The Belgian one-day race Binche-Chimay-Binche offered no respite with full on racing from start to finish. Despite having been caught 4 minutes off the main group for 90km of the race, Pavel Brutt determinedly fought his way back to finish 13th on the finishing uphill cobblestone stretch behind winner Ramon Sinkeldam. 

After the 194.5km race, Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Lars Michaelsen underlines that he is satisfied with the overall team effort.

“The team raced with motivation and aimed to make a result. But in the end, our guys lacked a few percent to create a top result. Matti Breschel, our protected rider, was forced to consult the doctor during the night, and he wasn’t at his best during the race. Nevertheless, he finished 15th in a very tough race, so it was clear to see that he wanted to make a result. Overall, the guys made their mark on the race and rode very actively”, comments Lars Michaelsen before adding:

“Pavel Brutt finished 13th as our best placed rider. Initially he was caught behind in the 3rd group after 20km of riding and was 4 minutes behind the main group for 90 kilometers. He made an impressive show of strength in fighting his way back and came back up with 25km remaining. He did this at a time, where the group was all-stretched out and riders were continuously attacking at the front”.

Binche-Chimay-Binche consisted of 194.5km in typical undulating Walloon terrain with tough racing from the get-go.

“There was no pause in the action today. First breakaway consisted of 14 riders and we had Kolar in there. He was in good shape today and pulled at the front even after the breakaway was caught. At a time, we had a five guys out of 50 riders and it was looking good until the final km, where we weren’t able to finish off a good team performance”, concludes Lars Michaelsen.