Lampaert wins Dwars door Vlaanderen
Teunissen second and Vanmarcke third
Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) retained his Dwars door Vlaanderen crown with a performance that continued his team's domination of the Belgian cobbled classics.
In pouring rain, Lampaert matched a number of key attacks in the final 25 kilometres before sailing away from a five-man break inside the final kilometre. Mike Teunissen (Team Sunweb) and Sep Vanmarcke (EF-Education First) completed the podium.
The five-man group slipped clear on one of the final major sector of cobbles with 25 kilometres to go with Vanmarcke lifting the pace after a dangerous move involving Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) was nullified.
Vanmarcke powered clear on the cobbles and only Lampaert was able to follow at first before Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Teunissen and finally Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) made contact.
With Quick-Step monitoring the chase group, the quintet quickly built up a lead of over 40 seconds, as Van Avermaet tried in vain to mount a counter attack.
With five kilometres to go, it was clear that the break would decide the win, and Vanmarcke was the first to begin hostilities with a stinging attack from the front of group. Once again, it was Lampaert who matched him, and the Quick-Step rider responded with the same tactic as he quashed moves from Teunissen, Boasson Hagen and then Pedersen.
Lampaert appeared the freshest, his rivals knew it, but even their collective might wasn't enough to change an inevitable outcome.
Pedersen's surge off the front was swept up with just over 1,000m to go and as the pace slowed and the group began to look at each other, Lampaert sensed the moment to attack. He jumped clear with 850m to go and only looked back as he crossed the line to see the battle for the minor places unfold.
With the win, Lampaert joined an elite club of two-time winners of the race, Johan Museeuw and teammate Niki Terpstra. "It's fantastic to win. I know I'm not a champion like them but today I felt really great. It's again a WorldTour race I've won, so I'm very happy," he said.
The 26-year-old's victory continues Quick-Step's incredible spring campaign. The Belgian team have already tasted victory on 20 occasions this year, but it has been their home form that has stood out with wins in Le Samyn, the Johan Museeuw Classic, Nokere Koerse, Handzame Classics, De Panne, E3 Harelbeke, and now Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Those wins have been obtained by seven different riders – of whom Lampaert is just the latest – and with the Tour of Flanders just days away – the indications are that their run may continue a little while yet.
How it unfolded
After the relatively calm weather conditions at Gent-Wevelgem came the rain. And boy, did it rain. Wrapped head-to-toe in Gore-tex, the peloton shuffled out from Roselare with 180km ahead of them. Peter Sagan and Philippe Gilbert –both of whom stayed at home – probably had the wryest smiles of all as a number of their Ronde rivals huddled together in the opening kilometres and twitched nervously through every wet corner.
The racing itself took several hours to come to life. Perhaps the riders needed time to acclimatise to the race's new date in the calendar, or maybe it was the relentless rainfall, but it took until the second half of the race before an energised Luke Rowe attacked with 90km to go.
While much has been written surrounding Alejandro Valverde's recovery from injury, people forget that Rowe broke 20 bones in a non-cycling related accident last August. Still not back to his complete best, this was still a timely reminder of the ground he has made up. The Welshman established a 40-second lead before taking on the Kluisberg. He was eventually reeled in less than 30km later.
With 65km remaining BMC Racing, and then Quick-Step sprung to life, with both teams surging to the front. Despite the atrocious conditions, Van Avermaet's neat Olympic gold bands were just about distinguishable as he sat patiently in a line of teammates on the first ascent of the Knokteberg.
Once Rowe was brought back, Tony Martin accelerated clear, with Valverde and Heinrich Haussler determined to leave their marks too. Martin would eventually fall on a corner, but the German was still in contention and marked several moves before Quick-Step upped the pace - as they did in 2017 – with an attack on the Tainenberg.
Zdenek Stybar's turn of speed was too much for the rest of the sodden pack, with even Van Avermaet fading away. With 53km to go, the Czech rider sat up, but the strongest riders were beginning to impose themselves. Van Avermaet moved clear soon after with Benoot, Valverde and Martin for company but the Olympic champion never looked like creating a definitive selection. Lampaert, Gianni Moscon (Team Sky), Boasson Hagen, Pedersen, Vanmarcke and John Degenkolb completed the lead group.
Despite so many team leaders out front, Astana and LottoNL-Jumbo were about to bring the group back, but on the second and final ascent of the Knokteberg, the race split again, with Benoot and a desperate Van Avermaet going clear. Their lead never moved beyond the 12-second mark, with Lampaert, Niki Terpstra, Stybar, Valverde, Vanmarcke, Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Teunissen, Boasson Hagen, Moscon, and Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo) all making the juncture.
With BMC looking spent, and Quick-Step deliberating over who would attack next, Vanmarcke accelerated on the cobbled sector through Varent. Van Avermaet's head went down, but Lampaert was astute enough to see the danger, and along with Teunissen, Boasson Hagen, and Pedersen, they scampered away. Benoot, Van Avermaet and finally Stybar mounted late chases, but just over 20km later it was Lampaert who seized the moment with the most telling attack.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 4:09:40 |
2 | Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb | 0:00:02 |
3 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
4 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | |
5 | Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
6 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:29 |
7 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:30 |
8 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:59 |
9 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors | |
10 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | |
11 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | |
12 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | |
13 | Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
14 | Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:42 |
15 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | |
16 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
17 | Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
18 | Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
19 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | |
20 | Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
21 | Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
22 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | |
23 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida | |
24 | Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb | |
25 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
26 | Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
27 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
28 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
29 | Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team | |
30 | Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
31 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
32 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
33 | Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
34 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
35 | Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
36 | Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors | |
37 | Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
38 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | 0:04:01 |
39 | Justin Jules (Fra) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | 0:06:47 |
40 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
41 | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
42 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo | |
43 | Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
44 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team | |
45 | Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
46 | Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
47 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data | |
48 | Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale | |
49 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
50 | August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy | |
51 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
52 | Lukas Spengler (Swi) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
53 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
54 | Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
55 | Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
56 | Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team | |
57 | Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data | |
58 | Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo | |
59 | Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky | |
60 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
61 | Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
62 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
63 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
64 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | |
65 | Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott | |
66 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
67 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
68 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
69 | Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
70 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
71 | Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
72 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | |
73 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
74 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie | |
75 | Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
76 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
77 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
78 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
79 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | |
80 | Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates | |
81 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
82 | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
83 | Wout Van Aert (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
84 | Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
85 | Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
86 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
87 | Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal | 0:11:49 |
88 | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | |
89 | Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie | |
90 | Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
91 | Casper Pedersen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport | |
92 | Lawrence Naesen (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:11:51 |
93 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie | |
94 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
95 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
96 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data | |
97 | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
98 | Stijn Steels (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
99 | Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
100 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
101 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:11:54 |
102 | Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Quick-Step Floors | |
103 | Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
104 | Dennis van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy | |
105 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
106 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
107 | Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
108 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
109 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
110 | Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
111 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
112 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky | |
113 | Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | |
114 | Zico Waeytens (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
115 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb | 0:12:01 |
116 | Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
DNS | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
DNF | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
DNF | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
DNF | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
DNF | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
DNF | Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
DNF | Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
DNF | David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
DNF | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
DNF | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
DNF | José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
DNF | Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data | |
DNF | Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
DNF | Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
DNF | Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | |
DNF | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
DNF | Sean De Bie (Bel) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
DNF | Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
DNF | Huub Duijn (Ned) Veranda's Willems Crelan | |
DNF | Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
DNF | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
DNF | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Simon Sellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Shane Archbold (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport | |
DNF | Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | |
DNF | Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
DNF | Kenny Dehaes (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
DNF | Julien Stassen (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
DNF | Jimmy Duquennoy (Bel) WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
DNF | Aviv Yechezkel (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy |
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