Tour of Belgium

Stage 3: Knokke-Heist to Mechelen, 192.2km/119mi

By Cathy Mehl

Things continue to improve for Team RadioShack’s Gert Steegmans as he finds his form and starts to enjoy racing again after a frightening crash in Paris-Nice.  Teammates Tomas Vaitkus and Geoffroy Lequatre established a nice train for Steegmans in the last 5km and went really hard for him. Today’s stage ended in a mass sprint, with Birthday Boy Jimmy Casper taking his 50th career win on his 32nd birthday.  Philippe Gilbert (Omega Lotto-Pharma) remains in the leader’s jersey.  Vaitkus remains in third place for the classification.

“A pity that the train started a bit too early,” said Gert after the stage.  “In the last kilometer the Saur-Sojasun train came over us. I was isolated but then, with 350 meters to go, I saw an opening. As I was afraid to be enclosed, I jumped away. Unfortunately Casper could come back. But this looks good for the future. I feel that the Team has confidence in me. I start feeling good too. I don’t complain.”

Team Director Dirk Demol added, “The 350 meters was a bit too far for a Steegmans since he’s not yet in super form, but this is promising for the future. Maybe it could have been better with Seba in the Team.”  Sebastian Rosseler didn’t finish today, dropping out with pain in his hand.  He has been suffering for a few days from a thrombosis in the hand, a result from his hand operation last year.  He was evaluated at the hospital in Roeselare.

The third stage in the Tour of Belgium was the last opportunity for the fast guys, as well as the longest stage for this year’s race.  Early in the stage Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Stijn Vandenbergh (Team Katusha), Jan Kuyckx (Qin Cycling Team), and Sven Renders (Verandas Willems) tashaped the early flight.  The all- Belgian group gained a five minute advantage, but were caught well before the finish line.

Two stages remain to race in the Tour of Belgium with Saturday’s stage a 16.7km individual time trial.

Top Ten Results

1              Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun            4:20:15                   

2              Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team Katusha                      

3              Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team Radioshack                                 

4              Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Verandas Willems                                

5              Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha                                 

6              Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil - Shimano                                

7              Enrique Mata (Spa) Footon-Servetto                       

8              Timothy Dupont (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen - Bauknecht                         

9              Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Telenet - Fidea                          

10            Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Landbouwkrediet

Team RadioShack Results

51           Ben Hermans (Bel)

55           Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)

66           Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)

74           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)

86           Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

94           Matthew Busche (USA)

DNF        Sebastien Rosseler (Bel)

General Classification after Stage 3

1              Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto         11:50:10                

2              Rony Martias (Fra) Saur - Sojasun             0:00:10  

3              Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team Radioshack                     

4              James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Verandas Willems    0:00:14  

5              David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet                    

6              Jimmy Casper (Fra) Saur - Sojasun            0:00:16  

7              Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil - Shimano               0:00:23  

8              Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team Katusha     0:00:25  

9              Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly                                

10            Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    0:00:27

Team RadioShack on General Classification

11           Gert Steegmans (Bel)  0:00:28   

38           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) 0:00:33

66           Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)

101          Matthew Busche (USA)

129          Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

138          Ben Hermans (Bel)   0:01:44