Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, 195.9km/122mi

Aartselaar, Belgium

By Cathy Mehl

It was the twentieth edition of the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen on Wednesday and just like previous runs, the finish was a sprint to the line.  Taking first place was Michael Van Staeyen of Vlaanderen-Topsport who made the jump on Australian Robbie McEwen (Katusha) to earn the win. Third place went to Jurgen Roelandts of Omega Pharma-Lotto.   McEwen opened up his sprint first, but 22-year old Van Staeyen came around to take his third victory in his first professional season.

Good weather was on tap for today’s ride that took place over flat roads towards Aartselaar, before hitting the six local laps of 8.4km/5.2mi.  A trio of riders went away for a long day out front, but attack after attack finally brought the race back with 16km to go.  Team RadioShack’s Geoffroy Lequatre and teammates worked for sprinter Gert Steegmans, keeping in front as much as possible before going for the line.  The best-placed Team rider was Fumy Beppu, who placed just out of the top ten. 

Team Note:  Another part of the Team is preparing to race on Friday at the opening day of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.  The riders are Jani Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Markel Irizar, Levi Leipheimer, Tiago Machado, Sérgio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych & Haimar Zubeldia with Viatcheslav Ekimov directing. 

Top Ten Results

1. Michael Van Stayen (Topsport)

2. Robbie McEwen (Katusha)

3. Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

4. Anthony Ravard (AG2R)

5. Enrico Rossi (Flaminia)

6. Lloyd Mondory (AG2R)

7. Stefan Van Dijk (Verandas Willems)

8. Daniele Colli (Flaminia)

9. Benjamin Verraes (Jong Vlaanderen)

10. Alexander Kristoff (BMC)