It is race day with very much overcast weather promising some rain later on. We will have to see how that will affect the race, but it could certainly be a factor. The favourites are exactly who you would expect and so let’s get to this race!
The first attack comes from a group of five: Francisco Echarri Kenny Elissonde Jimmy Pranata Pieter Ghyllebert Paul Martens
Seeing an opportunity, Coen Vermeltfoort decides to attack away too. None of these six riders are really a threat but regardless a man comes to the front and drags it all back. That man is Kevin Ista (a little Latin pun there).
The next attackers are: Freddy Johansson Philipp Walsleben William Walker Jay McCarthy
Initially this looks like a solid group with several strong riders but then Jure Kocjan tries to lead a small group up and things bloat out too much so Roger Kluge comes to the front to shut them all down.
Two rather dangerous-looking riders attack next in Marco Zafferani and Lars Petter Nordhaug, but they are quickly shut down by Timothy Vangheel.
Next up a rather large group tries to get away. Thus far large groups haven’t had a lot of luck, so let’s see how the following riders go: Timothy Dupont Lars Petter Nordhaug Pieter Ghyllebert Sten Stenersen William Walker
Of course with a Pokerstars rider on the attack this is going nowhere. Juan Gallego Martin and Maxim Belkov decide to put in an attack to get up to them but inevitably Maxime Bouet shuts this one down.
The next attack comes from: Juan Gallego Martin Maxim Belkov Paul Martens Jocelyn Bar Kenny Elissonde Tesfay Abraha Pieter Ghyllebert Sylvain Dillier
Gallego Martin and Belkov start this attack but the other riders go right past them. The pace is so high that Dillier can’t hold it and he is returned to the peloton. Things are starting to look good for one of these moves.
Looking to bridge across is Vegard Laengen, and he is closely followed by a group of 4 riders: Marco Zafferani Dockx Freddy Johansson Piet Rooijakkers
This time Timothy Vangheel controls the bridging movement, but Laengen manages to bridge on his own, giving us a lead group of 6 riders who have about 1’30” on the peloton.
Perhaps encouraged by the success of Laengen three riders try to get up: Panagiotis Vlatos Elia Favilli Jure Kocjan
However, Bouet and his team are content with the make up of the group out the front so he chases this down and the break’s lead goes well over the two minute mark. So Laengen leads us on to the first cobbled section, which is 1.9km long. The lead is at 5’23”.
The gap comes down a bit here but by the time the second tiny cobbled section has finished it is out at about the same point. Up next is the combination of the third and fourth section of cobbles, which combine for a total of 3.1km of rough road with only a couple of kilometres in the middle of tarmac to break them up. The break hits them with a lead of 5’04”.
Just before this third sector starts there is an attack and with a bit of a surprise it is Steven Kruijswijck, the team leader of B&O here. Clearly he is not just content with sitting in the bunch all day and really wants to make his mark.
Clearly the peloton still aren’t in full chase mode and so Kruijswijk was a 42” lead as he hits the third cobbled section. He manages to claw the gap back quickly over this section and the next. Now the race will loop back around and face these same two tough sections for a second time.
However, just before looping back around there is another rider attacking the peloton. This time it is Evert Verbist! He is a huge threat if he can get a gap on the peloton so they really have to do their best to hold him. Interesting tactics from Milka too, taking real use of their super domestique here.
Before we hit the dual section of cobblestones for the second time, Kruijswijck manages to catch the break. What a great chase – he has managed to neutralise a gap of over 5 minutes without any trouble at all. The break, now 7 riders strong, has a gap of 2’58” over Verbist and another 1’48” over the peloton, who are clearly happy to just let Verbist take his chances.
It isn’t long until Verbist joins the front group, as the race hits the 5th sector of cobbled roads. The lead to the peloton now sits at a strong 5’21” and with a couple of real powerhouses here it could be touch-and-go if the peloton doesn’t get a move on.
Thankfully, Simply Red Bull are looking really serious today and with some help from Pokerstars they really increase the pace. Great to see two new PT teams looking to dominate this race.
A couple of riders fall but it is only Locatelli and Mazur, so no real harm done. Well, at least not for riders hitting the tarmac. Lots of legs are hurting and so we get a group of 25 dropped. The main unifying factor seems to be that it is mostly from teams with red jerseys. Maybe red doesn’t really go faster at all?
Just as the race is about to hit the 7th of 12 cobbled sections, Sep Vanmarcke puts in a nice attack. Clearly the outsiders are really going for this one today, perhaps realising that most of the Belgian classics will be beyond their skill level.
This is a tough section which is 1.7km in length, followed by a small 8th section soon after. By the end of this 8th section Vanmarcke has prised out a gap of 1’12” from the 112 man peloton. The break have 3’20” over Vanmarcke, meaning that the peloton is 4’32” behind in total.
After the equally small 9th section with about 60km to go the gaps are:
1’22”
2’19”
3’41”
Break (8)
--->
Vanmarcke
--->
Peloton (112)
Vanmarcke has been hovering at around 1’30” for a while now and is really struggling to close this down. This is bad news as it will just tire him out more. Not tiring out, however, is the peloton, still resolutely lead by Simply Red Bull.
Now another group of 22 is spat out the back. Where the earlier group was mostly red this one is mostly blue. The biggest names are probably Blot, Croket and Rosseler, though none of them were any chance to do much today.
Now the tough 10th cobbled section follows, which is a very long 2.5km. Verbist gets on the front, realising that he needs to keep the pace high, and he really puts the hammer down.
Indeed Martens and Laengen are dropped from the break.
Back in the peloton meanwhile, at the very head of affairs as the equally tough 11th section start are Fabian Cancellara and Marcus Burghardt, two of the biggest favourites for today. Spartacus even puts in a turn on the front, really hammering down the pace. This is the second last section, with 40km left, so if someone wants to put in a big attack it will have to come soon.
With the work from Cancellara the peloton reduces to 77 riders, with some of those barely hanging on and clearly not being much use. The gap to the break is down to about 1’20”, so their time is clearly limited.
Perhaps realising this, wildcard rider Abraha attacks out of the break. He pulls out a 30” gap without too much problem.
Just before the final cobbled section, with about 23km remaining, Sibilla leads the peloton as they drag in Vanmarcke, who seemed to run out of steam so fast today. The rest of the break is not much further up the road, only about 30”, with another 30” to Abraha.
Abraha has his moment of glory but as the race leaves this final cobbled section everyone has come together. The peloton now numbers 85 riders, including the former break and all of the favourites, both major and secondary.
With 21.2km to go, just as the cobbles finish, there is an attack from Sam Bewley!
Clearly the Kiwi is impatient and doesn’t want a bunch sprint to decide this – maybe he is worried about the possibility of increased competition? Straight on his wheel is Cancellara and right behind Spartacus is Burghardt. In fact so powerful is the attack of the Swiss rider that Cancellara just keeps going past them!
A number of other favourites set off in pursuit: Nuyens Fenn Gusev Ballan Boonen Blythe Steurs Summerhill
These 8 riders join up with Bewley and Burghardt to make a group of 10, who are about 20” behind the Swiss machine.
Behind this group, Trentin sets off in pursuit. If he could make it across that would be a huge result for him. Leading the peloton is Franzoi, who is getting a lot of help from Nooytens. All of the riders considered outsiders before the race are in this peloton.
With 15km to go Cancellara doesn’t look like slowing down. Of course he doesn’t look like he is speeding up either, as he sits around the 20-30” mark consistently.
The gaps with 15km to go are:
20”
27”
13”
1’00”
Cancellara
--->
Favourites (10)
--->
Trentin
--->
P (71)
The pressure exerted at the front of the peloton is telling, as is a long day of rough riding. The peloton splits in half! Only 28 riders make this split of the 71 who were here a moment ago. No one of importance missed this split.
Nooytens drags Trentin back in to the shattered remnants of the peloton. They are 45” behind the favourites group and Cancellara is still another 20” ahead.’
And with 10km to go the gap remains at 20”. You have to wonder if anyone has the ability to drag Spartacus back in.
And indeed someone does! It is home country hero Blythe who manages to bring Cancellara into the favourites group with 6km to go. Their gap is hovering dangerously at around 37” over the peloton now.
And indeed as soon as the Swiss rider is caught no one in the favourites group is too keen to push it on and thus the peloton can catch up, giving us a 39 man group at the head of affairs.
So the sprint opens up and two Milka boys are at the front – Bewley is here and A. Nepomnyachsniy, who is on the right of picture. Boonen is also well-placed here, just behind Bewley.
Bewley starts to open up a big gap. Remember that he started the attack with all the favourites, so if he takes it this would be justice. Blythe is coming up to Bonnen’s wheel.
The riders fan out across the road. Wiggle have three riders here, with Rowe the best placed. Summerhill and Ballan are both well placed on the right. On the left Pozzatto is coming up.
And Pozzatto isn’t just coming up, he is tearing the track up with his speed!
But no one can stop Sam Bewley taking today’s win!
Pozzatto takes a stunning second place and will be wondering what could have happened if he had been able to position himself better. Bonnen takes a third place, which will have to suffice. Burghardt impresses with 4th place here too. From here things get a bit tighter.
Summerhill’s good positioning earn him a 5th place. Surprisingly, Turgot proves to be Simply Red Bull’s best placed rider in 6th, ahead of Ballan in 7th. Rowe is the best of the local riders, taking 8th ahead of teammate and compatriot Blythe. Finally, Nuyens rounds out the top ten.
Some disappointing rides from Gusev (14th), Cancellara (18th), though you can understand why he didn’t really sprint at the end and Franzoi (21st). Nepomnyachsniy stopped sprinting to celebrate himself. Milka had some risky tactics today and they paid off handsomely.
Note: Piotr Mazur and Tom Dumoulin were both OOT.
Full Results:
1
Sam Bewley
Milka - AVG
5h20'12
2
Filippo Pozzato
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
3
Tom Boonen
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
4
Marcus Burghardt
Team Bacardi
s.t.
5
Danny Summerhill
Wikipedia
s.t.
6
Sébastien Turgot
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
7
Alessandro Ballan
Koenigsegg
s.t.
8
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Adam Blythe
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Nick Nuyens
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
11
Geert Steurs
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
12
Andrew Fenn
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
13
Michel Sibilla
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
14
Vladimir Gusev
Pendleton's
s.t.
15
Sebastian Langeveld
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
16
Frederik Nolf
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
17
Jempy Drucker
Team B&O
s.t.
18
Fabian Cancellara
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
19
Ramon Sinkeldam
Project 1t4i
s.t.
20
Wim De Vocht
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
21
Enrico Franzoi
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
22
Alexandr Nepomnyachsniy
Milka - AVG
s.t.
23
Maarten Wynants
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
24
Sven Nooytens
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
25
Matteo Trentin
Project 1t4i
s.t.
26
Preben Van Hecke
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
27
Koen De Kort
Project 1t4i
s.t.
28
Stijn Joseph
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
29
Greg Van Avermaet
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
30
Christopher Juul-Jensen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
31
Kevin Fouquet
Koenigsegg
s.t.
32
Kevin Eeckhout
Wikipedia
s.t.
33
Bas Giling
Project 1t4i
s.t.
34
Ricardo Van der Velde
Team Bacardi
s.t.
35
Anthony Geslin
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
36
Pieter Mertens
Pendleton's
s.t.
37
Evert Verbist
Milka - AVG
s.t.
38
Kristoffer Nielsen
Team B&O
s.t.
39
Yoann Offredo
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
40
Sébastien Minard
Team Puma - SAP
+ 2'13
41
Kevin Van Impe
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
42
Mauricio Sanz
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
43
Nick Ingels
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
44
José Joaquin Rojas Gil
Aker - MOT
s.t.
45
Sébastien Rosseler
Project 1t4i
s.t.
46
Michael Schär
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
+ 3'22
47
Zdenek Stybar
Milka - AVG
s.t.
48
Bert-Jan Lindeman
Koenigsegg
s.t.
49
Guillaume Blot
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
50
Grégory Rast
Pendleton's
s.t.
51
Danilo Wyss
UBS - BMC
s.t.
52
Philip Vandaele
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
53
Lars Croket
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
54
Roger Kluge
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
55
Martin Mortensen
Koenigsegg
s.t.
56
Francis Mourey
Pendleton's
s.t.
57
Ralf Matzka
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
58
Laurens Ten Dam
Project 1t4i
s.t.
59
Morten Reckweg
Team B&O
s.t.
60
Thomas Riber-Sellebjerg
Team B&O
s.t.
61
Adil Jelloul
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
62
Alexandre Aulas
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
63
Jocelyn Bar
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
64
Aidis Kruopis
Team Bacardi
s.t.
65
Gianni Meersman
Team Puma - SAP
s.t.
66
Sep Vanmarcke
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
67
Oumaru Minoungou
Pendleton's
s.t.
68
Cedric Lebris
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
69
Cristian Cominelli
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
70
Steven Kruijswijk
Team B&O
s.t.
71
Timothy Vangheel
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
72
Robert Gavenda
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
73
Andzs Flaksis
Wikipedia
s.t.
74
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Aker - MOT
s.t.
75
Timothy Dupont
Pokerstars.com
s.t.
76
Pieter Ghyllebert
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
77
Kevin Ista
Simply Red Bull
s.t.
78
William Walker
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
79
Tesfay Abraha
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
80
Gediminas Bagdonas
Team Bacardi
s.t.
81
Maxim Belkov
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
82
Kenny Elissonde
Wikipedia
+ 4'26
83
Jon Ander Insausti
Santander
+ 6'49
84
Paul Martens
Project 1t4i
+ 7'57
85
Vegard Stake Laengen
Aker - MOT
s.t.
86
Jimmy Pranata
PFG-Armavia
+ 9'27
87
Anthony Lavoine
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
88
Kiril Yatsevich
Team Bacardi
s.t.
89
Philipp Walsleben
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
90
Steven Cummings
Pendleton's
s.t.
91
Lloyd Mondory
Pearl Adidas
+ 10'24
92
Ivano Lo Cicero
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
93
Paolo Locatelli
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
94
Benoît Sinner
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
95
Alex Kirsch
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
96
Elia Favilli
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
97
Marco Brus
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
98
Jure Kocjan
Team Bacardi
s.t.
99
Sebastien Einsle
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
100
Laurent Pichon
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
101
Jay McCarthy
Wikipedia
s.t.
102
Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin
Santander
s.t.
103
Leopold König
Milka - AVG
s.t.
104
Panagiotis Vlatos
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
105
Freddy Johansson
Koenigsegg
s.t.
106
Marco Zafferani
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
107
Silvan Dillier
UBS - BMC
s.t.
108
Armindo Fonseca
Pearl Adidas
+ 12'28
109
Steven Burke
Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
s.t.
110
Santo Anza
Koenigsegg
s.t.
111
Jesse Sergent
Milka - AVG
s.t.
112
Tom Thill
Team Bacardi
s.t.
113
Meron Russom
Pendleton's
s.t.
114
Jose Goncalves
Pearl Adidas
s.t.
115
Kristof Vandewalle
Project 1t4i
+ 14'06
116
Jetse Bol
Team Puma - SAP
+ 14'28
117
Gert Dockx
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
118
Mahdi Sohrabi
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
119
Richie Porte
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
120
Vicente Reynès
Santander
s.t.
121
Steele Von Hoff
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
s.t.
122
Nikola Aistrup
Team B&O
s.t.
123
Moreno Hofland
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
124
Marcel Aregger
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
125
Maciej Ulanowski
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
126
Sonny Colbrelli
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
127
Phucong Sai-Udomsin
PFG-Armavia
s.t.
128
Florian Stalder
UBS - BMC
s.t.
129
Francisco Javier Echarri
Santander
s.t.
130
Anders Lund
Aker - MOT
s.t.
131
Rafaâ Chtioui
UBS - BMC
s.t.
132
Dion Beukeboom
Wikipedia
s.t.
133
Juraj Sagan
Team B&O
s.t.
134
Artem Topchanyuk
Aker - MOT
s.t.
135
Sten Stenersen
Team B&O
s.t.
136
Alberigo Passalacqua
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
s.t.
137
Javier Moreno
Santander
s.t.
138
Riccardo Zoidl
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
139
Alexandre Shushemoin
Aker - MOT
s.t.
140
Andrew Talansky
Wikipedia
s.t.
141
Alexander Wetterhall
Koenigsegg
s.t.
142
Tyler Butterfield
Team Bacardi
s.t.
143
Edoardo Girardi
UBS - BMC
s.t.
144
Sean Downey
Pendleton's
s.t.
145
Piet Rooijakkers
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
146
Piter Campero
Festina-Canal+
s.t.
147
Pedro Pablo Pereyra
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
148
Kiel Reijnen
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
+ 16'11
149
Maxime Bouet
Milka - AVG
s.t.
150
Sebastien Reichenbach
UBS - BMC
s.t.
151
Javier Aramendía
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
152
Joseph Biziyaremye
Aker - MOT
s.t.
153
Dimitri Champion
UBS - BMC
s.t.
154
Imanol Erviti
Santander
s.t.
155
Thomas Koep
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
156
Viktor Renäng
Koenigsegg
s.t.
157
Ole Haavardsholm
Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi
+ 19'26
158
Bob Jungels
Vesuvio - Accumalux
s.t.
159
Ole Hirschlein
Lotto - Cervelo
s.t.
160
Coen Vermeltfoort
Lotto - Cervelo
+ 20'34
161
Westley Gough
Milka - AVG
s.t.
162
Mario Gonzalez Salas
Santander
s.t.
163
Stelly Robert
Wikipedia
s.t.
164
Chu Thien Sinelobov
UBS - BMC
s.t.
165
Aberlardo Ablenado
Santander
+ 24'20
166
Evan Huffman
Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms
