Robin Stenuit made it a memorable week for Wanty-Groupe Gobert when he made it three in a row for the Belgian team in the Schaal Sels one-day race. Being the only rider from his team in a 20-rider group that decided the race, he went on the attack with Oliver Naesen (Topsport Vlaanderen) whom he narrowly beat in a two-rider sprint.

Wanty-Groupe Gobert don’t win a lot of race but apparently they have hit their best condition for the final part of the season which is dominated by Belgian one-day races. Going into today’s Schaal Sels, they had already won the GP Jef Scherens with Bjorn Leukemans and Druivenkoers-Overijse with Marco Marcato and today they continued their run of success when stagiaire Robin Stenuit won the Schaal Sels.

The race which is held on cobbles and dirt road turned out to be a dramatic affair as it was stopped for a long time when the car of the race jury got stuck in the deep mud. When the race finally got going again, it was a 20-rider group that escaped and they would decide the win.

Stenuit was the only Wanty rider in the group but he played his cards wisely when he attacked with Oliver Naesen just as they had rejoined a smaller front group that had been established after a long solo attack from Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen). The pair managed to build an advantage of 55 seconds when they entered the final 10km.

Tiim Merlier, Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace), Dimitri Claeys (Verandas Willems), Dylan Groenewegen (Team Roompot), Joeri Stallaert (Cibel), Tim Declercq, Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Tim Ariesen (Cyclingteam Jo Piels), Wouter Mol (Cyclingteam Join's-De Rijke), Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Ralf Matzka (Bora-Argon 18), Gorik Gardeyn (Veranclassic-Ekoi), Antoine Demoitié, Ludwig De Winter (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Patrick Van Der Duin (Cyclingteam Jo Piels) were the riders left in the chase group and they finally started to cooperate. It was down to 28 seconds at the start of the final 8.5km lap was only 13 seconds with 4km to go.

Wallonie did most of the work in the chase group before Ista, Matzka, Wallays, Ariesen and Merlier took off in pursuit. They were just 11 seconds behind with 2km to go but they would never make it. Instead, Stenuit and Naesen sprinted for the win and it was the Wanty rider who came out on top even though he was nearly passed by Naesen when he started to celebrate too early.

The series of Belgian one-day races continues on Saturday with one of the major autumn classics. The Brussels Classic will gather a start-studded line-up and it will require a big effort for Wanty to continue their momentum in the oldest one-day race on the calendar.

Dirt roads

The 90th edition of Schaal Sels was held on a 208.8km course around the city of Merksem. First the riders did a big 171km circuit before they ended the race by doing three laps of an 8km finishing circuit. The course was completely flat but was marked by no less than 33 cobblestone sectors and 19 sectors of unpaved roads, the last one coming 45km from the finish.

It was a fantastic summer day in Belgium when the riders gathered for the start and they were ready to race. It all got off to a fast start with lots of attacks but it was still together when they hit the first pave sector where Bora-Argon 18 briefly took control before Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen) accelerated.

Two riders gets clear

Maurits Lammertink (Roompot) and Sjoerd Kouwenhoven (Metec) went on the attack and managed to get a 20-second advantage over the peloton which was down to 50 riders. Wesley Kreder (Roompot) took off in pursuit when the gap was 35 seconds and Topsport led the chase. They brought the chaser back before they got some help from Wallonie.

Wallonie took full control with 140km to go when the gap was 23 seconds. That allowed Dimitri Claeys (Verandas) to try to bridge the gap while the peloton briefly slowed down before Wout van Aert (Vastgoedservice) upped the pace on the next cobblestone section.

The race is stopped

With 140km to go, the gaps were 30 and 50 seconds respectively but Claeys would never make the junction. Instead, the peloton accelerated and brought the gap down to 15 seconds with 125km to go.

That’s when the big drama happened as the car of the race jury got stuck in the deep mud. As a consequence, the race was stopped for a long time and when the riders finally got rolling again, it was neutralized as they needed to pass a dirt road sector before they could start again.

16 riders get clear

The front duo had not been allowed to get any advantage so it was back together when they started racing again. Immediately, Tim Declercq, Oliver Naesen, Jelle Wallays, Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Robin Stenuit (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Bartosz Huzarski, Ralf Matzka, Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Argon 18), Tim Merlier, Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace), Dimitri Claeys (Verandas Willems), Ludwig De Winter (Wallonie-Bruxelles), Wouter Mol (Cyclingteam Join's - De Rijke), Tim Ariesen (Cyclingteam Jo Piels), Tanzou Tokuda (CCT/Champion System) and Gorik Gardeyn (Veranclassic-Ekoi) got an advantage which went out to 30 seconds.

Roompot led the chase while the Topsport riders were very active tin the front group. That was too much for Gardeyn who was dropped.

Wallays takes off

Dylan Groenewegen (Team Roompot), Joeri Stallaert (Cibel), Antoine Demoitié, Kevin Ista (Wallonie-Bruxelles) took off in pursuit as the gap had gone out to 1.10. Meanwhile, the attacking started in the front group when Wallays and Stenuit took off before being joined by Declercq and De Winter.

Wallays tried again as they entered the final 60km and he quickly got an advantage of 25 seconds over his three chasers. Meanwhile, the peloton had lost ground and was at 3.40.

A chase group is formed

Wallays extended his advantage while both Theuns and Ariesen punctured in the chase group which had caught the three nearest chasers. The duo dropped back to the Groenewegen group which also included Gardeyn and was 50 seconds behind.

The two chase groups merged with 52km to go but they were losing ground. With 46km to go, the gap was 1.18 and so Declercq, Matzka, van Aert and Claeys tried to bridge the gap.

Stenuit and Naesen take off

The quartet got closer and had it down to 28 seconds when Wallonie started to chase hard in the big group. Moments later, they crossed the finish line for the first time where Wallays was caught by the chasers.

The chase group was now just 24 seconds behind and this opened the door for Stenuit, Naesen and Ista to take off. Meanwhile, van Aert and Declercq briefly tried to attack in the front group.

The decisive move

With 24km to go, the four chasers caught the leaders and Naesen and Stenuit immediately went on the attack. In just 3km, they put 24 seconds into their chasers who were joined by Merlie, Groenewegen, Stallaert, Ariesen and Mol. Matzka had punctured out of the group.

With 2 laps to go, the gap was 34 seconds and it had gone out to 42 seconds with 12km to go. Here Theuns, Matzka, Gardeyn, Demoitie, De Winter and Patrick van der Duin (Jo Piels) joined the chasers but it was all in vain as Stenuit took the win.