Rosseler wins Three Days of De Panne

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Sebastien Rosseler (RadioShack) won the final time trial and the overall classification of the KBC-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde on Thursday afternoon. No less than 27 riders were grouped within 10 seconds of one another ahead of the 14.7km long time trial and eventually it was the Belgian strongman who overpowered Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM), the rest of the potential winners and the strong winds in De Panne next to the North Sea to take the win.

Westra started the 14.7km long time trial with an advantage of eight seconds over Rosseler, but in the end he fell six seconds short. Just like last year the Dutchman finishes as runner-up in the Driedaagse. Westra was extremely disappointed with the outcome of the race.

“I’m fed up to the back teeth,” Westra said. “I believed in my chances and felt super. I didn’t leave one second out there on the course. Rosseler turned out to be stronger and so he deserved to win.”

Westra’s time was slightly better than that of Rosseler’s promising 20-year-old Polish team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski. In a tough time trial, the young RadioShack rider held off time-trial specialists such as Bert Grabsch (HTC-Highroad) and Andriy Grivko (Astana). Kwiatkowski’s third place overall and Dmitriy Muravyev’s seventh place delivered RadioShack director Dirk Demol’s men the win in the team standings.

After the windy morning stage, Bert De Backer (Skil-Shimano) was leading the race but the young Belgian was not expected to hold on for the overall win as he is not considered to be a specialist against the clock. De Backer was unable to spring a surprise and he finished at almost one and a half minute behind the winner Rosseler.

“It was a painful debut for me to be leading a race. I knew I had little chance. I felt weak this morning and in the headwind that couldn’t be hidden,” De Backer said.

Due to the fact that 77 riders finished outside the time cut in the morning stage, several jerseys switched hands on the final day. Westra could console himself for his overall defeat with the award for most combatitive rider and the title of best climber. No less than four riders who were standing in front of him, including former leader Laurens De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator), were eliminated from the race.

Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) remained leader of the points classification until the end, and Bert De Backer was winner of the rush sprint classification.

Lead changes hands until arrival of RadioShack express

Matt Brammeier (HTC-Highroad) had the first time of importance with 19:41 and the Irishman led the standings for almost an hour, before he eventually tumbled back to finish in 19th place. Federico Canuti (Colnago-CSF Inox) was the first to beat Brammeier, by almost 20 seconds, while men like Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM) opted not to show up for the time trial.

Of the last wave of riders who began the stage within 10 seconds of De Backer’s lead, Greg Henderson (Sky) was the first to beat the best time. He finished in 19:22 but he was quickly passed by Rick Flens (Rabobank) who went 21 seconds quicker, and it was soon clear that the winner of the time trial would have to finish with a time of under 19 minutes.

Andriy Grivko (Astana) rode a better second part of the time trial to become the first rider inside that barrier with 18:55. Bert Grabsch (HTC-Highroad) bested this time by two seconds, but then the RadioShack train crushed the opposition.

First it was Kwiatkowski who knocked Grabsch out of the hot seat by eight seconds, despite looking exhausted at the finish line. A little later, Rosseler crushed that best time by 13 more seconds in 18:31. Westra did all he could in the time trial but by halfway he had already lost ten seconds to Rosseler. In the second part against the headwind he lost six more seconds, forcing him to settle for second place, while race leader Bert De Backer finished well off the pace in 20:15.