Edouard Claisse was vigilant last Sunday during the second stage of the Philippe Gilbert Juniors. “I was told that everything would be played out in the Redoubt. In the end, we were going all out on every bump and no more than ten guys at the different peaks. On the hill before La Vecquée, it went hard. On the descent, it took off and I wasn’t there. A teammate pulled me for two kilometers and brought me back to five seconds, then I made the jump on my own. I’m not always in the best position, but I’m attentive and I manage to come back at the right time.”confided to the microphone of DirectVelo the member of Crabbé-Dstny.
The 17-year-old Belgian therefore joined Jan Michal Jackowiak and Kasper Borremans (Cannibal B Victorious), as well as Patryk Goszczurny (Poland) and Hector Alvarez Martinez (Mixte Air Collège-BConcept/Lucta-Granja Rinya), while the yellow jersey Jasper Schoofs (Acrog-Tormans) was behind. “We went all the way up the Vecquée. It was the right one, we managed to make the hole, we all worked together well“. In La Redoute, he accelerated. “I attacked 400 meters from the summit. We went out as a threesome.”. Then he had to let Spaniard Hector Alvarez slip away on the descent, who was never seen again. “It’s hard to beat someone like him who was 2nd in the European Championship.”
“YOU NEED TO KEEP FUN”
Finally, Edouard Claisse finished on the stage podium as well as overall (see rankings). “I also have the white jersey, it’s good. My end of the season was good with an 11th place at the World Cup and a 2nd position at a Belgian Cup (see its DirectVelo file)“. The 3rd in a stage of the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour (read here) draws a positive conclusion from his first year in the Junior category. “I am proud of my start and end of the season. I just had a complicated month of June, July and August with illnesses and it took me a while to recover. I give myself a rating of 9/10“.
From now on, he will be able to unwind during the offseason. “You have to keep it fun, otherwise it’s not fun and it doesn’t go as well afterwards. I’m going to party and gain a little weight, we’ll see then.”. Before returning to serious things for his second year with the U19s. “I will be doing an internship with Intermarché-Wanty at the end of January-beginning of February, then with my team in March.”concludes the future resident, in 2026, of the Wanty-ReUz-Technord reserve.
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