Published on : 09/19/2026
The Flandrien 0.0 Classic unfolded in an unexpected way. A breakaway that formed late in the race ultimately battled it out for the win in Haacht.
Caught out along with the rest of the peloton, Milan Fretin was unable to join the battle for victory on Saturday, September 19, at the Flandrien 0.0 Classic. Our Belgian sprinter nevertheless held his position in the peloton to lead out his group in the sprint.
With this late move, the race was decided among the front-runners, while the peloton never managed to close the gap enough to shake things up in the final stretch.
The reaction
Sébastien Demarbaix, sports director:
“We’re really disappointed because we had goals for today and were aiming to do well. At kilometer 112, we got back on narrow roads, went through a town, and faced one last small climb—I’d say a bit insignificant—before the local circuits. That’s where the race took a complete turn. There were twenty riders up front, but we didn’t have anyone there since almost the entire team waited for Milan to bring him back before the final circuits following his mechanical issue. After that, the pace remained very fast all the way to the finish.
The gap never exceeded 55 seconds, but in the end, the breakaway held on to the finish. We didn’t have any influence on the race at all; we really didn’t do much. Now, if it hadn’t been for Milan’s mechanical issue, maybe things would have turned out differently. It really threw the team off at the worst possible moment. We had high hopes today. All in all, it’s a race we ended up missing out on.”