Rosseler continues RadioShack attack
De Gendt, Van de Walle bested by Belgian
Following up on the success of teammate Chris Horner in the Basque tour, RadioShack's Sebastien Rosseler claimed the squad's latest win in the Brabantse Pijl. It was Rosseler's second win of the season after a solo victory on stage 4 of the Volta ao Algarve in February.
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The Belgian helped a three-man breakaway hold off the furious chase from behind, and went on to out-sprint compatriot Thomas De Gendt (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) and his former teammate Jurgen Van de Walle (Quick Step).
"I did my work the whole day," said Rosseler. "Maybe one lap I recovered a bit. I didn't want to attack earlier as I knew it was better if we stayed together.
"With three of us, we had a chance to stay in the front. Fighting alone against the rest would have been impossible."
The win was a surprise for Rosseler, who said he only went with the early move "to have some TV publicity for our sponsor, knowing that we would be caught by the peloton? I had such bad legs this morning in the beginning of the race. This is incredible."
Team Director Dirk Demol too thought the move would prove futile until the gap ballooned. "When we saw that the break got 8 minutes and 40 seconds, I started to believe in a happy ending. The chase behind by other teams was never well organized.
"Séba had some difficulties in the end, but that bad moment passed. I told him to stay in the back the last kilometer. We knew that the last 200 meters suited him well. The only unknown factor was that young rider from Topsport Vlaanderen. He appeared to be very dangerous in the end."
The victory is Rosseler's eighth as a professional, but his first ever one-day race win and comes after a string of bad fortune in the Classics. "Flat tires and crashes ruined my Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. This is a nice compensation, also for the work I've done last winter," concluded Rosseler.
"He deserved this," continued Demol. "I told Séba to believe in it. This is a big compensation for everything that went wrong for him in the classics so far. When you don't expect such a victory, it is twice as nice."
Rabobank's Paul Martens led a group of four to the line behind, with Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) and Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) falling less than a minute shy of making the juncture.
The race got underway on its new date, the Wednesday before Amstel Gold Race instead of the Wednesday before the Tour of Flanders. 170 riders took to the course, with Ben Hermans (RadioShack), Geoffrey Lequatre (RadioShack) and Filippo Baggio (Ceramica Flaminia) not at the start.
Jurgen Van De Walle of Quick Step was one of the first riders to get away, and when his first attempt didn't succeed, the second one did. He was joined by others, and eventually a six-man group was established.
Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step), Sebastian Rosseler (RadioShack), Enrico Peruffo (CarmioOro), Thomas De Gendt (Topsport Vlaanderen) Niki Eeckhout (An Post – Sean Kelly) and Alexander Gottfried (NetApp) built up a lead of 8:30 on this twisting, hilly course throughout western Belgium.
The chase was led by the two teams with the top favourites, Rabobank and Oscar Freire, and Omega Pharma-Lotto around Philippe Gilbert. But Eeckhout, De Gendt and Rosseler kept the pace high in the lead group.
Eventually, though, Eeckhout, Peruffo and Gottfried were no longer able to keep up the non-smurf-like pace and had to drop back, with Eeckhout abandoning. With 48 km to go, Rosseler, Van De Walle and De Gendt had one minute over their two chasers, with the peloton still six and a half minutes back.
Vacansoleil and Milram both helped with the lead work, but the gap dropped only slowly.
With 30km to go and a four-minute gap to the three leaders, the favourites in the peloton took advantage of a series of small hills to form an elite chase group. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), led the charge, and after a few minutes, a group of four finally established itself with Gilbert, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox), Paul Martens (Rabobank) and Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil). By 20 km to go, the gap had fallen to 2:44 for the four chasers, with the peloton at 3:13.
The strong chase group was unable to get more than 30 seconds ahead of an ever diminishing peloton and made little progress on closing the gap to the lead trio.
The chase and the long escape showed their effects, as the trhee leaders crossed the finish line for the penultimate circuit with a lead of only 1:37 over the chase group and the peloton at 2:02, led by Rabobank.
With only 6 km to go, it was clear though that the break would make it to the end, though the chasers didn't give up hope.
The three leaders crossed under the Flamme Rouge for the final time and headed up the final climb. De Gendt opened the sprint, but Rosseler came around at the last second to take the win.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sebastien Rosseler (Bel) Team Radioshack | 4:45:07 |
2 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
3 | Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Quick Step | |
4 | Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank | 0:00:43 |
5 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
6 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
7 | Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:46 |
8 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:00:57 |
9 | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank | |
10 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
11 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
12 | Daniele Colli (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
13 | Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
14 | Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
15 | Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team | |
16 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Skil - Shimano | 0:01:03 |
17 | Andy Cappelle (Bel) Verandas Willems | 0:01:04 |
18 | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:07 |
19 | Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
20 | Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack | |
21 | Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | 0:01:10 |
22 | Nick Nuyens (Bel) Rabobank | 0:01:42 |
23 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank | |
24 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step | 0:02:04 |
25 | Jan Barta (Cze) Team Netapp | 0:03:03 |
26 | Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Team Katusha | |
27 | Roy Sentjens (Bel) Team Milram | |
28 | Sander Armee (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
29 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
30 | Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
31 | Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
32 | Artur Gajek (Ger) Team Milram | |
33 | Thomas Fothen (Ger) Team Milram | |
34 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
35 | Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
36 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil - Shimano | |
37 | Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
38 | Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Vorarlberg - Corratec | |
39 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Skil - Shimano | |
40 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
41 | Philip Deignan (Irl) Cervelo Test Team | |
42 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Skil - Shimano | 0:03:13 |
43 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step | 0:03:33 |
44 | Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team | 0:03:47 |
45 | Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank | 0:03:49 |
46 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step | 0:06:00 |
47 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step | |
48 | Donato Cannone (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
49 | Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
50 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Garmin - Transitions | 0:06:20 |
51 | Piergiorgio Camussa (Ita) Vorarlberg - Corratec | 0:06:35 |
DNS | Ben Hermans (Bel) Team Radioshack | |
DNS | Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Team Radioshack | |
DNS | Filippo Baggio (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank | |
DNF | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank | |
DNF | Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank | |
DNF | Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Christophe Brandt (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | |
DNF | Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step | |
DNF | Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quick Step | |
DNF | Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step | |
DNF | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Kjell Carlström (Fin) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Russell Downing (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Nicolas Portal (Fra) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Davide Vigano (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Kirk Carlsen (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Steven Cozza (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Travis Meyer (Aus) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Danny Pate (USA) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Ricardo Van Der Velde (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | |
DNF | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Artem Ovechkin (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Nikita Eskov (Rus) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Roger Kluge (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Dominik Roels (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram | |
DNF | Björn Schröder (Ger) Team Milram | |
DNF | Fuyu Li (Chn) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Dimitri Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Ivan Rovny (Rus) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team Radioshack | |
DNF | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Vincent Jerome (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Guillaume Le Floch (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Chad Beyer (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Jeffry Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | John Murphy (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Simon Zahner (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Enrico Peruffo (Ita) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Fabio Terrenzio (Ita) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Diego Genovesi (Ita) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Jure Kocjan (Slo) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Andrea Piechele (Ita) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Eric Bertthou (Fra) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Alessandro Raisoni (Ita) CarmioOro NGC | |
DNF | Jaroslaw Rebiewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Tomasz Lisowicz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Kamil Zielinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Tomasz Repinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Tomas Smolen (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | |
DNF | Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Fabrizio Lucciola (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Edoardo Girardi (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Enrico Rossi (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia | |
DNF | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Cervelo Test Team | |
DNF | Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervelo Test Team | |
DNF | Dominique Rollin (Can) Cervelo Test Team | |
DNF | Marcel Wyss (Swi) Cervelo Test Team | |
DNF | Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
DNF | Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Landbouwkrediet | |
DNF | Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
DNF | Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
DNF | Bart Dockx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
DNF | Yann Huguet (Fra) Skil - Shimano | |
DNF | Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil - Shimano | |
DNF | Jin Long (Chn) Skil - Shimano | |
DNF | Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
DNF | Pieter Jacobs (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
DNF | Maarten Neyens (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
DNF | Steven Van Vooren (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
DNF | Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Rene Weissinger (Ger) Vorarlberg - Corratec | |
DNF | Josef Benetseder (Aut) Vorarlberg - Corratec | |
DNF | Dominik Hrinkow (Aut) Vorarlberg - Corratec | |
DNF | Matic Strgar (Slo) Vorarlberg - Corratec | |
DNF | Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Kim Borry (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Mark Cassidy (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Matthew Brammeier (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Connor Mcconvey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Ronan Mc Laughlin (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly | |
DNF | Jan Kuycks (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Marnik Dreesen (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Jonathan Dufrasne (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | James Spragg (GBr) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Eric Van De Meent (Ned) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Alain Van Der Velde (Ned) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Frank Van Kuik (Bel) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Jeremy Yates (NZl) Qin Cycling Team | |
DNF | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Tassilo Fricke (Ger) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Alex Meenhorst (NZl) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Alexander Gottfried (Ger) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Timon Seubert (Ger) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team Netapp | |
DNF | Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | Gregory Habeaux (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | Sven Renders (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | Dieter Cappelle (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Verandas Willems | |
DNF | James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Verandas Willems |
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