Monumental effort by van Aert goes unrewarded in SUPER 8 Classic: Brennan beaten at the line by De Lie

Due to Baroncini's terrible crash in the Tour of Poland, we knew for sure that a successor had to be found for the Italian. With names such as Wout van Aert, Matthew Brennan, Biniam Girmay, Tim Wellens, Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, Arnaud De Lie, and Michael Matthews at the start, there was undoubtedly a long list of top riders ready for a thrilling Belgian autumn battle.

A four-man breakaway quickly distinguished itself from the start in Brakel. Artem Schmidt (INEOS Grenadiers), Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), and Miká Heming (Tudor) managed to build up a maximum lead of about 4 minutes, but Maciejuk soon dropped back, leaving three riders in the lead.

Even before they had caught up, the final was already heating up. Visma | Lease a Bike launched an attack at around 80 kilometers, thanks to Van Aert, Brennan, Tiesj Benoot, and Christophe Laporte. This quickly broke the peloton into pieces, leaving about twenty riders at the front. Most of the big names were there, but sprinter Milan, who had won the Flanders Championship on Friday, dropped out.

Visma | Lease a Bike's efforts had paid off, but on the Moskestraat, the famous cobbled climb, they were left speechless when De Lie put in a considerable effort. The Belgian from Lotto showed he was the strongest on the hills and set off on his own with 40 kilometers to go. However, he was caught again on the next uphill section by a struggling van Aert.

Van Aert seemed to empty himself for Brennan, who was still in the group of favorites. But Visma | Lease a Bike no longer really had control. Attacks continued to follow, including from Matteo Trentin (Tudor) and Riley Sheehan (IPT). Moreover, the peloton was not far behind, with Philipsen and Girmay still hoping for a victory. It could still go either way!

Philipsen tried to close the gap himself, but he received very little support in the chase, much to the Belgian's frustration. At the front, Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) had taken the lead. The Pole took quite a few risks in his attempt, but Van Aert caught him again. It seemed to be a waiting game for the sprint, where Brennan, Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and De Lie would be the main contenders.

Van Aert received support from Lotto in the run-up to the sprint. This neutralized attacks from Sheehan and others. Van Aert did all the work in the final kilometers: the Belgian gave it his all, after which it was up to Brennan for the sprint. De Lie was first to attack, and Brennan was unable to get past him: he finished second behind De Lie. Meeus came in third.