Howard takes sprint victory in Belgium

First-year professional Leigh Howard (HTC-Columbia) sprinted to victory in the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen one-day race in Koolskamp, Belgium. The 20-year-old Australian outkicked Aidis Kruopis (Palmans-Cras) and Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) to earn his second victory of the season.

"It was a pretty straightforward sprint with some great help from my teammates," said Howard. "Bernie [Bernhard Eisel] and Marcel [Sieberg] gave me the lead-out I needed and even though I went for it a bit too early myself, I was able to put my arms in the air to celebrate with 20 or 30 metres to go."

A four-rider breakaway was pulled back in the closing kilometres of the race, making a bunch sprint a virtual certainty. "We'd done a few laps through there and I'd had a good look at the finish," Howard said. "I had felt a bit hesitant beforehand because my last race didn't go so well. But when it got to the last few kilometres I was feeling good and ready to go for it. There were a couple of opportunities in the middle of the season I missed, but this time around it all worked out fine."

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Full Results
1Leigh Howard (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia4:09:00
2Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Palmans - CrasRow 1 - Cell 2
4Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling TeamRow 2 - Cell 2
6Jetse Bol (Ned) RabobankRow 3 - Cell 2
8Gert Steegmans (Bel) Team RadioshackRow 4 - Cell 2
10Timothy Dupont (Bel) Jong Vlaanderen - BauknechtRow 5 - Cell 2
12Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) LandbouwkredietRow 6 - Cell 2
14Francois Jurgen (Bel) Palmans - CrasRow 7 - Cell 2
16Frederique Robert (Bel) Quick StepRow 8 - Cell 2
18Steven Caethoven (Bel) LandbouwkredietRow 9 - Cell 2
20Maxim De Busschere (Bel) An Post - Sean KellyRow 10 - Cell 2
22Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Quick StepRow 11 - Cell 2
24Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) Verandas WillemsRow 12 - Cell 2
26Tom Van Becelaere (Bel) Palmans - CrasRow 13 - Cell 2
28Eric Baumann (Ger) Team NetappRow 14 - Cell 2
30Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Team KatushaRow 15 - Cell 2
32Rune Van Der Meijden (Ned) Van Vliet EBH ElshofRow 16 - Cell 2
34Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick StepRow 17 - Cell 2
36Alexander Mironov (Rus) Itera-KatushaRow 18 - Cell 2
38Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) LandbouwkredietRow 19 - Cell 2
40Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 20 - Cell 2
42Bob Schoonbroodt (Ned) Van Vliet EBH ElshofRow 21 - Cell 2
44Sander Oostlander (Ned) Van Vliet EBH ElshofRow 22 - Cell 2
46Sjoerd Kouwenhoven (Ned) Van Vliet EBH ElshofRow 23 - Cell 2
48Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - MercatorRow 24 - Cell 2
50Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetappRow 25 - Cell 2
52Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 26 - Cell 2
54Andy Cappelle (Bel) Verandas WillemsRow 27 - Cell 2
56Daryl Impey (RSA) Team RadioshackRow 28 - Cell 2
58Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team KatushaRow 29 - Cell 2
60Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team KatushaRow 30 - Cell 2
62Jonathan Dufrasne (Bel) Qin Cycling TeamRow 31 - Cell 2
64Marco Velo (Ita) Quick StepRow 32 - Cell 2
66Gerben Löwik (Ned) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 33 - Cell 2
68Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 34 - Cell 2
70James Spragg (GBr) Qin Cycling TeamRow 35 - Cell 2
72Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Team RadioshackRow 36 - Cell 2
74Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling TeamRow 37 - Cell 2
76Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans - CrasRow 38 - Cell 2
78Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling TeamRow 39 - Cell 2
80Bert De Backer (Bel) Skil - ShimanoRow 40 - Cell 2
82Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - MercatorRow 41 - Cell 2
84Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den) Quick StepRow 42 - Cell 2
86Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick StepRow 43 - Cell 2
88Tom Leezer (Ned) RabobankRow 44 - Cell 2
90Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank0:00:28
91Lars Boom (Ned) RabobankRow 46 - Cell 2
93Glenn D'Hollander (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 47 - Cell 2
95Gert Dockx (Bel) Team HTC - ColumbiaRow 48 - Cell 2
97Gil Suray (Bel) An Post - Sean KellyRow 49 - Cell 2
99Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick StepRow 50 - Cell 2
101Tom Stubbe (Bel) Omega Pharma-LottoRow 51 - Cell 2
103Jens Mouris (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling TeamRow 52 - Cell 2
105Kim Borry (Bel) An Post - Sean KellyRow 53 - Cell 2
107Stijn Steels (Bel) Qin Cycling TeamRow 54 - Cell 2
109Gregory Habeaux (Bel) Verandas Willems0:00:45
110Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Verandas WillemsRow 56 - Cell 2
112Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank0:01:10
113Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Vorarlberg - Corratec0:01:32
114Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Team HTC - Columbia0:01:40
115Jonathan Bertrand (Bel) Landbouwkrediet0:01:50
116Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetAppRow 61 - Cell 2
118Glenn Vandemaele (Bel) Team Worldofbike.grRow 62 - Cell 2
120Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 63 - Cell 2
122Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team0:02:45
123Koen Barbe (Bel) LandbouwkredietRow 65 - Cell 2

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