2020 Brussels Cycling Classic (1.Pro)
Formerly Paris-Brussels/Paris-Bruxelles
100th edition: Sunday, August 30, 2020
Brussels Cycling Classic podium history | 2019 edition | 2021 edition
Brussels - Brussels, 204 km
Belgian champion Tim Merlier wins on a rainy day in Belgium
Weather at the start/finish city of Brussels at 2:00 PM, local time: 18C (65F), raining, with the wind from the northwest at 13 km/hr (8 mph).
The race: Here's the report from second-place Davide Ballerini's Deceuninck-Quick Step team.
Atrocious weather, pouring rain and sketchy roads – not the conditions the riders would have wanted for the 100th Brussels Cycling Classic (202.6 kilometers), but despite all this, Davide Ballerini put in another solid performance and finished runner-up, racking up Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 65th podium of the season.
Twenty-four hours after soloing to victory at Druivenkoers Overijse, Florian Sénéchal did a magnificent job for the team, masterfully controlling the peloton in the closing kilometers and delivering his teammate in a perfect position. Winner of the last Tour de Pologne stage earlier this month and second at an exciting edition of the Italian Championships, Ballerini came off the wheel of Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) with 150 meters remaining of this tense finale, but ran out of road and ended up second, behind Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix).
Just as he was crossing the line, Bouhanni slipped on the wet road and crashed into Davide, who despite trying to remain on his bike, fell into the barriers. Fortunately, he remounted immediately and was able to go to the podium for the ceremony.
“The team was really great, all the guys pulled for me and made sure of bringing back the breakaway. The final was a bit dangerous with the rain and those roads, and I was maybe a bit too far when the sprint started and paid for that. I am disappointed because I had the legs and wanted to win. On the other hand, I’m happy that there’s nothing serious after that crash. That corner shouldn’t have been there, but fortunately I am ok and can continue my preparation for the next races”, Ballerini said after Sunday’s race.
Complete results:
132 starters, 20 abandons, 112 classified finishers.
204 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.404 km/hr
1 | MERLIER Tim | Alpecin-Fenix | 4hr 48min 39sec |
2 | BALLERINI Davide | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
3 | BOUHANNI Nacer | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
4 | VERMEERSCH Florian | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
5 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
6 | ACKERMANN Pascal | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
7 | NAESEN Lawrence | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
8 | SEIGLE Romain | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
9 | CAPIOT Amaury | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
10 | PLANCKAERT Edward | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
11 | VAN POPPEL Danny | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
12 | LIENHARD Fabian | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
13 | MCLAY Daniel | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
14 | DE KLEIJN Arvid | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
15 | VERMOTE Julien | Cofidis | s.t. |
16 | HONORE Mikkel | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
17 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
18 | MORIN Emmanuel | Cofidis | s.t. |
19 | CARDIS Romain | Team Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
20 | VAN DER LIJKE Nick | Riwal Securitas | @ 4sec |
21 | VAN GESTEL Dries | Team Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
22 | TAMINIAUX Lionel | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
23 | ALLEGAERT Piet | Cofidis | s.t. |
24 | PENHOET Paul | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
25 | NOPPE Christophe | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
26 | GRONDIN Donavan | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
27 | COOLEN Yves | Beat Cycling Club | s.t. |
28 | VAN ROOY Kenneth | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
29 | PENALVER Manuel | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
30 | WALLAYS Jelle | Lotto-Soudal | 0:08 |
31 | BUGTER Luuc | Beat Cycling Club | s.t. |
32 | THIJSSEN Gerben | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
33 | KANTER Max | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
34 | OLDANI Stefano | Lotto-Soudal | 0:10 |
35 | MERTZ Remy | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
36 | BJERG Mikkel | UAE-Team Emirates | 0:14 |
37 | CANAL Carlos | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
38 | HAVIK Piotr | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
39 | LUDVIGSSON Tobias | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
40 | VAN DER KOOIJ Bas | Beat Cycling Club | s.t. |
41 | STORK Florian | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
42 | DUPONT Timothy | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
43 | VAN STAEYEN Michael | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
44 | RICHARDSON Alexander | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
45 | DUVAL Julien | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
46 | GOOSSENS Kobe | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
47 | BOL Jetse | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
48 | VAN SCHIP Jan-Willem | Beat Cycling Club | s.t. |
49 | MAES Nikolas | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
50 | EL FARES Julien | Nippo-Delko Provence | s.t. |
51 | BUDDING Martijn | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
52 | GAVIRIA Fernando | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
53 | WIRTGEN Tom | Bingoal-WB | 0:24 |
54 | RICKAERT Jonas | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:25 |
55 | VAN POPPEL Boy | Circus-Wanty Gobert | 0:30 |
56 | SENECHAL Florian | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 0:33 |
57 | RAUGEL Antoine | Ag2r La Mondiale | 0:40 |
58 | BONNAMOUR Franck | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
59 | VAN WILDER Ilan | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
60 | JERMAN Ziga | Groupama-FDJ | 0:45 |
61 | RIESEBEEK Oscar | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
62 | ERIKSSON Lucas | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
63 | SAGAN Juraj | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
64 | KREDER Wesley | Circus-Wanty Gobert | 0:56 |
65 | VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter | Circus-Wanty Gobert | 0:57 |
66 | DE GENDT Aime | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
67 | LEMOINE Cyril | Cofidis | 1:02 |
68 | RICHEZE Maximiliano | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
69 | MÄRKL Niklas | Team Sunweb | 1:09 |
70 | HAAS Nathan | Cofidis | 1:12 |
71 | BEULLENS Cedric | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 1:15 |
72 | VANBILSEN Kenneth | Cofidis | s.t. |
73 | FUENTES Angel | Burgos-BH | 1:28 |
74 | MENGOULAS Alex | Beat Cycling Club | s.t. |
75 | WOUTERS Enzo | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
76 | DE POORTER Maxime | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
77 | WARLOP Jordi | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
78 | PETELIN Jan | Vini Zabu-KTM | s.t. |
79 | LIGTHART Pim | Team Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
80 | MAGNUSSON Kim | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
81 | SCHILLINGER Andreas | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
82 | GENIETS Kevin | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
83 | PETIT Adrien | Team Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
84 | JAUREGUI Quentin | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
85 | VANSEVENANT Mauri | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 1:34 |
86 | OLIVEIRA Ivo | UAE-Team Emirates | 1:42 |
87 | IACCHI Alessandro | Vini Zabu-KTM | 1:55 |
88 | THWAITES Scott | Alpecin-Fenix | 1:57 |
89 | MENTEN Milan | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 2:02 |
90 | VERGAERDE Otto | Alpecin-Fenix | 2:13 |
91 | STEIMLE Jannik | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 2:40 |
92 | KRON Andreas | Riwal Securitas | s.t. |
93 | SELIG Rüdiger | Bora-hansgrohe | 3:16 |
94 | SCHWARZMANN Michael | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
95 | VLIEGEN Loic | Circus-Wanty Gobert | 3:27 |
96 | DE BIE Sean | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
97 | SERRY Pieter | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 3:30 |
98 | SÜTTERLIN Jasha | Team Sunweb | 4:07 |
99 | OLIVEIRA Rui | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
100 | JOSEPH Thomas | Tarteletto-Isorex | 4:41 |
101 | ROBEET Ludovic | Bingoal-WB | 4:45 |
102 | WIRTGEN Luc | Bingoal-WB | 5:36 |
103 | VAN DEN BRANDE Julien | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
104 | WILLEMS Thimo | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 6:19 |
105 | BEVILACQUA Mattia | Vini Zabu-KTM | s.t. |
106 | VANTOMME Maxime | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
107 | ARENSMAN Thymen | Team Sunweb | 6:21 |
108 | DE BONDT Dries | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
109 | DE BOCK Stijn | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
110 | RIOU Alan | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
111 | CLAEYS Dimitri | Cofidis | s.t. |
112 | SMIT Willie | Burgos-BH | 9:30 |