Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2011 [FULL RACE] (flemish)

February 26, 2011

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2011 – Gent – Gent : 203 km

The 2011 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad took place on 26 February 2011. It was the 66th edition of the international classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This year’s Omloop started and ended at St. Peter’s Square in Ghent, Belgium and spanned 203 kilometers in the province of East Flanders. The race was the first 1.HC event in the 2011 UCI World Ranking. This year’s edition of the race featured more cobblestones when compared to previous editions, as it crossed a 2 kilometer cobblestone section three times. Former rider and race organizer Peter Van Petegem also decreased the number of climbs from twelve to nine, notably omitting the infamous Muur van Geraardsbergen. According to the race organization, the race course was “slightly tough[ened] overall”.

Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) edged out last year’s winner Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) in a close sprint to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Langeveld threw his bike at the line and won a few centimetres to take the biggest win of his career. He collected the kisses and the praise on the podium, with Matt Hayman joining his teammate Flecha on the podium after taking third place ahead of Yoann Offredo (FDJ).

“I worked very hard for the victory and I’m going to take my time to enjoy it,” Langeveld said.

The Dutchman rode aggressively in the rain-soaked race, launching a solo attack in the middle of the key hilly section of the race with more than 50km left to race.

He quickly gained a gap of half a minute on a chase group while all the big-name favourites were riding in the remains of the peloton just under a minute down. On the Leberg climb, Flecha launched a counter-attack together with Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step) out of the peloton.

“On the Leberg it was time to gamble and I had the legs to go there,” Flecha said.

The Spaniard first caught up with the group of chasers and then he left them on the cobbles of the Paddestraat when there were less than 30km to race. At that moment the gap between Flecha and Langeveld was more than a minute. Langeveld and Flecha fought out an intense pursuit but the Spaniard closed the gap second by second on his former Rabobank teammate.

With 15km to go, Flecha joined up with Langeveld and the two were set for a two-man sprint.

“I didn’t wait for Flecha but when he came back I saw that he didn’t have much left in his tank. I knew that he would try to attack. If I could neutralize that attack I would be mentally at an advantage,” Langeveld said.

The final kilometres unfolded as Langeveld predicted but in the sprint Flecha surprisingly turned out to be much faster than expected. “Normally Langeveld is faster but after such a race it’s different. I wasn’t as sure as he was that he’d won but in the end he was ten centimetres faster today,” Flecha conceded.

In the first chase group there were several attacks in the final kilometres and a minute after the close sprint, it was Hayman who showed up first at the St-Peter’s square in Ghent, just ahead of the surprising young French rider Yoann Offredo (FDJ). The other chasers were just behind, with the main peloton at five minutes and another cold and wet group at almost ten minutes.

All the action

The first half of the race was marked by a breakaway by Sébastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet-KDL), Steven Van Vooren (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), Bram Schmitz and Steven Caethoven (Veranda’s Willems-Accent), Aleksejs Saramotins (Cofidis), Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ), Ronan van Zandbeek (Skil-Shimano) and Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar). The group build up a lead of almost eight minutes. However the foul weather made it a hard race and by the time the race started in earnest front many riders were already at their limit.

On the cobbles of Donderij, with 65km to go, the race started in the peloton when the riders from Sky and then Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) upping the speed. When arriving at the Taaienberg – also known as Boonenberg – the peloton was stretched out. Boonen led the peloton over the cobbled climb in the asphalted gutter, with world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) just behind him. In between the Taaienberg and the Eikenberg climbs, the pace remained high thanks to the efforts of Offredo and Hushovd.

The early breakaway was quickly caught and Langeveld used the Eikenberg to go clear. Behind him the favourites were playing a waiting game. A group including John Degenkolb (HTC-Highroad), Hayman, Manuel Quinziato (BMC), Martijn Maaskant (Garmin-Cervélo) went away after him. Little later another group left the main peloton featuring Fréderic Amorison (Landbouwkrediet-KDL), Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Lars Boom (Rabobank) and Luca Paolini (Katusha).

When Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step) set a high pace on the Leberg he ended up riding away with Flecha. The chase groups came together behind sole leader Langeveld, who still had a lead of more than a minute. Flecha put the hammer down on the cobbles of the Paddestraat and set off in pursuit, and from there the great finale with Langeveld unfolded.

Flecha seemed the favourite to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for a second year but the young Dutchman had no plans to give up as he showed with his perfect sprint.

Results :
1 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 5:18:03
2 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling
3 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:01:01
4 Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ 0:01:04
5 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 0:01:21
6 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:01:24
7 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:01:30
8 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
9 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
11 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 0:01:34
12 John Degenkolb (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:01:39
13 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Leopard Trek 0:05:05
14 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
15 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Katusha Team
16 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ
17 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team
18 Russell Downing (GBr) Sky Procycling
19 Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
20 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
21 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Katusha Team
22 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
23 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
24 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
25 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team
26 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Leopard Trek
27 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
28 Leif Hoste (Bel) Katusha Team
29 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
30 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
31 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar
32 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
33 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo
34 Andreas Klier (Ger) Team Garmin-Cervelo
35 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
36 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
37 Hayden Roulston (NZl) HTC-Highroad
38 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) HTC-Highroad
39 Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ
40 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
41 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
42 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
43 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
44 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
45 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent 0:09:22
46 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) HTC-Highroad 0:10:41
47 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
48 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
49 Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil – Shimano
50 Alex Rasmussen (Den) HTC-Highroad
51 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne – Schuller
52 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
53 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
54 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
55 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
56 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
57 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil – Shimano
58 Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil – Shimano
59 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
60 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Procycling
61 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
62 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ
63 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
64 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
65 Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
66 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
67 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Katusha Team
68 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
69 Dominic Klemme (Ger) Leopard Trek
70 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
71 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
72 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar
73 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
74 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo
75 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
76 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
77 Geert Steurs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator 0:14:29
78 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
79 Dieter Cappelle (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
80 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
81 William Clarke (Aus) Leopard Trek
82 Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha Team
83 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
84 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
85 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo
86 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet
87 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
88 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Bretagne – Schuller
89 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Team Netapp
90 Timon Seubert (Ger) Team Netapp
91 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
92 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
93 Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Veranda’s Willems – Accent
94 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar
95 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Highroad
96 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo
97 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne