Kuurne – Brussels – Kuurne, 194km/120mi

By Cathy Mehl

Don’t line up to race in Belgium in February if you don’t expect the racing to be hard.  That was today’s lesson from Kuurne – Brussels – Kuurne.  Rain, cold temperatures, roundaabouts, slick roads with lots of white paint….it was all part of the action in Sunday’s semi-classic to complete opening race weekend in Belgium.  After yesterday’s bad luck Team RadioShack was mentally prepared to step up and turn things around, but crashes, wind, and flats all played a part in making for a rough day of racing with the best placed team rider Gregory Rast taking 9^th place.  Sebastien Rosseler took 14^th while the others joined massive abandons from the peloton.  In the biggest win of his career, Bobbie Traskel sprinted in the last 100m from a group of three to capture a huge win for his Vacansoleil team.  Second place went to Rick Flens (Rabobank) and third to a nearly-hypothermic Ian Stannard (Team Sky).

Rast explained his day with, “Because of the weather it was a really hard race.  In the beginning it was all fast, but on the Kanarieberg when riders attacked I joined the group.  Seba was there too.  We were a small group.  On the Oude Kwaremont I tried something but afterwards the legs blew up at the wrong moment and some guys went away, this time without me as I couldn’t make up the 20m.  But the rest was all ok for me.  Even in this weather it never entered my mind to abandon.”

Rosseler added, “I crashed in a stupid way.  I took a roundabout with a bit too much enthusiasm.  It happened after the descent of the Oude Kwaremont.  Two kilometers further along I was back in the group but I didn’t dare chase because I heard Rast was in the front.  Later I heard he wasn’t with that group anymore…bad luck.  By then the motivation was gone a bit.  Physically I was ok.  I hope to stay healthy in the coming days since I started this race with a cold.  Certainly this weather will not help me any but I am a strong guy.”

A frozen Rast comes in as best-team rider

One-hundred ninety-eight riders began the race in freezing rain and high winds.  Traskel attacked on the early hills, establishing what would be a day-off-the-front for the 28-year old Dutch rider.  Stannard attacked on the Kwaremont and was joined by Flens on the other side, finally catching Traskel for a strong three-man break.  Team Cervelo riders put up a strong fight but could never bridge across to the trio.  Hayden Roulsten (HTC-Columbia) rode in the gap to take a 4^th-place finish, quite a feat on a day filled with strong headwinds.

With 14km to go the three out front held 56 seconds to Roulsten as they crossed the finish line for the final lap.  With 9km to go Flens put in the first attack but Traskel and Stannard were quick to respond.  Stannard put in a weak attack that might have been more of a mental game before he gave it more effort at 2km to go.  But Traskel stayed the course, constantly eying his former companions and finally went with 100m to go, easily capturing the win in Kuurne.

Team Director Dirk Demol was ready to put the weekend behind him: “It was more bad luck that we lost Gert (Steegmans) so early when he had a flat at a bad moment.  He got back on to the back of the peloton but then the group fell to pieces as they all attacked.  He was in the last echelon of 40 riders and that group never came back.  Gert tried but it was impossible.  Vaitkus, Impey and Bewley were all there too.   Afterwards another group of 15 was dropped and Selander was in that group.  At this point we only had three riders left in the race.  Beppu worked hard.  In the breakaway of 13 we had Rosseler and Rast.  I think Rosseler’s crash ruined things for us but still we got 9^th and 14^th.  I say let’s forget this weekend full of bad luck.”

Next up for Team RadioShack is the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia.   The five-day stage race runs from March 3-7^th.

Tomas visits with former teammate Michael Schar

Top Ten Results

1        Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Vacansoleil     4:43:16        

2        Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank               

3        Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky          0:00:02        

4        Hayden Roulsten (NZl) HTC-Columbia     0:01:00        

5        Dominique Rollin (Can) Cervelo       0:02:59        

6        Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo            

7        Sébastien Turgot (Fra)   0:05:40        

8        Davy Commeyne (Bel) 0:05:41        

9        Gregory Rast (Swi)        0:05:54        

10      Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned)    0:05:55

Team RadioShack Riders Results (more when available)

14      Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)          0:06:44

Photos courtesy Graham Watson and Philippe Maertens