As it happened: Brabantse Pijl Men decided by two-up sprint between Evenepoel and Van Aert

Thanks for joining us today. That was a great race, with a thrilling two-up sprint in the finale a refreshing change from the big solo wins that have decided recent classics. The stage is set for the Ardennes Classics, with Evenepoel back and on fire, and Van Aert still with energy to burn after his cobbled classics campaign.

We'll be back again for Amstel Gold on Sunday - see you then!

Meanwhile Van Aert’s winless streak goes on, the last time being back in August at the Vuelta a España.

That’s Evenepoel’s first win since the World Championships time trial last September, and his first representing Soudal-QuickStep since his time trial stage victory at the Tour de France.

Evenepoel said in his post-race interview that he "thought he was beaten already” going into the sprint, what with Van Aert's pedigree, but backed himself anyway. It was a seriously impressive finish from the Olympic champion, who looks remarkably fresh despite so much time out of racing.

Van Aert spent most of the sprint in Evenepoel's slipstream, but couldn't come around him when he put his nose to the wind.

Evenepoel looks delighted, and justifiably so. What a way to return to racing again!

António Morgado won the sprint in the peloton for third place.

Van Aert has missed out in a sprint again, having to settle for second place.

EVENEPOEL WINS

Evenepoel wins the sprint!

Evenepel starts his sprint early...

Evenepoel looks like he's going to back himself in a sprint.

Final few hundred metres...

Still no attack from Remco. This is looking good for Van Aert.

1KM TO GO

Still Evenepoel leads, but no acceleration yet.

S-BOCHT OVERIJSE

Evenepoel leads Van Aert onto the final climb.

Meanwhile behind, Andreas Leknessund has joined Baudin.

They have a minute to play with, and Van Aert must believe that's enough to afford him to play games.

Van Aert's refused to take a turn.

The final 1300 metres to the finish atop S-Bocht Overijse rises at 4.9%, which could provide ample territory for Evenepoel to break Van Aert.

5KM TO GO

50 seconds is the gap with 5km to go. We're awaiting a big attack from Remco...

The peloton is splitting up behind Baudin.

But which of Van Aert or Evenepoel will it be? For both of them, it would be a belated first win of 2025.

It's likely that one of Van Aert and Evenepoel will win this race, with Baudin 47 seconds behind and the peloton about 50 seconds. 

No attack from Evenepoel on that climb.

HOLSTHEIDE

The leaders are onto the penultimate climb of the race.

Baudin has gone clear from the peloton after his attack on the climb, and has a gap of about 5 seconds.

Evenepoel has just two climbs left to drop Van Aert. You sense he'll need to, as Van Aert should have the beating of him in a sprint - though we did say the same about him and Neilson Powless a few weeks ago at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

10KM TO GO

EF's Baudin has attacked out the peloton, which is still 35 seconds behind the leaders.

Van Aert manages it though, and the pair cross the top together.

Van Aert is having to dig visibly deep to stick to his wheel.

MOSKESSTRAAT

Evenepoel leads Van Aert onto the climb.

Blackmore has been brought back by the peloton.

The leaders are nearing the Moskesstraat for the final time. Can either of them gap the other?

Meanwhile the peloton has drifted further behind after that climb, to nearly 40 seconds.

Van Aert is taking turns again with Evenpoel. Blackmore isn’t going to come to them.

Evenepoel presses on over the false flat after the summit.

Blackmore has been dropped.

HERTSTRAAT

Evenepoel accelerates on the Hertstraat. 

It’s still Alpecin’s domestique who are burying themselves to try and catch them, likely in service of Tibor Del Grosso who has been in such stellar form lately.

It would really buck the trend in recent races for this group to get caught. Usually when riders like Van Aert and Evenepoel go clear early, they aren’t seen again.

The trio hear the bell over the line, followed by the peloton 33 seconds later. The stage is set for an exciting chase and thrilling final lap!

20KM TO GO

The peloton's work is starting to show - the gap has come down to 37 seconds. This might not be over for the peloton.

S-BOCHT OVERIJSE

They're climbing again, at the top of which they will hear the bell.

The peloton looks more organised now. Alpecin-Deceuninck are leading with two riders setting a fast pace, but not making inroads yet. 

The race hasn't gone yet, but the trio's lead isn't getting any smaller. In fact it's grown a bit, to just over 50 seconds. 

The peloton are attacking each other rather than working together to chase. Alex Molenaar is the latest rider to have a dig, to no avail.

The group that Powless clipped off with has been brought back by the rest of the peloton.

HOLSTHEIDE

Evenepoel leads the break onto the Holstheide ascent.

Powless led the peloton on the climb, and has thinned it out.

30KM TO GO

In the aftermath of that climb, the break's lead is at 45 seconds. 

He's got a small gap!...but Evenepoel digs deep and drags both himself Blackmore back to him.

Van Aert's going hard on the climb.

MOSKESSTRAAT

The leaders are on the Moskesstraat. This could be where they break up, if anyone decides to attack.

Evenepoel, Van Aert and Blackmore leading the race.

EF lead the peloton back up to Teuns' wheel.

Dylan Teuns attacks out of the peloton on the climb.

HERTSTRAAT

The trio remain together as the take on the Hertstraat again.

And what about Joseph Blackmore? We’ve known about his considerable talent for a while, but to be mixing it up with this company feels like a great leap forward. And he’s not just sitting on their wheels, either, raking his share of the turns. Can he keep up with their pace on the upcoming climbs?

Evenepoel also has a formidable opponent in Wout van Aert, often his Belgian teammate at national level. They haven’t raced against each other much - it’s hard to call who out of them is the favourite from here.

Despite not having race for 6 months, Evenepoel already seems to be in flying form. It's great to see the Belgian back and lighting the race up!

It's still a large peloton, too, of at least 50 riders. They cross the finish line again 47 seconds adrift.

The peloton has caught back up to the chase group on the climb.

40KM TO GO

Evenepoel, Van Aert and Blackmore's gap continues to grow, up to 40 seconds. It's difficult to see such a strong group getting caught.

S-BOCHT OVERIJSE

The three leaders begin the gradual climb to the finish line again.

That group of almost 30 seconds adrift.

Pidcock is in this chase group, along with Del Grosso, Benoot, Hermans, Powless, Leknessund,  Narváez and others.

Holter is sitting up and allowing a nine-man chase group to catch him.

Ådne Holter of Uno-X Mobility is 4th on the road on his own. That's one hell of an effort, as he was in the original break.

Joseph Blackmore has bridged up to them. He must be feeling really strong as he was some way back, and nobody else has managed to join them.

Evenepoel attacks again! Van Aert's with him, but not the others.

Leknessund is the Uno rider, and they've also been joined by Quinten Hermans and Jhonatan Narváez.

Those two have an Uno-X Mobility rider with them.

Van Aert counter attacks, but Evenepoel's on his wheel.

He's got Van Aert and another Visma rider on his wheel, as they storm past the break of the day.

Evenepoel attacks!

Those riders have been joined by about another dozen riders.

Van Aert and Powless and another rider got a small gap over the top, but Evenepoel has closed it down.

MOSKESSTRAAT

Wout van Aert takes to the front on the climb. It's an acceleration rather than an attack, but he's strung the peloton out

50KM TO GO

The break is approaching the net climb, the steepest of the day - the Moskesstraat, which averages 8% for 500 metres over cobbled surface. Their lead is down to only about 20 seconds.

There is a line of four EF riders still setting the pace, having completed the climb.

HERTSTRAAT

EF lead the peloton onto the next climb, the Hertstraat. This one has the extra difficulty of being cobbled.

EF Education-EasyPost are leading the peloton, and setting a fierce pace.

S-BOCHT OVERIJSE

The ten chasers have been caught by the peloton, as they cross the finish line for the first time. 

60KM TO GO

This flurry of activity has seen he break's lead eaten into. It's dipped to beneath a minute. 

Soudal, Alpecin and Bahrain have representatives in this group of ten. They have a few seconds on the peloton.

Wout van Aert has had to make it back into the peloton after dropping back. He neither seems hurt nor stressed, so presumably just had a mechanical.

A group of ten riders have pounced clear of the peloton.

They've been brought back, and Q36.5 take over at the front of the peloton.

Vlad Van Mechelen is the Bahrain rider, and he has Soudal's Pepijn Reinderink with him.

That move was closed down, and now a Bahrain-Victorious rider has counter-attacked.

The team of all three of the race favourites have marked this move - Evenepoel's Soudal-QuickStep, Pidcock's Q36.5 and Van Aert's Visma-Lease a Bike.

This climb has seen the first attack out of the peloton for a while, led by an Intermarché - Wanty rider.

We're climbing again, up the Holstheide. This will be the first of four times they take on this 1km, 4.9% climb on this finishing circuit. 

70KM TO GO

The pace isn't exactly relaxed in the peloton, but neither is it too fast. The gap to the break remains much the same, at about 1-40.

Lots of teams fancy their chances today, with no single one taking control of the peloton. Bahrain-Victorious and Alpecin-Deceuninck are other teams at the front of what is for now a bunched up peloton.

The riders are climbing Rue François Dubois, a 900 metre effort that averages 4.2%.

80KM TO GO

We're about halfway into the race, and the gap is 1-45.

Evenepoel is currently sat towards the back of the peloton. He's hard to miss in his gold helmet, worn after his double Olympic success last summer.

EF Education-EasyPost are also contributing to the chase. They have Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Neilson Powless wearing the number 51 jersey, as well as Marijn van den Berg, who came close to winning last year before being caught in the final kilometre.

90KM TO GO

The gap's come down a bit in the past few kilometres, to under 1-30.

You can read our report on what happened in the women's race here. 

100KM TO GO

We're into the final 100km, the gap remaining at 1-45. The terrain is getting hillier, with the riders taking on a quick succession of small climbs.

Today is a precious chance this spring for some riders to compete for victory without having to worry about a certain Tadej Pogačar. He’ll be back Sunday though for Amstel Gold, and, in bad news for everyone else, also intends to ride La Flèche Wallonne and Liège Bastogne Liège.

110KM TO GO

The peloton being led by multiple teams is keeping things under control, and not giving the break any more of a gap. Still it remains at about 1-45.

Here’s Cofidis’ Aimé De Gendt taking a turn at the front of the peloton. Cofidis have both Dylan Teuns, a rider with perfect characteristics for this race and who finished second here last year; and Alex Aranburu, whose excellent performances at Itzulia Basque Country elevated him to one of the favourites today.

There are only a few kilometres left in the women's race. Find out how the finale unfolds here.

120KM TO GO

The race remains in a holding pattern, the gap staying steady at about 1-40.

Also showing their face at the front of the peloton is Q36.5. They’re riding for Tom Pidcock, the other leading favourite for the race along with Evenepoel and Van Aert. The Brit looked in great knick earlier in the season, and has spent the last few weeks away from racing as he’s prepared for the run of Hilly Classics beginning today. 

Visma-Lease a Bike are also contributing to the chase, most likely for their man Wout van Aert - although Tiesj Benoot is another option for them, in a race he has twice in the past made the podium at.

130KM TO GO

The gap between the leaders and the peloton has grown a bit, up to about 1-50.

The peloton, being led by Evenepoel’s Soudal-QuickStep teammate Thomas Pesenti. 

140KM TO GO

A reminder of the 6 riders up the road, who still have a lead of about 1-30:

Tuur Dens (Team Flanders - Baloise)

Jens Reynders (Wagner Bazin WB)

Joren Bloem (Unibet Tietema Rockets)

Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility)

Iúri Leitão (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)

Antonio Jesús Soto (Equipo Kern Pharma)

Now Brunel and Perracchione have been swallowed up by the peloton.

Grignard has gone clear of Brunel, who is now with Perracchione.

Up to nearly 1-30 for the leaders now. It seems they will be our break of the day - the question now is whether the chasers can join them.

150KM TO GO

The 6 leaders have over a minute on the peloton.

Behind them, Alessandro Perracchione is chasing. The rest of the peloton seems happy to let them all go.

Sébastien Grignard and Alexys Brunel are trying to chase up to them.

Those 6 riders are: Tuur Dens, Jens Reynders, Joren Bloem, Ådne Holter, Iúri Leitão and Antonio Jesús Soto.

A group of 6 riders have a small gap.

Evenepoel, Teuns, Van Aert and Trentin on the start line.

OFFICIAL START

And they're off!

The women’s De Brabantse Pijl is already well underway, and attacks are coming thick and fast as they enter the final 50km. You can follow all the action here.

The riders have left the unofficial start, and will be racing properly soon.

The other headliner on today’s line-up is Wout van Aert. The Belgian has still yet to register a win during what has been a frustrating spring campaign, but he showed signs of coming closer to top form in the last few weeks, with fourth place finishes at both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Evenepoel says that his injuries were so bad that he even considered quitting the sport all together, but, despite some lingering pain issues, is eager to get back racing again and believes he can be competitive - even taking aim at Tadej Pogačar in the upcoming Ardennes Classics.

One man is attracting all the attention at the start - Remco Evenepoel. Today is his much anticipated return to racing, after a bad injury layoff significantly delayed his start to the season. Whether or not he’ll have the form to be a contender in the Ardennes Classics should become clearer today.

Taking place on its new slot of Friday rather than Wednesday, De Brabantse Pijl signals the transition from the cobbled classics to the hilly classics, ahead of Amstel Gold on Sunday.

Hello and welcome to the 2025 De Brabantse Pijl.