On Labor Day, the sprinters celebrated one last party to end the spring. With Alexander Kristoff, Sam Bennett and Jasper Philipsen – last year’s winner – an elite group of sprinters started.
For Alpecin-Fenix and Bora-Hansgrohe the daily task was clear: put the leader in a seat. The fact that a group of 5 riders, including Jens Reynders, chose the open water at the start, could not hurt the teams.
Reynders (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) together with Pierre Rolland (B&B) provided the entertainment along the way. The Frenchman showed himself the strongest on the 8 climbs, our compatriot showed the greatest appetite for attack and stayed out of the grip of the peloton the longest.
The last climb of the Mammolshain was too much for the Belgian. The sprinter teams took full control of the race. What followed were forty nervous, but lightning-fast kilometers in search of the perfect positioning.
Danny van Poppel got hold of that perfect positioning. He rolled out the red carpet for Sam Bennett. His teammate at Bora finished it off nicely. The first win was clearly pleasing to the Irishman, who has had a bad season until today.
–
