Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2024

The second instalment of the men's Opening Weekend comes with a cobbled race that's finely poised between the sprinters and Classics specialists

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Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

Dates 25 Feb
Race Length 196 kms
Start Kortrijk
Finish Kuurne
Race Category Elite Men

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne: Wout van Aert takes a dominant breakaway win

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won Kuurne-Brussel-Buurne in a three-up sprint against Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar) who finished second and third, respectively. The win in Kuurne sealed the deal on a second consecutive clean sweep of Opening Weekend from Visma-Lease a Bike after Jan Tratnik won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad the previous day.

Visma-Lease a Bike took the reigns in earnest on the Le Bourliquet climb with 92km to go before Wout van Aert took up the charge himself on the next challenge of the Mont Saint-Laurent cobbled section. That move reduced the leaders to Van Aert, Wellens, Lazkano and Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ). Pithie was the big surprise package and was strong in matching Van Aert, although he faded over the next series of climbs and was distanced from the leading trio on the Côte de Trieu.

While Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) did their best to try and cross the gap with a counterattack, the leading trio were too powerful, with each of the three taking full pulls on the flat run to the line. It seemed as if Wellens and Lazkano were content finishing on the podium instead of risking their results for the win, as Van Aert was always going to be the fastest in the end. In the final, Van Aert came good on his status as favourite and took his first Classics win of 2024.

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