Boonen claims opening stage win in Tour of Belgium

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Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) won the bunch sprint on the opening stage of the Baloise Tour of Belgium, beating German champion Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) and Theo Bos (Belkin) to the line in the 173.6km stage from Lochristi to Buggenhout.

The stage victory was Boonen's first since he won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the beginning of March, and a bit of a surprise for him considering he felt the effects of travel to the Tour of California earlier in the month.

"When I came back from Tour of California I wasn't feeling good," Boonen said. "I was feeling a bit sick and then with the jet lag on top of it, it was a bit rough. It took me some time to get back to where I was before California. I came here with a lot of questions about how my legs would feel and how I would compare to the rest. But I must say I'm really happy with this sprint."

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Boonen credited his team for doing a textbook leadout to put in him into position for the final 200m.

"We started at 12 kilometers to the finish line with the leadout. We started controlling there because it was a very hectic final. The last four or five kilometers were always getting wilder. We positioned ourselves further back, but then Steegmans led me out perfectly. He took me to the front until 200 meters to go and I started my sprint. At one point I did hold back for a second because I was afraid it was too long. But then I went and I made it to the finish line.

"I'm proud to finish off the work of the guys today and I am happy with my condition. As for the next days and the GC leadership of the team, if you look at what Tony Martin did the last two years I think it's pretty clear he has the best chance to win the overall for OPQS. If I can make 5th or 6th like last year, I will be very happy. Tomorrow is another chance for me to win the sprint, and I will go full gas to try and repeat the success of today."

How it unfolded

157 riders set off for the five-stage tour, which ends on Sunday in Oreye. The peloton stayed together for the first sprint at kilometer 21, which was won by Gijs van Hoecke (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

Five kilomters later, the day's breakaway formed, with Laurens De Vreese (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Antoine Demoitié (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport-Vlaanderen) representing at the front of the race.

The trio gained their maximum advantage at kilometer 50, racking up a lead of 5:30 that was then whittled down by the sprinter's teams.

At the second sprint, 138km into the stage, Vanspeybrouck claimed the maximum points while the three escapees had lost all but a single minute of their advantage.

Philippe Gilbert (BMC) attacked from the field as the gap was down to the double digits, briefly breathing new life into the breakaway with 25km to go.

The determination of the sprinters' teams was evident, however, and just 9km later the peloton was all back together.

Timothy Stevens (Team 3M) launched a move with 10km to go, but it was short-lived, and the mass sprint was set up perfectly for Boonen by his trusted lieutenant Gert Steegmans.

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