Kwiatkowski wins E3 Harelbeke over Sagan

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Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) denied Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) his first win in the rainbow jersey at the E3 Harelbeke on Friday by out-sprinting the world champion after the duo escaped a select lead group of favourites with 30km remaining.

With Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) chasing furiously behind, Kwiatkowski powered away from Sagan in the final 200 metres to take the victory. Ian Stannard rounded out the podium with third place for Team Sky.

Cancellara was slowed by a mechanical but made his way back to the lead group of about 13 riders with just over 30km to go after a lengthy chase. Moments after he regained contact, the winning move came with Kwiatkowski first to accelerate on the Karnemelkbeekstraat. Sagan made it up to the Team Sky rider with Matteo Trentin furiously chasing in order to make sure Etixx-Quickstep were represented. However the Italian wilted, allowing the last two world champions to establish a lead that peaked at just under 40 seconds.

Etixx-QuickStep, who had numbers throughout the race, set upon chasing the leaders but their efforts proved in vain. A late charge from Tom Boonen almost saw the leading pair caught in the closing kilometre but as Sagan led the duo toward the line, Kwiatkowski launched his attack and quickly opened an insurmountable gap.

Sagan, weary from his earlier efforts in the break, simply had no answer and barely lifted himself out of the saddle as the Pole made sure of his escape.

“I did my best, I was perfectly protected by my teammates," Kwiatkowski said at the finish. "Ian Stannard was in the front and we could play very well. Actually, we worked well with Peter - as we did three years ago in Strade Bianche. Honestly, I knew I had really good legs today. I had to go for the win - there was no other option.

“I know how Peter feels, to have the world champion's jersey, it's very difficult. But we both did a very good race.”

For Sagan the wait for his first win in the rainbow jersey continues with half a dozen second places already amassed this season. Up until the sprint the Slovak had ridden the perfect race, and even when he became isolated from his team, he remained calm, picking his moment to attack with the same precision that had seem him win the World title. However, when it came to the sprint the Tinkoff leader had nothing left.

“We were working together, but in the finish I was - yeah - I had no more energy. He was better," Sagan said of Kwiatkowski. When asked if it was that simple, he replied, "Cycling is simple, I think. At the end of a race like this it's all different. I did the attack and then I worked a lot. The last two kilometres in the radio they said 'you have to pull, you have to pull, everybody is coming'. I pulled a lot, and for the final I was without legs."

How it unfolded

The morning news surrounded Greg Van Avermaet’s decision not to start the race after the Belgian came down with a stomach bug. The rest of the peloton, however, headed out from Harelbeke with the breakaway forming around Antoine Demoitie (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Wouter Wippert (Cannondale Pro Cycling), Bert De Backer (Team Giant-Alpecin), Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale), Sjoerd van Ginneken (Roompot - Oranje Peloton), Tony Hurel (Direct Energie) and Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling).

Jay Robert Thomson (Dimension Data) bridged up solo much later and the eight leaders collected a maximum lead of 6 minutes but Trek-Segafredo team took the initiative for their leader Fabian Cancellara. When approaching the first bergs the gap quickly dropped, especially in the sprint towards the seventh climb of the day, the always-important Taaienberg at 74 kilometres from the finish in Harelbeke.

Cancellara’s resurrection

On the Taaienberg Roelandts’ acceleration created an elite group of 10 riders with Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal), Boonen, Zdenek Stybar, Matteo Trentin and Nikki Terpstra for Etixx-QuickStep, Cancellara, Daniel Oss (BMC), Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Lars Boom (Astana). At the foot of the following Boigneberg a cranky rear derailleur halted Cancellara.

The Swiss rider tossed his bike to the side of the road and waited more than a minute with folded arms for a new machine. It looked as though his race was over.

As the race continued towards climb 12, the steep cobbled Paterberg, the situation kept changing. Stybar punctured from the front as about twenty riders came together. Half a minute further back Trek-Segafredo and Katusha (for Kristoff) combined forces in the peloton to try and get back to the lead group where Tony Martin worked hard for Etixx-QuickStep.

Cancellara and Stybar surged away from the peloton on the tough combination of the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. In front Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), Ian Stannard (Sky), Boonen, Trentin, Terpstra, Boom, Oss, Vanmarcke and Benoot pushed on. Five kilometres after cresting the long Oude Kwaremont climb Cancellara and Stybar bridged up to the leaders with Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) and Dries Devenyns (IAM).

Winning move on the Karnemelkbeekstraat

At 30 kilometres from the finish Kwiatkowski and Sagan accelerated away on the penultimate climb of the day, the Karnemelkbeekstraat. The duo built up a lead of nearly forty seconds on the 13 chasers at 15 kilometres from the finish, with no obstacles left to cover.

Etixx, despite their numerical advantage, were unable to bring the pair back and despite a last-ditch effort from Boonen and Cancellara, the team Sky – Tinkoff tandem had just enough room to manoeuvre as they raced under the 1000m to go banner. Sagan brought them to the barriers in an attempt to force Kwiatkowski’s hand but even the predictability of a telegraphed attack could not save the world champion, who was powerless to respond.

“After 30, 40km, going both together, I knew I had to go for a long sprint, because Peter seems to have this kick, this punch, bigger than me,” the winner said.

“I tried to go more than 300m before the finish and that worked out. I didn't look back, I just went full gas to the finish.”

“I've done a few times Tour of Flanders and never did very well. I feel really good in Team Sky, being one of the leaders for the cobbled Classics is an amazing feeling, to be so protected, and to finish like that even after not doing any Classics before. It's more than I dreamed about.”

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