British sprinter Adam Blythe (BMC Racing) won the Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke this afternoon, beating Adrien Petit (Cofidis) and John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).



A day after his twenty-third birthday, he distanced his rivals in the final 700 metres into the Belgian town of Binche.



This result caps the Sheffielder’s rich vein of autumn form, having recently finished second in a stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge and the Omloop van het Houtland.



This is third-year professional Blythe’s second win of the year following a stage of Paris-Correze in early August, and the 64th victory by a British rider this season.



Schleck abandons

In his first race back since fracturing his pelvis at the Dauphiné, Radioshack-Nissan-Trek rider Andy Schleck’s comeback lasted  130 kilometres before he abandoned.



“It was very hard, but I am very happy to be back in the peloton,” said Andy Schleck in a team press release. “It was not the ideal race for me to come back – flat, fast, rain, wind, almost a Flanders Classic – but I don’t regret it.”



Results

Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke (Binche-Tournai-Binche)

1. Adam Blythe (Gbr) BMC Racing Team

2. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis

3. John Degenkolb (Ger) Argos-Shimano



Related links

Blythe wins Paris-Correze opener

Adam Blythe: rider profile