The newly created Flanders Tomorrow Tour kicked off today in Belgium with a tricky 150 km long stage with two climbs up the short and explosive Kemmel. The stage was off to a very fast start with Daan Hoole making it up to the leading 4-man group. Shortly after, another rider made the gap up to the break making it a 5-man group. 

However, the bunch never let the gap grow past the 1-minute mark. In the first time up the Kemmel, the leading group was reformed to a 6-man leading one, with again Daan Hoole and Marco Frigo representing our flag there. The fact that the move featured riders from different teams difficulted the organization in the chasing group. That allowed the leading six to play for the win, even that a late charge by four riders all the way up to 10 seconds. 

In the final sprint to the line, Daan Hoole was fourth whereas the former U23 Italian Road Race Champion, Marco Frigo took sixth. Placing both riders in the very same positions on GC ahead of tomorrow’s stage. 

Pim Ligthart, Academy DS for the race: 
“The guys took control in the first pass over Kemmel, and they made it a hard one with Daan and Marco going away in the leading group. Maybe because of the effort, they lacked that explosivity at the end. It’s true that with two riders in a group of sixth we would had hoped to be better than fourth, but that’s racing and we have to look at the positive side which is that we are in the mix for the overall standings”