A controlled day of racing, despite attempts every lap to split things in a crosswind section, saw the peloton take on a mostly flat route around the town of Koolskamp for the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen where a big bunch sprint was expected. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL kept their powder dry throughout the afternoon, looking after each other well as they aimed to set up finisher Fabio Jakobsen for the finale.
Unfortunately, a series of bad luck befell the team in the closing 30 kilometres. Firstly, Bram Welten slid out on a corner but he was able to return to the peloton after a bike change and a hard chase. Then heading into the last ten kilometres, the team had massed forward in the front 15 or so positions in the peloton but a crash right in front of them saw everyone, including Jakobsen, involved in a tangle – although luckily no one touched the deck. However, that meant the team couldn’t compete for a top result come the line, with Emils Liepins who managed to make it through the chaos, leading home the team in Koolskamp.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Callum Ferguson said: “Today was a pretty controlled race by the sprint teams. Each lap we saw some squads try and split things in the crosswinds but then it came back in the headwind. We grouped up well coming into the last lap, and held a really nice position towards the front of the peloton on the narrow roads, as we looked to set up Fabio for the sprint. Unfortunately, there was a crash right in front of us and although we didn’t go down, we were involved in the coming together and that ruined our chances of getting a good result on the day.”