According to the cycling fans in Belgium and the Netherlands, the cycling season starts today with the 69th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The fans have waited many months to see the rider eating the cobbles and firing up the short but steep Flemish hills. Who wil be the successor of Matti Breschel, who won the 2013-edition?
The route
200 kilometres with start and finish in Gent, including 10 hills and 9 cobbled sections, await the riders.
We are halfway the race, when the BOTD consisiting of 3 riders is ascending the Valkenberg. Nick van der Lijke (Rabo CT), Thierry Hupond (M&M's) and Sander Helven (Livestrong) are all 3 pretty weak cobblers, so they get the blessing from the peloton. But with a margin of only 3 minutes to the peloton, the 3 know that this breakaway will only lead to airtime on TV.
64km to go
With 3 weak riders in the lead, the peloton is taking it relatively easy. Too easy, thinks Martijn Maaskant, and he attacks during the ascend of the Kruisberg. The tactic from the team is to make the race hard. But unfortunately for Maaskant, nobody wants to join him.
50km to go
It takes Maaskant only 10 kilometres to close the 2-minute-gap to the 3 leaders. And at the cobbled Wolvenberg, he leaves them behind. But the peloton os close, only 30 seconds behind him.
38km to go
Thanks to hard work from the domestiques of Radio Shack and Dexia, Maakant gets caught with 38km to go, just before the last climb of the day, the Molenberg. 48 riders are present in the first group.
9km to go
The next 30 kilometres are pretty boring. The pace of the leading peloton is high, so nobody attacks, and the weaker or tired riders drop out of the group. And finally, when all the cobbled sections are done, the first attack is there! Fabian Cancellara knows he can't rely on his sprint in a big group, so he decides to attack. Filippo Pozzato immediately counters, while the others, including our riders, continue the high pace.
3km to go
Cancellara hasn't got the legs to continue the attack, and Pozzato must feel that strong that he relies on his sprint, so the 2 get caught. Dexia has done most of the work, but this has costed them too much energy. Their leader for today, Philippe Gilbert, has to start the sprint 3km before the finish, as his last lead out man Edvald Boasson Hagen stalls. And we? We are too far behind, getting blocked...
1km to go
Our sprint train with Terpstra-Vermeltfoort-Breschel can't find their way through the group, and with a little over 1km to go, we know that the win is out of reach now. Gilbert is still in the lead, followed by Maxim Iglinskiy (CCC) and Johan Vansummeren (Rabobank).
500m to go
Gilbert is stalling with 500m to go, and he gets passed by Greg Van Avermaet (Sony Ericsson) and Filippo Pozzato (BMC). Niki Terpstra finds a way through the group and has a shot at the top 5. And as you can see, Breschel is still being blocked and can even forget a top 10.
Finish
Van Avermaet and Pozzato make it an interesting and thrilling sprint, with the Italian taking the win. It's already the 3rd win this season for Pozzato, showing the world he feels very happy with his new BMC-team. Van Avermaet takes the 2nd place, Bobbie Traksel (Radio Shack) a surprising 3rd and Terpstra takes the 6th place, 1 place in front of Coen Vermeltfoort.
Results
1
Filippo Pozzato
BMC Racing Team
5h01'08
2
Greg Van Avermaet
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
3
Bobbie Traksel
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
4
Lloyd Mondory
FDJ
s.t.
5
Gianni Meersman
FDJ
s.t.
6
Niki Terpstra
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
7
Coen Vermeltfoort
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
8
Philippe Gilbert
Dexia
s.t.
9
Jetse Bol
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Maxim Iglinskiy
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Matti Breschel
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
12
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
s.t.
13
Jan Ghyselinck
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
14
Johan Vansummeren
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
15
Sylvain Chavanel
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
16
Nikolas Maes
Dexia
s.t.
17
Martin Hebik
Differdange - Spuerkeess
s.t.
18
Thomas De Gendt
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
19
Fabian Cancellara
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
20
Gaetan Bille
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
Today's winner
Word from the DS
Okay, this is not the start of the cobbled races that we wanted.... A 6th for Terpstra and 7th for Vermeltfoort isn't bad at all, but we messed it up, due to bad positioning before the spint started.
Spoiler
This was my own mistake. I had made up a sprint train with Vanmarcke-Terpstra-Vermeltfoort-Breschel, and when Terpstra should have taken over (dot 99) with 5km to go, I thought I pushed the dot-button, but I didn't and he was still on ->S after Vanmarcke. It took 2km before I realized it, and then it was too late. Else Breschel could have battled with Van Avermaet and Pozzato for the win. Stupi dmistake by me....
The day after the Omloop, that other February classic is raced, Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne. It's the 68th edition, and this race will suit the sprinters more. Last year, Tom Boonen won the race.
The route
The first part of the 177 kilometres is flat, followed by a hilly section with climbs as the Kruisberg, Oude Kwaremont and Tiegemberg. After the last climb, more than 40 kilometres of flat roads await, so the sprinter teams have a chance to reorganize again.
A group of 14 riders forms the BOTD, and they start the ascend of the Oude Kwaremont with a margin of 2'37 to the peloton. And as none of them are cobblers, I don't bother giving you their names. Just as yesterday, we've decided to make it a hard race, with the goal of dropping the strong sprinters / weak cobblers. Arrived at the foot of the Oude Kwaremont, we're already succeeding in this tactic, as only 55 riders are present in the first group.
72km to go
Our tactic works better as expected, as while we are ascending the Cote du Trieu, the peloton has shattered over many groups! Only 14 riders are present in the first group, including 7 from our team, together with Marko Kump (Rabobank), EB Hagen (Dexia) and Bernie Eisel (Vacansoleil) as the strongest of the others. The peloton, with FDJ and BMC as the teams that were sleeping, is already '50 behind.
22km to go
The group of 14 catch the BOTD, and drop them at the last cobbled sections. The margin to the 2nd group increases to maximum 1'30, but when BMC, Sky and FDJ start to cooperate, the marghin decreases. And when entering the last lap of the circuit in Kuurne, the 2 groups merge.
7km to go
The first rider to attack out of the peloton is Alessandro Ballan (BMC). The former World champion gets joined by Johan Vansummeren (Rabobank), Steve Chainel (FDJ), Bobbie Traksel (Radio Shack) and Greg Van Avermaet (Sony Ericsson). And as these riders are too strong to let the slip away, we start to chase them down.
5km to go
They get caught pretty soon, and then it's time for Fabian Cancellara (Sky) and Sylvain Chavanel (Garmin) to attack (but what is Chavanel looking at??). But we are close!
1km to go
Cancellara gets caught with a little over 1 kilometre to go. He first gets passed by Philippe Gilbert, who just as yesterday, makes it a very long sprint. Behind him, Martijn Maaskant launches Matti Breschel, who as a lot of energy left in his legs!
Finish
Matti Breschel easily overtakes Gilbert and gets his revenge for yesterday. Only bad thing is that the organisation didn't move the peloton that is lapped to the side, so our Dane finds himself at the finish photo together with some CCC-nobodies......
Gilbert takes the 2nd place, and Bobbie Traksel, just as yesterday, the 3rd.
Results
1
Matti Breschel
Petronas - Monster Energy
4h25'33
2
Philippe Gilbert
Dexia
s.t.
3
Bobbie Traksel
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
4
Bernhard Eisel
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Fabian Cancellara
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
6
Martijn Maaskant
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
7
Steve Chainel
FDJ
s.t.
8
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
9
Tom Leezer
M&M's
s.t.
10
Sylvain Chavanel
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Johan Vansummeren
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
12
Olivier Pardini
Wallonie Bruxelles - Crédit Agricole
s.t.
13
Filippo Pozzato
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
14
Martin Hebik
Differdange - Spuerkeess
s.t.
15
Maxim Iglinskiy
CCC Polsat Polkowice
s.t.
16
Alessandro Ballan
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
17
Coen Vermeltfoort
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
18
Thomas Berkhout
M&M's
s.t.
19
Greg Van Avermaet
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
20
Maarten Tjallingii
M&M's
s.t.
Today's winner
Word from the DS
You can say that we fully deserve the win, as we totally controlled the race. Although the 2nd group could close the gap, we were sure of getting a great result!
Edited by dienblad on 08-11-2012 21:35
First of all, great win!
Second of all, Chavanel is clearly looking at the stunning blonde Monster-girl on the sidewalk (just out of the shot) Edited by Ian Butler on 08-11-2012 22:17
Ian Butler wrote:
First of all, great win!
Second of all, Chavanel is clearly looking at the stunning blonde Monster-girl on the sidewalk (just out of the shot)
SSSStttttttt, don't teel the UCI that you figured out my tactical masterplan. It is already working for more than 3 seasons now, bribing or distracting riders with beautiful and barely dressed Monster girls
Hope he can get the win in the cobbled classics then. 
Filippo Pozzato
Greg Van Avermaet
Bobbie Traksel
Lloyd Mondory
Maxim Iglinskiy
Bernhard Eisel
Fabian Cancellara
Mark Cavendish
