Guillaume van Keirsbulck (Quick Step) took the second win of his young career. The Belgian outsprinted a nine-man group in the Omloop van het Houtland - Lichtervelde, beating Stefan Van Dijk (Verandas Willems - Accent) and Mark McNally (An Post - Sean Kelly). He had won the GP Briek Schotte on September 14.
Van Keirsbulck didn't think about winning in the early stages of the race. "Personally it's a great satisfaction," he said. "My legs didn't feel so great during the race, but in the final I tried attacking anyway to select a little group for the sprint."
For him, the consistency in recent weeks was a positive point. "I'm happy I had a repeat after last week's victory in Desselgem [Briek Schotte]. I'm in top form in this period and I hope I can reaffirm this in the upcoming races in which I'll be participating."
He was looking ahead to his fall program. "Normally, I'll ride Moorslede and the Circuit Franco-Belge with the aim of further improving before Paris-Tours, an important race in which I'll participate with the objective of gaining some experience on an international level for the near future."
The scenario for a break that would stick was ideal. "Except for the guys from FDJ all the big teams were represented in the front," Van Keirsbulck said to the Standaard paper. "The group worked well and we were able to steadily increase our advantage."
In the local laps, Van Keirsbulck shook things up with a strong move. "This formed a group with nine racers," he said. He really wanted to force a decision. "In the last few kilometers I tried a solo, but the other breakaway riders didn't let me get away."
So it came down to a sprint, which was still to the advantage of the Belgian. "In the sprint I was ideally placed. I think I was sitting around fifth spot when some went to the other side of the road and I went all out." If he would have stayed boxed in he may have lamented the fact later, but things worked out well for the 20-year-old. "That was my luck so that I could open it up. The sprint thus went perfect for me."
Van Keirsbulck turned pro this with the Quick Step team. He was a stagiaire with Patrik Lefevere's team in the fall of 2010.