Young talent Stuyven wins as road race season kicks off

Lokeren’s Van Avermaet took the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday, while Stuyven, from Leuven, won Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

Stuyven, from the Trek-Segafredo team, held off Van Avermaet, local legend Tom Boonen and world champion Peter Sagan to win by 17 seconds. He had crashed in the previous day’s race and had to ride with bandaged hands on Sunday.

The 23-year-old (pictured) is seen as one of Belgium’s most promising new talents. He was the 2009 junior road world champion, won the 2010 junior edition of Paris-Roubaix and became a professional rider in 2014.

Van Avermaet came second in the Omloop two years ago and has regularly finished on the podium in major spring races without claiming a win, but this time he was able to keep his poise for his first victory of the season, holding off Sagan and Tiesj Benoot in a sprint finish.

Meanwhile, Stig Broeckx was knocked down by a medical motorbike during the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and was taken to hospital with a fractured collarbone and rib.

Photo courtesy Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne