Scheldeprijs 2017 [FULL RACE]

April 05, 2017

Scheldeprijs 2017– Mol – Schoten : 202 km

The Scheldeprijs is a cycling race in Belgium which starts in Antwerp and finishes in Schoten. The event, ranked as a 1.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour, features mostly sprinters on its roll of honour, as it is held on all-flat roads over roughly 200 kilometres.

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) made his fifth career win in the Scheldeprijs look easy, taking out the sprint in Schoten from the front in a dominant fashion over Elia Viviani (Team Sky). Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) was third.

The victory came after a late crash disrupted the peloton, but Kittel avoided the carnage, and had a perfect lead-out from teammate Matteo Trentin.

“It was fantastic work from the team, Tom Boonen was strong in the finale. I was happy he could help me so much. Fabio Sabatini was caught up in the crash, but Matteo Trentin was very good and very smart in the lead-out,” Kittel said.

“I think it’s now a pretty good record so far. Schoten feels a little bit like my living room. I’m always happy to win here again and to see the fantastic spectators. It’s one of my favourite races,” he said, confirming that he will forgo the Giro d’Italia. “I won’t be in the Giro. Fernando [Gaviria] will be our sprinter there in the team. I will take some rest now and restart my training, and then ride the Tour of California as I build up to the Tour de France.”

How it happened

Kittel’s victory in the 105th edition of Scheldeprijs was somewhat overshadowed as Belgium celebrated the career of Tom Boonen, who toed the line on home soil for the final time before his impending retirement after Paris-Roubaix.

The race kicked off from his home town of Mol and all eyes were on ‘Tommeke’ as the peloton wound through his stomping grounds before his grandfather dropped the flag for kilometer 0.

Kittel was the top favourite for the race, but thanks to the attention on his teammate he was not stormed by the media when signing on. “It’s a nice experience to be here with Tom Boonen. It’s a great motivation too. It’s also my last race for me with him. The pressure is on,” Kittel said.

It wasn’t long before a breakaway was established, with Roompot the most assertive in ensuring they were represented. Pim Ligthart (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) led the way with Marco Mathis (Katusha-Alpecin), Christophe Premont (Verandas Willems-Crelan), Stijn Steels (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Julien Stassen (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect) and Eugert Zhupa (Wilier-Triestina).

They were allowed a five minute lead after 52km, as Boonen soaked up the adoration of his fans. Quick-Step Floors came moved forward to keep the gap under control. After two hours of racing the gap was down to three minutes and it kept dropping until the race reached the halfway point and the feed zone.

The gap went down to 2:15 at 80 kilometres from the finish but then the chase calmed down. Riders from Cofidis, Lotto-Soudal, LottoNL-Jumbo and Team Sky joined Quick-Step in front of the peloton, all having fast men in their ranks.
Nevertheless, the gap increased again up to nearly three minutes at 70 kilometres from the finish.

At the first of three passages of the finish in Schoten, the advantage for the leaders was down to 1:40. For the usual suspects in the northern classics, there was no pressure. Luke Rowe (Team Sky) was working in front of the peloton while world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was picking up bottles for his teammates at the team car. André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) flatted when the peloton was racing at high speed but the experienced German rider never panicked.

The pace in the peloton never eased off completely and at 38 kilometres from the finish the gap dropped under the minute.

Ligthart accelerated to try and breathe some new life into the fading escape, but only served to shake Premont loose, and soon Mathis was distanced, too.

Zhupa took the lead on the penultimate traverse of the cobbled Broekstraat, and distanced everyone but Ligthart – but two against an increasingly energized peloton was not enough. They were reeled in with 19km to go, and the sprinters’ teams kept the pace high to discourage any further attacks.

Boonen himself came to the fore of the Quick-Step train with 7km to go to keep the pace high for Kittel, but FDJ, Bora-Hansgrohe and Sunweb challenged for control of the front.

A crash with 4km to go near the front of the group took down a huge number of riders and delaying Greipel, but Sagan was fortunate to have avoided the mayhem. But he pulled off the front soon after, happy to finish the race risk-free.

Sky led into the final turn for Viviani, but Quick-Step was on the wheel with Kittel tucked into a perfect position. He took the sprint from the front and easily cruised to his fifth career win in the race.

Results :

1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 4:35:25
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
4 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
5 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
8 Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
9 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
10 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
12 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
13 Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
14 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:02
15 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
16 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
17 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
18 Kevyn Ista (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
19 Erwann Corbel (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
20 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:05
21 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
22 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
23 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
24 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:07
25 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
26 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
27 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
28 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
30 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
31 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
32 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
33 Maxime Daniel (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
34 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
35 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:00:12
36 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ 0:00:13
37 Boris Vallee (Bel) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
38 Lukas Spengler (Swi) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
39 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky
40 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
41 Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
42 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:20
43 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
44 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
45 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:22
46 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:24
47 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:00:27
48 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
50 Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:00:32
51 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:00:34
52 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:00:48
53 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) FDJ
54 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
55 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:01:06
56 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:01:24
57 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
58 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
59 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
60 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:28
61 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:30
62 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb
63 Sander Cordeel (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
64 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:37
65 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
66 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:43
67 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:56
68 Etienne Van Empel (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
69 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
70 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
71 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina
72 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
73 Christophe Masson (Fra) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
74 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
75 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
76 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
77 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
78 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
79 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
80 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
81 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
82 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
83 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
84 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Ion Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
86 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
87 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
88 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
89 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
90 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
91 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
92 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
93 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
94 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
95 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
96 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:04
97 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:45
98 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:03:10
99 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
100 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Wilier Triestina
101 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:03:25
102 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
103 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
104 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Sunweb
105 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
106 Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
107 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ
108 Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
109 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:36
110 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
111 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:03:49
112 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
113 Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
114 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
115 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
116 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
117 Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data 0:04:24
118 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:55
119 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
120 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
121 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottNl-Jumbo
122 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 0:05:25
123 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:26
124 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
125 Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
126 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
127 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
128 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina
129 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
130 Matteo Draperi (Ita) Wilier Triestina
131 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
132 Michael Goolaerts (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
133 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
134 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
135 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
136 Taco Van Der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
137 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
138 Thomas Scully (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
139 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
140 Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data 0:06:11
141 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:06:22
142 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:07:24
143 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:07:26
144 Stijn Steels (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
145 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
146 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
147 Julien Stassen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
148 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
149 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
150 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
151 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
152 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:09:51
153 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:11:05
154 Christophe Prémont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:13:26
155 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
DNF Daniel Mclay (GBr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
DNF Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
DNF Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
DNF Stef Van Zummeren (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan