Gent-Wevelgem

201km/125mi

By Cathy Mehl

After the race Team Director Dirk Demol explained: “(Fumy) Beppu flatted at the first climb of the Kemmelberg.  So we had seven guys in the final group of 80.  Then there was a big crash in the peloton and although none of our guys were hurt, Robbie McEwen was held up along with Mark Cavendish.  Also slowed up were (Dmitriy) Muravyev, (Michal) Kwiatkowski and (Seba) Rosseler.  So now we had three left in the front.  (Geoffroy) LeQuatre was there and he was very active in the front, driving the pace along with Thomas Voecker, plus we had (Robbie) Hunter and (Gregy) Rast.  But in the end Hunter misjudged his sprint.”

An early break included French champion Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) but the bergs took their toll on the rider’s legs in this group and they were eventually brought back.  In the last 25km a formidable group of four went away that included Sylvain Chavanel (Quick-Step), Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Liquigas-Cannondale teammates Peter Sagan and Maciej Bodnar.   This group worked well together and built a solid gap of 40-seconds, with Chavanel and Stannard contributing mightily to the effort.

The crash with 21km to go gave the leaders a temporary advantage, but their gap steadily fell as the peloton of motivated sprinters approached the finish line.  At 2km to go the break held six seconds when Stannard attacked his group to fly solo off the front.  His effort was solid, but once under the red kite Quick-Step organized themselves to overtake Stannard with 200 meters to go and delivered Boonen to his launch pad where he ramped up his power and soared to the line.

The next race for Team RadioShack is Three-Day Race of De Panne, March 29-31.  The Team line-up for the race is Sam Bewley, Robbie Hunter, Michal Kwiatkowski, Dmitriy Muravyev, Nélson Oliveira, Gregory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler & Jesse Sergent with Dirk Demol directing.

Top Ten Results

1              Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step                      

2              Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek                            

3              Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo                               

4              André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma - Lotto                          

5              Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Omega Pharma - Lotto                              

6              Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step                                

7              Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Highroad                           

8              Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team                           

9              Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team                              

10            Baden Cooke (Aus) Saxo Bank Sunguard

Team RadioShack Results

19           Robert Hunter (RSA)

29           Gregory Rast (Swi)

37           Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)  0:00:09

63           Robbie Mcewen (Aus)  0:03:18

75           Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol)

80           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)

117         Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)  0:11:28                     

118         Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)