The riders of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert took the start of the Grand Prix de Wallonie (1.Pro, 15/09) in the rain in Aywaille (Liège) this Wednesday. The peloton stayed at a reasonable distance behind a breakaway of four riders before tackling the second race half with a renewed final all together.
There were multiple attempts in the final 80 kilometer with the Côte de Warnant, followed by a double ascension of Tienne aux Pierres and the Citadel of Namur. The riders of Hilaire Van der Schueren were attentive at the forefront of the peloton and joined the movements in the peloton. But in the end, the race was concluded by a group sprint on the Citadel of Namur, won by Christophe Laporte. Aimé De Gendt, author of solid performances on home soil during the past two weeks, was again among the best and finished 16th.
« As the new parcours offered less chances for breakaways than the previous editions, we concentrated our efforts on a sprint with Biniam Girmay. We were strong collectively and always present in the front. Thanks to Baptiste Planckaert and Dries De Pooter, we could start the final in a good position. I reacted to the attacks on the penultimate climb and during the approach towards the citadel, so Biniam could focus on the sprint. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough left in the tank to battle with the best on the citadel so we didn’t manage to conclude this nice performance by the result we hoped for. »
