Exemplary Strong powers towards Paris road race
Southland’s Corbin Strong sprinted to win stage two of the Tour de Wallonie on Tuesday July 25 and moved into the race lead after an impeccable performance by the Kiwi rider and his Israel – Premier Tech teammates.
Strong made light work of a challenging uphill finish into the town of Ouffet after being led out by Simon Clarke. But this performance was about more than just the final 500m.
Newly-crowned Israeli road race champion Oded Kogut, Michael Schwarzmann, and Riley Pickrell did a great job keeping the day’s breakaway in check, before Strong and Clarke helped split the peloton on the category two Côte de Géromont with 12km remaining.
Although an eight-rider group containing the duo was short-lived, the IPT team was not going to be denied its 21st victory of an unforgettable 2024 season to date.
Home rider Dylan Teuns – the race’s 2017 champion – and Nick Schultz set a blistering pace on the approach to the line, ensuring that nobody could launch a speculative attack. After Schultz’s job for the day was done with 1km to go, Teuns and then Clarke ensured Strong had the best approach to the finish line.
“I’ve been thinking about this week here for a couple of months now,” Strong said.
“Training went really well, I’m really happy with how the form is, and it’s nice to come here and get the win.
“I think if you watched the stage, it was such a privilege to be a part of this team. They were all behind me – I even thought to myself in the last 3km, with the work my teammates did today, that I better pull this one off! They all rode really strongly – Schultzie, Clarkey, Dylan in the final kilometres, they all did a dream lead-out. I always think that on a finish like this, if I’m not coming from too far back, they suit me really well. I had a lot of confidence in myself today.”
Strong had now won races in each of his three professional seasons with IPT; the opening stage of the Tour of Britain in 2022, a stage of the Tour de Luxembourg in 2023, and now this success in Belgium.
The 24-year-old was leading following his deeds on the bike, and strong performances kept him the top 10 of the race and helped him to second overall.
Next up it’s Paris, where he would compete in the road race at the Olympics on August 3 and hopefully bring a medal back with him.