For one of the last races in Belgium, Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke has put together a top-class line-up. This is his last edition as General Manager. For this race open to sprinters, the European Champion Tim Merlier is there as well as the Belgian Champion, Arnaud De Lie. Jasper Philipsen is also present as well as the wearer of the Green Jersey from the last Tour de France: Biniam Girmay. Among the outsiders are Anthony Turgis, winner on the Tour, Emilien Jeannière, winner of the Belgian Cup and 4th in the Super 8 Classic… as well as Lucas Mozzato, the last winner and second in the Tour of Flanders. But it was the Belgian Champion who won ahead of Girmay in Binche.
“There it is, it’s over…” sang Jean-Louis Aubert. I leave proud of the work accomplished and reassured for the future because the Frank Vandenbroucke Memorial is in (very) good hands.” It is with these words that the General Manager of the event Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke concluded his last edition at 69 years old. For this purpose, he brought together the best sprinters in the world with his team in Binche. Everyone is waiting for an explanation between Merlier, De Lie, Philipsen and Girmay.
For the 4th edition of the women’s race, it was the new phenomenon of women’s cycling, the British Cat Ferguson (Movistar) who won ahead of Christina Schweinberger (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility). She has just won both the time trial and the road race at the Zurich Worlds. And with a trainee contract, she can ride elite. After a good second place at Fourmies, she won this 2024 edition.
Among the men, the sprinters’ fight took place with a victory for Arnaud De Lie, while Philipsen started the sprint from a long way away. However, he is overwhelmed by the Belgian Champion and Tour de France Green Jersey, Biniam Girmay. De Lie looked back on his victory: « I didn’t know what the legs were going to be like. The goal was to preserve myself as much as possible, especially since at the start of the race, I didn’t feel well. But it was unlocked 3 hours later. I remained calm in the face of the attacks and handled the finale well. » He thus won his 7th victory of the season.
Photos : Pierre Willemetz
THE GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF BINCHE-CHIMAY-BINCHE
Sources : procyclingstats.com
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