Ireland's Sean Downey on the attack in the early stages of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with former world champion Philippe Gilbert on his wheel (Photo: Lydia Van de Meerssche)
Sam Bennett and Sean Downey both enjoyed good rides at the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Belgian semi classic yesterday.
Both went into the race with different objectives, with Bennett hoping for a top placing after a good early season in which he won a stage at the Tour of Qatar.
Downey seemed to progress significantly with An Post-Chainreaction last year and yesterday was about testing his early road form after spending recent months riding with the Irish national track team in the team pursuit line-up.
In the end, Bennett was forced to settle for 19th place, though that finish does not tell the story of his race.
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When the big guns forced the pace up the Oude Kwaremont, an initial breakaway pulled clear under the pressure of Etixx-QuickStep and LottoNL-Jumbo.
Bennett riding in the breakaway; his presence in the quality move that pulled clear on a cobbled climb bodes very well for the season ahead (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
Another small group soon joined up with them as the early move already up the road was caught to create a quality escape of 19 riders, among them Bora-Argon 18’s Bennett.
In that move with him were Etixx-QuickStep’s former race winner’s Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish – who had three other team mates there – along with the likes of Team Sky’s Elia Viviani and Ian Stannard.
Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was also present as was Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing), Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) and others.
But while it looked like the race would be decided between the men up the road, Etixx-QuickStep had five of the 19 riders in the breakaway meaning others present were reluctant to ride.
The fact 50km remained to the finish by the time the breakaway crested the final climb of the Nokereberg also left plenty of time for the race to change.
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Sean Downey, in green on the right, riding in the main field on a day when he looked very strong despite his recent track commitments (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
And with very few exceptions, the breakaway men never really committed to their task.
The group's gap never went much over one minute and as soon as the chase became organised back in the main peloton, the gap came tumbling down under the pressure applied by MTN, Cofidis and AG2R.
The gap was closed down and though there were some attacks from the main field, including a late strong looking move by Gilbert, the race came down to a bunch sprint won by Cavendish from Kristoff and Viviani.
Bennett was 19th and Downey and very strong 30th considering it was his first road outing and that the peloton numbered just 70 riders at the finish.
Downey had also been active early in the race, going on the attack in an effort to make the early breakaway. And while he was unable to get clear, his efforts suggest he is in good form.
The other Irishmen in the race - Matt Brammeier (MTN), Conor McConvey (Team 3M) and Conor Dunne (An Post-Chainreaction) - were listed as non-finishers.
Sun, Feb 1st: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
4 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
5 Daniele Colli (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
6 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
7 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN - Qhubeka
9 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Team Roompot
10 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling
11 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
12 Antoine Demoite (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles
13 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka
14 Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
15 Kevin Ista (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles
16 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling
17 Nicolas Vereecken (Bel) Team3M
18 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
20 Roy Jans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert
21 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini
22 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar
23 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Soudal
24 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
25 Oliver Naesen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
26 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise
27 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
29 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step
30 Sean Downey (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction
DNF Matt Brammeier (Irl) MTN - Qhubeka
DNF Conor Dunne (Irl) An Post - Chain Reaction
DNF Connor McConvey (Irl) Team 3M
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