This time, his efforts were rewarded. Member of a chasing group in the final 80 kilometres of the E3 Saxo Classic this Friday, after the race exploded on the Taaienberg, Stefan Küng did not leave the race empty-handed. Behind an untouchable Mathieu van der Poel, the Swiss rider secured a fine sixth place to kick off the cobbled Classics campaign. On Sunday, the riders will be in Gent-Wevelgem for the next round.
The “mini-Ronde” took an unexpected direction right from the start in Harelbeke on Friday. While 200 kilometres of racing and no fewer than seventeen bergs were still to be covered, a big crash split the peloton and created an unusual race configuration. Fifty riders broke away and quickly opened up a gap of more than two minutes over the rest of the pack. “It was a hell of a day,” said Stefan Küng. “It never eased off. This big crash after ten kilometres split the peloton in two. We had five guys in front, so we started to pull after a while to keep an advantage.” “We didn’t expect this scenario but given that we had many riders in the first peloton, it wasn’t such an issue for us,” added Frédéric Guesdon. “Olivier pulled first, then Visma-Lease a Bike and Q36.5 gave us a hand, but we gradually understood that it would come back together and that another race would start in the first bergs. Still, it changed the face of the race compared to usual.”
“It’s not a podium, but it’s still something,” Stefan Küng
No breakaway could therefore establish itself in the first part of the race, and after almost eighty kilometres of distance battle, the two pelotons came together around the halfway point. From then on, a race for positioning took place over the first few bergs, particularly on the Kortekeer, before heading to the Taaienberg, the race’s traditional “launch pad”. Two men managed to reach it before the peloton, while the first fight took place among the favorites. Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, and Filippo Ganna took the lead, while Stefan Küng entered a first chasing group with five other competitors. “I was a bit far back at the bottom of the Taaienberg, so I was just able to catch the second group, but we quickly realized that the collaboration wasn’t super,” said the Swiss rider. While the gap to the peloton gradually increased, the margin with the leading group also got bigger and bigger as the kilometers went by. It reached one minute with more than fifty kilometres to go, and even approached two minutes before the famous Paterberg-Vieux Kwaremont sequence.
After this key point, Van der Poel took off alone in the lead, while the group of Stefan Küng reduced to four riders. On the way back to Harelbeke, this quartet was able to catch two riders and therefore get back in the mix for 4th place. Pedersen and Ganna managed to secure their podium spots, and a tough sprint decided the rest of the top 10, a handful of seconds ahead of the main peloton. Stefan Küng fought all the way to the finish line to secure sixth place on the day. “Fortunately I was able to finish in the top 10 and I’m not coming home empty-handed,” he said. “It’s certainly not a podium, but it’s still something in such a quality race.” “We have nothing to regret or feel bad about,” said Frédéric. “I think Stefan is where he belongs. We were aiming for the top 5, and we got sixth. That’s still satisfying. It could have been even better if the move with Valentin and Van Aert had come back, but that’s racing. We also met the expectations as a team today, and that’s good to point out.”
Stefan Küng earned his fourth career top-10 finish at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday and will return to action next Wednesday on Dwars door Vlaanderen. Meanwhile, Gent-Wevelgem is on the horizon for the group.
