E3 – Prijs Vlaanderen Harelbeke, 203km/126mi

By Cathy Mehl

It’s time for Belgium racing at its finest!  Today’s opener of E3 -  Prijs Harelbeke set the tone for the next week:  fast racing, cobbles and hellingens and plenty of attacks.   Coming to the line in a breakaway of three, Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) left Belgian champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Sky’s Juan Antonio Flecha with 2km to go and time trialed his way to the victory.  A chasing group arrived almost one minute later.

Team RadioShack’s Sébastien Rosseler spent much of the day in a breakaway that started at 24 and selected down to 4 riders, but approaching the final 50km he was dropped, his forces gone for the day.   Team Director Dirk Demol said, “Rosseler was again soooo strong.  He was the best rider in the breakaway and did most of the work.  He did too much work but I couldn’t get him to back off."

“On the Oude Kwaremont he was in difficulty but after that he was able to chase back again.  I couldn’t tell if he would have been able to follow Cancellara, but a top six placing would have been possible.  Our problem was we had the #24 car so we weren’t in a good position to reach him at the front…it’s usually too late by the time you work up that far."

It was a good day for cycling in Belgium as the rain held off for most of the stage with only a little precipitation falling near the end.  In the break of the day, Rosseler’s group also included Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank).  Boonen attacked with 58km to go, putting in a big acceleration and show of strength.  Just testing the legs at that point, the Belgian champion went again on the Peterberg with 48km to go, this time followed by Cancellara and Flecha.  The three worked well together to bridge across to Séba’s group, but soon our Belgian rider was isolated.

Meanwhile Italian champion Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) came across and joined Rosseler, hoping to work together to bridge to the leading trio, but too much time in the front had taken a toll on Séba and he was unable to cooperate.  Pozzato eventually rode away and was later joined by five riders who chased furiously to reach the frontrunners.  But not on this day….the Swiss champion took his second win of the season. 

Demol concluded with his assessment of racing in Belgium, saying, “Anyway, we had four riders in the front today and we’re not unhappy.  Tomorrow we will have to fight with the same seven riders against fresh riders from many teams but you never know.  With the good results of Klöden in Catalunya and Macado in Corsica there is good spirit in the team.”

Sunday keeps The Shack in Belgium for another fun day on the cobbles as Gent-Wevelgem takes place for the 72-nd time and tackles 16 climbs.  Stay tuned!

Beyond the Finish Line:  The town of Harelbeke is holding a biennial International Composition Contest to consolidate its position as a ‘Town of Music’.  The contest is intended to motivate composers and performers to submit pieces that can help keep Harelbeke on the world map as far as music goes.   The contest is primarily for wind and percussion instruments.  The deadline is April 20, 2010 with judging in May.  Good luck!

Top Ten Results

1          Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank  4:44:34   

2          Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step     0:00:03

3          Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky                    

4          Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha  0:00:50             

5          Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank                     

6          Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank              

7          Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                      

8          Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank                 

9          Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                          

10       Fabio Felline (Ita) Footon-Servetto 0:03:16

Team RadioShack Results

41       Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

51       Sébastien Rosseler (Bel)

64       Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)

75       Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)