Kittel sprints to win Scheldeprijs

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Marcel Kittel (Team Argos-Shimano) prevailed in a hectic sprint finale to win the Scheldeprijs for a second straight year. Three-time champion Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) finished in second place, denied a chance for a record fourth Scheldeprijs victory, while Barry Markus (Vacansoleil-DCM) rounded out the podium in third place.

Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) crossed the line in fourth and fifth respectively in a sprint finale in which no single team was able to assert its authority.

"Because I was the winner of last year's edition, everybody, including myself, expected that I would repeat the trick," said Kittel. "Plus, we really made a goal of it after De Panne as well, so I felt some pressure. But right from the start I felt pretty good and I had a lot of faith in a positive outcome. The guys helped me throughout the whole race to save my energy.

"In the end no team was able to do a very good lead-out. I thought I was boxed in, but Tom Veelers found me and brought me back to the front and did the lead-out perfectly. I started to sprint and thought somebody would pass me, but no one did and I took the victory!"

Kittel was particularly pleased with the result, having had a bad patch of results due to illness.

"I am super happy with this win, as the season has already had some ups and downs," said Kittel. "After Paris-Nice I got sick and had the flu, and the Driedaagse De Panne, which was a big goal for me, didn't go well, as I was not in top shape. During that race I regained my form, though, and I was really focused on taking the win in the Scheldeprijs.

"This is absolutely great, but I have to say that without the teamwork we had today, I couldn't have done it."

Cavendish was sullen after the finish, ruing what might have been as his lead-out train derailed in the approach to the line. "I came from about 20 [places] back with 200 [metres] to go. I was too far back," said Cavendish of the sprint finish. "The whole day we rode so well until the last kilometres."

Cavendish chasing history

At the start in chilly and windy Antwerp, Mark Cavendish gained the most attention when lining up next to the MAS museum. With a fourth win in Schoten 204km away, the Manxman had the chance of becoming the sole record holder.

After rolling out of Antwerp, the peloton dealt with a headwind which blunted the initial average speed. Nine riders would form the early escape, comprised of Grégory Rast (RadioShack-Leopard), Matthew Brammeier and Mart Ojavee (Champion System Pro Cycling Team), Jacobus Venter (MTN-Qhubeka), Kenneth Van Bilsen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Stefano Borchi (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia), Arman Kamyshev (Astana), Christopher Juul Jensen (Saxo Bank) and Koen Barbe (Crelan-Euphony).

After 50km of racing, echelons were formed in the peloton due to the crosswinds and several riders were involved in crashes with Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard) and Bernard Eisel (Sky) being amongst the victims.

The front part of the peloton kept the pace high and eventually closed the gap to the nine leaders with approximately 85km remaining. The Omega Pharma-QuickStep team was well-represented by seven riders in this front group of approximately 40 riders. Eventually a second and third part of the peloton bridged back up to the front and the pace dropped back down.

Three riders took advantage of this momentary cease-fire to attack: Sven Vandousselaere (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Matthew Brammeier (Champion System) and Stefano Borchi (Vini Fantini), the latter two men also present in the early move of nine riders.

The trio pushed out a lead of more than three minutes on the peloton but when reaching the three local laps of 16.5 kilometres each, it was clear the peloton was in total control. Just before hitting the penultimate lap, everything was back together in front.

Team Argos-Shimano, Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Lotto Belisol were prominent at the front of the peloton when the final lap commenced. The Blanco team lost a valuable man with 14km to go when Graeme Brown flatted while Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Team Sky continued to set the pace.

Heading into the final kilometre Team Argos-Shimano and Lotto Belisol had dueling lead-out trains at the fore, but the organisation soon fractured creating a typically frantic finale in Schoten.

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