2020 Scheldeprijs (1.Pro)
(Grand Prix de l'Escaut), Belgium
108th edition: Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Scheldeprijs podium history | 2019 edition | 2021 edition
Schoten - Schoten, 173.3 km
Caleb Ewan is the day's fast man. Image: Photonews
Weather at the start/finish city of Schoten at 1:30 PM, local time: 13C (55F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the north-northeast at 11 km/hr (7 mph). There is a 55% chance of rain.
The race: The organizer posted this note. "On Wednesday 14 October, the 108th edition of the Scheldeprijs is on the programme. Given the current health situation in Belgium, we as organisation call on you to follow the race at home. It was therefore decided not to release any information about the course."
Here is the organizer's race summary:
The 108th edition of the Scheldeprijs ended with a powerful sprint to the finish. The teams of the top sprinters controlled the race almost perfectly. In that predicted sprint it was the Australian Caleb Ewan who won.
Now that a start in Terneuzen was not possible in the 108th edition of the Scheldeprijs, Schoten became the central point for the oldest Flemish spring classic on the calendar. 10 local laps of 17.3 km. At the start there were many fast men for what is called the unofficial World Championships for sprinters. Ewan, Bennett and Ackermann, among others, competed against each other.
Already in the second lap there was an early breakaway, despite the extremely fast pace in the race. 8 riders escaped: Wirtgen (Bingoal - Wallonie Bruxelles), Schär (CCC Team), Gruzdev (Astana Pro Team), Cavendish (Bahrain - McLaren), Havik (Riwal Securitas Cycling Team), McCabe (Israel Start-Up Nation), Juul-Jensen (Mitchelton-Scott) and Askey (Groupama-FDJ). After the first race, no less than 49 km had been digested.
The breakaway never managed to get a big lead on the circuit in Schoten. The peloton allowed them to ride about 1'25" ahead, but always kept them in sight. With two laps to go Cavendish dropped out of the front group. In the meantime the peloton got closer to the leading group, which still had a 30 second lead.
At the start of the final lap the difference was still about 17 seconds. At the front Askey tried to add a solo escape to his day in the break. The Dutchman Havik joined him, attacked himself and went off on his own. In the peloton it was Deceunick-Quick-Step and Trek-Segafredo who took control.
At 8 km from the finish the story of Havik and the chasing group was over. The peloton controlled the race perfectly and was able to start preparing for the sprint. The trains formed for the sprinters at Deceuninck - Quick-Step, Trek-Segafredo, UAE Team Emirates, Lotto-Soudal and Bora-hansgrohe.
In the last kilometre it was Alpecin-Fenix that brought Merlier to the front and Kristoff was going to prepare the sprint for Jasper Philipsen. Out of Kristoff's wheel, Ewan suddenly came to the front. He sprinted convincingly to victory before Ackermann and Bonifazio. The number two, Ackermann, would eventually be degraded for deviating from his line, resulting in a crash of Jensen, causing Bonifazio to move up a place and Coquard to take third.
This 108th Scheldeprijs was without a doubt a unique autumn edition. Also for Caleb Ewan, who was able to hit the jackpot after his first participation in the Scheldeprijs.
Complete Results:
173.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 48.445 km/hr
| 1 | Caleb Ewan | Lotto-Soudal | 3hr 34min 38sec |
| 2 | Niccolò Bonifazio | Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 3 | Bryan Coquard | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 4 | Tim Merlier | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 5 | Jasper Philipsen | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 6 | Amaury Capiot | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 7 | Arvid de Kleijn | Riwal-Securitas | s.t. |
| 8 | Sam Bennett | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 9 | Itamar Einhorn | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 10 | Romain Cardis | Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 11 | Nacer Bouhanni | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 12 | Michael Van Staeyen | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 13 | Alexander Kristoff | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 14 | Edward Theuns | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 15 | Hugo Hofstetter | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 16 | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg | NTT Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 17 | Max Kanter | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 18 | Davide Martinelli | Astana | s.t. |
| 19 | Alfdan De Decker | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
| 20 | Jake Stewart | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 21 | Pascal Ackermann | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 22 | Evaldas Šiškevicius | Nippo-Delko Provence | @ 5sec |
| 23 | Bert Van Lerberghe | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 24 | Guillaume Boivin | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 25 | Dušan Rajovic | Nippo-Delko Provence | s.t. |
| 26 | Piet Allegaert | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 27 | Luka Mezgec | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 28 | Ryan Mullen | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 29 | Christophe Laporte | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 30 | Florian Sénéchal | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 9'' |
| 31 | Jakub Mareczko | CCC Team | 10'' |
| 32 | Rui Oliveira | UAE-Team Emirates | 13'' |
| 33 | Max Walscheid | NTT Pro Cycling | 15'' |
| 34 | Sasha Weemaes | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 35 | Artyom Zakharov | Astana | s.t. |
| 36 | Enzo Wouters | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 37 | Carlos Rodríguez | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 38 | Maxime De Poorter | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 39 | Lindsay De Vylder | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 40 | Laurens De Vreese | Astana | 21'' |
| 41 | Jasper De Buyst | Lotto-Soudal | 23'' |
| 42 | Alexander Konychev | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 43 | Lionel Taminiaux | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 44 | Jonas Koch | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 45 | Jacob Relaes | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 46 | Aksel Nõmmela | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 47 | Jack Bauer | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 48 | Gijs Van Hoecke | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 49 | Tom Van Asbroeck | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 50 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 51 | Wesley Kreder | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
| 52 | Elmar Reinders | Riwal-Securitas | s.t. |
| 53 | Yevgeniy Gidich | Astana | 27'' |
| 54 | Sacha Modolo | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 55 | Barnabás Peák | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 56 | Jasper Stuyven | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 57 | Jérémy Lecroq | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 58 | Joris Nieuwenhuis | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 59 | Cees Bol | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 60 | Nathan Van Hooydonck | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 61 | Alexander Krieger | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 62 | Cédric Beullens | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 30'' |
| 63 | Florian Vermeersch | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 64 | Connor Swift | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 65 | Julien Vermote | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 66 | Jonas Rickaert | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 67 | Otto Vergaerde | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 68 | Eduard Michael Grosu | Nippo-Delko Provence | s.t. |
| 69 | Jens Debusschere | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 70 | Dmitriy Gruzdev | Astana | s.t. |
| 71 | Alexander Richardson | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 72 | Stefan Küng | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 73 | Jonas Castrique | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 74 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | NTT Pro Cycling | s.t. |
| 75 | Mickaël Delage | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 76 | Olivier Le Gac | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 77 | Fred Wright | Bahrain-McLaren | s.t. |
| 78 | Bram Welten | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 79 | Daniil Fominykh | Astana | s.t. |
| 80 | Biniam Girmay | Nippo-Delko Provence | s.t. |
| 81 | Julien Morice | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 82 | Frederik Backaert | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 83 | Danny van Poppel | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
| 84 | Fumiyuki Beppu | Nippo-Delko Provence | s.t. |
| 85 | Milan Menten | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 86 | Fabian Lienhard | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 87 | Leonardo Basso | INEOS Grenadiers | 41'' |
| 88 | Jannik Steimle | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 89 | Norman Vahtra | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 90 | Kaden Groves | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 91 | Boy van Poppel | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
| 92 | Jempy Drücker | Bora-hansgrohe | 45'' |
| 93 | Michael Schwarzmann | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 94 | Alexander Edmondson | Mitchelton-Scott | 48'' |
| 95 | Robbe Ghys | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 96 | Kenny De Ketele | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 97 | Roger Kluge | Lotto-Soudal | 51'' |
| 98 | Damien Touzé | Cofidis | 52'' |
| 99 | Piotr Havik | Riwal-Securitas | s.t. |
| 100 | Alex Kirsch | Trek-Segafredo | 57'' |
| 101 | Adrien Petit | Total Direct Energie | 59'' |
| 102 | Hugo Houle | Astana | s.t. |
| 103 | Gianni Marchand | Tarteletto-Isorex | 1' 02'' |
| 104 | Nikolas Maes | Lotto-Soudal | 1' 03'' |
| 105 | Frederik Frison | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
| 106 | Niklas Märkl | Team Sunweb | 1' 05'' |
| 107 | Cyril Lemoine | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 108 | Tom Wirtgen | Bingoal-WB | 1' 06'' |
| 109 | Florian Maitre | Total Direct Energie | 1' 08'' |
| 110 | Anthony Turgis | Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 111 | Dries Van Gestel | Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 112 | Adrien Garel | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 113 | Geoffrey Soupe | Total Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 114 | Vegard Laengen | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 115 | Sondre Enger | Riwal-Securitas | s.t. |
| 116 | Daniel Oss | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 117 | Rasmus Tiller | NTT Pro Cycling | 1' 11'' |
| 118 | Senne Leysen | Alpecin-Fenix | 1' 13'' |
| 119 | Christian Knees | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 120 | Sean De Bie | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 121 | Francisco Ventoso | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 122 | Zdenek Štybar | Deceuninck-Quick Step | 1' 15'' |
| 123 | Rüdiger Selig | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 124 | Leon Heinschke | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
| 125 | Andreas Schillinger | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 126 | Joel Suter | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 127 | Sven Erik Bystrøm | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 128 | Marco Haller | Bahrain-McLaren | s.t. |
| 129 | Tom Bohli | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 130 | Chun Kai Feng | Bahrain-McLaren | s.t. |
| 131 | Kévin Geniets | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 132 | Michael Schär | CCC Team | s.t. |
| 133 | Travis McCabe | Israel Start-Up Nation | s.t. |
| 134 | Christopher Juul-Jensen | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
| 135 | Lewis Askey | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 136 | Marcus Burghardt | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 137 | Elias Van Breussegem | Tarteletto-Isorex | s.t. |
| 138 | André Greipel | Israel Start-Up Nation | 1' 24'' |
| 139 | Ludwig De Winter | Circus-Wanty Gobert | s.t. |
| 140 | Dylan van Baarle | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 141 | Brian van Goethem | Lotto-Soudal | 1' 26'' |
| 142 | Luka Pibernik | Bahrain-McLaren | 1' 46'' |
| 143 | Mark Cavendish | Bahrain-McLaren | 1' 47'' |
| 144 | Samuele Battistella | NTT Pro Cycling | 1' 49'' |
| 145 | Luc Wirtgen | Bingoal-WB | 1' 51'' |
| 146 | Michael Gogl | NTT Pro Cycling | 1' 52'' |
| 147 | Ivo Oliveira | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 148 | Thomas Boudat | Arkéa-Samsic | 2' 22'' |
| 149 | Toms Skujinš | Trek-Segafredo | 3' 06'' |
| 150 | Tobias Kongstad | Riwal-Securitas | 3' 11'' |
| 151 | Julien Trarieux | Nippo-Delko Provence | 3' 19'' |
| 152 | Christopher Lawless | INEOS Grenadiers | 3' 27'' |
| 153 | Yves Lampaert | Deceuninck-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 154 | Sonny Colbrelli | Bahrain-McLaren | 3' 38'' |
| 155 | Kiel Reijnen | Trek-Segafredo | 4' 29'' |
| 156 | Clément Russo | Arkéa-Samsic | 5' 09'' |
| 157 | Christophe Noppe | Arkéa-Samsic | 5' 21'' |
| 158 | Kris Boeckmans | B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 5' 55'' |