Elite men's podium: Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) (Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)
Tyler Farrar finished third in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and believes that luck could determine when he wins his first race of 2010. Farrar lives in Gent, Belgium, little over a kilometre from today’s race finish, and despite never finishing in the top-ten at the event, the American believes that his podium place bodes well for the rest of the Classics campaign and tomorrow’s Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.
"It was really, really hard today. I would have liked it to come back together for a sprint but I didn’t have anyone left in the lead group to help me and put them on the front," Farrar said at the finish.
"Obviously my form is good. I was top-five almost everyday in Qatar and Oman and now here. I guess I just need a bit more luck. If it had come back together and I’d had a bit more luck I could have won today but Flecha was amazing."
Farrar was the only Garmin-Tranisitions rider to make it into the chase group that formed behind winner Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) but despite lacking any support in the finale, praised his team for their efforts. David Millar, drafted in to the Classics team, was the last rider to stay with Farrar over the cobbled Belgian race.
"The team did a great job of helping me all day and putting me at the front on the start every climb. Dave was my last teammate and Robbie Hunter took such great care of me today. He was incredible making sure that I was okay."
"This is my home town race and I live a kilometre from the finish. It doesn't get much better, well, winning gets better, but to go well here is special for me."
Farrar will take his podium place into tomorrow Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne where he’ll be supported by a similar Garmin team including Hunter, Murilo Fischer, Johan Van Summeren, Michel Kreder, Martijn Maaskant, Mat Wilson and Ricardo van der Velde.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
