Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2013 [FULL RACE] (flemish)

February 23, 2013

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2013 – Gent – Gent : 198,6 km

The 199km race, which begins and ends in Ghent, brings the peloton over 12 climbs, including the Berendries, Valkenberg, Eikenberg and Molenberg, which all feature in De Ronde six weeks later, but the flat sections of cobbles throughout – particularly the two blasts over the 2km stretch at Haaghoek – often do much of the damage. The flat 30km run-in from the Molenberg to the finish in Ghent means that a group finish can never be fully ruled out, even if the difficulty of what comes before usually whittles the peloton done to size quite rudely.

Luca Paolini (Team Katusha) won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad by beating his breakaway companion Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team) in a two-up sprint. Maarten Wijnants (Team Blanco) won the sprint for third among those in the chase group.

A crowded St-Peter’s square in Ghent, Belgium welcomed last year’s surprise winner Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco) and 197 other riders who were about to tackle the 198 tough kilometers over the narrow and twisting Flemish roads while enduring freezing temperatures and a blisteringly cold wind.

In a fast first hour at 46km/h, nine riders managed to get into the early breakaway group. They were William Clarke (Argos-Shimano), Florian Vachon (Bretagne), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), Nico Sijmens (Cofidis), Cyril Lemoine (Sojasun), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar), Zakkari Dempster (Netapp-Endura), and a little later, also Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) and Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

The nine riders reached the first cobblestones with a maximal advantage of five minutes on the peloton. As the hills and cobbles quickly followed each other, the gap steadily decreased. By the time the race reached the crucial Taaienberg climb, the gap was down to 1:15. The peloton split into several parts and only 40 men featured in the first peloton when hitting the following Eikenberg climb.

Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) attacked the peloton after the Eikenberg together with Marco Bandiera (IAM). The duo caught up with the leaders by the next climb.

Their move was copied by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Geraint Thomas (Sky), Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol), Maarten Wynants (Blanco), Sven Vandousselaere (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Egoitz Garcia Etxegibel (Cofidis) and later also Luca Paolini (Katusha).

Before those men bridged up with the tired leaders, Chavanel left his companions behind at the cobbles of the Haaghoek. With 45km left to race, Chavanel started a seemingly impossible solo ride. The Frenchman gathered no more than half a minute on the chase group where Van Avermaet took most of the initiative on the Leberg and the Molenberg.

After that last climb of the day, Chavanel was caught, creating a lead group of 10 men: Chavanel, Van Avermaet, Thomas, Paolini, Roelandts, Vandenbergh, Vandousselaere, Garcia, Wynants and Bandiera.

At the kilometres long pavé sections of the Paddestraat and Lippenhovestraat, Vandenbergh accelerated with only Paolini being able to hold the wheel of the tall Belgian rider.

On the following windy roads, the duo extended its lead up to nearly half a minute over the eight-man strong chase group by the time they reached the final pavé section (2500m) of the Lange Munte at 20km from the finish line in Ghent. None of the chasers tried to set-up a solo move on these cobbles, but also together they weren’t able to get closer to the two leaders despite the cold headwind.

Results :
1 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha 4:52:15
2 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:00
3 Sven Vandousselaere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:13
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling
5 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
6 Marco Bandiera (Ita) IAM Cycling
7 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
8 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol
9 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
10 Egoitz Garcia Etxegibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 0:06:27
12 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale
13 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Accent Jobs-Wanty
14 Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Katusha
15 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
16 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
18 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar
19 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
20 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp
21 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha
22 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling
23 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Argos-Shimano
24 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
25 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
26 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha
27 Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol
28 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
29 Jean-Lou Paiani (Fra) Sojasun
30 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
31 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
32 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
33 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge
34 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
35 Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
36 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
37 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty
38 Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ
39 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
40 Egidijus Juodvalkis (Ltu) Crelan-Euphony
41 Markus Eichler (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
42 Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
43 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
44 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge
45 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
46 Stijn Neirynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
47 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
48 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
50 Benjamin Verraes (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty
51 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
52 Koen Barbe (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
53 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling
54 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
55 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
56 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
57 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
58 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
59 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN-Qhubeka
60 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol
61 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sky Procycling
62 Tim De Troyer (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty
63 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar
64 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
65 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin-Sharp
66 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
67 Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin-Sharp
68 Jonathan Breyne (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
69 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
70 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling
71 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
72 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
73 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ
74 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
75 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
76 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
77 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team
78 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team
79 Grega Bole (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
80 Lars Boom (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
81 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
82 Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
83 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar
84 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
85 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
86 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
87 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
88 Andreas Klier (Ger) Garmin-Sharp
89 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
90 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
91 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling
92 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
93 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
94 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
95 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar
96 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
97 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar
98 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
99 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
100 Debusschere Jens (Bel) Lotto Belisol
101 Jacob L Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:08:49
102 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:12:04
103 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Team NetApp-Endura
104 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
105 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
106 Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team NetApp-Endura
107 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar
108 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha
109 David Boucher (Fra) FDJ 0:13:39
110 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
111 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka
112 Clinton Robert Avery (NZl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
113 Roberto De Patre (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
114 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura
115 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
116 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
117 Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
118 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
119 Russell Downing (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura
120 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura
121 Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
122 Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM Cycling
123 Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
124 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
125 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun
126 Rony Martias (Fra) Sojasun
127 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Sojasun
128 Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida
129 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica-GreenEdge
130 Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
131 Steve Chainel (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
132 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) Ag2R La Mondiale
133 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
134 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
135 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ
136 Martin Reimer (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka
137 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
138 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
139 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha
140 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka
141 Davide Appollonio (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale
142 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
143 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida
144 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
145 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
DNF Rick Flens (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
DNF Moreno Hofland (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
DNF Robert Thomas Wagner (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team
DNF Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team
DNF Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
DNF Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol
DNF Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol
DNF Hugo Houle (Can) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Axel Domont (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Anthony Ravard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale
DNF Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
DNF Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida
DNF Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF William Clarke (Aus) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
DNF Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin-Sharp
DNF Jéröme Gilbert (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty
DNF Andy Cappelle (Bel) Accent Jobs-Wanty
DNF William Routley (Can) Accent Jobs-Wanty
DNF Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent Jobs-Wanty
DNF Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
DNF Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Crelan-Euphony
DNF Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Clément Koretzky (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Benjamin Le Montagner (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement
DNF Matthias Friedemann (Ger) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Mart Ojavee (Est) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Ryan Roth (Can) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Kin San Wu (HKg) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Florent Barle (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Kristof Goddaert (Bel) IAM Cycling
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling
DNF Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha
DNF Maxime Daniel (Fra) Sojasun
DNF Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Sojasun
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun
DNF Paul Voss (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura
DNF Ferekalsi Debesay Abrha (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Alg) MTN-Qhubeka
DNF Rafael Andriato (Bra) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
DNF Luigi Miletta (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia