2017 De Brabantse Pijl (HC), Belgium
La Flèche Brabançonne
57th edition: Wednesday, April 12, 2017
De Brabantse Pijl podium history | 2016 edition | 2018 edition | Race map | Photos | Start list
Leuven - Overijse, 197 km
Sonny Colbrelli takes an important victory. Sirotti photo
The race: Here's the story from Lotto-Soudal.
Quite soon after the official start, five riders got away from the bunch and took a maximal lead of seven minutes. When the peloton had covered one hundred kilometres, the gap was reduced to three minutes. Who was working at the head of the bunch? Thomas De Gendt of course. The hardest part of the Brabantse Pijl were the three local laps of 23.5 kilometres with five hills on the course. When entering the first lap, the escapees only had one minute advantage left. During the ascent of the IJskelderlaan about ten riders attacked from the peloton, Tiesj Benoot was one of them. They closed the gap of about ten seconds on the four riders that were left in front. From then on the gap constantly changed. First Direct Energie was chasing, afterwards it was Cannondale-Drapac who did the work after their rider had been dropped in front. At the end, Cofidis was chasing.
These seven riders entered the last kilometres together with Tiesj Benoot: Campenaerts, Colbrelli, De Plus, Devenyns, Dillier, Lindeman and Juul Jensen. On the IJskelderlaan two riders jumped away from the pack: Tim Wellens and last year’s winner Petr Vakoc. They joined the leaders. The group of ten sprinted for the victory on the Schavei. The Italian rider Sonny Colbrelli was the fastest. Petr Vakoc got second ahead of Tiesj Benoot, who conquered a beautiful podium place. Tim Wellens was fourth.
Tiesj Benoot: “Before the start, Sean De Bie and Tim Wellens were the leaders in our team. Sean had specifically peaked to this race and Tim is made for these kind of races. It was my first participation ever in the Brabantse Pijl and I wanted to race aggressively, as I had told the sports director before the start. At the Ronde van Vlaanderen I was racing too calculated and that turned out badly for me. That’s why I wanted to approach it differently today. In the Flemish spring races early attacks and aggressive racing were successful and that was the case today as well.”
“With just over two laps to go, I followed Victor Campenaerts when he attacked. Several riders joined us and together we rode towards the front group. On each hill the peloton came closer, but between the hills we rode away again. The cooperation in the break was far from perfect. Bahrain – Merida, LottoNL – Jumbo and Quick-Step Floors all had two riders at the front. I had to make sure they didn’t surprise me. In the peloton several teams tried to take control, but the attempts were unsuccessful. In the last lap it was important to take the right position when riding onto the Schavei. Of course I hoped to win, but it’s not easy to beat Colbrelli in a sprint. With these opponents I can be happy with the third place. This performance gives me confidence for the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday. The Cauberg is no longer the final ascent in the race, so we have to see what that gives. I am sure though that it will be a beautiful race.”
Complete Results:
197 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.132 km/hr
| 1 | Sonny COLBRELLI | Bahrain-Merida | 4hr 44min 22sec |
| 2 | Petr VAKOC | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 3 | Tiesj BENOOT | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 4 | Tim WELLENS | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 5 | Bert-Jan LINDEMAN | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 6 | Christopher JUUL JENSEN | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 7 | Dries DEVENYNS | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 8 | Silvan DILLIER | BMC | s.t. |
| 9 | Victor CAMPENAERTS | Lotto NL-Jumbo | @ 6sec |
| 10 | Laurens DE PLUS | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 11 | Michael MATTHEWS | Sunweb | @ 12sec |
| 12 | Paul MARTENS | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 13 | Bryan COQUARD | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 14 | Enrico GASPAROTTO | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 15 | Philippe GILBERT | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 16 | Alberto BETTIOL | Cannondale Drapac | @ 16sec |
| 17 | Maxime VANTOMME | WB Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 18 | Juan Jose LOBATO | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 19 | Jérôme BAUGNIES | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 20 | Jelle VANENDERT | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 21 | Lasse Norman HANSEN | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 22 | Franck BONNAMOUR | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 23 | Xandro MEURISSE | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 24 | Antwan TOLHOEK | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 25 | Tosh VAN DER SANDE | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 26 | Nick VAN DER LIJKE | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 27 | Jack HAIG | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 28 | Dion SMITH | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 29 | Kristian SBARAGLI | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 30 | Huub DUYN | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 31 | Jeroen MEIJERS | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 32 | Pim LIGTHART | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 33 | Dylan TEUNS | BMC | s.t. |
| 34 | Oscar RIESEBEEK | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 35 | Jan TRATNIK | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 36 | Martijn BUDDING | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 37 | Thomas SPRENGERS | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 38 | Ben HERMANS | BMC | s.t. |
| 39 | Yoann BAGOT | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 40 | Eduardo SEPULVEDA | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 41 | Sean DE BIE | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 42 | Luka PIBERNIK | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 43 | BERNARDO ALBEIRO SUAZA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 44 | Eliot LIETAER | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | @ 24sec |
| 45 | Floris GERFS | BMC | @ 27sec |
| 46 | Stéphane ROSSETTO | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 47 | Luis Angel MATE MARDONES | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 48 | Artem NYCH | Gazprom-Rusvelo | s.t. |
| 49 | Daryl IMPEY | Orica-Scott | 31 |
| 50 | Aleksei TCATEVICH | Gazprom-Rusvelo | 41 |
| 51 | Enrico BATTAGLIN | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 52 | Simon GERRANS | Orica-Scott | 41 |
| 53 | Sébastien DELFOSSE | WB Veranclassic | 46 |
| 54 | Igor BOEV | Gazprom-Rusvelo | s.t. |
| 55 | Maxime BOUET | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 56 | Tomasz MARCZYNSKI | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 57 | Gregory HABEAUX | WB Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 58 | Anthony PEREZ | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 59 | Benjamin DECLERCQ | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 60 | Mark CHRISTIAN | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 61 | Jens KEUKELEIRE | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 62 | Michel KREDER | Aqua Blue Sport | s.t. |
| 63 | Simon CLARKE | Cannondale Drapac | +1:04 |
| 64 | Simone PONZI | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | +1:07 |
| 65 | Jerome COUSIN | Cofidis | +1:35 |
| 66 | Loïc VLIEGEN | BMC | +1:46 |
| 67 | Nathan HAAS | Dimension Data | +1:52 |
| 68 | Brendan CANTY | Cannondale Drapac | +2:18 |
| 69 | Maciej PATERSKI | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | +2:29 |
| 70 | Jonas KOCH | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 71 | Gaetan BILLE | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +2:56 |
| 72 | Grega BOLE | Bahrain-Merida | +2:59 |
| 73 | Alex HOWES | Cannondale Drapac | +3:23 |
| 74 | Tom VAN ASBROECK | Cannondale Drapac | +4:45 |
| 75 | Charles PLANET | Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
| 76 | Jakub KACZMAREK | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 77 | Stijn DEVOLDER | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 78 | Kilian FRANKINY | BMC | s.t. |
| 79 | Tim ARIESEN | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 80 | Dimitri PEYSKENS | WB Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 81 | Enrico BARBIN | Bardiani-CSF | +5:19 |
| 82 | Jonathan HIVERT | Direct Energie | +6:51 |
| 83 | Benjamin PERRY | Israel Cycling Academy | +7:08 |
| 84 | Giulio CICCONE | Bardiani-CSF | s.t. |
| 85 | José Manuel DÍAZ | Israel Cycling Academy | s.t. |
| 86 | Ivan GARCIA CORTINA | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 87 | Dries VAN GESTEL | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 88 | Kenneth VAN ROOY | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 89 | Thomas DE GENDT | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 90 | Kevin DELTOMBE | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 91 | Rémi Cavagna | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 92 | David LOZANO RIBA | Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
| 93 | Johannes FRÖHLINGER | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 94 | Michal PALUTA | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 95 | Frederik VEUCHELEN | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 96 | Adrian KUREK | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 97 | Lennard KÄMNA | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 98 | Meiyin WANG | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
| 99 | Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 100 | Antoine WARNIER | WB Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 101 | Daniel TEKLEHAIMANOT | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 102 | FrantišEk SISR | CCC Sprandi Polkowice | s.t. |
| 103 | Koen BOUWMAN | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 104 | Lennard HOFSTEDE | Sunweb | s.t. |
| 105 | Sergey NIKOLAEV | Gazprom-Rusvelo | s.t. |
| 106 | Florian VACHON | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 107 | Elie GESBERT | Fortuneo-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 108 | Fernando ORJUELA | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 109 | JUAN PABLO VILLEGAS | Manzana Postobon | s.t. |
| 110 | Jacques JANSE VAN RENSBURG | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 111 | Remy MERTZ | Lotto Soudal | s.t. |
| 112 | Rob POWER | Orica-Scott | s.t. |
| 113 | Steven LAMMERTINK | Lotto NL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 114 | Javier MEGIAS LEAL | Novo Nordisk | s.t. |
| 115 | Jaco VENTER | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 116 | Jhojan Orlando GARCIA SOSA | Manzana Postobon | +7:51 |
| 117 | Christophe MASSON | WB Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 118 | Piet ALLEGAERT | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 119 | Guillaume BOIVIN | Israel Cycling Academy | +8:11 |
| 120 | Tom BOHLI | BMC | s.t. |
| 121 | Enric MAS NICOLAU | Quick-Step | s.t. |
| 122 | Ryan GIBBONS | Dimension Data | s.t. |
| 123 | Roman MAIKIN | Gazprom-Rusvelo | s.t. |
| 124 | Evgeny SHALUNOV | Gazprom-Rusvelo | s.t. |
| 125 | Toms SKUJINS | Cannondale Drapac | +8:15 |
| 126 | THOMAS BOUDAT | Direct Energie | +9:45 |
| 127 | Otto VERGAERDE | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +12:29 |
Race photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:
The Gazprom-Rusvelo team waits for the start
Thomas de Gendt
Philippe Gilbert
Adam Blythe
Daniel Teklehaimanot
Philippe Gilbert was 15th today
Winner Sonny Colbrelli
The podium, from left: Tiesj Benoot (3rd), Sonny Colbrelli & Petr Vakoc (2nd)
Start list with back numbers, April 11, 2017:
| QUICK-STEP FLOORS | |
| 1 | VAKOC Petr |
| 2 | GILBERT Philippe |
| 3 | CAVAGNA Rémi |
| 4 | DE PLUS Laurens |
| 5 | DECLERCQ Tim |
| 6 | DEVENYNS Dries |
| 7 | MAS NICOLAU Enric |
| 8 | VELITS Martin |
| BAHRAIN-MERIDA | |
| 11 | GASPAROTTO Enrico |
| 12 | BOLE Grega |
| 13 | COLBRELLI Sonny |
| 14 | GARCIA CORTINA Ivan |
| 15 | PER David |
| 16 | PIBERNIK Luka |
| 17 | WANG Mei Yin |
| BMC RACING TEAM | |
| 21 | HERMANS Ben |
| 22 | BOHLI Tom |
| 23 | DILLIER Silvan |
| 24 | FRANKINY Kilian |
| 25 | GERTS Floris |
| 26 | SENNI Manuel |
| 27 | TEUNS Dylan |
| 28 | VLIEGEN Loïc |
| CANNONDALE-DRAPAC | |
| 31 | HOWES Alex |
| 32 | BETTIOL Alberto |
| 33 | CANTY Brendan |
| 34 | CLARKE Simon |
| 35 | CLARKE William |
| 36 | SKUJINS Toms |
| 37 | VAN ASBROECK Tom |
| LOTTO-SOUDAL | |
| 41 | WELLENS Tim |
| 42 | BENOOT Tiesj |
| 43 | DE BIE Sean |
| 44 | DE GENDT Thomas |
| 45 | MARCZYNSKI Tomasz |
| 46 | MERTZ Rémy |
| 47 | VAN DER SANDE Tosh |
| 48 | VANENDERT Jelle |
| ORICA-SCOTT | |
| 51 | GERRANS Simon |
| 52 | HAIG Jack |
| 53 | HEPBURN Michael |
| 54 | IMPEY Daryl |
| 55 | JUUL JENSEN Christopher |
| 56 | KEUKELEIRE Jens |
| 57 | POWER Robert |
| 58 | TUFT Svein |
| DIMENSION DATA | |
| 61 | SBARAGLI Kristian |
| 62 | GIBBONS Ryan |
| 63 | HAAS Nathan |
| 64 | JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques |
| 65 | O'CONNOR Ben Alexander |
| 66 | REGUIGUI Youcef |
| 67 | TEKLEHAYMANOT Daniel |
| 68 | VENTER Jacobus |
| LOTTO NL-JUMBO | |
| 71 | MARTENS Paul |
| 72 | BATTAGLIN Enrico |
| 73 | BOUWMAN Koen |
| 74 | CAMPENAERTS Victor |
| 75 | LAMMERTINK Steven |
| 76 | LINDEMAN Bertjan |
| 77 | LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose |
| 78 | TOLHOEK Antwan |
| TEAM SUNWEB | |
| 81 | MATTHEWS Michael |
| 82 | CURVERS Roy |
| 83 | FROHLINGER Johannes |
| 84 | GESCHKE Simon |
| 85 | HAMILTON Chris |
| 86 | HOFSTEDE Lennard |
| 87 | KÄMNA Lennard |
| 88 | TIMMER Albert |
| AQUA BLUE SPORT | |
| 91 | BLYTHE Adam |
| 92 | BRAMMEIER Matthew |
| 93 | WATSON Calvin |
| 94 | FENN Andrew |
| 95 | HANSEN Lasse Norman |
| 96 | IRVINE Martyn |
| 97 | KREDER Michel |
| 98 | NORDHAUG Lars Petter |
| BARDIANI-CSF | |
| 101 | ALBANESE Vincenzo |
| 102 | BARBIN Enrico |
| 103 | BOEM Nicola |
| 104 | CICCONE Giulio |
| 105 | MAESTRI Mirco |
| 106 | MARONESE Marco |
| 107 | ROTA Lorenzo |
| 108 | SIMION Paolo |
| CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE | |
| 111 | PATERSKI Maciej |
| 112 | KACZMAREK Jakub |
| 113 | KOCH Jonas |
| 114 | KUREK Adrian |
| 115 | PALUTA Michal |
| 116 | PONZI Simone |
| 117 | SISR Frantisek |
| 118 | TRATNIK Jan |
| COFIDIS | |
| 121 | CLAEYS Dimitri |
| 122 | BAGOT Yohan |
| 123 | COUSIN Jerome |
| 124 | MATE MARDONES Luis Angel |
| 125 | PEREZ Anthony |
| 126 | ROSSETTO Stéphane |
| 127 | VAN STAEYEN Michael |
| DIRECT ENERGIE | |
| 131 | COQUARD Bryan |
| 132 | BOUDAT Thomas |
| 133 | DUCHESNE Antoine |
| 134 | GRELLIER Fabien |
| 135 | GUILLEMOIS Romain |
| 136 | HIVERT Jonathan |
| 137 | SICARD Romain |
| 138 | TULIK Angelo |
| FORTUNEO-VITAL CONCEPT | |
| 141 | JEANNESSON Arnold |
| 142 | BONNAMOUR Franck |
| 143 | BOUET Maxime |
| 144 | DELAPLACE Anthony |
| 145 | FEILLU Brice |
| 146 | GESBERT Elie |
| 147 | HARDY Romain |
| 148 | VACHON Florian |
| GAZPROM-RUSVELO | |
| 151 | TSATEVITCH Alexey |
| 152 | BOEV Igor |
| 153 | MAIKIN Roman |
| 154 | NIKOLAEV Sergey |
| 155 | NYCH Artem |
| 156 | SHALUNOV Evgeny |
| 157 | SOLOMENNIKOV Andrey |
| 158 | TRUSOV Nikolai |
| ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY | |
| 161 | DEMPSTER Zakkari |
| 162 | BOIVIN Guillaume |
| 163 | DÍAZ GALLEGO José Manuel |
| 164 | GOLDSTEIN Roy |
| 165 | PERRY Benjamin |
| 166 | RÄIM Mihkel |
| 167 | SCHREURS Hamish |
| 168 | WILLIAMS Tyler |
| MANZANA POSTOBON | |
| 171 | AMADOR Juan Jose |
| 172 | BOL Jetse |
| 173 | GARCIA Jhojan |
| 174 | HIGUITA GARCIA Sergio Andres |
| 175 | MOLANO Juan Sebastián |
| 176 | PAREDES Wilmar Andrés |
| 177 | SIERRA SANCHEZ Yecid Arturo |
| 178 | VILLEGAS CARDONA Juan Pablo |
| ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ | |
| 181 | LIGTHART Pim |
| 182 | ARIESEN Tim |
| 183 | BUDDING Martijn |
| 184 | MEIJERS Jeroen |
| 185 | RIESEBEEK Oscar |
| 186 | TUSVELD Martijn |
| 187 | VAN DER LIJKE Nick |
| 188 | VAN EMPEL Etienne |
| SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE | |
| 191 | SPRENGERS Thomas |
| 192 | ALLEGAERT Piet |
| 193 | DE GENDT Aimé |
| 194 | DECLERCQ Benjamin |
| 195 | DELTOMBE Kevin |
| 196 | LIETAER Eliot |
| 197 | VAN GESTEL Dries |
| 198 | VAN ROOY Kenneth |
| NOVO NORDISK | |
| 201 | VERSCHOOR Martijn |
| 202 | CALABRIA Fabio |
| 203 | CLANCY Stephen |
| 204 | KAMSTRA Brian |
| 205 | LOZANO RIBA David |
| 206 | MEJIAS LEAL Javier |
| 207 | PLANET Charles |
| 208 | VAN IJZENDOORN Rik |
| VERANDA'S WILLEMS-CRELAN | |
| 211 | DEVOLDER Stijn |
| 212 | BILLE Gaetan |
| 213 | CORDEEL Sander |
| 214 | DE BONDT Dries |
| 215 | DUYN Huub |
| 216 | DUPONT Timothy |
| 217 | VAN ZUMMEREN Stef |
| 218 | VERGAERDE Otto |
| WANTY–GROUPE GOBERT | |
| 221 | BAUGNIES Jérôme |
| 222 | MCNALLY Mark |
| 223 | MEURISSE Xandro |
| 224 | KREDER Wesley |
| 225 | SMITH Dion |
| 226 | VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume |
| 227 | VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter |
| 228 | VEUCHELEN Frederik |
| WB-VERANCLASSIC AQUALITY PROTECT | |
| 231 | JULES Justin |
| 232 | DELFOSSE Sébastien |
| 233 | HABEAUX Gregory |
| 234 | ISTA Kevin |
| 235 | MASSON Christophe |
| 236 | PARDINI Olivier |
| 237 | PEYSKENS Dimitri |
| 238 | VANTOMME Maxime |