Taco van der Hoorn on Brussels Cycling Classic success: "It's nice to be able to confirm again"

Taco van der Hoorn has since joining Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux became one of the most popular riders in the peloton, and has today returned to his winning ways with a gruelling win at the Brussels Cycling Classic.

The Dutchman was part of the ten-rider breakaway that set off early in the day, which got a gap of over seven minutes in the rainy streets of Flandres. With Alexander Kristoff and Quinten Hermans in the lineup he was definitely not the leader, but he thrived in his typical speciality which are the breakaways. The group managed to work together well enough to just be able to keep the peloton away, and fight for the victory between the riders who resisted the tough 204-kilometer race.

"I just wanted to go full for the last corner, otherwise I'll drive Bram Welten to the win and I didn't want that either. My plan was to give it all and gamble," he said after the race. Sure enough his late move proved perfect, having distanced everyone but Tobias Bayer in the group, and catching up with Thimo Willems - who had attacked earlier - in the very last meters of the race.

“Gosh, I gave up. I really had to come a long way. Thimo Willems went fast, he was really damn strong. It's nice that I can finish it, because I wasn't really sure. I felt really good at the beginning of the race, but after that I didn't feel very good anymore. At one point I wanted to tell the team not to count on me, but my communication didn't work," the Intermarché rider explained, after calculating his move perfectly. 

"Where do I place this victory? My victory in the Giro d'Italia is of course the most beautiful. I often try and sometimes it works. It's nice to be able to confirm again. It is a really special season and the atmosphere within the team is great," he concluded.