The first stage of the race is also the queen one. A 5 lap circuit with cobbles and hills should be a very demanding route for the riders, especially since it will be raining for most of the stage. Blythe is the big favorite but a surprise can always come from riders like Hushovd or Hoste
The stage didn't start to well for the big favorite, Adam Blythe who suffered a puncture on the first cobbles of the day but with a low pace in the pack is more than easy for him to come back
Only one rider seemed really interested in a breakaway today and that was Nick Ingels. The Belgian got away right after the first cobbles were reached.
Wei tried to go after him but he had no chance as he was way weaker than the Pokerstars rider on any terrain and he ended up being caught by the pack, dropped off and barely make it to the finish
With no one challenging him in front, Ingels grabbed a lot of KoM points which will probably be enough for him to win the classification at the end of the race, with his team - mate, Geslin, taking most of the remaining points on the route today
The race definitely didn't start well for 100% ME as after Blythe's problems it was Thomas' time to be in trouble. The Brit was affected by a crash in the pack and he lost the contact with the pack.
A group which also included some Pokerstars domestiques was more than 2 minutes behind the pack with more than 100 kilometers left before the finish. It will be quite for them to make it back as Milka have a lot of riders left in the main group and they are doing their best to keep Thomas as far as possible
54 kilometers before the finish we saw the first big moves of the day as Blythe attacked from the pack and Hoste quickly took his wheel
Ingels had a maximum advantage of more than 8 minutes over the pack and that still kept him in the lead with only one lap to go
1 minute and a half behind him Blythe and Hoste are working to win time over the pack even though they don't seem to enjoy too much working with each other
But the pack is already almost 2 minutes behind the duo. Even though they have most of their team in the front group, Milka are not working in front leaving that job to Intesa
On the first cobbled section of the lap Blythe forced the pace and he was very close to drop Hoste, but the veteran Belgian managed to hang on. Still this move meant the end for Ingels' lead
The Pokerstars rider managed to stay with the 2 favorites only a few moments and he was even caught by the pack at the top of the last climb of the day
On the last cobbled section which was the last uphill section of the day as well, Blythe did his best to leave Hoste behind but the Belgian managed to hang on in the Brit's wheel by only just
At the end of the last difficulty of the day, Kluge, Vansummeren, Van Impe and Hushovd broke away from the pack but it was most likely too late to catch the leading duo
Hoste used almost all of his energy to stay with Blythe on the cobbles and at the 10 kilometers banner he's again almost dropped by the Brit's efforts but he is still not cracking
In the last kilometers pretty much nothing happened, Hoste managing to respond to all of Blythe's efforts to leave him behind
And after staying in the leading group using his last sources of energy took the second position at the start of the sprint and even looked at first that he will be able to take the stage win
But Blythe had enough strength left in his legs to take the stage win in the end. Still Hoste has a good chance to retire the title won last year as he is stronger than the 100% Me rider on the race against the clock
Hushovd took third, 46 seconds behind Bythe and Hoste, almost even getting a gap over the other 3 chasers in the last kilometers but it looks like the Norwegian's hopes for the win are very slim now
Kluge won the sprint for fourth, finishing with the same time as Hushovd, just like Vansummeren and Van Impe
Another Pokerstars rider, Geslin, led the third group, in front of Vantomme, more than 3 minutes behind the winner. Sentjens and Bacardi's Kruopis were also in that group
