Boonen wins Brussels Cycling Classic

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Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) took his second victory at the Brussels Cycling Classic in a bunch sprint. The Belgian beat Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in what was a technical finale followed by a slight uphill drag to the finish line. 

In a team meeting the night before the race, Boonen asked to be the day's protected sprinter, despite Etixx-QuickStep's star sprinter Marcel Kittel being on the roster, and the team put their trust in Boonen to deliver the victory.

"I am very happy for getting this win, the team did a perfect job throughout the day and provided an excellent lead-out in the final kilometer. The race was a fast and frantic one, with many attacks and narrow roads, but I am really satisfied of how things went," Boonen said.

The one-day 199km event saw a series of breakaways but all were reeled in and the full peloton barrelled through the final 15km. Teams FDJ, Astana and Etixx-QuickStep patrolled the front of the field before they shifted to lead-out speeds for their respective sprinters.

Narrow roads, sections of pavé and tight corners in the closing kilometres, combined with high speeds set at the front of the field, forced the riders in to a long stretched out line making it almost impossible for riders caught behind to make it back up to the front.

Wallonne-Bruxelles led the field under the 10km-to-go banner using their local knowledge of the technical roads to their advantage. AG2R's Alexis Gougeard attacked and opened an eight-second lead, and although he displayed a great amount of power, it was no match for the Etixx-QuickStep team's lead-out train.

As the field closed in on the Frenchman, Riu Costa (Lampre-Merida) was the next to make a move out of the field and as he tried to connect with Gougeard, both were reabsorbed into the field with five kilometres to go.

Filippo Pozzato (Wilier Trestina-Southeast) was the next to jump with under four kilometres remaining, and as the peloton made a slight hesitation, he cleared the field by 10 seconds. But it was a big ask to hold off the field with still two kilometres to go.

FDJ was responsible for the fast pace through the flamme rouge as they closed the gap to Pozzzato, while Etixx-QuickStep's train also moved forward on the opposite side of the wide finale Boulevard.

Demare started the sprint but Boonen, led out by Kittel and Matteo Trentin, swung around the Frenchman and powered his way to the finish line with the stage victory.

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