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2025 De Brabantse Pijl (1.Pro), Belgium
La Flèche Brabançonne

65th edition: Friday, April 18, 2025

De Brabantse Pijl podium history | 2024 edition | 2026 edition | Map & profile | Photos | Start list

Beersel - Overijse, 162.6 km

Remco Evenepoel beats Wout van Aert to win the 65th Brabantse Pijl.

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2019: A Year of New Faces is available in both Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Overijse at 2:40 PM, local time: 16C (60F), sunny, with the wind from the south-southeast at 10 km/hr (6 mph). No rain is forecast.

The course: The Men Elite will start in Beersel this year, in the beautiful setting of the Provincial Domain of Huizingen. A 162 kilometer race awaits the riders, featuring 21 climbs along the way. After the start, the peloton will head towards Lennik before returning via Beersel to Overijse, where the steep climbs that define De Brabantse Pijl await. In Overijse, the riders will complete three traditional laps of approximately 20 km, including Hertstraat, Moskesstraat, Holstheide, and S-bocht Overijse.

The race: Here's the report from winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step.

The Remcomeback is real! The double Olympic Champion, racing for the first time in more than six months, took a phenomenal win in Brabantse Pijl and put behind one of the most difficult periods of his career. It was Soudal Quick-Step’s fourth victory at the Belgian one-day race, and at the same time, a success that confirmed Remco is on track for the Ardennes Classics, which start in just two days.

It's time to race. The peloton rolls out of Beersel.

“I knew in the last days that my form was pretty good, but to race from so far away and power to victory on a hard course that doesn’t suit me 100%, is something really amazing! It was a hard race, and despite the effort, I trusted my sprint. Opening my season with a victory is fantastic”, Evenepoel said right after the finish.

It was Remco’s only second participation at Brabantse Pijl – which took in a total of 21 climbs, many of which were cobbled – but that didn’t stop him from lighting up the race with 55 kilometers to go, when a massive acceleration on Holsteide led to an important selection being made. Only Joseph Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech) and Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) were able to follow, and the newly-formed trio quickly built a gap of 50 seconds.

The ever-growing chasing group managed to bring down the margin to just 33 seconds two laps from the finish, but Remco kept the pace high and on the Hertstraat he attacked, dropping Blackmore. Together with his countryman, the ITT World Champion continued to press on, widening their gap over the peloton by the time they arrived on the early slopes of the famous S-Bocht climb. Despite starting the sprint from the front, Remco held his nerve and unleashed an incredibly strong turn of legs that propelled him to an emotional victory in Overijse.

The break that went. Remco Evenpoel and Wout van Aert leaving the best of the rest behind.

“I really needed this race to find some answers to all the questions I had, and now I feel a big relief. Winning this race, in a sprint against Wout, gives me a lot of confidence for the next appointments. During the race I felt that the legs were pretty good, so I decided to attack and we opened a gap. It made us believe in our chances, and we kept going until it was just me and Wout in the closing kilometer. I felt that I was strong in the finale and gave my best there. It was a perfect day for us and it brought me a lot of satisfaction”, Evenepoel added after taking his 60th pro win at the end of one of the most memorable Brabantse Pijl editions.

First race in more than six months for Remco Evenepoel and he takes his 60th pro win. Getty photo

Complete Results:

Photos

162.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.328 km/hr

Course map & profile:

Course map

Course profile

De Brabantse Pijl photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Remco Evenepoel during the riders/teams presentation ceremony before the race.

Wout van Aert & Tiesj Benoot

Tom Pidcock

Team Lotto

A handshake at the startline with a Cofidis rider, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert.

Breakaway riders Remco Evenepoel & Wout van Aert race for the line,

What a comeback! Evenepoel outsprints van Aert.

And there he goes...

Here comes the pack

UAE team Emirates rider Antonio Morgado wins the field sprint.

Just after the race

Second-place Wout van Aert just after the race

Remco gets a hug from his wife.

Race winner Remco Evenpoel

The podium, from left: Wout van Aert (2nd), Remco Evenepoel (1st) & Antonio Morgado (3rd)

Start list with back numbers, Thursday, April 17, 2025: