Bob Jungels doubled up for Deceuninck-QuickStep on his Opening Weekend debut after a solo victory in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne followed Zdenek Stybar’s win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad a day earlier.
The Luxembourg national champion – road race and time trial – came to the first cobbled races of 2019 with the intention of learning the ropes from his teammates in an experienced Classics squad with a view of eventually filling the void left by Niki Terpstra after his departure to Direct Energie in the off season.
A 16th place finish on Saturday likely would’ve sufficed for the debutant at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but a strong showing as the race kicked off at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne brought Jungels back into contention after a split on the Kwaremont.
Another split soon after saw Jungels in a group of five riders leading and was held as the race came into the laps of Kuurne and Kortrijk. A late surge saw Jungels ride away solo and eventually finish 12 seconds ahead of the chasing peloton.
Speaking at the winner’s press conference in Kuurne, Jungels said: “It’s probably not one of the wins I was expecting at all. To be honest, I started this season with the ambition to get an introduction to the cobbled Classics and I had it yesterday.
“Today I had a good feeling, I was in a good group after the Kwaremont and I wanted to just put it [the pace] up and split the group up a bit on the next sector and suddenly there were only five of us left.
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