Hello, and welcome to the start line in Ghent for the Omloop Het Niewsblad. The first cobbled classic of the season, all the big guns are here to show their early season form and look at getting one over on their rivals at the first bite. Will it be Sam Bewley, Marcus Burghardt, Greg van Avermaet or Danny Summerhill taking the win at end?



All were present and correct on the startline in Ghent, and nearly 194km of cobbles and roads lay ahead.



Lars Petter Nordhaug, Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin and Marcelo Felipe formed the day’s break shortly after the flag drop, and despite attacks from others to join them up the road, it would only be these three who would be allowed to go free.



The gap between the peleton and the lead group maxed out at 7’23� over the opening stages, as Orange, Jayco’z and Evonik took control of the peleton’s pace making.



Onto the first cobble section, and the gap was down to 5’37�. The escapees were working well together, but behind, Jayco’z were ramping up the pace and trying to force their rival teams into a panic and put them into trouble… and it was working!



The peleton was in pieces thanks to the Jayco’z team over the top of the cobble climb, with many big names missing the cut…

P	<40�>	E3	<36�>	E2	<5’39�>	E1
Daniel		Summerhill		Senechal		Nordhaug
David		Nolf		Vanspeybrouck		Gallego Martin
Kristoff		Blythe		Vanbilsen		Felipe
Vanmarcke				Kamyshev
Altur				Van Avermart
Trentin				Burghardt
				Bewley

Are Orange really doing this? A group of favourites, including their own rider Kamyshev have a gap to those who were caught out by the Jayco’z train, and they hit the front and slow everything down. Back to status quo, as everything comes back together and everyone is back in the same pack!



With all the action behind, we completely forgot about the three up front. Working well together, none of them were the strongest on the cobbles and the gap to them was coming down quickly. 75km to go, and the gap was under 3’00�…


Here was go again! Another cobble section and Jayco’z are hitting it hard. It was clear to see their tactics today, as they ground down the peleton in aid of Burghardt’s bid for the victory. Unlike the previous sectors, the like of Summerhill and Blythe were more aware of the threat, staying towards the front.



ATTACK BEWLEY! Over 50km to go, and the Kiwi is trying to force the select group. The fuse has been lit, so will we be seeing the fireworks on the cobbles of Belgium? Burghardt, Summerhill and Senechal all react and jump on his wheel, but Kamyshev, Nolf and Vanspeybrouck have all missed out.



As Blythe and van Avermaet just bridged to the Bewley group, a chase group had formed behind. It was now or never for Vanbilsen, Nolf, Vanspeybrouck and Altur to limit their initial losses, whilst Kamyshev was clearly struggling.



There were two riders certainly not up to the task today – Vanmarcke and Vendenbergh! There was reaction from them to the attacks and it was now a difficult fight to try and pull it all back together.

P	<1’09�>	E3	<51�>	E2	<33�>	E1
Vanmarcke		Vanbilsen		Bewley		Nordhaug
Vandenbergh		Nolf		Summerhill		Gallego Martin
Gusev		Vanspeybrouck		Burghardt		Felipe
Daniel		Altur		Senechal
Wisniowski		Kamyshev		Van Avermart
				Blythe

In no time, the breakway group was caught, and Bewley kicked again. Van Avermaet, Burghardt and Senechal latched onto his wheel again, but Summerhill and Blythe missed the ticket! The escapee riders would be no help to them, so it would be up to them both to try and chase it back.



The quartet off the front would not be for catching, which was a shame for Summerhill and Blythe. Bewley was riding like a man possessed, pulling hard on the front of the group. Question was whether he was doing too much, or whether the others had nothing left to help?



Under the flame rouge, and Bewley jumped first. Van Avermaet tries to follow, but a gap has opened very quickly. It looks like everyone is battling to the first to finish after the Becherovka starman…



The result was more than comfortable for Bewley. This race was under his control all day, and never in doubt once the selection was made over the cobbles. Van Avermaet does well to finish in 2nd place, ahead of Burghardt who easily beats Senchal to the final podium place.

Behind, the group containing Blythe and Summerhill were swallowed up in the final kilometer, as Vanmarcke finishes amazingly strong, winning the same bunch sprint for the minor places, ahead of Blythe, Vanbilsen, Altur, Summerhill and Vandenbergh rounding out the Top 10.

1	Sam Bewley	Becherovka - Petrof	4h46'02
2	Greg Van Avermaet	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
3	Marcus Burghardt	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
4	Florian Senechal	Pendleton's	s.t.
5	Sep Vanmarcke	Vesuvio - Accumalux	+ 1'41
6	Adam Blythe	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
7	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
8	Marcos Altur	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
9	Danny Summerhill	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
10	Stijn Vandenbergh	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
11	Pieter Vanspeybrouck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
12	Frederik Nolf	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
13	Matteo Trentin	Grieg - Eftel	+ 2'21
14	Jan Polanc	RBC Pro Cycling	+ 2'50
15	Lukasz Wisniowski	Grieg - Eftel	+ 3'06
16	Maxime Daniel	Team Puma - SAP	+ 3'28
17	Eric Young	RBC Pro Cycling	+ 3'39
18	Alexey Tsatevich	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
19	Niels Albert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
20	Zdenek Stybar	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
21	Josef Cerny	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
22	Eugert Zhupa	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
23	Tom David	Team I-Gen - Festina	+ 3'58
24	Tom Van Asbroeck	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
25	Jiri Polnicky	Becherovka - Petrof	+ 4'12
26	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Aker - MOT	s.t.
27	Vladimir Gusev	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
28	Michael Boroš	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
29	Alexander Kristoff	Aker - MOT	+ 4'41
30	Luke Rowe	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
31	Roger Kluge	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
32	Arman Kamyshev	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
33	Paul Ariko	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
34	Gianni Meersman	Evonik - ELKO	+ 5'09
35	Lahcen Saber	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
36	Lars Boom	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
37	Nur Amirul Marzuki	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
38	Stijn Joseph	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
39	Sebastian Lander	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
40	Eliot Lietaer	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
41	Tesfom Okbamariam	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
42	Marcelo Felipe	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
43	Tim Declerq	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
44	Alexander Sulimov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
45	Gediminas Bagdonas	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
46	Bob Schoonbroodt	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
47	Ramon Sinkeldam	eBuddy	s.t.
48	Joeri Stallaert	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
49	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
50	Tom Veelers	Gazelle	s.t.
51	Vegard Breen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
52	Yoeri Havik	eBuddy	s.t.
53	Vincent Jérôme	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
54	Jesus Del Nero	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
55	Olli Kulppi	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
56	Karel Hnik	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
57	Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
58	Jan Oelerich	Pokerstars.com	+ 6'45
59	Jonas Vangenechten	Gazelle	s.t.
60	Pit Schlechter	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
61	Chun Kai Feng	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
62	Jon Ander Insausti	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
63	Tom Leezer	eBuddy	s.t.
64	Oumaru Minoungou	Pendleton's	+ 7'08
65	Marcel Sieberg	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
66	Andrew Fenn	Pendleton's	s.t.
67	Sascha Weber	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
68	Niki Terpstra	Gazelle	s.t.
69	Floris Gerts	eBuddy	+ 8'38
70	Jasper Bovenhuis	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
71	Tyler Farrar	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
72	Benedikt Mundle	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
73	Yves Lampaert	eBuddy	s.t.
74	Maurice Schreurs	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
75	Remco Broers	eBuddy	s.t.
76	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Aker - MOT	s.t.
77	Patrick Naud	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
78	Kevin Fouquet	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
79	Michel Kreder	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
80	Kristian Sbaragli	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
81	Samuel Coronel	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
82	Timothy Vangheel	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
83	Geert Steurs	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
84	Louis Verhelst	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
85	Arnaud Grand	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
86	Fernando Gaviria	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
87	Salvatore Puccio	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
88	Ben Curfs	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
89	Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
90	Philipp Walsleben	eBuddy	s.t.
91	Albert Kireva	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	+ 9'44
92	Igor Boev	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
93	Wouter Wippert	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
94	Kristof Vandewalle	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
95	Geert Van der Sanden	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
96	Dan McLay	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
97	Egoitz Garcia	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
98	Yake Hou	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
99	George Atkins	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
100	Sven Nooytens	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
101	Arthur Vichot	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
102	Charalampas Kastrantas	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
103	Tesfay Abraha	Pendleton's	s.t.
104	Yannick Stoltz	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
105	Johann van Zyl	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
106	Conor Dunne	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
107	Andzs Flaksis	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
108	Daniel Ruiz	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
109	Matvey Zubov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
110	Ramon Domene	Movistar - US Postal	+ 10'19
111	Grzegorz Stepniak	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
112	Christian Ranneries	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
113	Ivan Rovny	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
114	Matthieu Ladagnous	Pendleton's	s.t.
115	Robbie Squire	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
116	Nathan Haas	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
117	Vegard Robinson Bugge	Aker - MOT	s.t.
118	Yves Ngock Ngue	Pendleton's	s.t.
119	Adrian Gjølberg	Aker - MOT	s.t.
120	Evert Verbist	Jayco'z Cycling Project	+ 11'06
121	Francis De Greef	Gazelle	s.t.
122	Hersony Canelon	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
123	Cristian Cominelli	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
124	Pavel Korzh	Tinkoff Sport Academy	+ 12'17
125	Michal Golas	Aker - MOT	s.t.
126	Jaroslaw Marycz	Pendleton's	s.t.
127	Patrick Bercz	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
128	Janvier Hadi	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
129	Bjorn Selander	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
130	Sakari Lehtinen	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
131	Metkel Kiflay	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
132	Konstantin Klimiankou	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
133	Richard Laningo Laizer	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
134	Roman Senyenov	Gazelle	s.t.
135	Daniel Oss	Aker - MOT	s.t.
136	Mauricio Sanz	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
137	Chequan Richardson	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
138	Eduard Alexander Beltran	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
139	Hillary Kiprotich	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
140	German Anibal Orue	Azteca - NBCSN	+ 12'37
141	Ahmad Arissol	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 13'30
142	Scott Thwaites	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 14'07
143	Andriy Vasylyuk	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
144	Oleksandr Golovash	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
145	Adel Barbari	Kenya Airways - Dimension Data	s.t.
146	Willie Smit	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
147	João Gaspar	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
148	Alex Wohler	Jayco'z Cycling Project	s.t.
149	Welle Jallays	BPost-Vlaanderen	s.t.
150	Wout Van Aert	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
151	Sergiy Lagkuti	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
152	Irakli Bablidze	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
153	Daniel Eaton	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
154	Dadley Corwin	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
155	Victor Shishelov	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
156	Nejc Kosic	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
157	Øystein Stake Laengen	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
158	Valens Ndayisenga	Vesuvio - Accumalux	+ 15'16
159	Markus Eibegger	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
160	Mektel Eyob	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
161	Mikhail Kochetkov	Orange - KLM Cycling	s.t.
162	Johan Esteban Chaves	Azteca - NBCSN	s.t.
163	Alexis Gougeard	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
164	Jasper Stuyven	Lierse SK - Pizza Ullo PCTeam	s.t.
165	Hakon Frengstad Berger	Aegon - Lavazza	s.t.
166	Maxime Bouet	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
167	Alexander Rybakov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
168	Andreas Hofer	Team I-Gen - Festina	s.t.
169	Marco Minnard	Gazelle	s.t.
170	Patrick Olesen	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
171	Nawuti Liphongyu	Red Bull - Huawei	s.t.
172	Evgeny Shalunov	Tinkoff Sport Academy	s.t.
173	Jacob Salcone	Jayco'z Cycling Project	+ 17'34
174	Ever Rivera	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
175	Andrea Zordan	Gazelle	s.t.
176	Christian Bertilsson	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
177	Kristof Goddaert	Metinvest-Dacia	s.t.
178	Nandra Eko Wahyudi	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
179	Patrick Gretsch	Gazelle	+ 20'31
180	Simone Petilli	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
181	King Lok Cheung	Pendleton's	s.t.
182	Luca Sterbini	Red Bull - Huawei	+ 20'56
183	Truls Engen Korsaeth	Grieg - Eftel	+ 22'10
184	Soufiane Haddi	Grieg - Eftel	s.t.
185	Charles Matte	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.
186	Dylan Teuns	Bouygues Telecom	s.t.
187	Serafin José Blanco	Movistar - US Postal	s.t.
188	Ricardo Van der Velde	eBuddy	s.t.
189	Mikiel Habtom	Becherovka - Petrof	s.t.
190	Faycal Hamza	Aegon - Lavazza	+ 24'21
191	Thomas Bonnin	RBC Pro Cycling	s.t.