Philippe Gilbert (BMC) returned to his winning ways after being out of competition with a fractured leg, taking out the sprint in the Grand Prix Cerami in Belgium. It was his first race back after abandoning the Tour de Suisse in June, and he said he felt no pain during the race.
"More important than the win was that my feeling was good on the bike and that was the biggest news of the day for me," Gilbert said. "I didn't have pain the last week in training. But training is always different than a race. So for me, this is very good news for the next month."
Gilbert was part of a large group that broke off from the remainder of the peloton early in the 211km race. He beat out Danny Van Poppel (Trek) and Tom Devrient (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) in the sprint.
Gilbert was proud to win the first edition of the race named after Giuseppe "Pino" Cerami since the Belgian died at age 92 in September.
"Pino was one of the first big stars of Wallonie, so I am very proud to have my name on the list of the winners of this race," Gilbert said.
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 4:44:03 |
| 2 | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing | |
| 3 | Tom De Vriendt (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
| 4 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
| 5 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 6 | Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Wiggins | |
| 7 | Antoine Demoitie (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles | |
| 8 | Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP-Powerplus | |
| 9 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
| 10 | Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Rabobank Development Team | |
| 11 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
| 12 | Jeremy Leveau (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
| 13 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | 0:00:06 |
| 14 | Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Veranclassic - Ekoi | |
| 15 | Hartthijs De Vries (Ned) Rabobank Development Team | |
| 16 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
| 17 | Cees Bol (Ned) Rabobank Development Team | |
| 18 | Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace Continental Team | 0:00:09 |
| 19 | Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 20 | Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 21 | Jens Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:00:13 |
| 22 | Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles | |
| 23 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step | 0:00:17 |
| 24 | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:00:22 |
| 25 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP-Powerplus | |
| 26 | Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:24 |
| 27 | Gregory Habeaux (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles | |
| 28 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 29 | Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
| 30 | Huub Duijn (Ned) Team Roompot | |
| 31 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
| 32 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 0:00:32 |
| 33 | Yannick Eijssen (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
| 34 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement | 0:00:34 |
| 35 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 0:00:43 |
| 36 | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:00:51 |
| 37 | Dennis Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:15 |
| 38 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:33 |
| 39 | Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:04:13 |
| 40 | Joren Touquet (Bel) Verandas Willems Cycling Team | 0:05:14 |
| 41 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:05:29 |
| 42 | Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | 0:05:31 |
| 43 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Team Roompot | 0:05:33 |
| 44 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal | 0:05:35 |
| 45 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 0:05:37 |
| 46 | Martin Palm (Bel) Color Code - Aquality Protect | |
| 47 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:05:39 |
| 48 | Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:09:52 |
| 49 | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
| 50 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx - Quick-Step | |
| 51 | Boris Vallee (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
| 52 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
| 53 | Jimmy Duquennoy (Bel) Color Code - Aquality Protect | |
| 54 | Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Team Roompot | |
| 55 | Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal |
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