Sagan victorious in E3 Harelbeke
Cannondale man out-smarts Omega Pharma-Quickstep
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) dominated a highly tactical finale in the E3 Harelbeke, winning from a four-man group by out-sprinting Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) with an impressive turn of speed.
Sagan was up against the two-man Omega Pharma-Quickstep wrecking crew Stijn Vandenbergh and Terpstra, and Thomas, but marked them carefully and then dominated the sprint after earlier splitting the decisive attack. The quartet worked together until 3km to race, then the games began. Vandenbergh tried twice to attack, but Thomas and Sagan took turns bringing him back. The lanky Belgian dove for the 1km to go banner, but Sagan was quick to react. Vandenbergh tried again to surprise the others at a median with 500m to go, but it was not enough to dislodge Sagan, who then won the sprint handily.
Sagan shared his victory with his Cannondale teammates.
"I want to thank the team today, especially my teammate who has the same size bike as me and with swapped bikes with me after about 100km," he said after the podium ceremony.
"I didn’t think the race would go well but I felt better and better. The finale was tough and there was a lot of crashes. On the Oude Kwaremont when we caught the break, I attacked to create a small group and we managed to go all the way to the finish."
"It's good for me to win, it has helped me bounce back after Milan-San Remo."
Thomas said that third was the best he could do in such a tactical finale, especially after having been caught up in a crash and riding the end of the race with his bars askew.
"I think I rode it as best I could," Thomas said. "Going up the Kwaremont I thought I’d just get stuck in, attack and see what happens. Obviously it forced that group away but heading into the final with two Quick-Steps and Sagan it was pretty tough. I just felt I didn’t have the punch that Sagan and Terpstra had, so I thought I’d just gamble it all in the finish. You never know if you don’t see what happens.
"When Vandenbergh went I wanted to be first to go after him and hopefully get a bit of a run to hold off a couple of the others. Unfortunately Terpstra got round me on the line but I gave it everything. That’s all I had and I’m pretty happy with that."
How the race unfolded
Spring sunshine and a huge amount of spectators welcomed the riders in Harelbeke for the 57th edition of the E3 Harelbeke.
Before the start last year's winner Fabian Cancellara received his weight in bottles of Languedoc-wine Château Castigno. The Swiss rider can add those 75 bottles to the 75 he received two years ago. On the sign-on podium Cancellara gave Tom Boonen a moving hug, expressing his compassion for the miscarriage Boonen's partner suffered last week. Two hundred riders left sunny Harelbeke for 212 kilometres through the Flemish Ardennes.
After a fast first hour an early breakaway group included Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar), Florian Sénéchal (Cofidis), Jay Thomason (MTN Qhubeka) and Laurens De Vreese (Wanty - Groupe Robert).
The cooperation in the group was good and they gained a maximum lead of seven minutes. Once the race approached the hills the gap started coming down as the speed in the peloton increased.
A first major crash in the middle of the peloton took down many riders including Svein Tuft (Orica - GreenEdge) who abandoned the race. In a second crash on the cobbles of the Varent just ahead of the Boigneberg it was Ian Stannard (Sky) who rode into a rider who stood in the middle of the road.
Whereas the race often blew apart on the Taaienberg the tweaked course resulted in a cease-fire of more than thirty kilometres. A regrouped peloton steamed over the unselective ascents of the Knokteberg, Hotondberg, Rotelenberg and Kortekeer. The most spectacular feats were the bike changes for Peter Sagan, a double flat tyre for Sep Vanmarcke, the quiet exit of Thor Hushovd at the Hotondberg and a high-speed crash at the back of the peloton at km 45 where Michel Kreder (Garmin-Sharp) took out three Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise riders.
When approaching the Kapelberg, prelude for the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont, the five leaders still had nearly 1:30 on the peloton when another big crash in the peloton kicked off the finale. A completely scattered peloton reached the Kapelberg and top favourite Fabian Cancellara was distanced.
The ascent of the steep Paterberg and then the longer Oude Kwaremont blew the race apart. Sep Vanmarcke led on the Paterberg while Geraint Thomas took the race in hand on the Oude Kwaremont. Behind Cancellara kept moving up, this time with Stijn Devolder in support. When coming off the cobbles of the Oude Kwaremont and heading to the newly featuring Karnemelkbeekstraat there were eight leaders and fourteen chasers at about 15 seconds.
On the Karnemelkbeekstraat Sagan swiftly accelerated on a small gear and only Thomas, Terpstra and Vandenbergh were able to hold his wheel. At twenty kilometres from the finish the four leaders had a gap of 25 seconds on eighteen chasers, among those Cancellara, Devolder, Boonen, Degenkolb, Devenyns, Stybar, Bozic, Roelandts, Boasson Hagen, Bozic, Konvalovas, Vanmarcke and early attackers Cousin and De Vreese.
At the cobbles of the Varentstraat the gap grew up to 45 seconds and at the Tiegemberg the gap was nearly a minute. On top of the climb Cancellara attacked in the chase group with only Paolini, Vanmarcke and Boonen being able to hold his wheel. Boasson Hagen led the chase in the descent and brought most riders back to the Swissman except De Vreese, Cousin, Konovalovas and Devolder. With 10km to go the four leaders had a lead of 35s on the first chase group but then Terpstra started skipping pulls.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale | 4:56:31 |
2 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
3 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | |
4 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
5 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:16 |
6 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol | |
7 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:19 |
8 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp | |
9 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing | |
10 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
11 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
12 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
13 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha | |
14 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
15 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | |
16 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
17 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky | |
18 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN - Qhubeka | |
19 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
20 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | 0:01:21 |
21 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:01:28 |
22 | Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:14 |
23 | Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
24 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
25 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano | |
26 | Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Belisol | |
27 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
28 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
29 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
30 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
31 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
32 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | |
33 | Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar | |
34 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
35 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha | |
36 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
37 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
38 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge | |
39 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar | |
40 | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
41 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
42 | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | |
43 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
44 | Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
45 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale | |
46 | Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Androni Giocattoli | |
47 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team | |
48 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky | |
49 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale | |
50 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing | |
51 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team | |
52 | Björn Leukemans (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
53 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
54 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky | |
55 | Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek Factory Racing | |
56 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
57 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin Sharp | |
58 | Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Garmin Sharp | |
59 | Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin Sharp | |
60 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
61 | Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
62 | Karsten Kroon (Ned) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
63 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
64 | Steve Chainel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
65 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
66 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
67 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
68 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
69 | Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | 0:05:08 |
70 | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
71 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica Greenedge | |
72 | Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
73 | Jarl Salomein (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
74 | Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus) Team Katusha | |
75 | Antonio Parrinello (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
76 | Daniel Summerhill (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
77 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
78 | Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
79 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
80 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol | |
81 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling | |
82 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling | |
83 | Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
84 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
85 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
86 | Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale | |
87 | Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team | |
88 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 0:07:33 |
89 | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Team Katusha | |
90 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp | |
91 | Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
92 | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Team Europcar | |
93 | Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
94 | Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
95 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
96 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
97 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
98 | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
99 | Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
100 | Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
101 | Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
102 | Jaco Venter (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka | 0:09:31 |
103 | Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
104 | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Trek Factory Racing | |
105 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
106 | Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale | |
107 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin Sharp | |
108 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
109 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
110 | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
111 | Yannick Martinez (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Jos Van Emden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Svein Tuft (Can) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Jetse Bol (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
DNF | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Robert Wagner (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
DNF | David Boucher (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica Greenedge | |
DNF | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
DNF | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | |
DNF | Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Jesse Sergent (NZl) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | |
DNF | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Sky | |
DNF | Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Rudiger Selig (Ger) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Vegard Breen (Nor) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Team Katusha | |
DNF | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
DNF | Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Davide Appollonio (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano | |
DNF | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
DNF | Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Edward King (USA) Cannondale | |
DNF | Marco Bandiera (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Laurent Mangel (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Songezo Jim (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale | |
DNF | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Sander Helven (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale | |
DNF | Edward Theuns (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Michal Kolár (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
DNF | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Ken Hanson (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Aldo Ino Ilesic (Slo) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Luke Keough (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional Cycling Team | |
DNF | Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Patrick Facchini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Tim De Troyer (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
DNF | Carlos Jose Ochoa (Ven) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Nicola Testi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Andrea Zordan (Ita) Androni Giocattoli | |
DNF | Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka | |
DNF | Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
DNF | Luca Dodi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Louis Verhelst (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Gert Joeaar (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin Sharp | |
DNF | Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Garmin Sharp | |
DNF | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNS | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise |

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