ProTeam Four Lotto riders in the top eleven in Denain: “A boost”
For the “real” Hell of the North, we’ll have to wait until April 13, but today was already a preview of the Northern French cobbled classic. In the Grand Prix de Denain, the riders faced 13 cobbled sectors—six of which are also part of the Paris-Roubaix route.
The race saw a long breakaway at 140 kilometers from the finish, but after the peloton came back together, a new group managed to break away. Among them: Alec Segaert and Brent Van Moer. They made their mark in a group of ten riders in the final. “At first, things remained fairly calm,” Van Moer explains. “But on the same sector where we broke away last year, it finally happened again. I was well positioned at the front and managed to go with the move.”
In the end, the race in Denain was decided in a sprint with that ten riders. “We already knew that we had to attack after the last cobbled sector to have a chance. Alec and I both tried, but with a strong headwind, it didn’t work. We knew that the sprint would be tough. And at the final roundabout, I got a bit boxed in. The road also went slightly downhill, and I immediately felt that I couldn’t move up anymore. It’s a shame, of course, that we weren’t really able to go for a result in the end.”
“On the other hand, I’m happy that I was able to be part of the final. After my strong finish in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, I felt good, but after Samyn, I was sick in bed for a week. Being back in the mix here is definitely a boost.”
Picture: PhotoNews
