Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert showed attractive racing at home in the 80th edition of the Eurometropole Tour (1.Pro, 29/09) between La Louvière and Tournai. First, Andrea Pasqualon joined a breakaway of seven riders, but a puncture at the entry of the Mont-Saint-Laurent brutally put an end to his adventure in the lead of the race.
The battle started once the riders arrived on the local circuit in Tournai. A group of 29 riders managed to distance the peloton on the second passage of the Col de la Croix Jubaru (1.5km at 5%). The riders of Hilaire Van der Schueren and Steven De Neef were vigilant and put Aimé De Gendt and Danny Van Poppel in the front. The peloton behind continued to put pressure and made the junction with the front group in the final kilometers.
So the victory was decided in a sprint and Danny Van Poppel took 4th place on the line thanks to fantastic work of Aimé De Gendt and Baptiste Planckaert. This top 5 behind winner Fabio Jakobsen confirms once more the great shape of the Dutch sprinter who finished nine times in the top 5 since the Tour de France.
« Thanks to the support of the team, I could save a lot of energy in the beginning of the race. And this was necessary for the hard final. I was one of the only riders in the first group able to follow all attacks on the Col de la Croix Jubaru and this really motivated me to achieve another podium spot in the sprint. Surprisingly, the peloton came back in the last kilometers of the race, but thanks to the help of Aimé and Baptiste I could start my sprint in a perfect position. Aimé kept the pace high to avoid laste attacks and Baptiste brought me to the slipstream of Pedersen in the final hectometers. Unfortunately Jakobsen and Meeus were a little faster. It would have been nice for the team to finish on the podium here at home. But with Binche-Chimay-Binche I’ve got another opportunity to show the team colors in front of our sponsors! »
