Theuns wins Primus Classic

Report

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) took his first win since 2017 at the Primus Classic, attacking late on to just about hold off the peloton in Haacht. Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) finished second and third, just metres behind.

Theuns' attack, which came inside the last 3km, came after a day of attacking moves from Trek, with Mads Pedersen attacking earlier on, and Jasper Stuyven disrupting the sprint trains with an attack in the final 10km.

It was a brave move, given that Theuns has a strong sprint himself, but the tactic worked to perfection. Ackermann led the charge behind, coming close enough to the Belgian at the line that a few metres more on the finishing straight would've given a different result.

How it unfolded

The break of the day contained Michael Schär (CCC Team), Dylan Bouwmans (Katusha-Alpecin), Aaron Verwilst (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Fritjof Røinås (Joker Fuel of Norway) and Elias Van Breusegem (Tartoletto-Isorex), with the men getting a gap of six minutes at one point.

But they wouldn't get that much leeway for too long, with the big names keen to make an impact as the climbs – 15 of them – started coming thick and fast midway through the day.

Attacks flew from Dries De Bondt (Corendon-Circus), Nathan Van Hooydonck (CCC Team) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) at various points, but the original break still hung out front, at least until the Moskensstraat with 45km to go.

There, Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) put in a testing attack. Only Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) able to follow, in what might end up being a preview of next week's World Championships road race.

Things soon came back together though, as Van Hooydonck and Schär remained up front. The duo were caught inside the final 20km, setting up an expected sprint finish.

Trek had other ideas though, sending Stuyven up the road to play a wrecking role. He was caught 3km from the line, and was quickly replaced by Theuns. The Belgian got his gap, and pushed through the lactate threshold in the closing metres, hanging on at the line to take victory by half a bike-length.

Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Results
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 4:36:42
2Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
3Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
4Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
5Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
6Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Ccc Team
7Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Ccc Team
8Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Dimension Data
9Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
10Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
12Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence
13Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
14Olav Hjemsæter (Nor) Team Coop
15Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
16Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
17Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
18Romain Cardis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
19Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
20Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
21Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
22Julien Vermote (Bel) Team Dimension Data
23André Greipel (Ger) Team Arkea-Samsic
24Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
25Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
26Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Team Dimension Data
27Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
28Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
29Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:06
30Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team 0:00:07
31Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin
32Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
33Loic Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
34Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
35Mikkel Froelich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
36Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
37Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:07
38Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Team Katusha Alpecin
39Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
40Herman Dahl (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
41Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
42Jens Debusschere (Bel) Team Katusha Alpecin
43Ole Forfang (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
44Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
45Amund Groendahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
46Jerome Baugnies (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
47Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
48Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
49Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
50Mathijs Paasschens (Ned) Wallonie Bruxelles
51Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
52Aksel Noemmela (Est) Wallonie Bruxelles
53Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
54Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
55Jonas Koch (Ger) Ccc Team
56Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
57Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:14
58Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:16
59Jannik Steimle (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic
60Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:38
61Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:00:56
62Fridtjof Rasin Rasin (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway 0:01:15
63Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:22
64Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:37
65Dylan Bouwmans (Ned) Metec-tkh Continental Cyclingteam p / b Mantel 0:02:06
66Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha Alpecin
67Michael Schar (Swi) Ccc Team 0:02:28
68Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Ccc Team
69Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:52
70Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:07
71Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:14
72Niels De Rooze (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
73Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
74Michiel Stockman (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
75Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
76Lars Bak Ytting (Den) Team Dimension Data
77Stijn Steels (Bel) Roompot-Charles
78Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles
79Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
80Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
81Clement Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
82Louis Bendixen (Den) Team Coop
83Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Corendon-Circus
84Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
85Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles
86Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
87Asborn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
88Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Dimension Data
89Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence
90Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:09:49
91Jan Willem Van Schip (Ned) Roompot-Charles
92Filippo Fortin (Ita) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
93Cedric Beullens (Bel) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
94Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Team Dimension Data
95Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
96Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Ccc Team
97Eirik Lunder (Nor)
98Marten Kooistra (Ned) Seg Racing Academy
99Mickael Guichard (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence
100Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
101Søren Wærenskjold (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
102Brent Cle (Bel) Corendon-Circus
103Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
104Florentin Lecamus Lambert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
105Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Wallonie Bruxelles
106Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
107Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team
108Hakon Lunder Aalrust (Nor) Team Coop
109Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
110Brenton Jones (Aus) Delko Marseille Provence
111Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
112Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
113Ludvik Aspelund Holstad (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
114Andreas Vangstad (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
115Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
116Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
117Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNFRasmus Byriel Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
DNFJacob Eriksson (Swe) Team Coop
DNFHenrik Evensen (Nor) Joker Fuel of Norway
DNFZico Waeytens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNFFrancisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Ccc Team
DNFErlend Jordbrekk Blikra (Nor) Team Coop
DNFJordi Van Dingenen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNFYlber Sefa (Alb) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNFJulien Van den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNFMichael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNFAmaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNFPhilipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus
DNFJoseph Areruya (Rwa) Delko Marseille Provence
DNFRamunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence
DNFAndre Sotberg (Nor) Team Coop
DNFJohannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNFItamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
DNFKrists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
DNFSean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles
DNFKenny Dehaes (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNFHuub Duijn (Ned) Roompot-Charles
DNFHugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNFKevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNFAaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNFDanny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNFDamien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNFEnzo Bernard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNFAlexandre Pichot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNFThomas Boudat (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNFJulien Mortier (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles
DNFMark Cavendish (GBr) Team Dimension Data
DNFGerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNFJose Goncalves (Por) Team Katusha Alpecin
DNSSamuel Gaze (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNSDavid Boucher (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
DNSMaximilian Richard Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Daniel Ostanek
Production editor

Daniel Ostanek is production editor at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired as staff writer. Prior to joining the team, he had written for most major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

 

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

 

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Daniel also runs The Leadout newsletter and oversees How to Watch guides throughout the season. His favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal, and he rides a Colnago C40.

Latest on Cyclingnews