
An entire day in the breakaway and finally arms raised to the sky, in the sign of triumph: Alexis Brunel treats himself to an authentic feat by conquering victory in the 14th edition of the Grote prijs Jean-Pierre Monseré, contested from Ichtegem to Roeselare over a distance of 201.6 km.
The French rider from TotalEnergies entered the seven-rider breakaway that characterized the race: with him at the front were Vercouillie from Team Flanders Baloise, Biagini from VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizan, Doyle and Zabelinsky (Atom 6 Bikes - Decca Continental Team), Coppens from BEAT Cycling and Van Vliet from Metec - SOLARWATT p/b Mantel in an action that started just three kilometers from the start.
About twenty kilometers from the finish, Brunel, Vercouillie, and Coppens remained at the front, then in the finale came the winning move by the Frenchman, with the sprinters' group managing only to catch the other two attackers, finishing 10 seconds behind the winner. Second place went to Norwegian Fredheim, third to Coppens, and eighth to Giacomo Nizzolo.
Brunel thus finds the path to victory after almost three years: his last success dated back to the summer of 2022 when he won the time trial in the eighth stage of the Tour de la Guadaloupe.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Alexys BRUNEL (TotalEnergies)
2. Stian EDVARDSEN-FREDHEIM (Uno-X Mobility)
3. Michiel COPPENS (BEAT Cycling Club)
4. Hugo HOFSTETTER (Israel-Premier Tech)
5. Milan FRETIN (Cofidis)
6. Victor VERCOUILLIE (Team Flanders-Baloise)
7. Gleb SYRITSA (XDS Astana Development Team)
8. Giacomo NIZZOLO (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
9. Gerben THIJSSEN (Intermarchè-Wanty)
10. Noah VANDENBRANDEN (Team Flanders-Baloise)