Vanmarcke wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
By Cycling News
Boonen mis-times sprint, takes second, Flecha third
Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda) staged his break-out performance at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, taking the race by the reins by forcing the final three-man breakaway and then stunning favourite Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) in the sprint to take the victory.
Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha was third.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. I beat Tom Boonen, my big hero,” an emotional Vanmarcke said during the post-race interview with Sporza. He knew that in a sprint against Boonen, his chances were slim and tried to shake him off with a few attacks, but said, "I know if I have a really great day, I can sprint pretty well."
Boonen came in with generous and genuine congratulations for his young compatriot, and admitted to the press that he misjudged the approach to the line. "I saw the finish this morning and still I get caught. I thought I went at the right moment, but ... the race was 50 meters too long."
Flecha, standing on the podium for the fifth time in six years, was happy to return to the stage, but said that while this is clearly his kind of course, only the win matters.
However, the Spaniard was impressed by Vanmarcke. "You can see that the guy has tremendous talent in these races. He is impressive. That he beat Boonen in the sprint surprised me. It just goes to show, the race goes to the finish line."
Vanmarcke, 23, previously showed his Classics promise by taking second in the 2010 Gent-Wevelgem while riding with Topsport Vlaanderen, and before as a podium finisher in the U23 version of the Tour of Flanders, but today's victory showed a never-before seen brilliance, both in fitness and in tactical prowess.
The decisive breakaway was formed on the Taaienberg, 59km from the finish in sunny Ghent. Behind a break of three, Boonen tested his legs on the climb, and Vanmarcke swiftly followed. Matthew Hayman (Sky), Matti Breschel (Rabobank), Thor Hushovd (BMC), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) were able to catch on. Behind them double winner Philippe Gilbert flatted and lost a lot of time.
With 39km to go the Boonen group caught the two remaining leaders, Sven Vandousselaere and Lieuwe Westra. It was on the Molenberg with 37km to go that Vanmarcke gave the first indication of his intentions - he attacked at the base of this final climb, and Boonen fought to catch on. Hushovd, Breschel, Hayman, Flecha and Devenyns eventually re-joined, but the early leaders were dropped for good.
On the cobbles of the Paddestraat with 31km to go Vanmarcke unleashed his devils once again, the acceleration ridding him of Breschel and Hushovd. With a seemingly dire tactical disadvantage, in a group with two proven classics men: Boonen and Flecha, each with a teammate, Vanmarcke was not intimidated.
Vanmarcke put in another acceleration to dislodge Devenyns and Hayman, and still had enough energy to contribute to the work in the final 20km to keep the trio clear.
The young star-to-be put in one last dig with 1km to go, trying to get away, but when Boonen shut down the maneuver, the Garmin rider sat on the back while Flecha set the pace, the Spaniard keeping a careful eye on his companions with frequent looks over his shoulder.
Boonen opened up the sprint ahead of the 200m to go mark, but Vanmarcke was able to get in behind and then put in a stinging acceleration to jump past and grab his first Classic victory.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Garmin-Barracuda | 4:52:34 |
2 | Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | |
3 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling | |
4 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:00:25 |
5 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
6 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
7 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
8 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
9 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar | |
10 | Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
11 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Project 1t4i | |
12 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team | |
13 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
14 | Kristof Goddaert (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
15 | Bobbie Traksel (Ned) Landbouwkrediet | |
16 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar | |
17 | Leif Hoste (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
18 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
19 | Jelle Wallays (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
20 | Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
21 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | |
22 | Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
23 | Bernard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling | |
24 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
25 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
26 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
27 | Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling | |
28 | Dominique Rollin (Can) Fdj-Big Mat | |
29 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
30 | Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:36 |
31 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:41 |
32 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
33 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | 0:00:51 |
34 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | |
35 | Andreas Klier (Ger) Garmin-Barracuda | 0:00:54 |
36 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | 0:00:59 |
37 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:05 |
38 | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:32 |
39 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:05:22 |
40 | Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
41 | Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Type 1-Sanofi | 0:05:30 |
42 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Project 1t4i | |
43 | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
44 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
45 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Team Type 1-Sanofi | |
46 | Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol Team | |
47 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | |
48 | Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Katusha Team | |
49 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
50 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team | |
51 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
52 | Romain Lemarchand (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
53 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
54 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
55 | James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
56 | Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Greenedge Cycling Team | |
57 | Renaud Dion (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
58 | Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
59 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Greenedge Cycling Team | |
60 | Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
61 | Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar | |
62 | Steve Houanard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
63 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
64 | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar | |
65 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | |
66 | Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | |
67 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
68 | Mickael Delage (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
69 | Ole Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Fdj-Big Mat | |
70 | Sven Vandousselaere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
71 | Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
72 | Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet | |
73 | Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep | |
74 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | |
75 | Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
76 | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
77 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
78 | Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
79 | William Bonnet (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
80 | Stijn Neirynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
81 | David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar | 0:07:45 |
82 | Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
83 | Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Netapp | |
84 | Evert Verbist (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
85 | Rob Goris (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
86 | Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator | |
87 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
88 | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
89 | Aliaksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Katusha Team | |
90 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Barracuda | |
91 | Baden Cooke (Aus) Greenedge Cycling Team | |
92 | Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Landbouwkrediet | |
93 | Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team Netapp | |
94 | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 | |
95 | Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Team Netapp | |
96 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
97 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
98 | Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
99 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha Team | |
100 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
101 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team | |
102 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha Team | |
103 | Mathieu Halleguen (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
104 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
105 | Jean-Lou Paiani (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | |
106 | Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | |
107 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
108 | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda | |
109 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Barracuda | |
110 | Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
111 | Egidijus Juodvalkis (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet | |
112 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team | |
113 | Kevyn Ista (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | 0:12:44 |
114 | Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's | |
115 | Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1-Sanofi | |
116 | David Boucher (Fra) Fdj-Big Mat | |
117 | Leonardo Giordani (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | |
118 | Timon Seubert (Ger) Team Netapp | |
119 | Christophe Laborie (Fra) Saur - Sojasun | |
120 | Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team | |
121 | Andy Cappelle (Bel) Accent Jobs - Willems Veranda's |
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