This Saturday 9th of September, all honour was for Circus-ReUz-Technord at the end of the GP de Honnelles, the tenth and last race of the U23 Road Series.
Jasper Dejaegher managed to close his two point deficit in the individual classification during the race already, enabling him to conquer the yellow jersey at the finish line, in addition to securing his green intermediate sprint jersey.
His 19 year old teammate Victor Hannes, one of the six riders of Circus-ReUz-Technord to finish among the twenty best riders in the final classification, won the white jersey of best young rider.
It is a recognition for the team directed by Kévin Van Melsen, which finished on the podium of seven out of the ten races of the U23 Road Series in which the team participated, winning four of them.
"In our tactics we wanted to fully benefit from the first intermediate sprint, because these points counted for both the green jersey and the overall classification. From the start, my teammates neutralised a lot of attacks in the peloton. Victor Hannes and Francesco Busatto then perfectly launched me towards the intermediate sprint, enabling me to close my disadvantage of two points on Huub Artz and lead the virtual classification together with him. Artz then attacked multiple times, but we stayed attentive all race long and we filtered the breakaway attempts towards the following intermediate sprints. We knew that we had to fulfil one more condition to achieve the overall victory: finishing ahead of Artz at the finish line. Once more, Obie Vidts and Francesco Busatto did a perfect lead out so I could make our dream come true. The team won all leader's jerseys, which is a nice reward for all of us. The atmosphere was euphoric after the race, we couldn't have wished for more."
"In each of the races of the U23 Road Series we lined up with the ambition of fighting for the victory, no matter the terrain: on flat roads, on the cobbles of Omloop het Nieuwsblad U23 or on the hills in Limburg. We managed to win four times out of the nine races in which we participated, with three different winners. By winning the Wim Hendriks Trofee and the Omloop der Zevenheuvelen, Jasper Dejaegher became one of the main contenders for the overall victory. That's why we focused our efforts on this goal in the last races. Our cohesive group managed to guide Jasper towards success today, with also defending his green jersey and the white jersey of Victor. I'm particularly proud of what we accomplished, winning all jerseys in the U23 Road Series reflects our impressive consistency. This regularity counts for all members of Circus-ReUz-Technord, all season long. The Road Series gave our riders the opportunity to learn to race for the victory, as a team, which is a fantastic learning experience, especially for our youngest riders."
