Today's the mid-week classic after the Ronde van Vlaanderen and before
Paris - Roubaix. It's got two time two cobbeld hills, and besides that, loads of flat roads. And wind, more wind and even more wind!
Also, it's cold and raining. A day for the tough men.
Early in the race, a big groupe tried to get away, but they didnt succeed. Rabobank, SIC Radical and Warner Bros know what they're doing.
Then new attacks came, and a groupe go away. But, some teams clearly missed out, so more attacks came and another big groupe was formed. Too big.
Since by the time we reach the first cobbels, they are almost caugth again.
Being on the cobbels in wet weather, there always an increased risk of crashing, as Cooke is proving rigth now; he's the first one to go down.
And then... just as we've left the cobbels... another rider goes down... He's from Wikipedia...
IT'S BURGHARDT! One of the pre-race favourites is down!
Luckly for him + Cooke and Haymen(puncture), 4 teammates wait for him and all 7 get back in the pack fairly soon. Let's hope Marcus is ok.
Meanwhile, a new break left the pack: Claerebout and Ivars have a gap.
They keep their gap for quite some time, despite it never getting bigger then 50 seconds. This means that they're inevitably caugth on the next cobbels.
When leaving the cobbels, there's a lot of wind, and this is the sign for Rabobank to get going. They stretch the pack right away; gaps are occuring!
Yes, there's definatly a groupe clear from the rest. Warner Bros and Rabobank are pulling it, so Boonen and Steegmans are surely in the first groupe. 'Radio Tour' even mentions Theo Bos to be there!
After a few solid relays the first groupe is stretched, so that we can get a motor next to it. It's reported Rabobank, SIC Radical and Warner Bros all have their full 8 men squad in the first groupe! Hushovd, Nolf and Cancellara are the other nottable riders. That means quite a few have missed out, including Burghardt! He's really having lots of bad luck. He's not alone though, as riders like Langeveld, Nuyens, Klier and Thomas are all behind as well.
As some of the weaker riders are dropped, we enter the hills. Cancellara leads over the first hill, with G1 having 1'13 to G2. It's looking good.
But... thanks to Cyanide, G1 goes into the decent very slow, so that G2 can easily catch up...
In the decent though, everything is streched again, as Cancellara is off the front!
On top of the second hill, he's chased by Boonen himself!
More groupes join up, and split again going over this hill, so let's look at the situation on the flats after the hill:
Cancellara leads by 1'20 as behind him the field is still shatterd, as everybody tries to get in a good groupe. Burghardt is still not up front.
As everthing settels, Cancellara's lead has grown a bit. Behind him a groupe of 5 has formed, with 3 Rabobank riders! Steegmans, Kozontchuk and Ten Dam. Boonen and Ballan are here as well. The rest of the riders joined up in a 41 men large pack.
Back on the hills: Cancellara has 1'45 over the first top.
Steegmans, Ballan and Boonen dropped the Rabobank teammates, while the pack is pretty close.
In the decent, Baugnies crossed from the pack to E2, while Pozzato does the same on the hill. Meanwhile, Cooke crashed again... He's not giving up though!
On this final hill, the pack is teared apart and... Burghardt is not in the front part! Maybe he's injured due to his crash? Not a day to remember for him!
So, only flat roads remain to the finish: Cancallara now has 2'20! He's having a very good day. Boonen, Ballan, Steegmans, Pozzato and Baugnies make up E2, having 1'00 to E3: Albert, Thomas, Nuyens, Gusev, Veelers, Langeveld, Nolf and Hushovd. All other riders seem to be out of the race for victory.
But instead of chasing together, riders in E3 attack eachother (while Veelers is dropped for a few km's). This brings them nowhere though, so the race is now between Cancellara and E2.
But then... riders in E2 attack eachother as well! There's 20km left and 2'25 to Cancellara. Have they given up hope for victory? It seems lie it.
Ballan and Boonen have the strongest attacks, while Baugnies holds a small gap to Steegmans and Pozzato.
Coyot and Klier have meanwhile joined the Hushovd groupe.
Cancellara is simply unstoppable. Nobody is going to catch him, if he doesnt get any bad luck.
- Nolf and Albert left the Hushovd groupe. -
Here's the situation with 5km left:
Boonen is now dropping Ballan - he doesn't even get the chance to contest Boonen in a sprint...
With the first 8 men in the race, all riding alone now, we've reached the finish in Wevelgem. Cancellara finishes off an amazing solo effort. Congratulations!
Boonen is second, Ballan fullfills the podium.
Baugnies keeps his gap to Steegmans who's dropped Pozzato. They are 4, 5 and 6.
Nolf takes 7th.
Albert just manages to hold off Hushovd for 8th. Thomas completes the top 10.
De Heas and Joly just stay in front of the groupe Meas - Jacobs - Verbist.
Poor Burghardt comes in at 10 minutes. Let's hope he'll be ok for Paris - Roubaix next sunday!
So, as I said, it crashed without having any chace to export. This means I've only got the top 18 (written down). They get normal points while all other starters will get 5 points, even though some abandoned.
