Stuyven denies the sprinters at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Published February 28, 2016 11:23AM

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is traditionally a race for the sprinters, but Trek – Segafredo’s Jasper Stuyven had other plans Sunday. The 23-year-old Belgian launched a solo attack inside the final 20km of the race and held out to the finish, with plenty of time to start his celebration 150 meters from the line.

Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff bested Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in the bunch sprint behind.

Top 10

A 11-man breakaway rode clear early on in the race, opening up a hefty advantage that topped out at around eight minutes, but the peloton eventually got into gear and began the task of reeling the move back in.

As the pace picked up, the peloton split and reformed several times on the on the lumpy Flemish parcours, with Stuyven and Tinkoff’s Peter Sagan among the animators trying to get separation on the climbs.

With around 40km to go, the peloton caught the breakaway, but accelerations at the head of affairs split the bunch. Stuyven was among those in the lead group of 16.

Roughly 35km from the finish, Lotto – Soudal’s Stig Broeckx was knocked to the pavement by a motorbike. His injuries forced him to abandon the race.

The lead group took an advantage of around half a minute into the final 20km, but the sprint teams in the peloton kept the pressure on in pursuit. With 17km to go, Stuyven decided to take matters into his own hands, launching a solo attack.

The group he left behind, which included Tom Boonen (Etixx – Quick-Step) put in a concerted effort to bring him back, but Stuyven was too strong. The peloton swept up Boonen’s group inside the final 10km, but not even the galloping sprinters’ teams could reel Stuyven in.

With a 30-second lead at 2km-to-go, Stuyven knew he had it in the bag, and was able to savor the success as he rolled down the finishing straight.

“It was pretty hard,” Stuyven said while making note of how challenging the headwind made his solo effort.

“It was really hard coming in alone, but I tried to manage and go as aero as possible.”

For Stuyven, a stage winner at last year’s Vuelta a España, the victory marked his first one-day win as a pro.

Kristoff has now been runner-up in back-to-back editions. He tipped his cap to Stuyven after the young Trek rider surprised the peloton to take the victory.

“Stuyven was really strong. I thought he would come back, but he wanted something else,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we did not catch him. It was a hard race, maybe because the wind was strong. With the attacks in the end, we had to chase behind. It was one guy too strong for us.”

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne results

1. Jasper STUYVEN, TREK – SEGAFREDO, in 4:53:50

2. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :17

3. Nacer BOUHANNI, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :17

4. Dylan GROENEWEGEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :17

5. Lukasz WISNIOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :17

6. Niccolo BONIFAZIO, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :17

7. Peter SAGAN, TINKOFF, at :17

8. Edward THEUNS, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :17

9. Jonas VANGENECHTEN, IAM CYCLING, at :17

10. Scott THWAITES, BORA-ARGON 18, at :17

11. Arnaud DEMARE, FDJ, at :17

12. Maxime DANIEL, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :17

13. Adrien PETIT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :17

14. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :17

15. Caleb EWAN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :17

16. Nikolas MAES, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :17

17. Daniel OSS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :17

18. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :17

19. Tom VAN ASBROECK, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :17

20. Jens DEBUSSCHERE, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :17

21. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :17

22. Gerry DRUYTS, CRV, at :17

23. Andrew FENN, TEAM SKY, at :17

24. Stijn VANDENBERGH, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :21

25. Eugert ZHUPA, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at :21

26. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :21

27. Laurent EVRARD, TEAM 3M, at :21

28. Pierre-Luc PERICHON, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT, at :21

29. Gediminas BAGDONAS, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :21

30. Simone ANTONINI, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :21

31. Florian SENECHAL, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :21

32. Yoann OFFREDO, FDJ, at :21

33. Roy CURVERS, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :21

34. Pieter JACOBS, CRV, at :21

35. Kevin VAN MELSEN, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT, at :21

36. Matteo BUSATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at :21

37. Xandro MEURISSE, CRV, at :21

38. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :21

39. Jurgen ROELANDTS, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :21

40. Grégory RAST, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :21

41. Piotr HAVIK, TEAM 3M, at :21

42. Ralf MATZKA, BORA-ARGON 18, at :21

43. Zico WAEYTENS, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :21

44. Koen DE KORT, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :21

45. Ryan ANDERSON, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :21

46. Boy VAN POPPEL, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :21

47. Yanto BARKER, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :21

48. Sébastien TURGOT, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :21

49. Michal GOLAS, TEAM SKY, at :30

50. Salvatore PUCCIO, TEAM SKY, at :30

51. Jaap DE MAN, TEAM 3M, at :30

52. Gianni MOSCON, TEAM SKY, at :30

53. Martin VELITS, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :30

54. Bert DE BACKER, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :30

55. Maarten WYNANTS, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :30

56. Niki TERPSTRA, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :33

57. Michael SCHÄR, BMC RACING TEAM, at :33

58. Antoine DUCHESNE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :35

59. Tom STAMSNIJDER, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN, at :35

60. Hugo HOULE, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :35

61. Jens KEUKELEIRE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :37

62. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :37

63. Floris DE TIER, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :39

64. Alexandre PICHOT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :39

65. Romain CARDIS, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :39

66. Michel KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :42

67. Leigh HOWARD, IAM CYCLING, at :42

68. Cyril LEMOINE, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :42

69. Tom BOONEN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :44

70. Manuel QUINZIATO, BMC RACING TEAM, at :47

71. Pim LIGTHART, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :47

72. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at :47

73. Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :47

74. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING TEAM, at :47

75. Mirko TROSINO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at :47

76. Dries DEVENYNS, IAM CYCLING, at :47

77. Oliver NAESEN, IAM CYCLING, at :47

78. Maarten TJALLINGII, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :47

79. Thomas LEEZER, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :47

80. Heinrich HAUSSLER, IAM CYCLING, at :58

81. Gert DOCKX, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:00

82. Julien VERMOTE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 1:08

83. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:40

84. Luke ROWE, TEAM SKY, at 1:58

85. Twan CASTELIJNS, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at 1:58

86. Damien GAUDIN, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:58

87. Marco HALLER, TEAM KATUSHA, at 2:54

88. Jelle WALLAYS, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 3:15

89. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 3:55

90. Mitchell DOCKER, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 3:55

91. Frederik FRISON, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 3:55

92. Sergey LAGUTIN, TEAM KATUSHA, at 3:55

93. Aleksei TCATEVICH, TEAM KATUSHA, at 3:55

94. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 6:47

95. Sam BEWLEY, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 7:30

96. Magnus Cort NIELSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 7:30

97. Alexander EDMONSON, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 7:30

DNF Daniele BENNATI, TINKOFF

DNF Manuele BOARO, TINKOFF

DNF Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF

DNF Adam BLYTHE, TINKOFF

DNF Nikolay TRUSOV, TINKOFF

DNF Jay MCCARTHY, TINKOFF

DNF Oscar GATTO, TINKOFF

DNF Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY

DNF Alex PETERS, TEAM SKY

DNF Greg HENDERSON, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Stig BROECKX, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Vladimir ISAYCHEV, TEAM KATUSHA

DNF Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA

DNF Sven erik BYSTRØM, TEAM KATUSHA

DNF Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, ETIXX – QUICK STEP

DNF Sondre HOLST ENGER, IAM CYCLING

DNF Roger KLUGE, IAM CYCLING

DNF Matteo PELUCCHI, IAM CYCLING

DNF Mickael DELAGE, FDJ

DNF Marc SARREAU, FDJ

DNF Matthieu LADAGNOUS, FDJ

DNF Daniel HOELGAARD, FDJ

DNF Johan LE BON, FDJ

DNF Ignatas KONOVALOVAS, FDJ

DNF Christopher JUUL JENSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE

DNF Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM

DNF Nico DENZ, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Alexis GOUGEARD, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Jesse SERGENT, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Bram TANKINK, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO

DNF Robert WAGNER, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO

DNF Giacomo NIZZOLO, TREK – SEGAFREDO

DNF Marco COLEDAN, TREK – SEGAFREDO

DNF Søren Kragh ANDERSEN, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN

DNF Nikias ARNDT, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN

DNF Albert TIMMER, TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN

DNF Filippo POZZATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA

DNF Manuel BELLETTI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA

DNF Andrea FEDI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA

DNF Mirko TEDESCHI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA

DNF Enrique SANZ, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA

DNF Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Sam BENNETT, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Zakkari DEMPSTER, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Michael SCHWARZMANN, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Rudiger SELIG, BORA-ARGON 18

DNF Roy JANS, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Kenny DE HAES, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Tom DEVRIENDT, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Mark MCNALLY, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Robin STENUIT, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Frederik VEUCHELEN, WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT

DNF Yauheni HUTAROVICH, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Franck BONNAMOUR, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Daniel MCLAY, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Boris VALLEE, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Steven TRONET, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Benoit JARRIER, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Vegard BREEN, FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT

DNF Preben VAN HECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE

DNF Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE

DNF Maxime FARAZIJN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE

DNF Kenneth VAN BILSEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS

DNF Borut BOZIC, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS

DNF Jerome COUSIN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS

DNF Gert JOEAAR, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS

DNF Jonas AHLSTRAND, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS

DNF Yohann GENE, DIRECT ENERGIE

DNF Tony HUREL, DIRECT ENERGIE

DNF Julien MORICE, DIRECT ENERGIE

DNF Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Nicolas MARINI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Riccardo STACCHIOTTI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Antonio VIOLA, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI

DNF Jesper ASSELMAN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON

DNF Wesley KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON

DNF André LOOIJ, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON

DNF Brian VAN GOETHEM, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON

DNF Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Sebastian LANDER, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Martin MORTENSEN, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Chris OPIE, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Samuel WILLIAMS, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF Steele VON HOFF, ONE PRO CYCLING

DNF David BOUCHER, CRV

DNF Yannick EIJSSEN, CRV

DNF Rob RUIJGH, CRV

DNF Frederique ROBERT, CRV

DNF Alexander GEUENS, CRV

DNF Edwig CAMMAERTS, TEAM 3M

DNF Michael VINGERLING, TEAM 3M

DNF Yoeri HAVIK, TEAM 3M

DNF Christophe SLEURS, TEAM 3M

DNF Jimmy JANSSENS, TEAM 3M

DNS Christian KNEES, TEAM SKY

DNS Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM

DNS Kenneth VAN ROOY, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE

DNS Tim DECLERCQ, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE