In his last road race of the year before starting the cyclocross season, Corné van Kessel was determined to show himself. So the Dutch rider joined the early breakaway in the second of thirteen laps of the Flemish Championship (1.1, 17/09) this Friday. Nevertheless, the breakaway didn’t manage to gain a big advantage as the sprinter’s teams were controlling behind. The race scenario of this final race of the Belgian Cup didn’t contain surprises and was concluded in an expected bunch sprint. Thanks to excellent positioning work of Quinten Hermans and Loïc Vliegen towards the final kilometer, Baptiste Planckaert sprinted to 6th place and his third consecutive top 10 in Koolskamp. Jasper Philipsen was the fastest.
« I wanted to finish my road season on a high today in Koolskamp after the training camp with Tormans - Circus Cyclo Cross Team in Livigno. The benefits of the altitude will only be visible in the coming weeks, but I already felt the positive effects of the qualitative training today. By joining the early breakaway, my teammates didn’t have to take any responsibility in the peloton and for myself it was a good day in the saddle thanks to the excellent cooperation in the front. So we can say that I finished the road season off in style. Because of the pandemic I raced less than what we initially planned, but in between the competition I trained well and prepared the upcoming cyclocross season as good as possible! »
