Deceuninck carry on collecting classics
Belgian classics are, to paraphrase Gary Lineker, simple events. 180 men, riding their bikes from A to B and at the end, a Deceuninck rider always wins. The Belgian team, 73 wins to the good in 2018, picked up where they left off as the 2019 season started and by the time Ždenek Štybar won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, they were well into double figures. Before the reaction pieces to Het Nieuwsblad had even been written, the total was clicking up again: Jungels at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on the Sunday, Florian Sénéchal at Le Samyn on the Tuesday. In the 21 days between February 13 and March 5, they won 10 times (and would probably have won more, given the chance – three days had no races).
Štybar’s Omloop win was a masterpiece of patience and timing. And a little luck. Deceuninck had predictably flooded the front of the race with riders, and they always had representation in the key moves. Then, when a crash for Tiesj Benoot split a fledgling front group into two, with six riders (later five) including Štybar off the front, it became a matter of temporary alliances, shifting tactics and desperate defence in the face of strong attacks.
Though Deceuninck had defended strongly whenever any of their riders, including Štybar, had been off the front, the Czech rider was still on his own against four others. When Deceuninck pack the front group, it’s easy for them. This time, Štybar was on his own and he had formidable opposition. He knew he could win, but it was a case first of making sure Van Avermaet would lose. The Belgian, twice a winner of this event, was the fastest finisher there.
Štybar knew he could win, but it was a case "irst of making sure Van Avermaet would lose. The Belgian, twice a winner of this event, was the fastest "inisher there
The composition of the final five was:
tybar, Van Avermaet, Lutsenko, Dylan Teuns and Tim Wellens. And the final kilometres told each of them everything they needed to know. The climbs of the Muur and Bosberg are as pure a test of staying power as exist in cycling – the former is a long climb, especially if you include the long drag through Geraardsbergen; the latter is a one-minute effort, made more complicated by the fact that there is no descent. Therefore, if any had been significantly stronger, they would have dropped the others. Van Avermaet led over the Muur, but none of the other four were dropped, though this was where they shed temporary passenger Daniel Oss.
(At this point, it should be pointed out, what was left of the peloton was only a handful of seconds behind – Niki Terpstra, Oliver Naesen, Michael Matthews, Dylan Van Baarle all prominent and riding well, but surrounded by a posse of Deceuninck riders – Yves Lampaert, Jungels and Philippe Gilbert. If Terpstra and Naesen want to win a big classic this year, their strength is not in doubt, but they do need to address the strength in depth Deceuninck so clearly have mastery of.)
Van Avermaet tried again on the Bosberg and he almost broke the group, but it was not enough. There were still 12km to go; if anyone had had the strength to look up at the top of the Bosberg, they’d have seen a fan’s flag blowing in the same direction as the race: tailwind.
From here, it was down to Van Avermaet’s race management. As the fastest sprinter, he only had to finish with the others to heavily stack the odds in his favour. So in retrospect, it was a mistake for him to make a half-hearted attack on the flat with 7.4km to go. He was chased down immediately, by Wellens, but even if they’d waited and then chased, it would have been in their interests to co-operate to bring Van Avermaet back. Given that the climbs had shown the riders were more or less equal in strength, Van Avermaet had just disadvantaged himself unnecessarily.
The crucial phase of action took place with 3km to go. Wellens attacked hard, and was chased down, laboriously, by Van Avermaet. As soon as the junction was made, tybar attacked, and Van Avermaet couldn’t follow. He tried, but was unable, and in that handful of seconds, tybar built a 50-metre lead. Lutsenko tried to chase (and if Van Avermaet had been able to catch
tybar, would surely have been the next to attack), but Wellens and Teuns still had no reason to work. Van Avermaet was trapped.
Four will always beat one in a straight race, but conversely, a committed lone escapee will often beat a group that is not cohesive. Van Avermaet’s advantage, that he was the fastest rider in the group, had been used as a weapon against him.