Ben Hermans wins De Brabantse Pijl

Belgian Ben Hermans of BMC soloed to victory in the Flander Classic De Brabantse Pijl Wednesday, narrowly avoiding getting swamped before the line by an animated chase.

De Brabantse Pijl, also called La Flèche Brabançonne or the Brabant Arrow, is the final Flanders Classic before the Ardennes Classics. It contains 26 climbs, some of which are cobbled, but it’s not a “hard man” cobbled race, more one for sprinters or attackers. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/BMC) came in as champion and favourite, while riders like Thomas Voeckler and Oscar Freire have popped the champagne in the last decade.

It took a long time for the day’s breakaway to form following several failures. Finally, at the 80-km mark, Thomas De Gendt (Belgium/Lotto-Soudal), Anthony Delaplace (France/Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Alex Kirsch (Luxembourg/Cult Energy) scampered away but weren’t given a long leash.

The race ended with four circuits of approximately 23-km, with five climbs in every loop except for the last. The finish line was at the top of the fourth haul up the Schavei climb in Overijse–700-metres of 5.2% slope. The gap was 2:16 after the first lap with Orica-GreenEdge prominent at the front of the peloton.

Kirsch fell off on the first climb of lap two and the remaining duo was under a minute ahead at the start of lap three. The escape surrendered with 39-km to go and BMC took over the pace-making. Five kilometres later a new quintet of fugitives tore free. Svein Tuft was front and centre for Orica-GreenEdge to keep the new break under control. The break immediately began to fragment, with Tim De Troyer (Belgium/Wanty) and Bartłomiej Matysiak (Poland/CCC) disagreeing to the extent that they engaged in some shoving.

The survivors, Hermans and David Tanner (Australia/IAM), found themselves going into the bell-lap 28-seconds ahead of the peloton and 22-seconds ahead of a four-man chase. In the final lap chase after chase formed and re-formed as Hermans and Tanner carried on at the front. With 7-km remaining, the duo had a 25-second gap. The peloton assumed a more organized chase but the lead was even larger with 5-km to go.

The gap shrank on the penultimate climb, the IJskelderlaan, prompting Gilbert to bridge over with another rider, but Gilbert’s teammate Hermans had bolted by then. The final 2-km were excruciating for Hermans as he kept churning towards and then up the Schavei, but the Belgian had time to celebrate as the bolstered chase closed in. Michael Matthews (Australia/Orica-GreenEdge) was runner-up for the second year in a row. Gilbert made it two BMC riders on the podium.

Svein Tuft and Christian Meier worked hard for Orica-GreenEdge, but neither finished. Meier is slated to contest Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race.

2015 De Brabantse Pijl
1) Ben Hermans (Belgium/BMC)
2) Michael Matthews (Australia/Orica-GreenEdge)
3) Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/BMC)