Debusschere wins GP de Wallonie

Jens Debusschere (Lotto-Soudal) soloed to victory in Namur during a rain-soaked Grand Prix de Wallonie. Debusschere attacked just outside the one kilometre to go banner, dropping his breakaway companions to win by a handful of seconds. A very disappointed Jan Bakelants (AG2R-La Mondiale) won the sprint behind for second with Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) taking third.

It was a wet and wild day for the peloton as the rain hammered down. The deluge meant some slippery roads and there were numerous crashes early on. One of the victims was Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), who is on the comeback trail since crashing out of the Tour de France. Fortunately for the Frenchman, he was able to continue this time.

The heavy rain and crashes made it difficult for a break to form and it wasn’t until after 40 kilometres ridden that five men managed to make it away. The fantastic five were Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Dieter Bouvry (Roubaix Lille Métropole), Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty – Groupe Gobert), Christophe Premont (Verandas Willems Cycling Team), Thomas Wertz (Wallonie – Bruxelles). The peloton were wise to them and their advantage maxed out at just under two minutes.

With 50 kilometres still to run they had a miserly 10 seconds over the chasing pack. That briefly stretched out when Van Melsen was caught but their day was done just two kilometres later. Almost the instant the remaining escapes were brought back the attacks started flying off the front. BMC’s Michael Schär was one of the key instigators and took several riders with him on one particular move.

Most of the attacks were given little more than a 10-second advantage but the high pace strung the group out and began shedding exhausted riders off the back. With 15 kilometres to go there were around 20 riders remaining in the so-called peloton. The attacks continued to fly and eventually the elastic snapped with nine riders breaking free. Etixx-QuickStep were one of the few to miss out as most of the remaining teams managed to put a man up front.

Laporte, Rudy Molard (Cofidis), Thibaut Pinot and Arthur Vichot (both FDJ), Bakelants, Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Soudal), Debusschere, Franck Bonnamour (Bretagne-Séché Environment) and Gäetan Bille (Verandas Willems) were the riders at the head of affairs.

With multiple riders in the move, Lotto-Soudal and FDJ set about animating the remainder of the race and set a couple of speculative attacks off the front. The attacks looked like they had some riders on the ropes but they remained together as they approached the final cobbled climb into Namur.

Cofidis set the pace on the small rise they had no response when Debusschere went just outside the final kilometre. Debusschere threw a couple of looks over his shoulder to see where the chasers where but they took too long to organise and he had plenty of time to celebrate. Bakelants, who had been very active in the final 25 kilometres, thumped his handlebars as he crossed the line for second with Laporte coming over in third.

Full Results