Attritional day in Binche as Nils Eekhoff sprints to strong 2nd place

Tuesday marked a new edition of Binche-Chimay-Binche. In this Walloon semi-classic, a bunch sprint is never far away — though the rolling, punchy course often tempts riders to attack. The race opened at a furious pace, with wave after wave of attacks, yet no early breakaway managed to form. Still, the relentless pace quickly took its toll, and the constant surges began to split the bunch. With around 70 kilometres to go, the peloton had already been torn into two distinct groups.

As the race developed, Team Picnic PostNL took responsibility at the front of the peloton, helping to close down a new move off the front. Once the attackers were caught, fresh attempts followed, but the bunch seemed determined to bring things back together. In the end, a sprint finish in Binche was inevitable. From the wheel of eventual winner Meeus, Nils Eekhoff launched a long and powerful sprint over the cobbles, holding strong all the way to the line to take an impressive second place; a strong result after a hard-fought day of racing.

Eekhoff expressed: “It was a fast race which never really settled. There were always groups jumping and chasing, and this made it a demanding day out. The guys did a great job trying to stay in control. Also on the local laps keeping me in front and out of trouble which meant that I didn’t have to spend too much energy during the day. I felt strong and had confidence in this finish. In the end I launched my sprint too late to be able to challenge for the first place but I can be happy to be back on the podium again after a long time.”

Team Picnic PostNL coach Roy Curvers added: “We knew that with Nils, we have a guy on a finish like this can battle with the very best in this race. Therefore, we made the plan to gamble everything on the sprint and make sure that Nils would not use any unnecessary energy during the day. The guys did well in organising that. It was really nice to see that in the final laps in a reduced bunch that we still had numbers there to position and protect Nils, and close some gaps. We influenced the race where needed and in the end it paid off to be able to sprint for the victory. Unfortunately that were was one guy faster today, but I think we can leave Binche with some pride, knowing that in races like this we can fight for the win when we do things right.”