Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 204.3km/127mi

By Cathy Mehl

Welcome to the opening day of Belgian cycling as the semi-classic season got underway on Saturday for the 204km/127mi cobblefest.   A solo breakaway at 18km to go put Argentina-born Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) in the driver’s seat to take a brilliant win after last year’s third-place finish.   Always a strong contender, the wins often elude Flecha, but not so this time.  Riding strong all the way to the line, Flecha shot his trademark arrow as he crossed the finish line, followed 18-seconds later by Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin).

More than their share of bad luck plagued Team RadioShack throughout the day.  Sports Director Dirk Demol saw a series of events unfold that knocked several team riders from contention.

“What a bad luck day.  In the beginning Sam Bewley crashed.  Then Gert Steegmans was involved in a tangle-up and his derailleur was damaged, so he had to take a new bike.  Next Bjorn Selander and Fumy Beppu both crashed in Geraardsbergen.”  A disappointed Demol continued the story saying, “After that another rider rode into Sébastien Rosseler’s back wheel, breaking the spoke and derailleur cable so he had to change bikes too. Bewley and Selander waited for him but then all three were stopped by a train while the peloton had been allowed to roll through. I pulled them from the race then…there was no point in trying to chase a three-minute gap.  Next Steegmans and Tomas Vaitkus had flat tires….over and out!  The condition of our riders was good but luck was not with us.”

The best-placed team rider was Gregory Rast who came in with the main group at almost four minutes off the pace.

An early break was established after 10km of racing.  Frederik Veuchelen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) was joined by Frederic Guesdon (Francaise de Jeux), Roy Curvers (Skil-Shimano) and Roger Kluge (Milram), building an advantage of 12-minutes.   As the race rolled on it became impossible for the break to stay together and attack-after-attack was put in on the difficult Hellings.  Quick-Step’s Tom Boonen attacked on the Taaienberg and looked like he had the form to win but a flat held him up and the effort to chase back on proved too much.

When Flecha attacked Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) tried to stay with him but was soon dropped.  At 6km to go Haussler attacked from the chasing peloton and gained ground but couldn’t catch Flecha, settling for second place.

Steegmans explained that it wasn’t only a flat tire that held him up: “In the final I also had a broken rear wheel thanks to another rider.  My wheel seemed to sing.  And I lost all morale at that point…but tomorrow is another chance.”

Twenty-two year old Sam Bewley checked in after the race, saying “It was an experience, that is for sure! It really is my first time racing in a race like that, the fighting for position, etc. Something new for me.  But already I know and have learned more so I can take that into tomorrow’s race. There was some bad luck for some of our stronger guys, unfortunately. But they showed they are strong. And who knows tomorrow!?”

Young American Bjorn Selander also shared his thoughts from today’s effort: “Today  An enthusiastic Selander concluded with “Tomorrow is on and I'm motivated!” we had more than our share of bad luck.  The Team was strong and rode well.  After Seba flatted I waited for him and we were on our way back to the group when a train came and we had to stop.  This was right when the race was really going with 50 km left, and the hard cobble climbs had really had an effect on the peloton.  But our race was then over.”

Bjorn Selander learning to ride on the cobbles

On Sunday the team will try again in the 63^rd Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.  Good form could translate into good results and hopefully good luck.

Top Ten Results

1        Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team  5:07:15        

2        Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team         0:00:18        

3        Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Transitions            

4        Luca Paolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone            

5        Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia                  

6        Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team                    

7        Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly                      

8        Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia                  

9        Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil - Shimano              

10      Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha

Team RadioShack Results

54 Grégory Rast (Swi)  0:03:51

73 Gert Steegmans (Bel) 0:04:59

75 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)

127 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) 0:13:10

132 Daryl Impey (RSA)

DNF Sébastien Rosseler

DNF Sam Bewley

DNF Bjorn Selander 

Photos courtesy of Philippe Maertens