Strong start for Jack Wilson against big guns at Tour l'Eurométropole (Circuit Franco-Belge)

Jack Wilson (centre, in green) had a strong start today among a quality field in the four-day Tour de l'Eurométropole (Photo: Jozef Cooreman)

Jack Wilson of the An Post-Chainreaction team has had an encouraging start to the Tour de l'Eurométropole, the UCI 2.1 ranked race in Belgium formerly known as the Franco-Belge.

The Irish U23 National Champion finished in the main bunch today after almost  4½ hours in the saddle; a good result for the teenager considering the field boasts some of the top teams in the world. The only other Irish man in the race and Wilson's team mate, Sean Downey was unfortunately forced out of today's opening stage.

The race continues tomorrow, with stage 2 of four a 172.5km run starting and finishing in Poperinge.

Oct 3rd to 6th: Tour de l'Eurométropole (UCI 2.1)

Stage 1: La Louvière  -  Moorslede  (194.8km)

1	DEBUSSCHERE Jens	Lotto Belisol Team	4:22:05
2	MAES Nikolas	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
3	VANBILSEN Kenneth	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
4	FARRAR Tyler	Garmin - Sharp	,,
5	DE BACKER Bert	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
6	CURVERS Roy	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
7	SINKELDAM Ramon	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
8	BROWN Graeme	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
9	DELAGE Mickaël	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
10	VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
11	VACHON Florian	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
12	DEMARE Arnaud	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
13	NAPOLITANO Danilo	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
14	SELIG Rüdiger	Katusha Team	,,
15	ABERASTURI Jon	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
16	DEGENKOLB John	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
17	RICKAERT Jonas	National Selection Belgium	,,
18	LAMPAERT Yves	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
19	VANMARCKE Sep	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
20	DRUCKER Jean-Pierre	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
21	HUREL Tony	Team Europcar	,,
22	DOCKER Mitchell	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
23	SISKEVICIUS Evaldas	Sojasun	,,
24	VAN HUMMEL Kenny	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
25	HAUSSLER Heinrich	IAM Cycling	,,
26	PLANCKAERT Baptiste	Crelan-Euphony	,,
27	BOL Jetse	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
28	SBARAGLI Kristian	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
29	MOL Wouter	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
30	ROELANDTS Jurgen	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
31	PORSEV Alexander	Katusha Team	,,
32	PETIT Adrien	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
33	KREDER Raymond	Garmin - Sharp	,,
34	VEREECKEN Nicolas	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
35	EVRARD Laurent	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
36	REGUIGUI Youcef	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
37	STASSEN Julien	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
38	WYNANTS Maarten	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
39	TAMOURIDIS Ioannis	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
40	KRUOPIS Aidis	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
41	VAN HOECKE Gijs	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
42	KUMP Marko	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
43	VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
44	VAN DIJK Stefan	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
45	BOECKMANS Kris	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
46	VERWAEST Kevin	Crelan-Euphony	,,
47	HINAULT Sébastien	IAM Cycling	,,
48	JUODVALKIS Egidijus	Crelan-Euphony	,,
49	VERRAES Benjamin	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
50	LANDER Sebastian	BMC Racing Team	,,
51	DION Renaud	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
52	JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
53	LODEWYCK Klaas	BMC Racing Team	,,
54	CHEVALIER Olivier	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
55	DERNIES Tom	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
56	DELPECH Jean-luc	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
57	MALACARNE Gael	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
58	JACOBS Pieter	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
59	DELFOSSE Florent	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
60	ZINGLE Romain	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
61	SAEZ DE ARREGI Adrian	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
62	TJALLINGII Maarten	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
63	AAEN JORGENSEN Jonas	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
64	MIYAZAWA Takashi	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
65	WILSON Jack	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
66	DRON Boris	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
67	BAK Lars Ytting	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
68	ISAYCHEV Vladimir	Katusha Team	,,
69	SIEBERG Marcel	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
70	WERTZ Thomas	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
71	POLAZZI Fabio	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
72	GHYSELINCK Jan	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
73	BILBAO LOPEZ DE ARMIENTA Pello	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
74	DELAPLACE Anthony	Sojasun	,,
75	VALLEE Boris	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
76	LEMOINE Cyril	Sojasun	,,
77	VON HOFF Steele	Garmin - Sharp	,,
78	FERNANDEZ DE LARREA Koldo	Garmin - Sharp	,,
79	ROLLIN Dominique	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
80	HABEAUX Gregory	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
81	DEGAND Thomas	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
82	CHRISTENSEN Mads	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
83	MøRKøV Michael	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
84	BERTHOLET Quentin	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
85	BOS Theo	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
86	ISTA Kevyn	IAM Cycling	,,
87	SULZBERGER Wesley	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
88	WAEYTENS Zico	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
89	VEUCHELEN Frederik	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
90	RABON Frantisek	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
91	WARNIER Antoine	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
92	GODDAERT Kristof	IAM Cycling	,,
93	PREMONT Christophe	Crelan-Euphony	,,
94	CAMMAERTS Edwig	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
95	VANGENECHTEN Jonas	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
96	TURGOT Sébastien	Team Europcar	,,
97	POULHIES Stéphane	Cofidis Solutions Crédit	,,
98	PELUCCHI Matteo	IAM Cycling	Related News Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT ,,
99	KATAEV Alexey	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
100	ARNDT Nikias	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
101	VERMOTE Alphonse	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
102	VALENTIN Tristan	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
103	VELITS Martin	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
104	LABBE Arnaud	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
105	LIGTHART Pim	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
106	KORETZKY Clément	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
107	LINDEMAN Bert-Jan	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
108	LELEU Antoine	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
109	CORBEL Erwann	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
110	VERGAERDE Otto	National Selection Belgium	,,
111	STEELS Stijn	Crelan-Euphony	,,
112	DE VREESE Laurens	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
113	BROECKX Stig	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
114	OFFREDO Yoann	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
115	PAIANI Jean-lou	Sojasun	,,
116	VAN DER SANDE Tosh	Lotto Belisol Team	,,
117	NUYENS Nick	Garmin - Sharp	,,
118	VAN GOOLEN Jurgen	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
119	LEQUATRE Geoffroy	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	,,
120	SCHAR Michael	BMC Racing Team	,,
121	SCHEIRLINCKX Staf	Accent.jobs – Wanty	,,
122	MINGUEZ Miguel	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
123	JUUL-JENSEN Christopher	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
124	VERONA QUINTANILLA Carlos	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
125	VANSUMMEREN Johan	Garmin - Sharp	,,
126	DANIEL Maxime	Sojasun	,,
127	MAASKANT Martijn	Garmin - Sharp	,,
128	JõEääR Gert	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	,,
129	REIMER Martin	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
130	HALLER Marco	Katusha Team	,,
131	VAN VOOREN Steven	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
132	MOURIS Jens	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
133	WALLAYS Jelle	Topsport Vlaanderen –   Baloise	,,
134	ENGOULVENT Jimmy	Sojasun	,,
135	PESTIAUX Loïc	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
136	MESTRE Ricardo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
137	WARBASSE Lawrence	BMC Racing Team	,,
138	HOOGERLAND Johnny	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
139	SLIK Ivar	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	,,
140	VANDEWALLE Kristof	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
141	DEWEER Jochen	National Selection Belgium	,,
142	KERF Jerome	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
143	BANDIERA Marco	IAM Cycling	,,
144	GEROMBOUX Arnaud	Color Code - Biowanze	,,
145	RASMUSSEN Alex	Garmin - Sharp	,,
146	KUZNETSOV Viacheslav	Katusha Team	,,
147	BELKOV Maxim	Katusha Team	,,
148	RADOCHLA Steffen	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
149	KOHLER Martin	BMC Racing Team	,,
150	AMORISON Frédéric	Crelan-Euphony	,,
151	WESTRA Lieuwe	Vacansoleil - DCM	,,
152	BARBE Koen	Crelan-Euphony	,,
153	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs	IAM Cycling	,,
154	VANDENBAK Laurent	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
155	SCHMIDT Fabien	Sojasun	,,
156	DE PAUW Moreno	National Selection Belgium	,,
157	GENE Yohann	Team Europcar	,,
158	DE WITTE Jonathan	Wallonie - Bruxelles	,,
159	DILLIER Silvan	BMC Racing Team	,,
160	BEWLEY Sam	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
161	VRECER Robert	Euskaltel - Euskadi	,,
162	GUERIN Alexis	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
163	MORICE Julien	Team Europcar	,,
164	HEPBURN Michael	Orica GreenEDGE	,,
165	TERPSTRA Niki	Omega Pharma - Quick-Step	,,
166	STAMSNIJDER Tom	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
167	STAUFF Andreas	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
168	DE GENDT Aime	National Selection Belgium	,,
169	EIJSSEN Yannick	BMC Racing Team	,,
170	FRANSSEN Wout	An Post - Chainreaction	,,
171	CLARKE William	Team Argos - Shimano	,,
172	LE BON Johan	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
173	LUND Anders	Team Saxo-Tinkoff	,,
174	CHAVANEL Sébastien	Team Europcar	,,
175	COCQUYT Nicky	National Selection Belgium	,,
176	CORNET Joris	National Selection Belgium	,,
177	FLENS Rick	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	0:39
178	CIOLEK Gerald	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
179	HOWARD Leigh	Orica GreenEDGE	1:10
180	WESEMANN Martin	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
181	VAN ZYL Johann	Team MTN Qhubeka	,,
182	COUSIN Jérôme	Team Europcar	1:27
183	LADAGNOUS Matthieu	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	,,
184	VANDERAERDEN Niels	National Selection Belgium	2:00
185	MANGEL Laurent	Equipe Cycliste FDJ.fr	2:25
186	LE MONTAGNER Benjamin	Bretagne- Séché   Environnement	2:35
187	CORDEEL Sander	Lotto Belisol Team	2:36
188	KLEMME Dominic	IAM Cycling	8:10
DNF	KERN Christophe	Team Europcar	-
DNF	DOWNEY Sean Patrick	An Post - Chainreaction	-
DNF	MARTIAS Rony	Sojasun	-
DNF	GAUDIN Damien	Team Europcar	-
DNS	VANTOMME Maxime	Crelan-Euphony	-
DNS	EECKHOUT Niko	An Post - Chainreaction	-