Development Niels Driesen and Lotto-Groupe Wanty cap off Tour de l’Avenir with second place in GC

“We knew beforehand that we were in for a tough final day,” says Niels Driesen. And that was no exaggeration, with the riders facing thirty kilometres of climbing at an average gradient of 5 percent in the finale. The organisers of the Tour de l’Avenir– held for commercial development teams instead of national teams for the first time in a long time– saved the toughest part for last, with the final two kilometres towards Lago Serrù averaging more than 9 percent. “I knew it was going to be steep, but I felt good and the team did an amazing job.”

Driesen knew exactly what was at stake: defending his second place in the general classification. As expected, top favourite Lorenzo Finn left the rest behind, but Driesen produced another impressive performance to finish second on the stage. “I rode at my own pace and managed to hold on well, which meant I could secure my second place overall quite comfortably in the end.”

Lotto-Groupe Wanty can certainly return home with plenty to celebrate. In addition to his podium finish in the general classification, Driesen won stage one and finished third in the individual time trial, while Keije Solen took victory on stage two. “This week has been a huge success. As a team, we can only look back on it with a lot of satisfaction: we won stages, we rode in yellow and came very close on several other occasions. We didn’t expect all of that beforehand. We raced perfectly as a team every single day and it paid off. We deserved this.”

Picture: Quentin Joly