Heistse Pijl: Paul Magnier wins crash-riddled one-day race

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Soudal-Quickstep rider out-kicks Tobias Andresen and Simon Dehairs

Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) wins the first stage of Etoile de Besseges
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) finally shook off months of missed opportunities and misfortune, winning the Heistse Pijl in a reduced bunch sprint ahead of Tobias Andresen (Uno-X Mobility) and Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

The closing laps were riddled with crashes in the UCI 1.1 race, with the last coming with 7.5km to go just after the peloton caught solo attacker Aldo Tailleu (Lotto).

An earlier crash too pre-race favourite Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) out of contention and Magnier also went down in a spill with 29km to go.

But the Frenchman won the survival of the fittest to revive his season after starting the year with a victory in the Etoile de Bessèges but going winless ever since.

"It's a beautiful win that gives me great pleasure, because it came after a fantastic team effort," Magnier said. 

"The entire squad did a great job, and Bert was incredible in the final kilometers, making sure the whole time that I was where I needed to be, from the last climb to the closing kilometer of the race. In the sprint, I just did my best, and I'm happy that I could bring the victory home. It's a perfect way to start the month and I hope more wins will follow soon for our team."

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Laura Weislo
Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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