For the second year in a row in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Belgian all-rounder Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) chanced his arm with a late breakaway to try and keep the sprinters at bay, albeit with a very different and far less successful result than 2024. Wellens remained upbeat on the finish line nonetheless.
In 2024 Wellens broke away with Wout van Aert, Oier Lazkano and Laurence Pithie on the Mont Saint Laurent with around 90 kilometres to go, only to be defeated by the Visma-Lease a Bike leader on the line.
This time round, after testing the waters on the same ascent, Wellens and Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-AG2R) bridged across to the early break of the day some 30 kilometres further on, and the leading group then proceeded to keep the bunch at bay for the best part of an hour.
The final four survivors, including Wellens, were only reeled in after a long pursuit across the flat plains of West Flanders leading back to Kuurne. But despite failing to make the podium for a second year running, Wellens nonetheless insisted his strategy in a gutsy 50 kilometre break had been the best one to pursue.
"We knew we couldn't wait for the sprint, we tried pretty hard in the hilly zone, but then only the two of us made it across," Wellens told reporters afterwards.
"We had a pretty good breakaway move, but there were just too many riders behind. If we'd jumped with a few guys instead, we'd have had a much better chance.
"It was a nice group but the bunch was never that far behind. I tried to get things going by shaking off some of the other guys, but the bunch accelerated as well and it was hard to attack even more."
What might have been a gamechanger would have been if Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) had subsquently managed to bridge across with Roger Adria (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in his counter-attack after Wellens' move, on the final ascent of the day, the Kluisberg.
But the young Catalan racer, riding his first ever cobbled Classic this season, was clearly under instructions to wait for the bunch where Bora were hoping to contend the sprint with Jordi Meeus - who finally placed 11th - and despite some obvious gestures from Van Aert to collaborate, he sat on and the two were reeled in.
71st after his 61 kilometre break, Wellens remained positive despite the lack of visible success, arguing that he came away from Opening Weekend with good sensations and good numbers, all of which bodes well for the rest of Classics season.
"I know Saturday was a strange race, but the Watts were pretty high for me and I felt good," he said. "We don't have a win this weekend but we tried and we can't win every race.
"Everybody knew the sprinters' teams would go for it, but we do these kinds of moves to progress, to get good morale, and we hope we try to win. But this wasn't an attack to test my legs for later. We do it to win right away."
Wellens came away from the Kuurne mixed zone with a smile on his face, in any case, as he learned from a reporter that even if he hadn't taken a victory, UAE had just managed to win the Faun Drôme Classic with his teammate Juan Ayuso. "That's brilliant news," he said with a grin, before pedalling away to a well-earned shower and rest after a hard weekend's racing.
