The second pan-flat race here in Belgium will be held in Lombardsijde.
Looking back to the first race, the strongest sprinters should be Igor Abakomouv, Michael Vanderaerden, Kenny Van Hummel, Theo Bos and Nico Schinker.
Wouter Weylandt (4 points) should be in the mix, too. But Profronden-leader Schinker (17 points) is definitely in best position to secure the overall here. Anyway, scoring high in this last flat before tomorrow's cobbled Crit is highly recommended.
Three riders break clear from the bunch quickly: Nick Clesen (Lux), Jetse Bol (Rabo) and veteran Pieter Mertens (Accent).
Wilco Kelderman (Ned U23) tries to jump behind one lap later. He scored 3 points in yesterday's hilly stage and needs a podium to finish high in the overall.
He catches up to the leading group and with still 40km to go, we have the break of the day leading by 1'42". The peloton slowed down early.
But of course it's only a matter of time before some teams start to chase. It's Nomadesk (for Vanderaerden) and Jo Piels (Van Hummel) in particular. Halfway through the race the gap peaked at 2'10" but starts melting now.
3 laps to go and this is always a time for some late-race attackers to try their luck: Iljo Keisse (Force) and Klaas Sys (Accent), who both did well in Aalst (race 2).
Keisse is a real threat (12 points) as he already won a race here, while Sys (6 points) is one of the better cobblers here and seems motivated to score both today and tomorrow.
And more cobblers join this move: Topsport's Kenneth Vanbilsen and his captain Sander Armee! Another race-winner (12 points), who could do well in the final race in Antwerp. It's worth a try.
2 laps remaining and the late attackers had no chance, as Keisse/Sys/Armee simply were of too much danger. Jo Piels' Jos Pronk leads the bunch as the early breakaway holds on to a 50"-gap.
Another try: Piet Rooijakkers (Metec) attacks out of the pack as we already entered the final lap (6km)!
Roy Sentjens jumped behind and both closed the gap quickly.. but so did the bunch! With 4km remaining, all escapees are swallowed by the pack. It's going to be a bunch-sprint.
One interesting thing here in Belgium is, that we haven't seen a classic train for the sprints. By the way.
Anyway, Jurgen Van Loocke (Topsport) went early. Theo Bos (Rabo) caught his wheel, while Kenny Van Hummel now accelerates and tries to pass them with 1km left!
Van Loocke suffers and falls behind, as it looks like a fight between Van Hummel and Bos by now.
Still in the mix: Vanderaerden (Nomadesk), Van Loocke, Dockx (Jong Vlaanderen), Stallaert (Crelan), Abakoumov (Telenet), Weylandt (Lotto) and Keisse (Force).
Van Hummel can't stay with Bos, who's simply to fast! Vanderaerden on third position is already a couple of meters behind.
Bos already sits up and looks like today's dominating winner, while behind it's getting more interesting:
Weylandt is the fastest back there, overtaking Vanderaerden and Van Hummel easily. Also, Alexandre Aulas (Bodysol) is moving forward from behind!
Theo Bos wins this criterium in style! It looked so easy (did that ever happened before?). He took advantage of a nice "lead-out" by Van Loocke.
If you ever wondered how a winning Bos looks like: here you go!
Wouter Weylandt was as fast as Bos, but came too late. Still, a nice 2nd for him, just ahead of Michael Vanderaerden.
Alexandre Aulas sprinted for 4th. A suprising strong finish and quite important for the Frenchman, who will be one of several favorites for tomorrow's cobbled race!
Igor Abakoumov finishes 5th, ahead of Van Hummel, Stallaert, an again strong Nick Van der Lijke, Van Loocke and Gert Dockx.. Schinker? The overall leader failed to score as 11th today. A huge setback.
So let's take a look at the new overall: Abakoumov and Bos share the lead with 18pts, overtaking today's disappointing Schinker (17).. and 17 is exactly the number of rides, who could possibly take or equalize the lead in Antwerp tomorrow.
Igor Abakomouv, Michael Vanderaerden, 
Kenny Van Hummel, Theo Bos and 
Nico Schinker.
Alexandre Aulas
Tomas Okrouhlicky
