One week after his win in the Brussels Cycling Classic, André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) again confirmed that he is in excellent condition at the end of the season when he won the Belgian one-day race GP Jef Scherens. After a very aggressive race, Lotto Belisol brought everything back together for a bunch sprint where Greipel beat Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Danny Van Poppel (Trek).

One week ago André Greipel won the Brussels Cycling Classic and made it clear that he wanted to use his good condition to support John Degenkolb at the World Championships. Today he gave the German national coach another good reason to select the Lotto Belisol captain when he won the GP Jef Scherens in a bunch sprint.

However, it was never a given thing that the hilly race in Leuven would be one for the sprinters. The race was very aggressive and Lotto Belisol were always part of the action. When things came back together with 35km to go, however, they decided to work for Greipel who paid them back by beating Tom Van Asbroeck and Danny Van Poppel in the final dash to the line.

The 48th GP Jef Scherens was held on a 14.1km circuit in Leuven which the riders covered 13 times during the 183.3km race. The circuit contained four small hellingen that was set to split up the field and the race has traditionally suited punchy attackers.

The race got off to a slow start as no one launched any attacks for the first four kilometres. Finally, Nico Sijmens (Wanty) broke the standstill but he was quickly brought back.

The next break was made up of Boris Vallee (Lotto Belisol), Markel Irizar (Trek), Jerome Baugnies (Wanty), Stef Van Zummeren (3M) and Maurits Lammertink (Jo Piels) and they crossed the line for the first time with a slight advantage. However, the move was doomed too and the next attack by Antoine Demoitie (Wallonie) didn’t have much luck either.

The peloton was now riding very fast and this created a split in the bunch. Moments later, a 11-rider group with Sean De Bie (Lotto - Belisol), Clement Chevrier (Trek Factory), Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli), Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Nico Sijmens (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Tom Thill (Leopard Development), Timo Roosen (Netherlands), Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb - Napoleon Games), Gertjan De Vos, Gerry Druyts (Team 3M) and Tom Dernies (Wallonie Bruxelles) got clear and after 28km of racing, they were 30 seconds ahead.

Kris Boeckmans (Lotto Belisol), Markel Irizar (Trek) and Sjors Roosen (CT Jo Piels) bridged the gap and the strong group extended its advantage to 1.30. However, Vastgoestservice, Verandas Willems and T. Palm had all missed the move and they started to chase behind.

For a long time, those three teams kept the gap stable at around a minute but when riders started to blow up, all the work was left to Vastgoestservice, they started to lose ground. With 90km to go, the gap was 1.30 and now the small continental team seemed to have given up.

This opened the door for Kenny Dehaes (Lotto - Belisol), Pieter Jacobs (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Tim De Troyer (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Ike Groen (CT De Rijke), Sebastien Delfosse (Wallonie Bruxelles) and Stefan Poutsma (CT Jo Piels) to launch an attack and they got to within 45 seconds of the front group. However, their progress stalled and for some time, they stayed 45 seconds behind while the peloton was at 1.30.

Finally the chase paid off and with a little less than 50km to go, the six chasers made the junction. At this point, the peloton has significantly upped the pace and was splintering on the many hills.

While Vantornout was dropped from the front group, André Greipel (Lotto - Belisol), Jonas Vangenechten (Lotto - Belisol), Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory), Victor Campenaerts (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), Bjorn Leukemans (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Mike Teunissen (Netherlands) and Jaap Kooijman (Parkhotel Valkenburg) attacked and rapidly approached the front group. Greipel and Leukemans fell off the pace and were brought back by the peloton while the four remaining riders fought hard to make the junction.

Wallays and Dernies attacked from the front group and were joined by Boeckmans, Dehaes, Irizar, Jacobs, Sijmens, Roosens and Frapporti to form a new 9-rider front group. However, the peloton was still riding at full speed and with 35km to go, it was all back together.

Frapporti and Jacobs immediately attacked again and they were joined by Sam Oomen (Netherlands) and Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty). While they dangled 10 seconds ahead of the peloton, Lotto Belisol started to control the situation.

Laurens De Vreese (Wanty) bridged across just as the riders were about to start the final lap but they had no chance against the mighty Lotto Belisol train. With Vallee as the driving force, the Belgian tea, brought the group back with 8km to go.

Campenaerts made a short-lived move and when he was brought back, Vangenechten, Marco Bandiera (Androni), Wallays, Baugnies, Leukemans and Gianni Vermeersch gave it a go. They managed to build an advantage of 7 seconds but with 3km to go, all came back together for a bunch sprint where Greipel emerged as the strongest.

The series of Belgian one-day races continues on Wednesday when the Ardennes specialists battle it out in the GP de Wallonie which is usually a key test for the World Championships.