Nokere Koerse: 6th for Jake Stewart

Today (Wednesday) Jake Stewart confirmed his good form and his liking for the races in Flanders. In Nokere Koerse, the finish of which was as usual at the top of a short cobbled climb, the young British rider from Coventry, took sixth place on the day.

Nokere Koerse: 6th for Jake Stewart

Jake was fourth in the bunch kick but the peloton was surprised by two breakaway riders who stayed clear. It was Jake’s fifth top-10 of the season already and he is now looking ahead to the Bredene Koksijde Classic on Friday.

Nokere Koerse was on a grueling course, especially on the final circuit mixing ‘bergs’ and cobbles. However, the riders didn’t have to wait for the last kilometres to see some nervousness in the peloton. “It rolled very quickly from the start thanks to a favorable wind,” said FDJ’s Yvon Madiot.

“We rode 47 kilometres in the first hour. It was very nervous, and there were a lot of falls. We were only involved in the very first one with Clément Davy, after 15 kilometres” added Madiot. Crashes are an integral part of these races and riders need to know how to get back in the race while losing as little energy as possible.

It was only at the end of the first fifty kilometres that the break of the day was able to form, with Anthony Julien (AG2R-Citroën), Sébastien Grignard (Lotto-Soudal), Thibault Ferasse (B&B Hotels), Samuele Zoccarato ( Bardiani), Ludovic Robeet (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles), Ward Vanhoof, Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) as well as Damien Gaudin (Total Direct Energie).

“Then there was a tempo (in the peloton) but it was still very, very nervous,” added Madiot. “The roads were slippery due to the rain. It turned right, left, on small roads, with cobblestones. It was tense. Part of the course saw crosswinds too (echelons formed). “It was a bit of a weird race, it just went in spurts” says Madiot. “The peloton broke up a few times on the more exposed part of the parcour and then on the cobbles, but the selection came mostly from the back.”

Just over two laps from the finish, Groupama-FDJ (Jake’s team) had to work hard to get back to the front of the peloton. Following a further acceleration on the cusp of the last lap, Olivier Le Gac of FDJ was in the first peloton, later joined by Jake Stewart, Clément Davy, then Simon Guglielmi and Fabian Lienhard.

“Olivier’s mission was to ago with the attacks which he did when there were the breaks” added Yvon. “Then we put more emphasis on Jake but no team really took matters into their own hands” explained Madiot.

The gap to the breakaway duo Robeet-Gaudun narrowed to thirty seconds at ten kilometres but the pursuit was not sufficiently effective to see the two men again back in the peloton. On the Nokereberg, the cobblestone hill at the finish, the peloton fought for the places of honor and Jake Stewart took sixth place on the line, a few seconds behind winner Ludovic Robeet.

“It’s a good result, but we are always looking for better,” says Madiot. “At the briefing, we wanted to win. We didn’t succeed.”

Jake Stewart: “I can be satisfied” says Jake less than two weeks after his podium at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. “It was a great race, typical of Belgium with rain, wind and cobbles. After the breakaway, I was very cold for an hour and a half but it got better when the race really started. I think it was a harder Nokere than usual due to the weather.”

“I just tried to hang in the first peloton, hold the wheels, and Olivier helped me a lot in the final. It was a tough finish, especially after a long day and frozen legs. After a week and a half without racing, and knowing that it is sometimes difficult to restart the engine, I think I can be happy with this sixth place”.

The 21-year-old British rider now has another race this week at the Bredene Koksijde Classic on Friday.