2nd March – Kuurne Brussel Kuurne: Kortrijk – Kuurne
Day two of Opening Weekend saw the peloton take on some more cobbles and climbs, although with roughly 50 kilometres of flatter roads in the finale; it was a day that on paper suited the sprinters. From the start Team Picnic PostNL did a good job to be in position with Pavel Bittner, John Degenkolb and Sean Flynn all to the fore as the climbs came thick and fast in the middle part of the race. The trio rotated in following the attacks to make sure the team was always represented, but in the end it was clear that things would come down to a bunch sprint. Flynn then Degenkolb kept Bittner safe in the hectic finale, before bringing him towards the front of the bunch just outside the flamme rouge. In the finishing straight things were stretched out and Bittner had to come from a bit behind, showing good speed though to pass several riders on the way to a good eighth place finish.
Bittner expressed: “Our goal for today was to pass the climbing section in a good way together, and then go for it in the sprint with me at the finish. On the climbs I felt pretty good, and John and Sean were really strong too so we could follow some of the attacks that were going at that point. We knew after Côte de Trieu that it would be a sprint though so we tried to save some energy. The three of us did a good job together. It was a bit of a shame that there was a crash next to us with around two kilometres to go and that caused my chain to drop, so we had to come back from a worse position. I think with the way it was in the final we can be happy with eighth place, and that I still had the legs to sprint after a hard day. We can take a lot of positives from today and go into the next Belgian races strongly.”
