The Belgian delivered his best result of the season after a spectacular and thrilling race.
The 51st edition of the Grand Prix Cerami (210.8 kilometers) got off to a furious start, which had four riders snap the elastic and open a three-minute gap on the peloton. One of them was Quick-Step Floors' neo-pro Rémi Cavagna, runner-up in May at the century-old Belgium Tour, who helped the group stay clear until after the iconic Muur-Kapelmuur, when the escape was nullified and the race witnessed a reshuffling.
It didn't take too long before other riders were on the move again, and when it happened, Quick-Step Floors was represented at the front by Dries Devenyns, who was joined by Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC), Benjamin Thomas (Armée de Terre) and Wout Van Aert (Verandas Willems). The quarted established a maximum lead of five minutes and despite the peloton going full gas in the final hour and cutting down the deficit, they managed to stay clear and fight for the win.
Dries Devenyns tried to catch the others by surprise and launched a daring attack in the closing kilometer, but that move was quickly shut down by the others, so it all came down to a reduced sprint won by Van Aert. Dries rounded out the podium, behind his countryman and Drucker, and notched up the team's 77th top-3 finish of the season, a further confirmation of Quick-Step Floors' fantastic depth and firepower displayed since the start of the year.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
