Stuyven wins GP de Wallonie

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Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) sprinted to victory Wednesday at the GP de Wallonie after launching successive attacks in the final 25km of the 205.9km Belgian one-day race from Blegny to Citadelle de Namur. Cofidis' Dimitri Claeys finished second, followed by Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic) in third.

"I felt really one of the strongest in the race today, and it's a great feeling to finish it off and grab the win to thank the team for their amazing job," said Stuyven, who claimed his second win of 2018 after taking stage 4 at the Binck Bank Tour last month.

"This was a big goal for me today," he said. "I know this race, I love this race and have performed well here as a U23 racing with the pros at that time. All in all, I have had good results in the last weeks, and that is motivating to keep going full to the end of the season. It's not a secret that I would like to grab another win this season. There's a few beautiful races in my schedule, and I want to give my all and grab my third win."

Stuyven's team worked with Cofidis to pull back a five-rider breakaway to set up the fireworks ahead of the finale. Stuyven's attack with 25km to go created the first big selection in the bunch. As the reduced peloton started to close in on the lead group, Stuyven attacked again with 16km to go and was joined by eight riders to create a lead group of nine as five riders slipped away from the bunch and tried to bridge.

Stuyven drove the pace over the final kilometres, but the five chasers latched on in the closing 500 metres. Stuyven dug deep to hang onto the front positons going into the final corner, emerging from the turn first and holding off any challengers at the line.

"It was a pity that in the finale a few riders came back, and I had no one there to help, but Michael (Gogl) was still suffering from the jetlag," Stuyven said. "But I had good legs, so I didn't panic. When Barguil went at 1.5kms to go, I knew this was the move I had to counter. I decided to keep going full gas, and obviously, this meant I was racing in the front really early, but I knew that if I could take the last corner first, not many would be able to pass me."

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