Filippo Baroncini succeeds Van der Poel with a brilliant solo in Super 8 Classic

The Super 8 Classic took the peloton from the Belgian (Flemish) municipality of Brakel to Haacht, covering almost 200 kilometers on mainly undulating roads. The riders faced a particularly challenging hill section in the final part, including the Moskesstraat, a key climb featured in the 2021 World Championship road race in Leuven, and still part of the Flèche Brabançonne route. After the last climb, there were about fifteen flat kilometers left to the finish.

Dutchman Julius van den Berg (dsm-firmenich PostNL) was active early on and eventually broke away with five other riders after some resistance from the peloton. The group consisted of Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Jens Reynders, Loïc Vliegen (both Bingoal WB), Lars Craps (Team Flanders Baloise) and Kay De Bruyckere (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal). The breakaway was given a small lead of barely three minutes by the peloton, which maintained a solid pace.

With about 80 kilometers to go, the gap was reduced to just one and a half minutes. Adding to their woes, the breakaway lost Jens Reynders, leaving a long way to go. Swiss rider Johan Jacobs (Movistar) tried to bridge the gap solo due to the small difference between the leaders and the peloton, but his effort was too ambitious, and he was caught by a charging peloton that could smell the hill section approaching.

The hill zone proved too tough for De Bruyckere, leaving four riders in the front. However, on the first passage of the tough Moskesstraat, Vliegen struggled and had to let his companions go. On the next climb, the Holstheide, Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla) found it too difficult as well. The pocket sprinter, one of the outsiders, dropped from the peloton.

Meanwhile, the peloton saw a flurry of attacks: Alex Aranburu, Mathis Le Berre and Mads Würtz Schmidt were among those who tried unsuccessfully. Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek) did manage to pull away from the peloton and closed in on the three breakaway riders, getting as close as 15 seconds, even 10, but just as he neared them, his legs gave out, and he fell back to the peloton in disappointment.

Then Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) made a move on the final passage of the Moskesstraat. Biniam Girmay reacted quickly and stayed on his wheel, but the rest of the peloton was also right behind them. By this time, Van den Berg and Craps had been swallowed up by the peloton. Only the Norwegian Johannessen remained at the front. However, his brave resistance also ended on the Holstheide climb.

The race remained very restless. Even the steep Smeysberg was climbed at full speed, causing new names to drop back, including one of the top names: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck). He would not be sprinting for the win.

After the grueling hill section, the lead group was down to just sixteen riders. Among them were Dutch riders Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty) and Rick Pluimers (Tudor Pro Cycling). Pluimers was joined by his savvy teammate Matteo Trentin. Also present was Roger Adrià (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), the in-form rider who had already won the GP of Wallonia earlier this week on the Citadel of Namur.

UAE was represented by Rui Oliveira and Baroncini. The latter immediately launched an attack, putting the rest under pressure. The 2021 U23 World Champion opened a significant gap and extended his lead to 30 seconds. Catching him was proving to be a difficult task for the chasers. Baroncini had recently shown his solo riding prowess in the Vuelta a España, where he finished fourth in the final time trial.

Baroncini did not falter, and the chasers could not catch him. The UAE rider secured his first pro victory with a brilliant solo effort. His win was extra special because the race covered a large part of the World Championship route in Leuven, where Baroncini became the U23 World Champion in 2021. Pluimers also broke away from the chasing group in the final phase and finished a strong second, about twenty seconds behind. Oliveira also made it to the podium, representing UAE.