Three Days of De Panne 2016 – Stage 1 [LAST 2 KM]

March 29, 2016

Three Days of De Panne 2016 – [Stage 1] – De Panne – Zottegem – 198,2 km

The Three Days of De Panne (Dutch: KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde) is a mid-week, three-day stage race before the Tour of Flanders in De Panne in West Flanders, Belgium. It is rated 2.HC by the UCI and is part of the UCI Europe Tour.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) managed to hold off the combined attacks of Astana duo Lieuwe Westra and Alexey Lutsenko to win the opening stage of Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde – the Three Days of De Panne.

The trio got away in the finale of the 198km stage that included 12 of the toughest Flemish climbs. Britain’s Luke Rowe (Team Sky) was also part of the decisive attack but punctured on the final climb of the Muur de Geraadsbergen. He finished fifth just behind Mads Pedersen (Stölting Service Group), at 29 seconds, with a group of 30 or so riders finishing at 36 seconds. Those time differences could prove decisive in the final two days of racing.

Westra and Lutsenko tried to out manvouvre Kristoff but were also working to gain time on the chasers. As a result they struggled in the finale and Kristoff had no problems in leading out and then winning the sprint.

Kristoff missed Gent-Wevelgem due to a fever but looked back on track during the stage. He now leads the overall ahead of Lutsenko by one second with Westra third overall at six seconds.

Wednesday’s 211km second stage is from Zottegem to Koksijde and features the Kemmelberg and several other climbs after 110km of racing before three finishing circuits on the coast in Koksijde.

Results :

1 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 4:22:34
2 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
3 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
4 Mads Pedersen (Den) Stölting Service Group 0:00:29
5 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
6 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
7 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast – Venezuela
8 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team
9 Sean De Bie (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha