Driedaagse De Panne: Kristoff wins stage 2

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Alexander Kirstoff (Katusha-Alpecin) won stage 2 of the Three Days of De Panne after a hard-fought day in the echelons split the peloton and allowed Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) to tighten his grip on the overall classification.

Kristoff has not been at his best recently but he is always ready for a fight. He made sure he was in the split of 22 riders and then kicked late into the headwind finish to beat Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) and Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo). Pascal Ackerman (Bora-hansgrohe) – second at the 2016 Under 23 world championships in Qatar, impressed by finishing fourth and mixing it in the sprint with Kristoff and Kittel.

Gilbert – wearing the race leader’s white jersey – was again strong in the echelons during the final 50km and then worked hard, doing frequent turns on the front to ensure that Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) failed to get across to the move. Durbridge eventually finished in the main peloton 2:40 back, gutted at missing out on a chance of overall success.

After 211km of racing, only Gilbert and Kristoff were smiling.

"There was a lot of wind and I was maybe a little too far back in the last corner. So I started my sprint seated to move up and speed up. I kind of lead myself out and then increased my sprint. I knew that from the radio it was better to stay on the wheels but I didn’t want to get boxed in. I just kept the other guys behind me," Kristoff explained, playing down his chances for the Tour of Flanders.

"I don’t honestly see myself as one of the favourites for the Tour of Flanders this year. If you look at the results in the hardest races, I lacked a bit of shape. But I got the win here and this gives you confidence, but today is still different to Flanders. I fear my top form will come too late and there are a lot of strong favourites like Gilbert, Van Avermaet and Sagan. It will be difficult to beat these guys, but I hope to be up there, fighting with them."

Gilbert won the two intermediate sprints on the finishing circuits to add an extra six seconds to his lead.

The Three Days of De Panne ends with a split day of racing on Thursday, with a morning road race stage around De Panne and then an afternoon 14.2km time trial.

Gilbert now leads Matthias Brandle (Trek-Segafredo) by 50 seconds, with Kristoff third overall at 1:07. Gilbert knows he us on track for victory but refused to celebrate until after the final time trial.

“I’ve take out an option on the final victory but Brandle is still close. I haven’t won yet," Gilbert said, explaining the stage and why he had to chase Brandle when he made a late move.

"It was a tough day but we rode constantly in the front as a team. It’s too bad that we couldn’t finish it off and win with Marcel. I wanted to help him in the sprint but I was tired because I had to get Brandle back.”

Gilbert hopes to help Kittel land a sprint win on Thursday morning’s short road stage before sealing overall success in the time trial.

"Tomorrow, if I remember well, because I’ve only ridden it once, it’s only 90km road stage but it’ll be full gas. We’ve got to take revenge for today’s finish, and Marcel is really motivated. We’re going to ride on the front, protect him and try to win," he said.

Another hard day of racing

After Tuesday’s trip to the climbs of southern Flanders, the Three Days of De Panne headed back to the coast on Wednesday via a 211km ride on often exposed roads.

A group of 10 riders broke free and formed the early move, but Quick-Step lead the initial chase before the peloton reached the Kemmelberg and three other nasty climbs at the mid-way point.

The climbs caused some initial splits. Then with 50km to go the wind picked up and the riders smelt a chance for echelons. Trek-Segafredo was the first to try, and the race soon exploded.

The exposed roads between Beveren and Houtem proved to be decisive. The breakaway was swallowed up, and somehow Durbridge missed the move and Kristoff went on the offensive with Theuns and others. Kittel managed to get across with a teammate and so Gilbert also rode hard to distance Durbridge and other overall rivals.

There were seven echelons spread down the road at one point, making for a spectacular but intense moment of racing.

A group of 22 riders eventually formed and they were never seen by the rest again. Durbridge was left to do much of the chasing, and the gap gradually increased out to one-minute as the attack crossed the eventual finish line and began the two 11.5km finishing laps.

Quick-Step rode to set up Kittel for the sprint, and he had Richeze and Sabatini to lead him out. But the German seemed tired after his efforts in the stage. Gilbert was forced to chase a late attack and that further damaged Kittel’s hopes of a smooth lead out.

In the finishing straight, with a headwind adding an extra complication, Kristoff went first, on the other side to Kittel. The German was not able to match him or beat him, allowing Kristoff to finally show some form and find some confidence for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

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