Florian Vermeersch fourth at GP de Denain

At the race known as the ‘mini Paris-Roubaix,’ Florian Vermeersch produced an aggressive display and claimed fourth place for UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the Grand Prix de Denain on Thursday afternoon. Over the cobbles made famous by l’Enfer du Nord, the Belgian rider raced on the front foot and was part of an eight-man front group that came to the line in the French town.

Despite a late attack from Vermeersch, the day’s victor would be decided in a sprint and it was Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matthew Brennan who took an expected victory. The young Brit plies his trade as a sprinter and was always going to be the favourite should it come down to a reduced sprint, but for Vermeersch, the afternoon was certainly a great indication of his form going into his debut spring Classics campaign as a UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider.

Earlier in the race, his teammates had done their best to animate proceedings, with Mikkel Bjerg, in particular, often to be seen at the front of the peloton as they tackled the tough cobblestone sectors. The Dane was, of course, instrumental to Sebastián Molano’s victory in this race two years ago. This time around, it was Bjerg, Vermeersch and Filippo Baroncini who came to the fore in their white and black kits. From the 55km to go marker, the peloton had been shattered into several fragments, but the UAE Team Emirates-XRG trio remained well positioned.

At first it was Bjerg who did his best to splinter the group further, ever on the attack following the Artres à Famars sector. His efforts were successful in reducing the size of the ‘peloton,’ before Vermeersch used his racing nous to make his way into a dangerous attack. A former runner-up at Paris-Roubaix, the Belgian is well at home in a race that shares much of its terrain with the fabled Monument. As Baroncini and Bjerg kept their powder dry behind, Vermeersch went to work out front as part of a 10-rider group.

Little by little, as this elite selection came closer to the finish in Denain, the pressure ramped up at the front of the race. Their gap to those chasing behind went out to beyond 30 seconds and Vermeersch did not miss a moment to nail a tough pace at the front, his efforts no doubt contributing to the group numbering only eight riders heading into the finale.

With the nigh-on 200km-long race almost at an end, the Belgian picked his moment to attack at 2.9km to go. However, the young Brennan remained steadfast on Vermeersch’s wheel, as did De Bondt. In turn, the front group coalesced once more and it soon became apparent that only a sprint would decide the winner of the 66th edition. With Brennan utilising his turn of pace, Vermeersch did well to stay towards the front and cross the line in fourth place, with both Bjerg and Baroncini coming home as part of the peloton behind.

“It was a nice result,” sports director Fabio Baldato said. “Sometimes Florian can pull too much and be too generous but today he had a nice result. I told him to look at Brennan, as we know he is a quick guy, and one moment he was on the wheel. Of course, he tries with the move at 2km to go because I told him to anticipate and on another day, maybe it sticks.

“It was a good race from Bjerg and the other guys were all fighting. [Sebastián] Molano is coming back from the sickness at Paris-Nice and [António] Morgado was good on his first race in a couple of weeks, but generally it was a good showing from everyone, including the young Gibbe [Staes, Gen Z rider].”

Grand Prix de Denain results

1. Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4:15:54

2. Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t

3. Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) s.t

4. Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t