Welcome to Belgium. Kasperkiewicz is the top favourites according to the bookies, let’s see if he can make it happen. Expect the live video coverage to join us soon as well.
Before that happens, some images of what happened before. A group of 23 quickly formed the large breakaway of the day. The riders are Simmons, Nys, Martino, Teutenberg, Becis, Tusveld, White, Murillo, Varotsos, Jurado, Rubenis, Van Sintmaartensdijk, Budenieks, Vliegen, Van Aert, Milesi, Miltiadis, Dressler, Lau, Kaczmarek, Fagundez, De Pooter and Guavita. Teams working in the peloton were UBS, Bralirwa, Specialized, Ekoi and Lierse. The break really was too big for these five teams, as the peloton came back to them with 155km to go.
With 120 km to go a new breakaway of 15 is formed, as we’re now on the cobbles more and more often. Fifteen guys up front are Honore, Kaczmarek, Budenieks, Vliegen, Van Aert, Rubenis, Sitchinava, Milesi, Mraouni, Miltiadis, Forbes, Teutenberg, Bayer, Lau and one more rider. Same teams working in the peloton, including Brazilian talent Malacarne making this reporter proud. 85 km to go and a gap of around three minutes, as live images are now available as well here!
Kaislavuo tried to get away but didn’t get far, as now it’s De Buyst with a long range attack on the cobbles and with 64 km left. Teammate Teutenberg was dropped up front and could perhaps mean something for the Belgian, although we assume he won’t be able to follow him anymore now. The peloton around 1’30” behind the 14 leaders now.
The cobbles keep following each other quickly now, definitely the uphill cobbles causing gaps. With 50 km to go there are five leaders, and not counting the dropped riders in between, the five riders that have a gap of around one minute and a half over a peloton of 50-ish riders are Kaczmarek, Budenieks, Vliegen, Van Aert and Miltiadis. No longer in that peloton is Zubov. Not long after this, with 43 km left, the peloton catches what’s left of the breakaway.
Favourite attacking! Kortsidakis breaks free with 43 km to go, and immediately gets a nice gap! Chatarunga tried to follow but had to sit down! In the following kilometres, the favourites’ domestiques work to keep the gap not increase further.
The catch is made with 29 km to go and while on the cobbles, but it definitely burned quite some riders in the peloton. Including the Greek attacker there’s now only 22 riders left at the front of the race! When leaving the cobbled section only 15 are left, and have a look at that, attack by Stallaert!
The Belgian was unable to really create a gap, with 23 km to the finish line it’s now Debesay and Gamper on the run! Chatarunga, Owen and a strong Ovsyannikov right behind as the first three chasers, and an other nine riders also right behind them!
But they come back together again, and at the end of the final cobbled section with 16 km to the finish line we have a group of eleven riders! Those are Kasperkiewicz, Gamper, Jacobs, Chatarunga, Daniel, Stallaert, Owen, Debesay, Ovsyannikov, Lampaert and Summerhill. But look there, that looks like a new attack! Jacobs launches, Kasperkiewicz follows!
Some ELCO-ABEA riders, Vanbilsen, a Kuroeda and Tediashvili come back to the chasing group and make it 15 riders, which is a sign that the pace might just not be high enough. The two birds up front seem to be gone now, as their lead is around a minute with 8 km left! Gamper working to make the gap smaller, but at this rate he’s mostly just burning up his own chances.
ELCO – ABEA uses some riders in the chase now, but it is too late to catch the two leaders. Jacobs launches the sprint!
But today is Kasperkiewicz’s day! Both riders looking like dying swans in the end, but it’s the Polish swan who had most juice left in his legs! What an entrance for your new team! Strong ride by Jacobs to finish second.
Debesay also with a very strong ride as he’s the final rider on the podium and finishes third ahead of Daniel, adding another Nieuwsblad top-5 to his palmares. Stallaert and Ovsyannikov sprinting to fifth and sixth ahead of a slightly surprising Boutopoulos in seventh, the first of four ELCO-ABEA riders in the top-16. Then Owen eighth. Chatarunga was active all day and rewards himself with a ninth place ahead of final top-10 rider Tediashvili. Number twelve Gamper clearly disappointed, whereas Kuroeda in thirteenth seems to be content with his result. Lampaert is the number fifteen today.
