Stage 1 - Ronse > Ronse The KBC De Panne Tour kicks off with the first of two consecutive cobbles stages, that are supposed to be the key days for the GC. Particularly this first stage comes with quite a challenging profile and it's the big opportunity for the best cobblers to make for a selective race and crucial gains.
Blythe, Vanspeybrouck and Zepuntke as the best cobblers at the start, while other guys like David may prefer the partly hilly look of the profile. Sprinters like Van Asbroeck may hope for a less selective race to stay in contention for a good GC result eventually. It should be interesting anyway, since this stage could potentially favor a surprise victory as well.
Notable crosswinds today and several attacks right from the start. A group of 11 riders goes clear from the pack quickly and is soon allowed to establish a bigger gap:
With Okbamariam, Flaksis and Kosic, we have quite a few solid cobblers in this group: particularly Kosic and Okbamariam going for a tactical move to support Blythe or Maes later into the stage?
Halfway through the stage (91km before the finish) we still have crosswinds around 40-45kmh and the with the first tough cobbles sectors left behind and the peloton already chasing the early break, the peloton has been reduced to 67 riders with the first major splits happened a few moments before:
Lierse setting the pace at this point and they did quite some damage. A few notable names have already been dropped from the bunch:
David Schoonbroodt Gaday Van Keirsbulck Petit and Gaudin
David and Van Keirsbulck with a shocking result today? They surely did not pay enough attention and now need to gain back more than a minute quickly! The breakaway (just 8 riders with Tsubako, Stewart and Olei as the first riders being dropped) is 4 minutes ahead of the peloton..
Okbamariam dominates the two intermediate sprints of the day, taking the first ahead of Schreurs and Owen and the second ahead of Kosic and Owen..
58km to go for the early break, that is now down to just 5 riders with Monk as the last rider being dropped and soon to be swallowed by the peloton, that is 2'55" behind the leading group now:
Okbamariam Owen Flaksis Kosic Schreurs
Lierse, Minions and now Carlsberg doing the hard work at the front of the peloton, that went into further pieces with now just 30km remaining and the next tough cobbles sectors doing it's damage. The gap to the leading group remains the same though, there's just some minor improvement for the new main group, that is now 2'43" behind the front group. Just 26 riders left in this main group:
We're entering the final couple of cobbles sectors and the leading group is still going strong towards a breakaway victory! With now 23km to go, the group is still 3 minutes ahead of the main group, that struggles to narrow the gap. Just four riders left in the front with Schreurs as the next rider not keeping up with a still good pace:
Okbamariam Owen Flaksis Kosic
10.5km to go for the group of favorites and with the gap still at 3 minutes, the first riders do not want to wait anymore:
Thomas attacks the main group with a strong kick!
Maes jumps behind quickly!
The duo opened up a small gap on the group, that is now down to 14 riders with the latest attacks causing a higher pace. Just 7km to go for this group, that is now 1'54" behind the leading group (which is 5.5km outside the finish):
Vanspeybrouck as the biggest on the wrong side of this latest split! He's supported by Sinkeldam, but faces quite a big gap on the new main group (more than a minute)! Will he fight back or continue to perform at a rather low-key level?
Back to the very front, where four riders of the early break will indeed fight for a crucial stage-win in this opening stage:
Owen jumps away from the group with now 4km remaining!
Almost simultaneously, Thomas goes again at the front of the chasing group with 5km to go!
Zepuntke caught up to Maes, who is still a few seconds ahead of group Blythe/Van Asbroeck!
Vanspeybrouck looking better now, gaining back time on this group and almost closing up..
Owen has already entered the final kilometre and he's holding on to a notable gap on Flaksis and Okbamariam! Kosic just a few metres behind Okbamariam, but Owen seems to be too far away for them all..
Yap, Owen takes the opening stage! And that's another victory for Podium Ambition on cobbles. Given the latest gaps, it may also be a key victory for a high GC result eventually. And there's also a notable gap on Flaksis and the other two former breakaway companions..
+ 25" for Flaksis as 2nd - certainly a great result as well
+ 57" for Kosic as 3rd and Okbamariam
Podium Ambition, Minions, Iberia and Indosat with four premium domestiques joining the early break - a tactic, that played out well in a way! It's not the big guns taking the stage, but still some good cobbles riders and so they should have a real shot at the GC victory in three days!
About two minutes later, the group of favorites enters the finishing stretch: Thomas could not establish a bigger gap, but he's still ahead of Zepuntke - with Maes now struggling to keep their pace!
The main group ain't too far behind, with a strong Meersman, Rowe, Van Asbroeck and Matthews in the front positions..
Vanspeybrouck almost managed to re-join this group in the meantime, but he's still half a minute behind!
+ 1'50" for Thomas, who completes the Top-5 of the stage!
Zepuntke comes in next..
.. Maes holds off Rowe and Van Asbroeck, who finish 8th and 9th on the stage!
Matthews completes the Top-10 for quite an impressive result for Podium and Blythe has to settle for a quiet 12th place eventually..
Vanspeybrouck fought hard and while he only finishes a disappointing 18th on this key stage, he at least managed to finish within the same time as group Blythe. He's staying in contention for a good GC result that way.
The next riders/groups come in three minutes behind today's winner. The biggest disappointment of the day:
David eventually loses 10 minutes on Owen, finishing as 35th on the stage! Also Van Keirsbulck (11 minutes) with a terrible performance and their only chance may be an early break in tomorrow's next cobbles stage.
