Grand Prix de Denain: Alec Segaert toys with Hagenes and fends off peloton for extraordinary solo win

Twenty-four hours after his heartbreak at Nokere Koerse, Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious) ended up on the winning side of a nail-biting breakaway pursuit, taking out the Grand Prix de Denain-Porte du Hainaut in dramatic fashion.

The Belgian was caught in sight of the finish line as the sprinters hit out on Wednesday, but this time he was caught just beyond it, marking a memorable win after a thrilling day of racing on the cobblestones of northern France.

Milan Menten (Lotto-Intermarché) won the futile sprint from the main bunch to take second place, with Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) taking the final spot on the podium.

Segaert’s victory was all the more remarkable given that he was in fact the chaser for much of the finale. Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), the day’s principal aggressor, looked to have made a winning move on the final cobblestone sector, riding away from Segaert after the pair had been out front as a duo for 40km.

However, Segaert never fully fell away and clung grimly to his task, riding several bike lengths behind the Norwegian, without actually making contact, for the best part of 10km.

What happened next was extraordinary. Hagenes started to slow – apparently through sheer fatigue rather than sensing the baying peloton would surely catch them – and Segaert took a flying launch at his back wheel with 2.5km to go. The Belgian ripped right past and into the lead, turning the tables in an instant.

He stuck to his aero position, made use of his time trialling skills, and got every last ounce of energy from his legs as he made his way through the final metres of the race. The 23-year-old must have feared a repeat of his last-gasp heartbreak from the previous day, but in fact he took it all the way to the line and celebrated with disbelieving exuberance.

"This is one of the greatest feelings, this is why we race our bikes. This race was already special to me, I really loved it, and to win it after what happened yesterday, it's a crazy two days," Segaert said before, revealing his cunning gameplan.

"There are not a lot of guys in the whole bunch who can ride on cobbles faster than [Hagenes] – today showed that he was super strong, he pulled the biggest turns, but you need to think about how to win the race.

"When he attacked me, I was really on the limit. I thought about maybe coming back, but I played the game a bit and left the gap of 20 metres. After that, I hoped the peloton would not come back and he would slow down a bit. With the last of my strength, I came back and attacked immediately could hold it all the way to the finish line."

How it unfolded

Pre-race favourite Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) was taken out of contention by an ill-timed mechanical problem on the first of the 13 cobbled sectors that made up the 200.4km race, which takes place in the same region as Paris-Roubaix. It had been a quiet race up to that point, but the nine-man breakaway was quickly reeled in and the peloton split under the huge increase in pace, leaving De Lie over a minute in arrears by the time he’d finally found a teammate to drop back and help him.

The race never really let up to give De Lie a chance to get back in after that, and Hagenes was the reason why. The Norwegian was in ultra-aggressive mood as he played a key part in opening the race after the catch of the break, managing to first prise a 10-man group clear with 60km to go, and soon reducing it to six.

The key moment came inside 50km to go when he made a big move on the longest sector from Maing to Quérénaing, with only Segaert able to follow his wheel and not without a scramble. As the pair rode well together, there was disorganisation behind. UAE threatened to pull the peloton but then Nils Politt started to join in the attacks, along with the likes of Gianni Vermeersch, Tibor Del Grosso, and Anthony Turgis, which saw a six-man chase emerge for much of the finale. Visma-Lease a Bike then started to work in the main bunch, despite having Hagenes out front.

Going into the final 15 kilometres and the two final cobbled sectors, the leading duo had 30 seconds over the chasers and a further 30 seconds over the bunch. Hagenes made his move on the final sector but Segaert never let him get fully away, locked in a holding pattern until the dramatic final 2.5km.

Behind, the peloton caught the chasers once off the cobbles and Politt got back to work, bringing the gap down to 18 seconds with 5km to go and 11 seconds with 3km to go. At that point, the leaders were in sight, but Segeart was about to launch his bid for what this time ended up being glory.

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