Twenty-four hours after his heartbreak at Nokere Koerse, Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious) ended up on the winning side of a nail-biting breakaway pursuit, taking out the Gran Prix de Denain-Porte du Hainaut in dramatic fashion.
The Belgian was caught in sight of the finish line as the sprinters hit out on Wednesday, but this time he was caught just beyond it, marking a memorable win after a thrilling day of racing on the cobblestones of northern France.
Milan Menten (Lotto-Intermarché) won the futile sprint from the main bunch to take second place, with Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) taking the final spot on the podium.
Segaert’s victory was all the more remarkable given that he was in fact the chaser for much of the finale. Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), the day’s principal aggressor, looked to have made a winning move on the final cobblestone sector, riding away from Segaert after the pair had been out front as a duo for 40km.
However, Segaert never fully fell away and clung grimly to his task, riding several bike lengths behind the Norwegian, without actually making contact, for the best part of 10km.
What happened next was extraordinary. Hagenes started to slow – whether through sheer fatigue or sensing the baying peloton would surely catch them – and Segaert took a flying launch at his back wheel with 2.5km to go. The Belgian ripped right past and into the lead, turning the tables in an instant.
He stuck to his aero position, made use of his time trialling skills, and got every last ounce of energy from his legs as he made his way through the final metres of the race. The 23-year-old must have feared a repeat of his last-gasp heartbreak from the previous day, but in fact he took it all the way to the line and celebrated with disbelieving exuberance.
How it unfolded
Pre-race favourite Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) was taken out of contention by an ill-timed mechanical problem on the first of the 13 cobbled sectors that made up the 200.4km race, which takes place in the same region as Paris-Roubaix. It had been a quiet race up to that point, but the nine-man breakaway was quickly reeled in and the peloton split under the huge increase in pace, leaving De Lie over a minute in arrears by the time he’d finally found a teammate to drop back and help him.
The race never really let up to give De Lie a chance to get back…
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