Laporte impresses in Classics return as Brennan crashes out in mixed day for Visma at Omloop

Christophe Laporte was among those well-positioned when a crash on the lower slopes of the Molenberg halted the majority of the peloton. Mathieu van der Poel remarkably managed to swerve his way around the incident and powered clear on the climb with Florian Vermeersch and Tim Van Dijke later bridging across.

Ultimately, the trio would not be seen again by the rest of the field, as they caught the early breakaway, and Van der Poel snapped the elastic on the Muur van Geraardsbergen, soloing to victory on his Omloop debut.

After being held up by the crash,  Laporte battled his way to be in contention on the finale, and rode away from the chasing pack to finish 4th on the day at 0:53 behind Van der Poel, and a couple of seconds ahead of what was left of the pack.

For Laporte, the incident on the Molenberg hindered his chances of a podium, which he believed was possible based on his feelings and performance overall.

“It was predicted beforehand that it would be a tough race, but I didn’t expect these conditions. The rain and wind made it extremely hard,” Laporte said via a release from Visma | Lease a Bike.

“Still, as a team, we were always well positioned. The Molenberg was a crucial climb. I was in an excellent position and felt strong, but unfortunately, I was held up by a fallen rider. I felt I could have fought for the podium today. In the chasing group, we worked well together and still came close. In the end, fourth place was the best possible result in these conditions.”  

It’s another positive sign for Laporte, who won a stage at the Vuelta a Andalucia before crashing out on the final stage. Laporte missed Opening Weekend twelve months ago, alongside all of his other major goals, as he was sidelined for 315 days due to illness, only being able to begin his campaign in August. 

For the former European Champion, it was a positive to be back in the action on a frantic Saturday in Flanders.

“I’m pleased that I was still able to deliver a strong result for the team today,” said Laporte. “After an unlucky season last year, it’s nice to show myself again in races like this. I missed the atmosphere along these Flemish roads. I’m looking forward to the next races on my schedule, starting with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday.”  

Sports Director Maarten Wynants reflected positively on the performance and result of the Frenchman and credited his riders’ positioning, despite plenty of bad luck on the day.

“We came to the start aiming to compete for the win, but in hindsight Christophe’s fourth place is a solid result,” Wynants said. “The race was calm for a long time, but toward the finale the crashes followed one another in quick succession. Our riders were exactly where they needed to be on the Molenberg, so it’s very unfortunate that Christophe was held up right there. 

It wasn’t all positive to take away from the race for the Dutch team, as it was also confirmed that Matthew Brennan crashed out of the race. 

The Dutch team confirmed that Brennan was involved in “a heavy crash” on the approach to the Muur van Geraardsbergen, which ultimately saw him abandon the race, with Wynants confirming that the British rider was able to pick himself up from the crash to get into the team car.

“Matthew also crashed heavily. He was able to make it to the team car under his own power. For now, that’s the most important thing,” explained Wynants.

Visma are yet to release a further update on the extent of the impact that the crash had on the 20-year-old British rider and whether he will be fit to take to the start of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday.