Boonen grabs the third stage of Franco-Belge

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After a stormy day through West Flanders Tornado Tom ended American sprinter Tyler Farrar's monopoly on stage wins in the Circuit Franco-Belge. Belgian champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the 178-kilometre third stage on Saturday in Ichtegem, Belgium by beating Roger Hammond (Cervelo TestTeam) and Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) in the sprint from a nine-man breakaway group.

"At about 200 metres from the finish line there was a curve to the right," said Boonen. "I came out very fast and managed to gain more speed compared to my adversaries in the sprint. There was a lot of head wind and no one was able to get past me. Today was like riding in a little Northern Classic."

Before the race the Belgian said he wasn't fully motivated to race the Circuit Franco-Belge after a big race like the world championships. "It wasn't easy but I was able to motivate myself for this Franco-Belge. After the final stage there's one race left for me, which is Paris-Tours. From then on I'm going to de-stress from a long and tough season," said the 28-year-old Boonen, having claimed his seventh win of the season.

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Race leader Tyler Farrar crashed during the stage, but his Garmin-Slipstream rallied around the American. At the end of the day Farrar remained leader going into the last stage with a 10-second margin over Boonen and an 18-second gap over Hammond.

Quick Step blows race apart

Tough weather conditions tortured the peloton as it fought its way against the wind towards Ichtegem. Echelons were formed and a continuous battle to stay near the front created a automatic selection of the strongest riders.

The battle started right away when the peloton rolled out of Antoing and teams such as Quick Step flexed their muscles. "We had a go in front and pulled through 'a little' and everybody was in a line," Boonen said. "It was a very tough day with the strong winds out there."

Several riders quickly lost contact with the front of the race and were forced to pull out of the race.

Farrar crashes and ends up in third group

During the second hour the peloton split further into echelons and the leader's jersey was at stake when Farrar crashed and ended up riding in the third group.

After two hours of racing the race eased off a little when a four-man breakaway group was formed, featuring Steven De Jongh (Quick Step), Klaas Lodewyck (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercato), Olivier Kaisen (Silence-Lotto) and Rick Flens (Rabobank). The Garmin-Slipstream-led peloton allowed them to gain two minutes until they reached the local circuit at Ichtegem, where three 22-kilometre laps remained. Halfway through the penultimate lap, with 37km to go, the breakaway was neutralized.

Breakaway group includes all favourites

After entering the last lap a group of six riders jumped away comprised of race leader Farrar, Hammond, last year's winner Juan Antonio Flecha and Tom Stamsnijder (Rabobank), Frédéric Guesdon (Française Des Jeux) and Assan Bazayev (Astana).

The leader's group gained 30 seconds on the peloton when a counter-attack was initiated by Boonen, Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) and Stefan Van Dijk (Verandas Willems). The chasing trio were able to join the leading sextet providing Rabobank a numerical advantage, now having three riders up front. Meanwhile, Silence-Lotto and Cofidis tried to bring the peloton back together.

With five kilometers to the finish the gap remained at 30 seconds when a tactical battle played out in front. Farrar tried to get away, then Flecha, Boonen and Guesdon. They all had a go but in the end a sprint was unavoidable. "In the end the peloton was getting very close and we were forced to go all out to stay away," Boonen said.

After a tough day in the wind Boonen proved to have the most left in his tank, outsprinting Hammond, Farrar and Bazayev.

The Circuit Franco-Belge concludes on Sunday with a 147.1km stage from Grand Place de Mons to Tournai.