Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the 78th Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne from a thinned bunch sprint, finishing three bike lengths clear of Luca Mozzato (Tudor Pro Cycling) on the Brugsesteenweg.
The 20-year-old Briton, who crashed at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 24 hours earlier, was delivered by a Visma operation and a final lead-out from Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) that left him with 100m of open road.
The "sprinters' classic" label lasted until the Mont Saint Laurent, where accelerations on the cobbles and gradients broke the peloton apart. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), pre-race favourite and the highest-ranked sprinter on the start list, was distanced. So was Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Dylan Groenewegen. Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), with a team built to thin the field, punctured on the cobbles at the worst possible moment. His race was effectively over.
Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team), the form sprinter of the early season, was also shed. By the Kluisberg with 60km remaining, the front group was already a group of survivors.
Final Classification Results
Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne • Mar 1 • 195km
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Matthew Brennan | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKETEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04:26:05 |
| 🥈 | Luca Mozzato | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 🥉 | Matteo Trentin | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 4 | Matevž Govekar | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 00:00:00 |
| 5 | Mike Teunissen | XDS ASTANA TEAMXDS ASTANA TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 6 | Laurenz Rex | SOUDAL QUICK-STEPSOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 00:00:00 |
| 7 | Tobias Lund Andresen | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 8 | Cees Bol | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 9 | Luke Lamperti | EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST | 00:00:00 |
| 10 | Jordi Meeus | RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | 00:00:00 |
| 11 | Hugo Hofstetter | NSN CYCLING TEAMNSN CYCLING TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 12 | Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri | MOVISTAR TEAMMOVISTAR TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 13 | Tim Van Dijke | RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE | 00:00:00 |
| 14 | Florian Dauphin | TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES | 00:00:00 |
| 15 | Ivan Garcia Cortina | MOVISTAR TEAMMOVISTAR TEAM | 00:00:00 |
| 16 | Matyáš Kopecký | UNIBET ROSE ROCKETSUNIBET ROSE ROCKETS | 00:00:00 |
| 17 | Steffen De Schuyteneer | LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ | 00:00:00 |
| 18 | Jasper Philipsen | ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | 00:00:00 |
| 19 | Pau Miquel Delgado | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 00:00:00 |
| 20 | Ben Oliver | MODERN ADVENTURE PRO CYCLINGMODERN ADVENTURE PRO CYCLING | 00:00:00 |
How Visma controlled the final hour
Crosswinds inside the final 35km carved another 25 riders from the lead group, but Visma still had numbers. Five riders at the front inside the last 10km gave them the luxury of shutting down an attack with 5km to go, then positioning Brennan behind Laporte for the final drag.
Defending champion Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) needed a bike change inside the final 15km after a mechanical, fought back through team cars, but arrived at the sprint with one teammate and empty legs. He finished outside the top ten.
Tudor Pro Cycling salvaged their Opening Weekend after losing Stefan Küng and Rick Pluimers to crashes at Omloop, with Mozzato and Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) completing a double podium.
"I came down pretty hard yesterday, then I came to the start line quite nervous about what was going to happen today," Brennan said. "The lead-out was fantastic. I didn’t have to think about anything. I basically had the easiest job in the bunch, just launching my sprint with 150 metres to go. When you’re in a situation like that, and you’ve got someone like Christophe Laporte, who’s hugely successful in his own right, setting you up, the odds of getting a good result are definitely in your favour."
Visma have now won Kuurne in three of the last four editions, each time with a different rider. Laporte has been involved in the lead-out for all of them. For Brennan, it is the biggest career win so far, following a successful junior career. The win comes at the start of the cobbled classics campaign.
The contenders picture
- Jasper Philipsen – Animated the race with repeated accelerations on the climbs, hurting Milan and others. A puncture and bike change cost him energy. Ran out of legs in the sprint, couldn't defend his title.
- Luca Mozzato – Best of Tudor with second place, outsprinting teammate Trentin. Part of the team's redemption story after a disastrous Omloop.
- Matteo Trentin – Third on the podium. Proud of Tudor's two-man result from a depleted squad that started with only five riders after Opening Weekend injuries.
- Tobias Lund Andresen – Decathlon's designated man for Kuurne after his sixth in the Omloop. Had a near-perfect race but was boxed in during the sprint and finished fifth. Oliver Naesen had publicly backed him as a podium contender pre-race.
- Laurenz Rex – Sixth, just a month after fracturing spinal processes in a crash in Saudi Arabia. A quietly impressive comeback performance.
- Tim Wellens – Broke his collarbone at 85km, underwent surgery that evening. His spring classics – and possibly his programme through to Amstel Gold – is now at risk.
- Biniam Girmay – Was distanced from the peloton on the Kluisberg and didn't feature in the finale.
- Paul Magnier – More mechanical trouble, continuing a wretched weekend after his Eikenberg problem in the Omloop. Soudal Quick-Step's spring hasn't started well.
- Dylan Groenewegen – Rose Rockets were targeting a strong result with him. His team boss described him as motivated "like a young dog." Didn't trouble the podium.
