Davide Ballerini showed he can be the “next big thing” for Deceuninck-Quick-Step on Saturday after taking a convincing victory in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the race that kicks off the Spring Classics season in Flanders.
“It’s a dream come true,” an emotional Ballerini said. “This is the start of the really big classics. I love it and I love this team. It was my dream since I was a baby when I saw my first race on TV. We are here.
“I win so I’m really happy for the team. I don’t have words for the team but I know it’s not easy for everybody with Covid. I say congrats to the organisation for this race and keep going like this.”
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroen), Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) all broke early, but as they approached the climb of the Muur everyone came together again.
As groups reunited, Ballerini edged Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) in the bunch finish at the end of the 200.5 km run from Ghent to Ninove.
??@ballero_94 of ??@deceuninck_qst wins ??@OmloopHNB #OHN21 #OHNmen (?@sporza) pic.twitter.com/w8JPWk4pbs
— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) February 27, 2021
