UCI World Tour rankings riders (after Volta a Catalunya)

1		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale	156
2		David Lopez	Euskaltel	147.24
3		Robert Gesink	Ag2r	131
4		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto	118.25
5		Peter Stetina	BMC	92
6		Dries Devenyns	BMC	85.4
7		Michael Matthews	Lotto	71.75
8		Fränk Schleck	Quickstep	70.62
9		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil	61.6
10		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin	60.62
11		Rinaldo Nocentini	Katusha	48
12		Francisco Ventoso	Euskaltel	46.89
13		Ben Hermans	Discovery	46.75
14		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto	44.25
15		Cameron Meyer	Quickstep	38.57

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after Volta a Catalunya)

1		Lotto - Belisol	250.5
2		Euskaltel - Euskadi	220.3
3		BMC Racing Team	193.95
4		Cannondale	187.4
5		Ag2r - La Mondiale	133
6		Omega Pharma - Quickstep	132.95
7		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	125.2
8		Discovery Channel	113.75
9		Team Katusha	102
10		Vacansoleil - DMC	94.6
11		Trek Factory Racing	78.35
12		HTC - Highroad	70.75
13		Team Sky	55.75
14		Astana Pro Team	52.8
15		Movistar Team	50.35
16		Lampre - Merida	48.3
17		Tinkoff - Saxo	46
18		Garmin - Sharp	5

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after Volta a Catalunya)

1		John Gadret	FDJ	26
2		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant	17.5
3		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant	15.65
4		Julien Simon	FDJ	7

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after Volta a Catalunya)

1		Giant - Shimano	33.15
2		FDJ.fr	33
3		Orica - Greenedge	0

Lotto Belisol deservedly on the top of the rankings

The cobbles are back in strength this spring with the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke. The Belgian race was not part of the calendar last year and returns classified as HC, the lowest of the cobbled races of the spring. This will not stop the top cobblers of the World to show up in Harelbeke, as they don't have that many chances of riding in their favorite surface. The route will feature some iconic climbs this year, such as the Muur der Geraardsbergen and the Oude Kwaremont. However, the flat run towards Harelbeke means that the race is usually decided in a sprint of a small group.

Among the winners of the race there are only Belgians so far and it looks unlikely that this will change this year, as three of the four top favorites come from the European country. On 2011 Jelle Vanendert won through a break, while 3 years ago Bjorn Leukemans (who else) took the win after a solo effort. Alessandro Ballan was the only non Belgian of the podium two years ago.

Favorites:

- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Belisol): Leukemans has been the top favorite for the cobbled classics for a few years now but surprisingly he could not be better than third in last year's two classics, Gent - Wevelgem and Ronde van Vlaanderen. However, he had as many as 5 wins last year, including the World Championship, and he has remained among the very top of the classics riders. The last win by Leukemans in the cobbles was the Paris - Roubaix 2 years ago.
- Johan Vansummeren (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): Vansummeren is much more focused on the cobbles that Leukemans is, as the Quickstep rider does not handle the hills as well as Leukemans does. However, he came out on top of the Ronde van Vlaanderen last year, a feature that he has managed to do twice already. One of the problems for him is that the support that he is going to enjoy is limited at best as his main domestique will be Filippo Pozzato.
- Lloyd Mondory (Euskaltel - Euskadi): Lloyd Mondory does not have any major results in the cobbles so far in the story but he was in the top 10 in the Paris - Roubaix two years ago and in the Ronde van Vlaanderen last year. These results, together with his 5th place in the World Championships last season give a hint of the potential of the French. Surely he would settle for a podium in the Belgian race but the rest of the field would do well not to underestimate him.
- Tom Boonen (Team Sky): Tom Boonen needs no presentation to be known in the story. He has been the winner of the Gent - Wevelgem twice in a row and got a 4th place in the E3 as his best result so far in Harelbeke. However, this has been his worst result in a cobbled classic in the last couple of years. However, Sky has not given him any support whatsoever and he will have to fight for himself in the race.

Other important riders that will fight for the win in Harelbeke will be Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team), Gregory Rast (Orica - Greenedge), Oscar Freire (Lampre - Merida), Yoann Offredo (Astana Pro Team), Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Nick Nuyens (Garmin - Sharp).

Previous winners

	First	Second	Third
2011	Jelle Vanendert	Alexandre Vinokourov	Pieter Weening
2013	Bjorn Leukemans	Johan Vansummeren	Alessandro Balan

Startlist

Bjorn Leukemans to the double

Amazing that you still keep this going with such detailed reports. One of best stories on the site. Really well done. E3 is usually a great race, hopefully it delivers here too.

Thanks for the support. As I always say, I think the key to a long term story is that I do this for myself and decide to share it with everyone in here. If you do a story without the motivation it is just not worth the effort.

About the E3... let's say that the race was interesting. The report later today or maybe tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing the outcome of E3

Harelbeke - Harelbeke



The E3 takes place around the same area that the Ronde van Vlaanderen is raced in. A few of the most iconic climbs will be the Muur der Geraardsbergen, the Paterberg and the Oude Kwaremont. The last of those will be the last cobbled hill, with 34 kilometers to go. To reach the finish line in Harelbeke they will have a few more than 20 kilometers of flat terrain, which might generate some regroupings. As we said in the preview, a sprint of a small group will be the most probable outcome.



The break of the day is not very strong and their chances of making it to the finish line are close to non-existent. The group of 5 was Juan Jose Haedo (Movistar), Alexandr Kolobnev (Tinkoff), Cyril Gautier (FDJ), Adriano Malori (Trek) and Moreno Hofland (Belkin). They reached the Muur (102 kilometers to go) with a gap of 6' 30'' over the main bunch, where Sky, Lotto and Quickstep are the teams setting the pace for the three Belgian favorites.



The development of the race was quite surprising after the bunch climbed the Muur der Geraardsbergen. A group of 9 riders with many decent cobblers like George Hincapie, Luca Paolini, Filippo Pozzato, Geraint Thomas and Sylvain Chavanel found themselves ahead of the bunch. However, when the peloton was chasing Tom Boonen crashed and Sky had to stop relaying. Quickstep was not chasing because they had Pozzato ahead and Lotto had lost Roelandts to a puncture. That meant a void of control in the peloton and the gap of this group rocketed to 5 minutes with 60 kilometers to go.



Greg van Avermaet felt like the race was going away for the bunch and tried a solo attack with a bit more than 40 kilometers to go. He easily caught Stefan van Dijk, who had initially joined the group that is ahead but he was still 4' 10'' behind. Meanwhile, even though Boonen was back in the group of the favorites and Sky started working there was no ambition and the gap widened to 5' 30''.



Cyril Gautier was the only man from the original break that could hold on with the second group that broke away but he could not hold on to it and lost contact before the Oude Kwaremont. At the top of the last cobbled climb it seems clear that the race is in the front group, where Sylvain Chavanel is doing most of the work at the front. Meanwhile, Fabian Cancellara did a further selection in the group of the favorites on the Paterberg but they are too far behind.



Bjorn Leukemans managed to leave only 8 men in the group of the main favorites in the last hill. However, even though they reduced the gap to 3' 25'', with 20 flat kilometers to go it seems impossible for them. Among the poorest performances in the race are Alessandro Ballan, who missed Leukemans' move and Lloyd Mondory, who is in one of the last groups of the race. On the front group it is Sylvain Chavanel the first that tried to attack, not trusting his chances in the sprint, but was quickly reeled back in.



Maarten Tjallingii was the second rider to try to go solo in the front group with 11 kilometers to go. However, BMC has both George Hincapie and Bernhard Eisel in the break and is not going to allow for anyone to go easily. This group has actually increased the gap to the favorites to 4' 15'' but it seems like they will start playing cat and mouse in the last kilometers. The fact that Quickstep had Filippo Pozzato in the group was crucial to the success of this break but it is probably not the outcome that Quickstep wanted as the chances in the sprint are not the best for the Italian.



Geraint Thomas attacked with 3 kilometers to go but George Hincapie was very aware of that movement and quickly followed the British rider. The best chances in the final sprint should be for Luca Paolini but after such a tough race it is difficult to predict the outcome. Bjorn Leukemans attacked in the chasing group and no one followed. He managed to cut the gap to the front group to 2' 20'', given that they were already saving strength for the final sprint.



It looked like the sprint was going to be contested by the Italians but George Hincapie took the lead with 1 kilometers to go ahead of Luca Paolini and Filippo Pozzato. They were followed by Philippe Gilbert and Bernhard Eisel. Hincapie seems to have saves enough energy to be on par with the best sprinters in the group by letting Eisel do the work for him. Maarten Tjallingii dropped from the group when Geraint Thomas attacked and will take the 8th place at the finish line.



George Hincapie wins in Harelbeke! The American takes a very surprising win in the first cobbled classic of the season after BMC managed to place 2 riders in the good move of the day. He fended off a charging Philippe Gilbert in the last 500 meters. This is the first win of Hincapie since he won a stage in the Vuelta a España 2010. The podium will be completed by Luca Paolini, who could not make his raw speed work today.

Filippo Pozzato was 4th while Bernhard Eisel took the 5th place, probably hinting that Quickstep did not make the best of the choices by letting this break go and not allowing Johan Vansummeren to fight for the win. The main cobblers have now lost one of the few chances that they have in the season, although this will maybe compensated by the fact that the World Championship will have a few cobbles this year.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	5h18'09
2		Philippe Gilbert	Trek Factory Racing	s.t.
3		Luca Paolini	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
4		Filippo Pozzato	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
5		Bernhard Eisel	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant - Shimano	s.t.
7		Geraint Thomas	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
8		Maarten Tjallingii	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 1'16
9		Björn Leukemans	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'57
10		Johan Vansummeren	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

UCI World Tour rankings riders (after E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke)

1		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale	156
2		David Lopez	Euskaltel	147.24
3		Robert Gesink	Ag2r	131
4		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto	118.25
5		Peter Stetina	BMC	92
6		Dries Devenyns	BMC	85.4
7		Michael Matthews	Lotto	71.75
8		Fränk Schleck	Quickstep	70.62
9		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil	61.6
10		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin	60.62
11		Rinaldo Nocentini	Katusha	48
12		Francisco Ventoso	Euskaltel	46.89
13		Ben Hermans	Discovery	46.75
14		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto	44.25
15		George Hincapie	BMC	44.25

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke)

1		BMC Racing Team	254.45
2		Lotto - Belisol	253.25
3		Euskaltel - Euskadi	220.3
4		Cannondale	187.4
5		Omega Pharma - Quickstep	156.05
6		Ag2r - La Mondiale	138.5
7		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	125.2
8		Discovery Channel	113.75
9		Trek Factory Racing	111.35
10		Team Katusha	102
11		Vacansoleil - DMC	94.6
12		Astana Pro Team	80.3
13		HTC - Highroad	79
14		Team Sky	55.75
15		Movistar Team	50.35
16		Lampre - Merida	48.3
17		Tinkoff - Saxo	46
18		Garmin - Sharp	5

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke)

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant	28.5
2		John Gadret	FDJ	26
3		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant	15.65
4		Julien Simon	FDJ	7

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke)

1		Giant - Shimano	44.15
2		FDJ.fr	33
3		Orica - Greenedge	0

A Great but close win for Hincapie at E3 and nice to see Thomas in the mix too

The first week of the cobbles in the World Tour finishes with the Gent - Wevelgem. Unlike the E3, the Gent - Wevelgem is classified as World Tour race, therefore giving more points to the winner. The route will be the same that saw Tom Boonen win last year. The last kilometers are all flat but a combination of the rain, wind, cobbles and hills in the middle of the race will most probably greatly reduce the size of the group that makes it to the finish line.

Tom Boonen will be in the start looking for the third straight win. The only other rider that won the Gent - Wevelgem was Oscar Freire, while Bjorn Leukemans has been always in the podium. This is a race that favors the sprinters that can go over the hills and cobbles, as the wins by Freire and Boonen prove. The last flat kilometers make it very difficult for a solo attack to succeed.

Favorites:

- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Belisol): Leukemans must be the most frustrated man in the peloton in this race. He has been three times in the podium but has never won. However, even though he is among the best cobblers it is probably the race that is most difficult for him as the flat final section means that the race is normally decided in a group sprint. Given that he is not among the best sprinters he needs to be very superior to win.
- Lloyd Mondory (Euskaltel - Euskadi): Mondory is on the other side of the coin to Leukemans. The French is a great sprinter that will have a very good opportunity if he stays with the front group. His race in the E3 was horrendous, which casts some doubts over his potential performance but if he can show continuity in his progression he could well be in the top of the podium today.
- Johan Vansummeren (Omega Pharma - Quickstep): Quickstep made a very weird decision in the past E3 to let a group of good riders when they had Pozzato in it, leaving Johan Vansummeren with no chances in the end. That was quite the risky move by the Belgian team and it did not pay off. They will have a chance of making it up today but the task will be more difficult this time as Vansummeren will need a very small group to have a chance.
- Tom Boonen (Team Sky): Tomeke has already won twice here and looks set to make it three times in a row. The only doubts cast on him are on whether the crash that he suffered in the E3 is going to make it difficult for him to be at his top level today. Additionally, it seems like Sky will have it very difficult to control the race for him.

Other important riders that will fight for the podium in the Gent - Wevelgem are Oscar Freire (Lampre - Merida), Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team), Gregory Rast (Orica - Greenedge), Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto - Belisol), Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Yoann Offredo (Astana Pro Team).

Previous winners

	First	Second	Third
2011	Oscar Freire	Bjorn Leukemans	Sylvain Chavanel
2013	Tom Boonen	Bjorn Leukemans	Alessandro Ballan
2014	Tom Boonen	Johan Vansummeren	Bjorn Leukemans

Startlist

I'm hoping on Freire for this one

Team Sky with Boonen

I'm rooting for Freire as well (sorry Sutty) but it is going to be difficult.

Ahh well

Gent - Wevelgem



The Gent - Wevelgem will have the same route as last year, with the two climbs to the Kemmelberg in the middle of the race. However, the last of the hills in the race is 45 kilometers to the finish line, which suggests that a solo attack is very difficult to perform. The most likely outcome is a sprint of a reduced group but that group was very small last season, with only 8 riders in the front group.



The break of the day is basically hopeless, as the group is not very strong. Among the 7 riders were Bryan Coquard (FDJ), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Movistar), Rafal Majka (Garmin), Matti Breschel (Cannondale) and Adriano Malori (Trek). They started the hilly climbs with a gap of 6 minutes, although the Casselberg was 102 kilometers from the finish line. The teams setting the pace in the peloton are, as usual, Sky, Quickstep and Lotto.



A few riders attacked in the Casselberg, including Juan Antonio Flecha, Tyler Farrar, Borut Bozic, Luca Paolini and Maarten Tjallingii, and joined the break before the first passage through the Kemmelberg. The first of the climbs to the iconic hill was 64 kilometers to the finish line and they got to it with 4' 40'' over the bunch. The peloton has to start increasing the pace unless they want to be surprised again like in the E3.



The main bunch was torn to pieces in the first climb and only 40 riders remained in the group that got together subsequently. In the second climb Nick Nuyens tried an attack but Jurgen Roelandts took the lead in the group and started increasing the pace for Bjorn Leukemans. Trek has also started working at the front but with 46 kilometers remaining the gap to the break has remained at almost 5 minutes. It is going to be hard for the group of the favorites to chase the break down.



The group of the favorites started a frantic chase of the break in the kilometers following the last hills and attacks from Oscar Freire, Gregory Rast and Nick Nuyens amongst others were all neutrlised quickly. However, they could not bring back Fabian Cancellara and Bjorn Leukemans, who had a gap of 30 seconds on the group of the favorites with 20 kilometers to go. However, they were still 1' 10'' behind the leaders (Flecha, Tjallingii and Malori). In the group of the favorites it was BMC who were working the hardest.



BMC did a great work and managed to bring everyone back together with 12 kilometers remaining. The American teams and Sky are the teams with the most riders, 4 each, in a group of 40. Sky and Quickstep are now keeping the pace high to avoid attacks, which makes sense for the British team in their bid for Boonen but not so much for the chances of Johan Vansummeren. The likes of the Belgian, Fabian Cancellara and Bjorn Leukemans should probably try to attack in the flat before the final sprint.



The high pace in the last kilometers made attacks in the group impossible and the group was getting ready for a sprint for the line. With 3 kilometers remaining some of the sprinters that survived the cobbles are positioning themselves in the front of the group. The quickest men in the group include Ben Swift, Jurgen Roelandts, Andre Greipel, Lloyd Mondory and Tyler Farrar.



Jurgen Roelandts is the first man to start the sprint, with 2 kilometers remaining. The Belgian seems to be working as a brief lead-out man for Bjorn Leukemans, although it is hard to see how Leukemans is going to hold off the sprinters. Tom Boonen, Filippo Pozzato and Johan Vansummeren are all well positioned behind the Lotto riders. Meanwhile, other sprinters like Andre Greipel don't seem to have enough in their tanks and will probably not fight the sprint.



Tom Boonen took the lead of the sprint soon and entered the last kilometer in the first position. However, he had the threatening figure of Lloyd Mondory right on his tail ready to attack him. They looked as the two men that were strongest in the final sprint. Behind them Jurgen Roelandts kept pushing as Bjorn Leukemans could not even get past him. Johan Vansummeren was fifth on the road but he was unlikely to gain any places in the sprint.



Lloyd Mondory wins in Wevelgem! A perfect sprint for the French, who takes the biggest win in his career so far. The Euskaltel rider emerged from the wheel of Tom Boonen and easily got past the Belgian to deny him his third win in a row. Boonen managed to get the second place in the podium but he almost lost the place to Greg van Avermaet in the final few meters of the sprint.

Tyler Farrar took the fourth place in the race ahead of Jurgen Roelandts, showing that this year's Gent - Wevelgem was much more biased towards the sprinters than last year. The best cobbles riders, Bjorn Leukemans and Johan Vansummeren, had to settle for the 7th and 8th places in the final classification of the race. They will have the opportunity to take revenge for the bad results this week in the Paris - Roubaix.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Lloyd Mondory	Euskaltel - Euskadi	5h35'05
2		Tom Boonen	Team Sky	s.t.
3		Greg Van Avermaet	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
4		Tyler Farrar	Tinkoff - Saxo	s.t.
5		Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
6		Alessandro Ballan	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
7		Björn Leukemans	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
8		Johan Vansummeren	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
9		Oscar Freire	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
10		Yohan Offredo	Astana Pro Team	s.t.

UCI World Tour rankings riders (after Gent - Wevelgem)

1		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale	156
2		David Lopez	Euskaltel	147.24
3		Robert Gesink	Ag2r	131
4		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto	118.25
5		Peter Stetina	BMC	92
6		Dries Devenyns	BMC	85.4
7		Lloyd Mondory	Euskaltel	80
8		Tom Boonen	Sky	72
9		Michael Matthews	Lotto	71.75
10		Fränk Schleck	Quickstep	70.62
11		Joost Van Leijen	Vacansoleil	61.6
12		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin	60.62
13		Greg Van Avermaet	Vacansoleil	50
14		Rinaldo Nocentini	Katusha	48
15		Francisco Ventoso	Euskaltel	46.89

UCI World Tour rankings teams (after Gent - Wevelgem)

1		Euskaltel - Euskadi	300.3
2		Lotto - Belisol	298.25
3		BMC Racing Team	274.45
4		Cannondale	187.4
5		Omega Pharma - Quickstep	166.05
6		Vacansoleil - DMC	144.6
7		Ag2r - La Mondiale	138.5
8		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	125.2
9		Team Sky	115.75
10		Discovery Channel	113.75
11		Trek Factory Racing	111.35
12		Team Katusha	102
13		Tinkoff - Saxo	86
14		Astana Pro Team	82.3
15		HTC - Highroad	79
16		Lampre - Merida	53.3
17		Movistar Team	50.35
18		Garmin - Sharp	5

UCI Pro Continental rankings riders (after Gent - Wevelgem)

1		Sylvain Chavanel	Giant	28.5
2		John Gadret	FDJ	26
3		Stefan Van Dijk	Giant	15.65
4		Julien Simon	FDJ	7

UCI Pro Continental rankings teams (after Gent - Wevelgem)

1		Giant - Shimano	44.15
2		FDJ.fr	33
3		Orica - Greenedge	0

A nice win for Mondory , but my prediction was oh so close to coming true

You almost got it, but what do you make of Euskaltel winning a cobbled classic?

an Euskaltel victory on cobbles, what has the world come to?