***Matti Breschel, Fabian Cancellara (Sky), Filippo Pozzato (BMC). ** Sylvain Chavanel (Garmin), Philippe Gilbert (Dexia), Niki Terpstra. * Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Jetse Bol (Vacansoleil), Johan Vansummeren (Rabobank).
Our Goal
Again, a top 3.
The Race
66km to go
The BOTD is climbing the 5th hill of the day, the Eikenberg (1.2km at 5.5%), when the expected icy rain starts to pour down on their heads. With Jan Tratnik and Johan Tschopp as the most known riders, the peloton doesn't mind that they lead with a margin of 4 minutes.
49km to go
We decide to play a different strategy today. We send one of the luxury domestiques, Sep Vanmarcke, in an fairly early attack. Within 17km time, he closes the gap to the 10 leaders, and joins them in the ascend of the Taaienberg (1.2km at 9.5%) with the peloton still 4'02 behind.
41km to go
Sep Vanmarcke is way too strong for the other 10 and immediately drops them. 8 km later, when he arrives at the foot of the Patersberg (362m at 12%), he leads them by 32 seconds. The peloton doesn't know how to react and the pace drops, 4'25 behind.
37km to go
It has stopped raining and the sun tries to sneak through the clouds. In the peloton, the guys from Sky and BMC keep looking at each other, not willing to do the work in the chase, so the other team might profit from it. Consequently, it's Steve Chainel who is leading the group, with our guys keep on disturbing the chase even more. 4'52 behind the leader!
27km to go
Vanmarcke is trying to keep the pace high at the last hill of the day, the Cote de Trieu. Behind him, the peloton is finally gaining speed, 4'02 behind.
But it's too late to bring the win in danger. Sep Vanmarcke can celebrate in Harelbeke, after a great solo ride of 60 kilometres!
Young Jetse Bol sprints to the 2nd place at '48, beating Bobbie Traksel and Matti Breschel in the peloton sprint.
Results
1
Sep Vanmarcke
Petronas - Monster Energy
5h08'21
2
Jetse Bol
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 48
3
Bobbie Traksel
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
4
Matti Breschel
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
5
Filippo Pozzato
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
6
Coen Vermeltfoort
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
7
Philippe Gilbert
Dexia
s.t.
8
Kevyn Ista
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
9
Gianni Meersman
FDJ
s.t.
10
Sylvain Chavanel
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
The Winner
Word from the DS
What a fantastic start of this week. First Breschel winning Dwars Door Vlaanderen and now Vanmarcke winning E3 - Harelbeke. Now we just need to win Gent - Wevelgem , De Ronde and Paris - Roubaix .
Edited by dienblad on 08-12-2012 10:23
The day after the E3 is the 76th edition of Gent - Wevelgem, the race known for the feared Kemmelberg and it's descend.
Last year, Philippe Gilbert showed he can also win a cobbled race, beating Sylvain Chavanel and Tom Boonen.
The Route
205 kilometres, with a first flat part, before 2 laps on a hilly circuit, including 7 climbs, with the Kemmelberg (1400m at 7.8%, max 17%) as the most difficult one.
Type 1
211. M.Friedman
212. R.Bahati
213. A.Efimkin
214. M.Galeotti
215. J.P.McCarty
216. K.Reijnen
217. S.Schumacher
218. R.la Rosa
Our Team
The Favourites
***Matti Breschel, Tom Boonen (Katusha), Filippo Pozzato (BMC). ** Fabian Cancellara (Sky), Sylvain Chavanel (Garmin), Philippe Gilbert (Dexia). * Lars Boom (Saxo Bank), Niki Terpstra, Johan Vansummeren (Rabobank).
Our Goal
With all the strong cobblers present, we'll be happy with a top 3 (but want a win of course).
The Race
79km to go
It's terrible weather in the Western part of Belgium. A strong wind with speeds up to 70 km/h is blowing from the side, coming from the North Sea, with a temperature of 7 degrees. Heavy showers are predicted, but luckily for the riders, they can ascned the Kemmelberg for the first time on dry cobbles.
A breakaway with 10 riders is riding less than 3 minutes in front of the peloton, with Johan Tschopp and Pieter Weening being the most famous riders.
37km to go
The leading group gets caught by the peloton pretty soon, and still before the 2nd ascend of the Kemmelberg, the rain starts pouring down on the poor riders, who are almost freezing on their bikes.
A group of 41 riders starts the last important hill of the day, but because of the high pace set by Petronas - Monster Energy and Team Sky (yes, that's Cavendish in 3rd place!), the group breaks in a few smaller groups.
26km to go
With the finish in Wevelgem coming closer, only 27 riders are able to stay in the first group. Cavendish is still leading the group, being a domestique for Cancellara obviously.
18km to go
Euskaltel in the attack with 18km to go in a World Tour cobbled race!! It's the best Spanish cobbled rider ever, Juan Antonio Flecha, who attacks and gets countered by a very surprising name, Sony Ericsson's Michel Koch.
6km to go
The 2 get caught with 6km to go, when the next attack is launched. Sylvain Chavanel tries it, countered by Tom Boonen, John Degenkolb, Lars Boom en Filippo Pozzato. Maaskant & Terpstra ride their already frozen ass off, to catch them, trying to bring Vermeltfoort and Breschel in a great position for the sprint.
1500m to go
The freezing temperatures, rain and wind are too much for our sprint train, meaning Breschel has to start the sprint from too far behind. With 1500m to go, Tom Boonen has got a small margin to Pozzato and Fabian Cancellara. A few metres behind the Swiss, is the next group with Philippe Gilbert, John Degenkolb, Matti Breschel, Johan Vansummeren and Bobbie Traksel.
Finish
The weather proofs to be the decisive factor in this race, as the cobbles specialists with a good sprint, can't produce that sprint now. So it's Spartacus who takes the win in Gent - Wevelgem, beating Boonen and Pozzato. Breschel takes the 4th place, just as last year, and Vermeltfoort the 10th.
Results
1
Fabian Cancellara
Sky ProCycling
5h27'48
2
Tom Boonen
Katusha Team
s.t.
3
Filippo Pozzato
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
4
Matti Breschel
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
5
John Degenkolb
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
6
Johan Vansummeren
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Bobbie Traksel
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
8
Philippe Gilbert
Dexia
s.t.
9
Sylvain Chavanel
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
10
Coen Vermeltfoort
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Steven Van Vooren
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
12
Lars Boom
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
13
Martijn Maaskant
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
14
Niki Terpstra
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
15
Alessandro Ballan
BMC Racing Team
s.t.
16
Juan Antonio Flecha
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
17
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
18
Heinrich Haussler
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
19
Peter Sagan
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
20
Michel Koch
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
The Winner
Word from the DS
A 4th place for sure ain't bad, but it is not the result we hoped for. But the team performance was great, with 5 riders in the top 20.
The last race to prepare ourselves for De Ronde van Vlaanderen is the Driedaagse De Panne Koksijde. This 4-stage race with 1 cobbled stage, 2 flat ones and a ITT, is raced for the 38th time. Last year, Belgian Jan Kuyckx was the surprising winner, thanks to a breakaway win in stage 1.
*** Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dexia), Sylvain Chavanel (Garmin), Niki Terpstra. ** Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil), Sebastien Rosseler, Johan Vansummeren (Rabobank). * Alessandro Ballan (BMC), Jetse Bol (Vacansoleil), Matti Breschel.
Stage 1
A lot of attacks in the final part of the first stage. Chavanel, Vansummeren and even Mark Cavendish attacked in the last 20 kilometres. But in the end, it was a sprint of 21 riders. Bernhard Eisel was going to win, but stalled in the last 200m and got passed by Edvald Boasson Hagen. Best from our team was Coen Vermeltfoort in 10th.
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
4h44'34
2
Bernhard Eisel
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Jürgen Roelandts
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
4
Bobbie Traksel
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
5
Kevyn Ista
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
Stage 2
In the 2nd stage, a 3-men breakaway stayed out of reach of the peloton, as no team wanted to do the work to chase the 3 Begians. Topsport Vlaanderen-sprinter Michael Van Staeyen was by far the fastest in the sprint. Kevin Van Impe (Landbouwkrediet) took over the leaders jersey. Cavendish won the bunch sprint at 2'26, with our guys not playing a role (15th for Vermeltfoort).
1
Michael Van Staeyen
Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator
3h46'52
2
Kevin Van Impe
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
s.t.
3
Bart De Clercq
Accent.Jobs - Veranda's Willems
s.t.
4
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
+ 2'26
5
Romain Feillu
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
Stage 3
Cavendish must have told his team mates that he had good legs and wanted to win the stage, as Team Sky caught the BOTD with 20km to go. And in the mass sprint, Cav was by far the strongest, beating EB Hagen and Romain Feillu. We did even worse, with Breschel in 18th. No GC-changes.
1
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
2h20'22
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
s.t.
3
Romain Feillu
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
4
Jürgen Roelandts
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
5
Bernhard Eisel
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
Stage 4
Edvald Boasson Hagen won the final ITT, must came 2 seconds short to win the GC. Quinziato and Phinney took 2nd and 3rd today, with our guys (Rosseler and Terpstra) in a good 4th and 5th.
The 45th place ('22 slower than EBH) was enough for Kevin Van Impe to win the Driedaagse De Panne. Hagen takes the 2nd place and Cavendish the 3rd. Best from our team is Niki Terpstra in 6th.
1
Kevin Van Impe
Landbouwkrediet - Euphony
11h04'44
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
+ 2
3
Mark Cavendish
Sky ProCycling
+ 28
4
Manuel Quinziato
BMC Racing Team
+ 37
5
Jürgen Roelandts
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 42
6
Niki Terpstra
Petronas - Monster Energy
+ 44
Overall Winner
Word from the DS
The form level should be allright now for De Ronde!
ps. Didn't take screens, wanted to get to De Ronde as quick as possible.
Edited by dienblad on 10-12-2012 17:23
.
Jetse Bol
Filippo Pozzato
Sylvain Chavanel
.
Fabian Cancellara
John Degenkolb
Steven Van Vooren
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Bernhard Eisel
Mark Cavendish
Taylor Phinney
