Louvel, rider of Arkéa-Samsic, took off alone in the final phase on the Moskesstraat. Behind him, his compatriot Arnaud Démare sprinted to second place. The Belgian Dries Van Gestel finished third.
For Louvel it was his second victory as a cycling professional. Last year he won the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, a one-day race in Spain.
Flat tire kills Van der Poel
Van der Poel made his comeback in the Druivenkoers. The Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck had dropped out of the Tour de France due to a lack of form and since then only rode a few criteriums. Van der Poel finished, partly due to a flat tire in the full final, as 35th at 50 seconds from the winner.
Reaction Van der Poel
“It wasn’t bad, I mostly had a flat tire at the worst possible moment,” he said MvdP after the race in Overijse opposite The newspapaer. “It took a while for the car to get there and it took me a lot of strength to get back. That was a shame, because at that time we were driving away with a nice group. At the end we tried to make it come to a sprint for Jasper (Philipsen, ed.)But for me, the best part came in the end. Without that flat tire it would have looked different today”
“The feeling was certainly not bad, I could also suffer again,” continues Van der Poel. “I was happy with that. It was actually as I expected. Certainly not bad, but not great either. I know from myself that I always need a few races to get back into the rhythm if I haven’t been up to speed.”
Going home with Roodhooft
And after the race… Van der Poel opts for another 65 kilometer ride home. “I’ve done that in the past. That is certainly one of the reasons why I choose such races close to home. That is an easy way to get those training hours in.” He does not have to travel alone: sports director Christoph Roodhooft is cycling along for the fun.
Ganna keeps Mollema from victory in Tour of Germany prologue
Bauke Mollema just failed to win the prologue of the Tour of Germany. The Dutchman was in the lead for a long time in the short time trial over 2.6 kilometers with start and finish in Weimar. But the Italian Filippo Ganna, the world time trial champion, fell just short of his time. The rider of Ineos Grenadiers came to a time of 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Mollema was two seconds behind.
The German Nils Politt was 3 seconds behind Ganna, just ahead of the Dutchman Mick van Dijke.
His compatriot Olav Kooij had the fastest time halfway through, but crashed immediately after that measurement.