2017 Grand Prix de Wallonie (1.1), Belgium
58th edition: Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Grand Prix de Wallonie podium history | 2016 edition | 2018 edition | Course map & profile
Chaudfontaine - La Citadelle de Namur, 212.1 km
Tim Wellens wins in style
The race: Here's the report from winner Tim Wellens' Lotto-Soudal team.
Tim Wellens won in great fashion the 58th edition of the GP de Wallonie. Wellens, Gallopin, Benoot and Maes were part of a 21 riders echelon which opened 40 kilometres from the finish and the group was then reduced to eight riders. Wellens accelerated with sixteen kilometres to go and no one of his fellow escapees seemed able to respond. In the finale, he extended his lead over one minute and secured the win. This is the sixth victory this season for the 26-year-old Belgian. Tony Gallopin finished second one minute later, Tiesj got Benoot fourth, Jelle Vanendert seventh and Bjorg Lambrecht ninth.
The riders left Chaudfontaine at twelve o'clock for a ride through Wallonia. Edward Planckaert, Cordeel, Devriendt, Delfosse, Tasset, Leveau and Ruijgh established the day's breakaway after fifteen kilometres of racing, and they were granted a maximum advantage of 4'15". Lotto Soudal trainees Mathias Van Gompel and Emiel Planckaert were among those who kept the front group under control. AG2R came to the front with 40 kilometres remaining and opened echelons in the peloton, which led to the creation of a front group of 21 riders, which included Tim Wellens, Tony Gallopin, Tiesj Benoot and Nikolas Maes. After Benoot and Teuns tried to go clear, it was Wellens and Bakelants's turn to make a move, but six other riders jumped on their wheel. Tim Wellens saw an opportunity with sixteen kilometres to go and attacked from the last position in the group. From that moment onwards, the Belgian never stopped increasing his lead and he was able to enjoy his triumph in the last kilometres on the Citadel in Namur. Wellens will come to the World Championships in Norway in brilliant form.
Tim Wellens: "I already felt great in the two WorldTour races in Canada, and I'm happy that I was able to show my good form and to translate it into a good result. We came here with three leaders, but I said this morning that I wanted to have a go for the victory. I want to thank my teammates for all the work they did today. Tiesj and Tony were in a perfect position in the chasing group, the trainees worked hard in the early part of the race and Nikolas Maes gave it all in the echelon to build a large gap. Our objective was to ride hard on the Côte de Lustin in order to come to the next climb with a much smaller group. The last sixteen kilometres felt like a time trial, I immediately tried to open a gap, and then I made sure it remained stable. Sports director Marc Wauters told me that I could enjoy the last three kilometres and that the victory was sealed. I trained really hard for this period, with an eye on the World Championships and I hope I'll be able to show the same kind of condition in the following weeks. "
Some less good news from Jelle Wallays. The Belgian hit the deck during the Vuelta and further examinations showed a fracture of the scafoid in his right hand, as well as two broken ribs, the sixth and the seventh, on his right side. This means that Wallays will stay off the bike for a few weeks and possibly for the rest of the season.
Complete results:
153 starters, 30 abandons, 7 hors délai, 116 classified finishers
212.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.04 km/hr
| 1 | Tim Wellens | Lotto-Soudal | 5hr 26min 0sec |
| 2 | Tony Gallopin | Lotto-Soudal | @ 1min 22sec |
| 3 | Julien Simon | Cofidis | +1' 23'' |
| 4 | Tiesj Benoot | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 5 | Jan Bakelants | Ag2r | +1' 25'' |
| 6 | Dylan Teuns | BMC | +1' 28'' |
| 7 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto-Soudal | +1' 37'' |
| 8 | Gianluca Brambilla | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 9 | Bjorg Lambrecht | Belgium | s.t. |
| 10 | Loïc Vliegen | BMC | s.t. |
| 11 | Enrico Battaglin | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 12 | Thibault Ferasse | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 13 | Dimitri Claeys | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 14 | Guillaume Martin | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 15 | Dimitri Peyskens | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 16 | Maarten Wynants | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 17 | Franck Bonnamour | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 18 | Thibaut Pinot | FDJ | s.t. |
| 19 | Martin Elmiger | BMC | s.t. |
| 20 | Patrick Müller | BMC | s.t. |
| 21 | Mikaël Chérel | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 22 | Julien Antomarchi | Roubaix-Lille Metropole | s.t. |
| 23 | Nathan Van Hooydonck | BMC | s.t. |
| 24 | Yoann Offredo | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 25 | Huub Duyn | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 26 | Benoît Jarrier | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 27 | Martijn Budding | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 28 | Dorian Godon | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 29 | Jimmy Janssens | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 30 | Nicolas Edet | Cofidis | +1' 47'' |
| 31 | Eliot Lietaer | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 32 | Amund Grøndahl | LottoNL-Jumbo | +1' 50'' |
| 33 | Alexey Vermeulen | LottoNL-Jumbo | +2' 04'' |
| 34 | Davide Martinelli | Quick-Step Floors | +2' 14'' |
| 35 | Fabien Doubey | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | +2' 29'' |
| 36 | Paul Martens | LottoNL-Jumbo | +2' 30'' |
| 37 | Taco van der Hoorn | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | +2' 34'' |
| 38 | Kevin Deltombe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +2' 37'' |
| 39 | Piet Allegaert | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +2' 44'' |
| 40 | Frederik Backaert | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | +2' 59'' |
| 41 | Benoît Cosnefroy | Ag2r | +3' 23'' |
| 42 | Benjamin Thomas | Armée de Terre | +3' 34'' |
| 43 | Thomas Sprengers | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +3' 40'' |
| 44 | Petr Vakoc | Quick-Step Floors | +4' 06'' |
| 45 | Stijn Devolder | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | +4' 15'' |
| 46 | Charlie Arimont | AGO-Aqua Service | +5' 07'' |
| 47 | Abram Stockman | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 48 | Sébastien Carabin | T.Palm-Pole Continental | s.t. |
| 49 | Arjen Livyns | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 50 | Adriaan Janssen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 51 | Jordi Warlop | Belgium | s.t. |
| 52 | Michiel Stockman | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 53 | Dennis Coenen | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 54 | Maximilien Picoux | T.Palm-Pole Continental | s.t. |
| 55 | Justin Jules | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 56 | Joeri Calleeuw | Roubaix-Lille Metropole | s.t. |
| 57 | Mathias De Witte | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 58 | Floris Gerts | BMC | s.t. |
| 59 | Grégory Habeaux | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 60 | David Gaudu | FDJ | s.t. |
| 61 | Jasper Philipsen | Belgium | +5' 15'' |
| 62 | Stan Dewulf | Belgium | s.t. |
| 63 | Bart De Clercq | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 64 | Clément Venturini | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 65 | Frederik Veuchelen | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | +5' 18'' |
| 66 | Maxime Vantomme | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 67 | Ruben Pols | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +5' 21'' |
| 68 | Jimmy Raibaud | Armée de Terre | +5' 45'' |
| 69 | Kevyn Ista | WB-Veranclassic | +5' 53'' |
| 70 | Tanguy Turgis | Cofidis | +6' 07'' |
| 71 | Julien Mortier | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 72 | Mathias Le Turnier | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 73 | Florian Vachon | Fortuneo-Oscaro | +6' 18'' |
| 74 | Quentin Jauregui | Ag2r | +7' 09'' |
| 75 | Maxime Farazijn | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +10' 58'' |
| 76 | William Elliott | T.Palm-Pole Continental | +11' 31'' |
| 77 | Thimo Willems | Belgium | +13' 26'' |
| 78 | Ben Hermans | BMC | s.t. |
| 79 | Andy Leigh | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 80 | Rob Ruijgh | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 81 | Anthony Debuy | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 82 | Yann Pestiaux | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 83 | Pierre Goebeert | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 84 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 85 | Aaron Verwilst | Belgium | s.t. |
| 86 | Mathias Van Gompel | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 87 | Yann Guyot | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 88 | Nikolas Maes | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 89 | Julien Bérard | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 90 | Gianni Marchand | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 91 | Stijn Vandenbergh | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 92 | Fernando Gaviria | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 93 | Bastien Duculty | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 94 | Martijn Keizer | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
| 95 | Berden de Vries | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 96 | François Bidard | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 97 | Wim Reynaerts | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 98 | Romain Le Roux | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 99 | Thibault Guernalec | Fortuneo-Oscaro | +14' 33'' |
| 100 | Franklin Six | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 101 | Kenny Molly | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 102 | Arnaud Gérard | Fortuneo-Oscaro | s.t. |
| 103 | Lennert Teugels | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
| 104 | Michaël Cools | Tarteletto-Isorex | +16' 59'' |
| 105 | André Looij | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 106 | Max Emil Kørner | T.Palm-Pole Continental | s.t. |
| 107 | Etienne van Empel | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
| 108 | Marvin Tasset | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 109 | Sébastien Delfosse | WB-Veranclassic | s.t. |
| 110 | Edward Walsh | T.Palm-Pole Continental | s.t. |
| 111 | Robby Cobbaert | Cibel-Cebon | s.t. |
| 112 | Norman Vahtra | AGO-Aqua Service | s.t. |
| 113 | Thomas Joly | Roubaix-Lille Metropole | s.t. |
| 114 | Harm Vanhoucke | Belgium | +17' 06'' |
| 115 | Iljo Keisse | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
| 116 | Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz | Quick-Step Floors | +20' 55'' |
2017 GP de Wallonie map
2017 GP de Wallonie profile