In Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (1.Pro, 27/02), the second race of the Belgian opening weekend, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux was represented in the early breakaway with Taco van der Hoorn.
The Dutch rider won three races from the early breakaway in 2021 and was accompanied by six other riders before the Tiegemberg. They rapidly gained an advantage of 2 minutes which stabilized during the succession of climbs in the heart of the Flemish Ardennes.
Taco van der Hoorn was caught by the first group of the peloton on the Côte de Trieu with 60 kilometer to go and then managed to follow this new leading group of around twenty riders. The Dutchman reacted to accelerations on the Kluisberg and the cobbles of the Beerbosstraat and continued to assure the team’s presence in the front of the race.
He spared no effort and accompanied another change of rhythm in the breakaway with 16 kilometer to go. As a part of a new leading trio, van der Hoorn kept pushing with an advantage of 10 seconds over the peloton with Alexander Kristoff, Boy van Poppel and Adrien Petit.
At the end of great suspense, van der Hoorn resisted until de final 50 meter, overtaken by the sprinting peloton. He crossed the line in tenth place after four and a half hours of effort, just ahead of his teammate Alexander Kristoff.
In November we sat around the table with the sports direction, planning an attack in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, because we believed it was possible to survive the hill zone with an early breakaway. The peloton put pressure on us all day, so we had to accelerate in the breakaway if we wanted to stay ahead until the final climb. In the end we were caught by a group of strong riders a little earlier than I was hoping for, but I managed to follow them well on the last difficulties of the day. That I was still able to react to the attack of Narvaez and Laporte after such a long day in the front was an incredible performance. The victory was within reach and that was what I was aiming for. It was such a bummer when the peloton caught us with 50 meter to go, this was a very good opportunity to win a classic. I want to recover well for the GP Le Samyn now, the next Red Cross in my agenda.
