Wout van Aert wins Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Wout van Aert put away his ghosts in a Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne that he managed to perfection, first selecting and then finishing.

Van Aert convinces and Lazkano excites in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024

The second chapter of the Opening Weekend of the Belgian Spring Classics did not disappoint either with the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne after the tremendous spectacle lived yesterday in the Omloop Het Niewsblad.

Yesterday's race left a note of disappointment to a Wout van Aert totally focused this season on the classics, despite the victory of one of his teammates. So he started his Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in the spirit of revenge in his first participation in a race that many of the top riders usually miss.

As usual in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, hostilities were unleashed from afar by the location of the walls to climb, placed far from the finish. It was 92 kilometers from the finish when Wout van Aert put his men to tighten the race causing a tremendous slaughter in the peloton that left him ahead in a group of about thirty riders.

The Belgian did not wait much longer to accelerate the pace strongly on the next wall, and on his wheel came a superb Oier Lazkano who closed the gap in the company of another superclass as Tim Wellens and the Australian of Groupama-FDJ Laurence Pithie. The four began to open a gap and only Matej Mohoric and Matheo Jorgenson responded trying to close the gap. They were close to do so but swam to end up dying on the shore.

In front, everyone understood each other perfectly, all waiting for the arrival of the Kruisberg, the last wall of the day and where Wout van Aert tried to make the final attack, although the only victim was Pithie. From there to the finish, the flat terrain and without difficulty predicted a sprint finish where Wout van Aert was the clear favorite.

With 4 km to go, Tim Wellens tried to take advantage of some islets, but Van Aert responded without a hint of doubt and, already in the last kilometer, it was Oier Lazkano who tried to surprise at the exit of the last curve of the course, with the same result. Even so, the rider from Vitoria pulled out his last strength to be the one who launched the sprint, even knowing the futility of that last effort against a Wout van Aert who, with insulting ease, managed to beat Tim Wellens and the reigning Champion of Spain, certifying the full of victories for Visma-Lease a Bike in the Opening Weekend.

Classification Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2024

1. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4h21'01''
2. Tim Welles (UAE-Team Emirates) +00"
3. Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team) +00"
4. Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'23''
5. Nils Eekhoff (DSM-Firmenich-PosNL)+1'23''
6. Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies)+1'23''
7. Luke Lamperti (Soudal-QuickStep)+1'23''
8. Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Dstny)+1'23''
9. Marious Maayrhoffer (Tudor)+1'23''
10. Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)+1'23''