Gallopin wins Grand Prix de Wallonie

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Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) took his first victory of the 2016 season with a late attack that netted him the Grand Prix de Wallonnie.

The Frenchman, who had been in a seven-rider move that imploded at the foot of the final climb to the Citadel of Namur, broke free with just over a kilometre remaining and held his lead to the finish.

He only held it by the skin of his teeth, however, as Etixx-QuickStep’s Petr Vakoc – also part of that earlier move – came roaring back as the road flattened out in the final kilometre and almost pipped him to the line. Coming round the final left-hand bend, Gallopin was slowing, but the Czech rider couldn’t make up his mind which side to try to pass on.

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Jerome Baugnies (Wanty Groupe Gobert) finished a more distant third a couple of bike lengths back, with Huub Duijn (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) fourth and Cofidis fastman Nicolas Edet fifth.

The 205.5km race in the hilly Wallonnia region featured seven short climbs, with three in the first half of the route and the other four packed into the final 40km.

There was an early nine-man breakaway, with Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM), Gert Joeaar (Cofidis), Reinier Honig (Roompot-Oranje Peloton), Felix Pouilly (Roubaix Lille Métropole), and Stef Van Zummeren (Verandas Willems) going clear before being joined by Johan Hemroulle (Color Code), Samuel Leroux (Veranclassic-AGO) and Gregory Habeaux (Wallonnie Bruxelles-Group Protect).

The real action, however, began when they were caught, with just under 30km to go. Pieter Weening (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) immediately kicked off the hostilities on the Côte de Lustin, the third last climb, but it was on the five per cent slopes of the Tienne aux Pierres that the selections were really made.

The bunch split to pieces as Gallopin and Jan Bakelants piled on the pressure, forming a group of seven with Vakoc, Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r), Sebastien Reichenbach (FDJ), Huub Duijn (Roompot-Oranje Peloton) and Thomas Sprengers (Topsport Vlaanderen Baloise).

"We were with seven good riders and we managed to create a small gap pretty fast," Gallopin said. "Bakelants was very good today. He was the one that set up the breakaway and his teammate Pozzovivo was among us as well."

The gap began to grow and it reached 25 seconds as Wanty-Groupe Gobert missed out and were forced to chase behind. The group worked well but by the run-in to the Citadel they had just 15 seconds and as it was about to begin with 3km to go they all eased up and looked at each other – and that was game over.

"We worked together but it wasn’t perfect," Gallopin said. "That’s the reason why we were reeled in at the foot of the citadel. When we were caught by the peloton I had a moment to recover. I found my own pace and I moved up to the fifteenth position." 

The steep cobbled roads took the riders up a picturesque series of hairpins and, after Weening and Pozzovivo had accelerated at the head of the reduced bunch, Gallopin rolled the dice again with 1.2km remaining.

"The further we went uphill, the better I felt and the better I was positioned in the bunch," he said. "At a certain moment I felt ready to attack once again and I gave everything I had. Two years ago I finished second on the citadel. I couldn’t take the victory home. This climb suits me very well. In the last fifty metres Vakoc came really close and the stress was getting to me. Fortunately I went fast enough to bring home the victory."

As his teammate Jens Debuscherre had done 12 months previously, Gallopin reached the line alone. After near misses at San Sebastian and the French national championships, he finally had his first success of the campaign. 

"The team gave me permission to change my program because I wanted to focus on the European Championships that are coming up this Sunday," he said. "That’s why I didn’t participate in the races in Canada. Instead I chose to ride the Tour of Britain before I came here for the Grand Prix de Wallonie. It feels really good to know that the team trusts me. In the Tour of Britain I felt better every day. I hoped to win a stage there, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. But my focus is on Sunday, that’s when I want to be really good."

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