Stannard wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

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Ian Stannard (Team Sky) claimed a thrilling edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in a two-up sprint against BMC's Greg Van Avermaet. The pair slipped clear of the main field inside the closing kilometres of the race and despite a late chase from Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Belkin, the pair held on to decide the race in a sprint finish.

Heading into the final few hundred meters, van Avermaet moved to the front but Stannard, with a strong pedigree from his track racing days, kicked out and had enough to hold off a late challenge from the Belgian rider.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) finished third, giving Sky two riders on the podium, after the Norwegian beat Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Sep Vanmarcke (Team Belkin to the line).

Boasson Hagen and Terpstra had joined forces moments before the winning move when a dangerous group had slipped clear, but after Lars Boom punctured and Yoann Offredo crashed, the group lost its impetus.

With Boasson Hagen and Terpstra caught, Stannard and Van Avermaet seized the initiative forged clear.

Goodbye Kristof

The traditional opener of the Belgian road season in Ghent started at half past 11 with a minute of silence to pay tribute to the late Kristof Goddaert and Ghent's art pope Jan Hoet, who both passed away recently. Goddaert's teammates from the IAM team lined up in front of the peloton on a chilly, foggy and quiet St-Peter's square.

Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis), Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty), Stijn Steels (Topsport), Maciej Paterski (CCC), Christophe Laborie (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Andreas Schillinger (Netapp), Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Katusha), and Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant Shimano) animated the first half of the race, breaking clear inside the first 30 kilometres.

After nearly 150km, the last four survivors of this group were caught by the peloton. The damage in the peloton caused by the series of slippery roads, pavé and the typical bergs was severe. The biggest victims of the multiple crashes were Thor Hushovd (BMC) and Alexandre Pichot (Europcar), who were both forced to leave the race with injuries.

The ascents of the Taaienberg, Eikenberg and Wolvenberg showed that Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin), Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) and Nikki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) all had good legs, while the expected attack from Tom Boonen on the Taaienberg never materialized.

Around 40 riders survived all the attacks and hit the Leberg 42km from the finish in Ghent. Greg van Avermaet (BMC) put in an acceleration on the Leberg, but once the pace dropped, a few other riders managed to sneak away. The group included Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Lars Boom (Belkin), Yoann Offredo (FDJ.fr), Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr), Nikki Tepstra, Egoitz Garcia (Cofidis) and Kenneth Van Bilsen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

When the group turned the corner onto the Molenberg at 37km from the finish, Offredo fell while riding in third position. Terpstra and Boom hammered up the cobbled climb and discovered at the top that they were the sole leaders. Boasson Hagen, Van Bilsen and Démare eventually managed to bridge back up to the Dutch duo when hitting the 2.4km-long former Roman road of the Paddestraat, with 30km to go to the finish.

On the Paddestraat, Boom led the leaders over the wet cobbles while Vanmarcke led the peloton at 35 seconds. Halfway over the cobbles, a fierce acceleration from Terpstra was answered only by Boom and Boasson Hagen. The three leaders had a gap of 45 seconds, but the co-operation was lacking.

When Boom flatted and fell back to the bunch Terpstra and Boasson Hagen began to attack each other, a clear sign that any partnership would be fleeting at best.

At the final pavé section called the "Lange Munte", the remains of the peloton were only 20 seconds down on the two leaders. Boasson Hagen and Terpstra exchanged attacks but ended up in the clutches of the bunch.

With 17km to go, about 20 riders were battling for the victory. A peloton with Tom Boonen trailed the leaders by 50 seconds.

Stannard wasted no time and when several groups came together; he blasted away on the wider roads towards Ghent, with only van Avermaet holding his wheel.

It looked as though victory would certainly come down to the two leaders but when Terpstra and Vanmarcke attacked, with Boasson Hagen for company, it looked as though the race was playing into the Norwegian's hands. However, Stannard and Van Avermaet remained consistent in their turns and only inside the final kilometre, with the chase too far back, did they start to watch each other.

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