An old race with a new name, Circuit Franco-Belge saw the peloton take on the reverse of the classic l’Eurometropole route, going from Tournai to La Louvière and ending with a punchy circuit around the finish town. It was a fast start to the day but eventually the elastic snapped after ten kilometres and Tim Naberman made it into a four rider move; taking the pressure off the rest of the team in the peloton.

Naberman’s break worked well together and increased their advantage over the peloton, reaching a maximum of just over six minutes. However, as the bunch made its way towards the finish circuit the pace upped and their gap dramatically increased. Despite fighting hard, Naberman and the rest of the break were brought back at 40 kilometres to go as attacks peppered the head of the now reduced peloton.

The team rode well as a unit with Naberman, Pavel Bittner, Alberto Dainese and Casper van Uden in the group of around 70. Marking the early final moves, Van Uden and Bittner impressed but the pace was relentless and heading into the final lap a strong trio broke away, with one more rider jumping across to them. The team worked doggedly to try and close the gap but it wasn’t to be and the four riders fought it out in the final, while behind Dainese rewarded the team’s hard work by showing a quick pair of heels and “won” the bunch sprint for fifth place.

“The guys rode really well towards the lap,” explained Dainese after the finish. “We were in good positions from the first lap so for me it was much easier to save some energy for the final. In the final we gambled a bit on the sprint so I didn’t follow the move which was the winning one. In the end, we could sprint for fifth place which was the best we could do, so I’m satisfied with that and how we rode together today.”