E3 Harelbeke 2016 [FULL RACE]

March 25, 2016

E3 Harelbeke 2016 – Harelbeke – Harelbeke – 206 km

E3 Harelbeke, named after the former E3 motorway and the race’s start and finish town, is one of the younger Belgian Classics but it now plays a big role in many riders’ Classics campaigns. Sandwiched between Dwars door Vlaanderen and Gent-Wevelgem, there are plenty of the big names on show.

The 2016 edition of the race is its 59th and completes a 206km loop out and back from Harelbeke. It is sometimes known as a mini Tour of Flanders, with some of its 15 climbs also featuring in De Ronde just over a week later. The Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg and Taaienberg all feature in the race.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) denied Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) his first win in the rainbow jersey at the E3 Harelbeke on Friday by out-sprinting the world champion after the duo escaped a select lead group of favourites with 30km remaining.

With Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) chasing furiously behind, Kwiatkowski powered away from Sagan in the final 200 metres to take the victory. Ian Stannard rounded out the podium with third place for Team Sky.

Cancellara was slowed by a mechanical but made his way back to the lead group of about 13 riders with just over 30km to go after a lengthy chase. Moments after he regained contact, the winning move came with Kwiatkowski first to accelerate on the Karnemelkbeekstraat. Sagan made it up to the Team Sky rider with Matteo Trentin furiously chasing in order to make sure Etixx-Quickstep were represented. However the Italian wilted, allowing the last two world champions to establish a lead that peaked at just under 40 seconds.
Etixx-QuickStep, who had numbers throughout the race, set upon chasing the leaders but their efforts proved in vain. A late charge from Tom Boonen almost saw the leading pair caught in the closing kilometre but as Sagan led the duo toward the line, Kwiatkowski launched his attack and quickly opened an insurmountable gap.

Sagan, weary from his earlier efforts in the break, simply had no answer and barely lifted himself out of the saddle as the Pole made sure of his escape.

“I did my best, I was perfectly protected by my teammates,” Kwiatkowski said at the finish. “Ian Stannard was in the front and we could play very well. Actually, we worked well with Peter – as we did three years ago in Strade Bianche. Honestly, I knew I had really good legs today. I had to go for the win – there was no other option.

“I know how Peter feels, to have the world champion’s jersey, it’s very difficult. But we both did a very good race.”

For Sagan the wait for his first win in the rainbow jersey continues with half a dozen second places already amassed this season. Up until the sprint the Slovak had ridden the perfect race, and even when he became isolated from his team, he remained calm, picking his moment to attack with the same precision that had seem him win the World title. However, when it came to the sprint the Tinkoff leader had nothing left.

“We were working together, but in the finish I was – yeah – I had no more energy. He was better,” Sagan said of Kwiatkowski. When asked if it was that simple, he replied, “Cycling is simple, I think. At the end of a race like this it’s all different. I did the attack and then I worked a lot. The last two kilometres in the radio they said ‘you have to pull, you have to pull, everybody is coming’. I pulled a lot, and for the final I was without legs.”

How it unfolded

The morning news surrounded Greg Van Avermaet’s decision not to start the race after the Belgian came down with a stomach bug. The rest of the peloton, however, headed out from Harelbeke with the breakaway forming around Antoine Demoitie (Wanty – Groupe Gobert), Wouter Wippert (Cannondale Pro Cycling), Bert De Backer (Team Giant-Alpecin), Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale), Sjoerd van Ginneken (Roompot – Oranje Peloton), Tony Hurel (Direct Energie) and Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling).

Jay Robert Thomson (Dimension Data) bridged up solo much later and the eight leaders collected a maximum lead of 6 minutes but Trek-Segafredo team took the initiative for their leader Fabian Cancellara. When approaching the first bergs the gap quickly dropped, especially in the sprint towards the seventh climb of the day, the always-important Taaienberg at 74 kilometres from the finish in Harelbeke.

Cancellara’s resurrection

On the Taaienberg Roelandts’ acceleration created an elite group of 10 riders with Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal), Boonen, Zdenek Stybar, Matteo Trentin and Nikki Terpstra for Etixx-QuickStep, Cancellara, Daniel Oss (BMC), Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Lars Boom (Astana). At the foot of the following Boigneberg a cranky rear derailleur halted Cancellara.

The Swiss rider tossed his bike to the side of the road and waited more than a minute with folded arms for a new machine. It looked as though his race was over.

As the race continued towards climb 12, the steep cobbled Paterberg, the situation kept changing. Stybar punctured from the front as about twenty riders came together. Half a minute further back Trek-Segafredo and Katusha (for Kristoff) combined forces in the peloton to try and get back to the lead group where Tony Martin worked hard for Etixx-QuickStep.

Cancellara and Stybar surged away from the peloton on the tough combination of the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. In front Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), Ian Stannard (Sky), Boonen, Trentin, Terpstra, Boom, Oss, Vanmarcke and Benoot pushed on. Five kilometres after cresting the long Oude Kwaremont climb Cancellara and Stybar bridged up to the leaders with Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) and Dries Devenyns (IAM).

Winning move on the Karnemelkbeekstraat

At 30 kilometres from the finish Kwiatkowski and Sagan accelerated away on the penultimate climb of the day, the Karnemelkbeekstraat. The duo built up a lead of nearly forty seconds on the 13 chasers at 15 kilometres from the finish, with no obstacles left to cover.

Etixx, despite their numerical advantage, were unable to bring the pair back and despite a last-ditch effort from Boonen and Cancellara, the team Sky – Tinkoff tandem had just enough room to manoeuvre as they raced under the 1000m to go banner. Sagan brought them to the barriers in an attempt to force Kwiatkowski’s hand but even the predictability of a telegraphed attack could not save the world champion, who was powerless to respond.

“After 30, 40km, going both together, I knew I had to go for a long sprint, because Peter seems to have this kick, this punch, bigger than me,” the winner said.

“I tried to go more than 300m before the finish and that worked out. I didn’t look back, I just went full gas to the finish.”

“I’ve done a few times Tour of Flanders and never did very well. I feel really good in Team Sky, being one of the leaders for the cobbled Classics is an amazing feeling, to be so protected, and to finish like that even after not doing any Classics before. It’s more than I dreamed about.”

Results

1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 4:49:34
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:00:04
3 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:11
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
7 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
9 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
10 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
11 Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling
12 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
13 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:15
14 Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
15 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:02:32
16 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:04:48
17 Marco Marcato (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
18 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team
19 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
20 Ralf Matzka (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
21 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
22 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
23 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
24 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
25 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
26 Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
28 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
29 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
30 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
31 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step
32 Stefan Kueng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
33 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie
34 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
35 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Bora-Argon 18
36 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
37 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
38 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
39 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
40 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
41 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:04:52
42 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:18
43 Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:06:54
44 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
45 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
46 Vegard Breen (Nor) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
47 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
48 Nils Politt (Ger) Team Katusha
49 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
50 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
51 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Katusha
53 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha
54 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal
55 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
56 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
57 Marko Kump (Slo) Lampre – Merida
58 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
59 Michel Kreder (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
60 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
61 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
62 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
63 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff Team
64 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
65 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:08:59
66 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
67 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
68 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
69 Antoine Demoitie (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
70 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
71 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
72 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
73 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:11:35
74 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
75 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling
76 Ryan Anderson (Can) Direct Energie
77 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff Team
78 Adam Blythe (GBr) Tinkoff Team
79 Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
80 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling
81 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
82 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
83 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
84 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
85 Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
86 Stijn Steels (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
87 Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
88 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
89 Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
90 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
91 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling
92 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team Katusha
93 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Giant-Alpecin
94 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
95 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
96 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha
97 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
98 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
99 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
100 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling
101 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
102 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
103 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
104 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
105 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
106 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
DNF Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
DNF Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
DNF Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
DNF Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha
DNF Xu Gang (Tpe) Lampre – Merida
DNF Federico Zurlo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre – Merida
DNF Jorge Arcas Pena (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Ivar Slik (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Boris Vallee (Bel) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ
DNF Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Daniel Mclay (GBr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Kai Reus (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Tim Kerkhof (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot – Oranje Peloton
DNF Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Andrea Dal Col (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Matteo Draperi (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Mirko Tedeschi (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Mirko Trosino (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Southeast – Venezuela
DNF Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
DNF Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
DNF Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18
DNF Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Lampre – Merida
DNF Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
DNF Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
DNF Vicente Reynes (Spa) IAM Cycling
DNF Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM Cycling
DNF Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM Cycling
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida
DNF Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
DNF Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Moreno De Pauw (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff Team
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Jef Van Meirhaeghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ
DNF Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
DNF Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data
DNF Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie
DNS Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team