Our feeder squad celebrated its first victory of the year at the biggest race on the African continent.
Matthijs De Clercq broke the ice for Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team on the roads of the Tour du Rwanda, where he claimed stage four from the breakaway. The 20-year-old Belgian, who started his season here at the end of last week, was one of the two survivors of the early breakaway, and in the finale proved to be the strongest.
Wednesday, the front group numbered 16 riders, who quickly put six minutes into the peloton, a comfortable gap that allowed them to fight for victory. At one point, De Clercq and two other men rode away, working well together until another acceleration that came on one of the many hills inside the final hour of the race left only Matthijs and Moritz Kretschy (NSN Development) at the in the lead.
Our rider displayed ironclad self-belief going under the flamme rouge, moving to the front and starting the sprint from that position, despite the road slightly going up with 200 meters to go. De Clercq easily outpaced his breakaway companion and took our Devo Team’s fifth victory in four participations at the Tour du Rwanda.
First of all, I’d like to thank everybody that made this win possible.
“As a rider I’m just the last piece of the puzzle. Everybody on the team, from trainers to teammates, gives it their all and today it paid off. I’m really happy with this victory, it’s an amazing feeling! We’re ready for more at this Tour du Rwanda with this incredible squad”, said Matthijs after his best result in the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
