Luca Mozzato surprises Dylan Groenewegen in chaotic Bredene Koksijde Classic

Luca Mozzato won the Bredene Koksijde Classic. The Italian from Arkéa-B&B Hotels surprisingly beat Dylan Groenewegen in a fast race involving around fifty riders.

Initially tense in Bredene, due to strong winds blowing on the Belgian coast. Riders have to complete a total of 201 kilometers between Bryden and Koksijd, and with wind strength of five, many teams are dreading the sight of fans. And that's exactly what we got!

Belgian Mauro Veruelt (Tartelito-Isorix) and Dutchman Jasper Hest (Volkroesels) were the first attackers of the day, who tried to anticipate a possible fan's path. And they were right, because less than half an hour after they left, the first teams shook the tree in a strip where there was free play in the crosswind. The peloton crashed a few times, but no one was willing to keep going forever.

Jens Reynders (Bingoal WB), Matteo Milan (Lidl-Trek), Abram Stockman (TDT-Unibet) and Max Croonen – Haest's VolkerWessels teammate – then took advantage of a moment of calm to move up to the two leaders. The six were allowed to separate for about two minutes, but the tension never went away in the large group.

The hill area gives birth to a mouse
Especially because there was a mountainous area waiting in the middle of the road reminiscent of Ghent-Wevelgem. There were two climbs of Mount Kemmelberg (on different sides) and the Baneberg River. It is striking that the first time at Kemmelberg, it was the forces of Intermarché-Wanty that tried to make the path difficult. There were four of them around their speedster Gerben Thijssen, who also stepped up well. Although Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) probably made the biggest impression, as did Dries Van Gestel (TotalEnergies).

At the top, it was time to measure the damage, and it turned out that about thirty riders had survived the battle. However, it was once again difficult to tune the violins evenly between the different blocks, which meant that a large group – with Dylan Groenewegen (Jaiko-Ula) for example – was allowed to return. But then Kemmelberg number two (on the steeper side) was coming. De Lie unleashed his demons once again, but De Waal took off so fast that he couldn't take anyone with him. In the windy area just after Kemmelberg, the match was back on track.

Remarkably, Baptiste Blancart (Intermarche-Wanté) and Joshua Giddings (Lotto Destiny) crashed 75 kilometers from the finish before the peloton broke into separate pieces again. Suddenly, only about thirty riders remained at the front, with Dries van Gestel, Niels Bullet (UAE) and the forces of Lidl-Trek, Lotto Dstny and Intermarché-Wanty in particular pushing the limits. Among the fast men, Simone Consonni Arnaud de Lee, Gerben Thijsen, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick Step), John Degenkolb (dsm-firmenich team PostNL) and Luka Mezzek (Jaiko Alula) were also represented in the first group.

Fans in de Morin
But then the real fans' spectacle had to begin, with the passage to the open plain of De Moeren a highlight. Bullet spoke loudly at first, but then backed off sharply. Once again it was Intermarché-Wanty that made the impact. At the end of the notorious wind strip, there were only fifteen riders left on the same wheel.

Arnaud De Lee wasn't there at the start, but the talented Val from Lotto Destiny did the impossible. De Lie single-handedly closed a gap about a hundred meters long, in complete headwind. A strong effort that a driver would not normally pull off, but De Lee did it anyway and took his place in the first group alongside his teammate Brent van Moer, the trio of Gerben Thijsen, Madis Michaels and Roel van Sintmartinsdijk (Intermarche-Wante), Gilles Gelders (Soudal Quik). Stipe), John Degenkolb, Luca Mezgic, Rob Geiss (Alpecin-Deseuinink), Luca Mozzato (Arkia Hotels-B&B), Simone Consonni, Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech) and Rasmus Wallen (Uno-X). .

#1 fan – photo: Cor Vos

But this incitement attempt also led to nothing. At the back, Tudor and Djeko Ella, among others, combined to bring their speedsters Arvid de Kleyn and Dylan Groenewegen back into the attack. Under their momentum, all the runners found themselves in a promising position once again at the start of the local rounds in Koksigde. We entered the final with about fifty contestants.

Uncontrolled locking
But neither team had strong enough credentials to control the situation. Di Li in particular couldn't control his legs there. Intermarché-Wanty had controlled Thijssen for a long time, but when Nils Pollit again tried to disrupt the forces in the final ten kilometres, they cleverly sent Dries De Pooter on. He clearly did not participate, unlike Bullet, Yves Lambaert (Soudal Quick Step), Dan Holly (Liddle Trek) and Patrick Eide (DSM-firmenich). When Lambert put in an extra gear three kilometers from the finish, only Eddy could respond.

It seemed like the two were able to make headway for a while, but Arkéa-B&B Hotels, among others, brought everything back together. It became a chaotic sprint, which was also disrupted by the crashes of Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Lionel Tamino (Lotto Dstny). Dylan Groenewegen then started the sprint from a very long distance away. In the final metres, Mozzato re-climbed the fast Dutchman, who became a shock winner. Thijssen was cornered again and arrived too late.