Seventh win of the season for Simon Defrance.
Saturday was a great day for our junior riders, who are in action at the Aubel-Thimister-Stavelot. After finishing a close runner-up in the morning team time trial, our squad made its mark on the race in the second half-stage of the day.
Starting and finishing in Thimister, the 99.2km parcours was perfect for those hoping to force a selection and split the peloton, and that’s just what the Soudal Quick-Step U19 boys did. The many climbs of the stage made it difficult for one team to control the numerous attacks that came, and our riders were among those constantly on the attack, whittling down the peloton with each lap.
Going under the flamme rouge, we had two riders in the leading group, whose advantage was of around half a minute, making it clear that the winner would come from that move. Vic De Smet provided an excellent lead-out to Simon Defrance, and the 18-year-old once again showed his impressive speed on his way to victory just ahead of his Belgian teammate, who still had plenty left to finish runner-up.