'Road to De Ronde'

Sebastián Mora, Lluís Mas on the attack into last 70km in Belgium; no echelons as Bennett (DQT) takes expected bunch sprint win.

Sam Bennett (DQT) took the win at the 2021 men’s Brugge-De Panne classic, held on Wednesday over 204km with three-and-a-half laps of a flat circuit around the coastal Belgian city, passing through the famous, wind-exposed De Moeren area – which offered no echelons this year.

While Gonzalo Serrano and Johan Jacobs rode attentively at the front as the peloton briefly split, two other Movistar Team riders tried to go solo as the bunch took some breath: Sebastián Mora and Lluís Mas. While the track specialist -who stepped onto the podium as Most Aggressive rider of the day- spent about 25km ahead of the big group, the Balearic escaped with Martinelli (APT) into the final lap, after which the bunch did not allow any more splits forming.

The Telefónica-backed squad, with Iván García Cortina back at the helm, will take part on Friday 26th at its second Flemish race of the week, the E3 Harelbeke, full of cobbles and hills as the big rehearsal for ‘De Ronde’.