Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla) bided his time, making the most of the uphill finish on the S-Bocht Overijse, and took a reduced sprint victory at De Brabantse Pijl-La Flèche Brabançonne.
The Danish rider was part of a small field that reached the base of the climb; the group caught late-race attacker Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) just before the final dash to the line.
Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was the first to surge, but as he faded, Foldager came off his wheel and stole the victory ahead of Quinten Hermans (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) in second, Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in third, and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) in fourth place.
Prades held on for fifth place on the day.
Asked if he surprised himself with the victory today, Foldager said, “Yes and no. I knew this was the perfect race for me. It is by far the biggest win, so yeah, I surprised myself. It is a punchy, hard [race], not too long and then an uphill finish was quite good.”
Of the final sprint, he added, “I was a little too far back at the bottom of the climb. Mauro Schmid did the perfect run-in closing the breakaway. I had to go long because they opened it up from the bottom of the climb. As soon as I hit the front there was nothing to do but put my head down and sprint.
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“It means a lot. It’s by far my biggest victory and proves to the team and myself that I have the level to be at the top of these races, like I hoped I could.”
How it unfolded
The elite men began what is known as the warm-up to the Ardennes Classics at De Brabantse Pijl, a 162.6km race between Beersel and Overijse.
The route was a true test of what is to come with relentless climbing over into the later stages of the race that included multiple finishing circuits with trips over the S-Bocht, Hertstraat, Moskesstraat and Holstheide before the finish on the S-Bocht Overijse.
An early breakaway emerged with Vojtěch Kmínek (Burgos Burpellet BH), Cedrik Bakke Christophersen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Fabrice Lefevre and Jonah Killy (both Tarteletto-Isorex), and Michiel Coppens and Bram Dissel (both BEAT CC p/b Saxo).
The six riders stretched their lead…
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