Greipel triumphs at Brussels Cycling Classic

German national champion André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) sprinted to victory today in the inaugural edition of the Brussels Cycling Classic, the new iteration of the former Paris-Brussels semi-classic.

Greipel's compatriot John Degenkolb followed in second while the top three was rounded out by Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ).

"Every one of us was committed to prepare for a bunch sprint, his was good teamwork," said Greipel. "It turned out well and I'm really happy. Every victory is special, but certainly here in Brussels as we are a Belgian team. The sponsors and riders are happy with the victory."

Lars Boom (Belkin) nearly stole the show with a solo move late in the race. Boom was part of an escape which formed in the closing kilometres and after dropping his breakaway companions he rode alone to the finish only to be caught with 300 meters remaining.

"When I did my turn at the front, the guys behind me slowed down," Boom said. "I took the first turn at maximum speed and was all by myself with a pretty large gap.

"At one point I thought, 'I’m going to make it'. However, the final kilometer was slightly uphill and it was then I saw the peloton approaching quickly. All in all, it was a good day of racing for me."

Previously a point-to-point race starting in France and ending in Belgium, the new 197km parcours now takes place entirely within Belgium with its start and finish now in Brussels. The route is a counterclockwise loop extending to its Eastern-most point in Tienen and on the return, after 120km of racing, the peloton faced two laps of a hilly, 23km circuit before heading back to the finish in Brussels.

The break of the day was initially comprised of three riders, Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Movistar), Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Bjorn Thurau (Team Europcar), but the trio were joined by three more, Koen Barbe (Crelan-Euphony), Florent Barle (Cofidis) and Laurens De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), to form a six-strong escape after 51 kilometers of racing.

Upon hitting the 23km circuit the break's lead stood at 3:25, but on the second ascent of the Smeysberg climb the escape's numbers dropped to four as Barbe and Barle lost contact.

The remaining quartet fought hard to make it to the finish ahead of the peloton, but their escape effort fell seven kilometers short, however. A counter-attack was launched after the break was neutralised containing Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Lars Boom (Belkin). Boom would soon head out alone and his solo effort nearly came to fruition, but the Dutchman was swept up by a hard-charging peloton inside the final kilometer.

The Brussels Cycling Classic would now be decided by the sprinters with Greipel proving too fast for his rivals.

"At the end Lars Boom jumped away, he is one of the guys who always tries a stunt like this," said Greipel. "We had to gamble for the bunch sprint and hope he couldn't hold the gap.

"In the last corner I was a bit far back, but Marcel Sieberg brought me to about tenth position. Then I had to go really early for the sprint, I already started with 350 meters to go. I think that's why I could surprise everyone.

"When the last lead-out guy for Bouhanni finished his job I had to move to the left, but luckily I could pass. Without that I think I would have even gotten a bigger gap."