Halvorsen wins Handzame Classic

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Under-23 world champion Kristoffer Halvorsen (Joker Icopal) proved his class once again Friday with a sprint victory at the Handzame Classic ahead of British champion Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) and Kenny Dehaes (Wanty-Groupe Gobert).

Blythe's Aqua Blue Sport team controlled the front of the bunch over the final five kilometres in Belgium, but it was Halvorsen who had the advantage as the sprinters jumped out of the final right-hand turn. Blythe poured on the power but was unable to get on terms with the young Norwegian.

"It was very hard," Halvorsen said of the finale. "There was crosswind, but the team did a really, really good job, and I'm so proud of them."

The win is just Halvorsen's second in the pro ranks, but he showed no lack of confidence going up against more experienced sprinters during the bunch kick in Kortemark.

"You know all of them have just two legs, so … yeah," he said. "We are just a Continental team on paper, but they are so strong."

Blythe, who was also second in the sprint at the end of Wednesday’s Nokere Koerse, was obviously disappointed in not bringing home the win for his team.

"It was good, but I should have won," he said. "I just messed the sprint up a little bit. I was a bit too far back. I was just coming at him with speed. I think another 10 metres I'd have had him, but that's racing."

How it unfolded

Six riders animated the race in the early going, with Iljo Keisse (Quick-Step Floors), Jonas Koch (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin), Alex Kirsch (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect) and Timothy Stevens (Pauwels sauzen-Vastgoedservice) escaping the bunch and setting off for a day out front.

The peloton was obviously anxious for a sprint at the finish of the 192.7km mostly flat race that started in Bredene and finished in Kortemark, and the bunch caught the leaders with 36km to go.

With the breakaway in check, attacks started to fly from the peloton. Dries De Bondt (Vérandas Willems-Crelan) was the first to try, leading the race through the eventual finish line with two laps left of the finishing circuit, but he was never allowed much of an advantage, with a hungry peloton sweeping him up before long.

Consistent attacking over the final 20 kilometres drove up the pace, with small groups peeling away but not managing to make anything stick.

The bunch took the bell for the final lap together, with Joker Icopal setting the pace. Bora-Hansgrohe took up duty on the front from Joker, hoping to set up Erik Baška to defend his 2016 win.

Aqua Blue Sport was the next team to drive up the pace over the final kilometres, setting up the big bunch sprint, but it was Joker's Halvorsen that emerged victorious at the line.

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