Cycling highlights: For many fans, Strade Bianche has long been one of the most interesting races of the year. Tiesj Benoot provided an argument for this in 2018. The Belgian stormed to his first professional victory with a splendid catch-up race.
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Benoot chases the lead duo
Although 2018 Roads was held for the twelfth time, the race over the gravel roads of Tuscany is one of the highlights of every cycling season. When the weather is good, the dust thrown up lives up to the name of the race. "Strade Bianche" translated from Italian means "white streets". But these were hardly to be seen on March 3rd. Because the heavy rain at times caused a real mud fight instead. Despite numerous attacks and several group formations, the race practically started all over again about 60 kilometers from the finish line. The breakaways were caught and the peloton was already thinned out a lot at this point. In the gravel section of San Marino in Grania, a strong duo broke up with Wout van Aert and Romain Bardet. Both looked extremely confident and in the peloton a controlled pursuit was no longer possible. So the Belgians Tiesj Benoot and Pieter Serry went hunting together.
"FANTASTIESJ" is born
It was now two against two – but not for long. Because it soon turned out that nobody could hold Tiesj Benoot's rear wheel that day. The Belgian – who has never won a race before in his career – shook off his compatriot and drove to the front as a soloist for the Bardet/Van Aert duo. After such an effort, it would actually have been expected that he would have to rest in the slipstream of his new companions in the following minutes. But it was not like that. On the contrary. Tiesj Benoot went on and passed Romain Bardet and Wout van Aert. Eight days before his 24th birthday, Tiesj Benoot simply couldn't stand it. With a lead of 39 seconds over Bardet and 58 seconds over Van Aert, the Belgian celebrated his first professional victory.