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Gent - Wevelgem 2016

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Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of Gent-Wevelgem. 

 

Hello and welcome to a cold but dry and almost sunny Belgium for this year's Gent-Wevelgem.

The riders and teams are already at the start in Deinze, on the outskirts of Gent, for the sign-on.  

It is a busy Easter Sunday of racing with riders also in action in Barcelona for the final hilly stage of the Volta a Catalunya.

In Italy it is time for the decisive stage of the Coppi e Bartali race, with a hilly day of racing, also likely to shake up the overall classification.

Other riders are also in action in Corsica, France at the Criterium International. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) won the 7km time trial on Saturday afternoon and will be looking to defend the leader's yellow jersey.

This is the map of the men's race. They face 243km and ten climbs in the new-look route.

As per tradition, the race first heads north west to the Belgian coast and then returns to the heart of southern Flanders for the climb and especially the double loop around the Kemmelberg. This year the riders climb on the older, steeper cobbled climb and descend on the safer asphalt road.

This live page will also bring updates and information from the women's Gent-Wevelgem. 

Despite the recent attacks in Belgium, the cycling fans are out in force at the start. Security has been increased but the race was given the green light to go ahead.

Dimension Data rider Mekseb Debesay arrived at his team hotel several hours after the conclusion of E3 Harelbeke after becoming lost and disorientated during the final kilometres of his first ever race in Flanders.

The riders are gathering in the main square in Deinze and are about to roll out and start Gent-Wevelgem.

The riders await the start.

Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) before the start.

After Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) was forced to miss Gent-Wevelgem due to illness, Team Sky has also revealed that Ian Stannard is also ill and will not race today.

Former Belgian rider and 1982 Gent-Wevelgem winner Frank Hoste has dropped the start flag and waved the riders away.

The riders are heading towards Tielt and then the Belgian coast. The race route also includes  brief visit into France before heading back to East Flanders for the key climbs of the race. 

The women's Gent-Wevelgem is also underway after the race left Ieper. The Women face 112km of racing and five climbs before they finish in Wevelgem at around 2pm local time. 

The men have covered just a few kilometres but we already have a four-rider attack. Will it stick?  

The four riders are: Pavel Brutt -the instigator, Lieuwe Westra, Jonas Rickaert and Josef Cerny.

The men have covered just a few kilometres but we already have a four-rider attack. Will it stick?  

The break now has a lead of 1:00.

Simon Pellaud of IAM Cycling is chasing the attack but is struggling alone.

Three riders di not started today due to illness: Alexander Kristoff (Katyusha), Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Alexis Gougeard (AG2R).

Both the men and the women are fighting some strong winds out on the course. 

The peloton has let the break go clear and the move now has 6:00!

It seems that Westra stopped for a natural break, the other riders waited for him and so they were joined by Pellaud.  

Its great to see there are seven different Gent-Wevelgem races today, for every category.

After 25km of racing, the gap is up to 8:40.

As we await the finale of the race, why not listen to our latest podcast.

200km remaining from 243km

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) is one of the favourites for Gent-Wevelgem but he doesn’t seem to have as much confidence in his chances.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) was back in action after missing E3 Harelbeke due to illness.

Do you remember last year's Gent-Wevelgem?

Click here to look back at last year's windy Gent-Wevelgem via our race report and photo gallery.

To get ready for the finale of Gent-Wevelgem, read our special E3Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem preview.

178km remaining from 243km

Belgian television reporting that Fernando Gaviria has crashed. He seems to be ok though and he's making his way back to the peloton. 

The weather has been pretty good to the riders so far but it is cold and we can expect a bit of wind and rain in the final hour of racing. 

Katusha are without Alexander Kristoff today after the Norwegian fell sick over the weekend. Cyclingnews caught up with his fellow Norwegian and roommate Sven Erik Bystrom at the start of the race. Bystrom himself is feeling under the weather and says that the team will try their hardest in the absence of their leader. 

After 80km, the riders are passing through the feed zone at the moment. They'll need to keep fulled up with a challenging finish ahead. 

The peloton has split into three groups. We have also seen reports that Wanty's Simone Antonini has crashed out of the race. 

Currently around 20 seconds between the first and second peloton.

We've collected a selection of photos and quotes from the start this morning, take a look at them all here

142km remaining from 243km

Team Sky has had a very good weekend with Michal Kwiatkowski winning on Friday. They are without Kwiatkowski or Ian Stannard today but they still have a number of options. One of which is sprinter Elia Viviani and Cyclingnews caught up with him at the start. 

The front group contains many of the favourites including Boonen, Van Avermaet, Sagan, Boasson Hagen, Cancellara, Demare and Benoot.

We also spotted Fabian Cancellara's new steed at the start. He was riding it at Strade Bianche and at Friday's E3 Harelbeke. The new colours and design are in honour of the Tour of Flanders. If you want one of these yourselves, it's not yet available in the shops but you can look at it in our gallery here

131km remaining from 243km

Taylor Phinney is another of the riders who has made the split. He's making his Classics debut after his 2014 crash that put him out for over a year.

Outside of Belgium, and Nair Quintana has just won the Volta a Catalunya with Alexei Tsatevich took the final stage. You can read the report here

119km remaining from 243km

There is no sign of Nacer Bouhanni yet. It appears he has missed out on the split in the bunch. He was a late edition to this race after he missed out on Milan-San Remo glory. He'll have his team working hard to bring this split back. 

117km remaining from 243km

The front peloton has made contact with the escapees. There's still 113km and plenty of action to come. 

Edvald Boasson Hagen is back in action today, after missing Friday's E3 Harelbeke due to illness. He's a previous winner of this race and will be looking to bounce back with a strong result here. 

108km remaining from 243km

Peter Sagan staying hidden in the front group. This morning, he and teammate Erik Baska, wanted to go to the toilet before the start. They ran into a nearby bar, as the busses were too far away, and had 100 people standing outside waiting for them when they returned. The bar owner has promised them free beer if they come back this evening. Sagan won't be able to take them up on the offer as he's flying home right after the race. 

104km remaining from 243km

A problem for Popovych, he goes into the grass but manages to stay upright. 

Tyler Farrar and Manuel Quinziato setting the pace at the front of the leading group. They're putting in a good effort and have made a small gap. They realise and slow a little for the others to catch up. 

Just under the 100km to go and Dimension Data continue to share the effort with Etixx-QuickStep and BMC. The gap to the group behind is coming down very slowly. 46 seconds is now the advantage. 

Alexander Kristoff isn't racing today. After a tough E3 Harelbeke, he fell ill. You can read the full story here.

Sep Vanmarcke is at the front of the second group, he's doing great work to bring the gap down. It now only stands at 17 seconds. 

88km remaining from 243km