Thimo Willems "Too bad, I would have loved to have won.” after finishing second in Brussels Cycling Classic

Thimo Willems seemed to be on the way to victory in the Brussels Cycling Classic, but in the last fifty meters, the rider from Minerva Cycling was passed by Dutchman Taco van der Hoorn and had to content himself with second place.

Willems jumped away in the final kilometer from Taco van der Hoorn and Austrian Tobias Bayer, with whom he had been in the front in the deep finale. He closed a gap and seemed to be able to hold on. "I had won the GP Vermarc in Rotselaar, in the same way, a few weeks ago. I thought I'll try again. My team director Preben Van Hecke also encouraged me. I went and got to Van der Hoorn and Bayer. I recovered for a moment and thought, I'll go full speed ahead," he said in a post-race interview.

"And that was with 500 meters to go. I didn't really dare look back and just gave full speed. In the last 50 meters, I felt Taco pass me. I was completely soured. Too bad, I would have liked to win," he added.

Early in the race, the 26-year-old rider was in a strong front group, which, in addition to Van der Hoorn and Bayer, also included Jelle Wallays, Bram Welten, Axel Laurance, Arjen Livyns, Gilles De Wilde, Rune Herregodts and Gianni Marchand. "I thought it was very punishing that we were allowed to ride away with such a big group. There were good riders along and we suddenly got seven minutes. On the passage of the Muur and the Bosberg, I thought we were riding pretty slow and then I didn't know if we would stay ahead. In the last 20, 30 kilometers we were really riding full speed and I felt the opportunity was there. I still felt pretty good, too," he concluded.

In the end, Willems was convinced in the final kilometers that the leading group stayed ahead and that he could ride for the win. His second-place finish is another nice result after he thus won the GP Vermarc this season and finished third in the GP Criquielion. "Whether I continue to amaze myself? Yes, actually I do. This winter I doubted for a long time whether I was going to continue racing. I found the second breath at the Minerva Team. It's going very well and I hope to go higher again," said the rider who spent his first three seasons as an elite rider with Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise and since this winter has been riding for the continental Minerva.