoffer (Hun) Bahrain Victorious Development Team |
00:04:58 |
92 |
Manlio Moro (Ita) Movistar Team |
00:04:58 |
93 |
Leander van Hautegem (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
00:04:58 |
94 |
Alessandro Borgo (Ita) Bahrain Victorious |
00:04:58 |
95 |
Colby Simmons (USA) EF Education-EasyPost |
00:04:58 |
96 |
Sean Flynn (GBr) Picnic PostNL |
00:04:58 |
97 |
Stan van Tricht (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team |
00:04:58 |
98 |
Artëm Fofonov (Fra) Xds Astana Development Team |
00:04:58 |
99 |
Rick Pluimers (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling |
00:04:58 |
100 |
Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
00:04:58 |
101 |
Bert Bolle (Bel) Volkerwessels |
00:04:58 |
102 |
Riley Sheehan (USA) NSN Cycling Team |
00:04:58 |
103 |
Alberto Dainese (Ita) Soudal-QuickStep |
00:04:58 |
104 |
Arnaud de Lie (Bel) Lotto-Intermarché |
00:04:58 |
105 |
Rayan Boulahoite (Fra) Totalenergies |
00:04:58 |
DNF |
Jens Verbrugghe (Bel) Nsn Development Team |
Row 105 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Mattia Agostinacchio (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost |
Row 106 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jake Stewart (GBr) NSN Cycling Team |
Row 107 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Vlad van Mechelen (Bel) Bahrain Victorious |
Row 108 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Robert Stannard (Aus) Bahrain Victorious |
Row 109 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Kamil Gradek (Pol) Bahrain Victorious |
Row 110 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
David Haverdings (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech Development Team |
Row 111 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Roger Pareta Sala (Spa) Movistar Team Academy |
Row 112 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Viktor Soenens (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team |
Row 113 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious |
Row 114 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Bert van Lerberghe (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep |
Row 115 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Iben Rommelaere (Bel) Tarteletto - Isorex |
Row 116 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jelle Vermoote (Bel) Tarteletto - Isorex |
Row 117 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Sente Sentjens (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech |
Row 118 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jonah Killy (USA) Tarteletto - Isorex |
Row 119 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Ibai Villate Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team Academy |
Row 120 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Joseph Brookes (GBr) Avc Aix Provence Dole |
Row 121 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Robin Froidevaux (Swi) Tudor Pro Cycling |
Row 122 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Cofidis |
Row 123 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Luke Durbridge (Aus) Jayco-AlUla |
Row 124 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Anders Foldager (Den) Jayco-AlUla |
Row 125 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Luka Mezgec (Slo) Jayco-AlUla |
Row 126 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Gijs Schoonvelde (Ned) Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe Rookies |
Row 127 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
John Degenkolb (Ger) Picnic PostNL |
Row 128 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Arne Marit (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
Row 129 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Picnic PostNL |
Row 130 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Pavel Šumpík (Cze) Development Team Picnic Postnl |
Row 131 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Simone Zanini (Ita) Xds Astana Development Team |
Row 132 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Davide Ballerini (Ita) XDS Astana |
Row 133 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Uno-X Mobility |
Row 134 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Matteo Vanden Wijngaert (Bel) Uae Team Emirates Gen-Z |
Row 135 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Kelland O’Brien (Aus) Jayco-AlUla |
Row 136 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Evan Pavis (Fra) Vendee U Primeo Energie |
Row 137 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Alfredo Bueno (USA) Ef Education - Aevolo |
Row 138 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Petr Kelemen (Cze) Tudor Pro Cycling |
Row 139 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
Row 140 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ United |
Row 141 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Ethan Vernon (GBr) NSN Cycling Team |
Row 142 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Danny van Poppel (Ned) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
Row 143 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
Row 144 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Joren Bloem (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets |
Row 145 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Vincent van Hemelen (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
Row 146 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Brem Deman (Bel) Team Flanders - Baloise |
Row 147 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Kamil Małecki (Pol) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
Row 148 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Frederik Frison (Bel) Pinarello-Q36.5 |
Row 149 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jarrad Eriks Drizners (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe |
Row 150 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Alex Kirsch (Lux) Cofidis |
Row 151 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Esteban Foucher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
Row 152 - Cell 2 |
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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