Fourth victory of the season for Jordi Meeus! The Belgian won on home soil and added Binche-Chimay-Binche (1.1) to his portfolio. The autumn classic was decided in a sprint finish by a large group.
On the uphill, cobbled home straight in Binche, Wallonia, Jordi was faster than Nils Eekhoff and Christophe Laporte, who lined up behind the 27-year-old in the sprint after 203 kilometres. Jasper Philipsen, the top favourite for the win, had missed the decisive moment.
When the peloton split around 65 kilometres from the finish on the narrow roads of the five-and-a-half-lap final circuit, Philipsen was not among them – unlike five riders from Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe around Jordi and Danny van Poppel, who were always alert and riding far ahead in the peloton.
DS Christian Pömer: “Our plan was actually to go into the final with a small group. But when that didn’t really work out, we changed things around a bit. 65, 70 kilometres before the finish, the pace really picked up. And when we had Danny and Jordi in the group, we were one step ahead of the other sprinter teams because they had to work. The final itself went almost as planned. In the end, it was a really strong team performance that made the difference.”
Jordi Meeus: “I’m happy with how it went. There was a gap in the field and I knew I was one of the fastest at the front. I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity. The pace was very high all day, but the team did everything they could to keep me in position. I lost my lead-out man on the cobbles, but I still fought my way through. Now I can go into the winter feeling good, which was important.”
Alongside Jordi and Danny, Nico Denz, Mick van Dijke, Emil Herzog, Filip Maciejuk and rookie Romet Pajur were at the start for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe.
