Aless De Bock solos to victory in the Men's U19

In a gruelling race, the Belgian Aless De Bock won the Tour of Flanders Men’s U19 race by a wide margin. Dane Magnus Carstensen and Dutchman Senna Remijn provided an internationally-coloured podium.

128 km, 11 climbs and 13 cobblestone sections: that was on the menu for the Men's U19 race. With 60 km to go, we counted a sizeable breakaway of 11 riders with a nice lead. The most important names: Aless De Bock, Jenthe Verstraete, Matthijs De Clercq, Lomme Van Den Meerssche, Dries Van Meenen and Magnus Carstensen.

With numerous attack attempts, the peloton tried to close the gap. Behind, it was team Aldo Tailleu that took the initiative, but without success. The tough course ensured for the necessary sifting in the peloton.

Meanwhile, in the leading group, three riders were able to separate themselves from the rest: Aless De Bock, Magnus Carstensen and Lomme Van Den Meerssche. With the lead continuing to grow, Dutchman Senna Remijn, second in the Peace race earlier this year, saw his last chance to jump to the front. He came to within 15 seconds on the final climb of the Achterberg, but just at that moment it was teammate De Bock who launched his attack. Carstensen went with him, but Van Den Meerssche had to drop off.

Some 15 kilometres from the finish, De Bock and Carstensen, former teammates, were already sure of their podium places. De Bock just wanted to wait for a sprint and made his final push on the Wolvenberg. After a strong race and a lovely 6.5 km solo, De Bock was the one throwing his arms in the air in Oudenaarde. Carstensen came second. Remijn completed the party for Acrog Tormans with third place.

See the full results here.