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Quick Step's De Jongh wins Kuurne

Published: Mar. 2, 2008
De Jongh wins the 2008 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — his second.
De Jongh wins the 2008 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — his second.
Photo: Agence France Presse

Quick Step's Steven De Jongh outkicked fellow Dutchman Sebastian Langeveld to win Sunday’s 61st Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in an attacked-riddled race that saw two-time defending world champion Paolo Bettini crash for the second day in a row.

The mighty Quick Step train righted itself Sunday with De Jongh’s winning ride a day after missing out on the spoils against an unstoppable Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) in Het Volk.

Humiliated on home roads in Saturday’s opener of the Belgian racing calendar, a doubly motivated Quick Step dominated the tactics and put no less than seven men in the select group in the decisive moments in the late going of the 193km race.

The only Quick Step rider missing was Bettini, who crashed out in the opening 15km.

The 34-year-old De Jongh made easy work of his 23-year-old rival after he marked Langeveld’s attack with about 1km to go. Australian prospect Matthew Goss (CSC) edged last year’s winner Tom Boonen (Quick Step) to round out the podium in the lead group of 14 riders that crossed the line four seconds back.

“We reacted to yesterday’s bad day in the best possible way,” said Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere. “That is, with the pedals, demonstrating that we are an important group.”

It was another day of pedal-smashing attacks as the Belgian classics season clicked into gear. Steven Cozza (Slipstream-Chipotle) snuck into an early nine-man breakaway and hung on to finish 24th at 4:49 back.

“Cozza was up there in the right split from the start, but when the group split again, he got caught in second group. Martijn Maaskant came from behind and joined Cozza. Try as they might — and they did — they never got back to the front group again,” said Slipstream-Chipotle DS Johnny Weltz. “In all, we had an excellent classics debut. The riders were not just out there hanging on for dear life, but played key roles in forming the races.”

Quick Step took over with about 70km to go when it initiated the race-breaking acceleration to split the field and reel in the early aggression.

Quick Step marked several late race attacks and things seemed destined for a Boonen repeat, but Langeveld went on a desperate late-race flier to open the door for the unsung De Jongh.

“Yesterday, we learned a lesson,” said De Jongh, who also won KBK in 2004. “Today the team was very strong and it’s a great victory for the team. I’m so proud of this victory. I dedicate this to my 3-year-old son, who broke his leg playing soccer on Friday.”

Bettini crashed out after just 9km.
Bettini crashed out after just 9km.
Photo: Agence France Presse

Bettini, meanwhile, hit the deck for the second day in a row. He managed to finish Het Volk despite crashing midway through the race, but suffered abrasions to his left leg and arm and bruises on his back, enough to prompt his early exit Sunday.

Bettini promised to “resume training immediately” and is expected to start Tirreno-Adriatico later this month as scheduled.

“I was very scared,” Bettini said. “But fortunately, I fared OK. I was able to hit the brakes and avoid the worst of it.”

Others going down included Bart Dockx (Silence-Lotto), who was taken to a nearby hospital to treat a reported broken hip. Paris-Roubaix champ Stuart O’Grady (CSC) banged up his knee and abandoned at the feed zone.

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