Van Avermaet wins E3 Harelbeke

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Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) hung his placard on the top rung of the rack of Tour of Flanders contenders, taking out his second victory of the season in the E3 Harelbeke. 

The Belgian out-sprinted his former teammate Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), with fellow escapee Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale) taking the final podium spot.

"I was happy how I felt. I didn't feel so good on Wednesday but I'm happy things are not so bad," Van Avermaet said after fighting a cold earlier in the week.

Van Avermaet played down suggestions that riders who win E3 are the overwhelming favourites for the Tour of Flanders.

"I don't know. I was never so good here, I was never on the podium and I was always good in Flanders. It's just nice to win a Classic in Flanders and I think E3 is one of the nicest ones. It gives a lot of confidence for Flanders. I'm just happy to have two nice victories in my pocket and hopefully the third will come next week."

The winning trio formed out of a six man group that bridged to the early breakaway, distancing themselves from the rest on the Oude Kwaremont and then cooperating until the finish line was in sight. Gilbert, stuck on the front, kept looking back waiting for one of his rivals to open up the sprint. Naesen finally lost patience and jumped, but it was too soon and Van Avermaet surged past with the form expected of an Olympic champion.

Gilbert made it close, but no cigar as Van Avermaet took the win by a quarter wheel.

“In the sprint, Naesen surprised me when he opened his sprint and I hesitated for a second," Gilbert said. "That, and the headwind, made it really hard to get back in the front. It’s a pity, because I was there and could have won, but that’s racing. I’m looking at the bright side of things, which is that my form is good and I’ve rediscovered those sensations that make me feel at ease on the cobbles.

"In these races, you have to work hard to get into the best position and to keep it. I really like this. I found again my fighting spirit and this makes me happy. I’m back!"

Meanwhile, Naesen's third place was the biggest result of his career. "When I attacked on the Oude Kwaremont, I saw that they were both able to follow. I knew that we would be fast enough to stay away," he said. "We rode all the way, to the last kilometre where things became tactical. I tried to surprise them, but I knew I was not the best. I finished in my place. I believed I could win, but there were just 20 meters too many."

How it unfolded

The countdown to the Tour of Flanders continued with the E3 Harelbeke, which departed under sunny skies for 206.1km of mayhem.

The opening kilometers were marked by a series of crashes, some inconsequential, but some not - Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) abandoned after a nasty crash left him howling in pain and clutching his left knee.

It wasn't until the second hour that a breakaway could go clear, and when they finally did they quickly opened up a lead of just under five minutes.

Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Laurens De Vreese (Astana), David Per (Bahrain-Merida), Gijs van Hoecke (LottoNl-Jumbo), Taco van der Hoorn (Roompot), and Christophe Masson (WB Veranclassic) were the lucky ones to make the move.

Dries de Bondt (Veranda's Willems) chased solo for a long time before finally joining up with Tom Van Aesbroeck (Cannondale-Drapac) and Mickael Delage (FDJ) in no-man's land, but were dangling precariously in front of the peloton as they reached the midpoint of the hellingen region.

Olivier Le Gac (FDJ) attacked from the peloton with 75km to go, but his move didn't last long, as Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors) stretched his legs on Taaienberg. The acceleration halved the advantage of the leaders, bringing it to just 1:26.

Boonen's attack was closely marked by BMC's Daniel Oss, and soon after a counter-attack came from Gilbert, who was joined by Van Avermaet, Naesen and Lukas Postlberger (Bora-hansgrohe). They caught the Van Aesbroeck group with 66km to go on the Boindeberg.

Sep Vanmarcke then bridged across with Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott), his efforts helped by Van Aesbroeck, who was then dropped on the Eikenberg, along with Delage and de Bondt.

Behind, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) tried to go across several times, but was heavily marked. The sextet caught the leaders with 59km to go making 12 up front, with a precarious 48 seconds on the field.

Behind, Sagan tried again to go across, but each time he was reeled back in, and finally with 42km to go was taken down in a crash. Although he quickly bounced up and remounted, repeated issues with his bike meant his race was over.

Soon, all of the early escapees were ridden off the wheels of the lead group, pushed by Gilbert. Only De Vreese was left, making it seven riders with 1:10 at 38km to go.

Naesen pushed the pace on the Oude Kwaremont and put Vanmarcke, Durbridge, Postlberger and De Vreese out the back, and found himself in the company of the two Classics giants, Gilbert and Van Avermaet.

Durbridge and Postlberger, and further back De Vreese and Vanmarcke, valiantly continued to chase the lead trio, but could not make up ground. Meanwhile, Trek-Segafredo desperately tried to get a group working to go across, but were thwarted by the Quick-Step team.

Their efforts reeled in De Vreese and Vanmarcke on the Karnemelkbeekstraat with 30km to go, but Durbridge and Pöstlberger kept going, but it became increasingly clear they were racing for fourth place.

Delage still looked comfortable as the leaders hit the Varentstraat with 23km to go, holding a lead of 1:52 on the chasing bunch. But that all changed on the Tiegemberg with 20km to go when the AG2R rider was gapped by Gilbert's pace. But he rallied and chased back on the descent.

The trio worked well together with the climbs behind them, coming into the final 3km with almost two minutes on the chasers.

Into the final kilometer, Gilbert started looking back to watch Van Avermaet in second, with Naesen tacked on, patiently waiting. Gilbert took it into the finish like a trackie, looking back all the time, waiting for the first attack, which came from Naesen.

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