Christophe Laporte gave Jumbo-Visma yet another cobbled Classics victory at Dwars doors Vlaanderen, jumping away from a small group to win alone in Waregem.
Laporte got away with four kilometres and nobody could respond when he opened a gap and time trialed to the finish. The Frenchman had time to ease-up and celebrate his win, just three days after dominating Gent-Wevelgem with team leader Wout van Aert. There was no need for gifts this time and no debate about who was the strongest.
Oier Lazkano (Movistar) was arguably the rider of the day after spending all the race in the early break. The young Basque rider stayed in the attack after being caught and even had the legs to kick away and finish second as the group closed in on him at the line. It made him an immediate cult hero.
The USA’s Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was third on his 2023 Flemish debut, indicating he could be a contender at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) brought home the chase group to take fourth place after the remaining attackers were caught. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) was sixth, partially paying back his teammates for their long chase.
Jumbo-Visma have now won 20 races in 2023, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem - all the cobbled classics of the spring.
"It's incredible to get five wins from five cobbled races. It's not an easy thing to do," Laporte said after his latest victory, talking about his race.
"It was a difficult day but a great day, all the team were great. I'm very happy to win again. I was strong on the climbs and made the selections there. It was a good collaboration in the group.”
Laporte is naturally looking forward to Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. “My condition is good, I've been training well, I think I'm fresh, and we have an amazingly strong team,” he said.
How it unfolded
The final race before the Tour of Flanders was always going to be far more than a final tune-up and form tester. The ‘Big Three’ of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar were absent but the start list was packed with talented Classics riders looking for a big win.
The early break formed after a fast opening 20km of racing, with Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) a surprise member of the move, the Norwegian veteran again wearing his adapted time trial aero helmet.
Also in the move were Ward Vanhoof (Flanders-Baloise), Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Leon Heinschke (Team DSM) and Yevgeniy Gidich (Astana Qazaqstan). The peloton let them open a three-minute gap as theory became the hare to chase across the Flemish Ardennes.
The 183.5km race settled for 80 kilometres, the break working smoothly on the early cobbled sectors and Hellingen climbs. That all changed when Trek-Segafredo massed on the front with 90km to race and attempted to split the peloton. When they were controlled by the peloton, they waited and then attacked again on the Kortekeer climb.
Their aggression suddenly poked the peloton into action and other attacks came on each climb, each cobbled sector and each exposed road.
A number of crashes indicated the tension in the peloton as it split under pressure. Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost), Lawrence Naesen (AG2R Citroën) and Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates) all went down. Naesen crashed out of the race wearing 13 on his back, regretting not turning his number upside down to ward off bad luck.
Soudal-QuickStep were desperate to impress after a poor spring so far and Julian Alaphilippe took matters into his own hands with a number of jabs and attacks on the front of the peloton. In contrast, Belgian champion Tim Merlier crashed on the Berg Ten Houte climb, removing the team’s sprint option and suggesting their woes are far from over. Indeed Alaphilippe’s gear jumped just as he got a gap and his morals seemed to fade, too.
With attacks coming one after another, the peloton split, some riders were dropped, while different teams chased the attacks and kept the race together. Only 50 or so riders survived the 20km shake out, as Kristoff and Lazkano tried to keep the break away for as long as possible.
Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) made a searing attack with 66 km to go. When he was caught, he decided to go again on the Knokteberg with 55 km to go. It signalled the end of the preamble attacks and the start of the finale.
Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) joined him and so did Laporte and Benoot, Stefan Küng and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) and Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers).
Trek-Segafredo, Lotto-Dstny and Soudal-QuickStep all missed the move and so got the call over race radio to pick-up the chase.
Up front, with 35 km to race, Lazkano, Heinschke, Kristoff and Vanhoof were still 50 seconds ahead and refused to wait for the attack.
On the Ladeuze climb, Vanhoof and Heinschke were distanced but the young Spaniard and veteran Norwegian refused to surrender. They fought the wind, the climbs and jumped over potholes in the road, holding off the attackers over the Nokerberg, the last major climb with 25 km to race.
The attack group worked together to hold off the peloton and catch the break but the junction up front only came with 6.5km to go. A flyover offered a chance to attack and split the front group as some riders feared a sprint finish. The initial moves were caught, but when Laporte decided to attack rather than trust his sprint finish, the difference was obvious.
With just a few pedal strokes, the Frenchman was away and powered to ensure yet another Jumbo-Visma victory.
The big question now is if Van Aert can complete their historic spring and win the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
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