Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) claimed his first win of the season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with a consummate performance that was capped by a sprint finish that saw off world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal).

The trio had been part of an elite group that had initially formed Taaienberg along with Luke Rowe (Team Sky). Despite a late charge from the peloton the break stayed clear.

In the sprint, Van Avermaet hit out first with Sagan and Benoot fighting for his wheel. The BMC Racing rider created a small gap and it was enough to seal victory with Sagan unable to respond in the closing metres.

Rowe held on for fourth place while fifth went to Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), who had been in the first break of the day. Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal ) led the peloton home just nine seconds later. There was disappointment for Etixx-QuickStep who saw Tony Martin crash and no riders finish inside the top ten.

However the day belonged to Van Avermaet, who laid down the perfect marker ahead of the spring Monuments. The Belgian finished second in this race two years ago and has perennially finished on the podium in several major spring races without claiming a win.

“I’m never really winning that much and it’s the first race in Belgium so far, so I’m pretty happy with this victory. If I could choose one, I would have picked, definitely, this one,” he said.

How it unfolded

At the start in Gent the sun and large crowds were welcoming of the 199 riders. Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep), world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and home rider Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) were clearly the favourites.

Twelve riders were well aware that their only chance to shine in the first race on the Belgian race calendar was to get in the breakaway, with Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), Kristian House (One Pro Cycling), Julien Morice (Direct Energie), Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty – Groupe Gobert), Maxime Farazijn (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Brian van Goethem (Roompot-Oranje Peloton), Zakkari Dempster (Bora-Argon 18), Benoit Jarrier (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits ), Brecht Dhaene, Stef Van Zummeren and Kai Reus (Veranda’s Willems) going clear.

The leaders collected a maximal lead of 5:30 over the peloton that was led by Etixx-QuickStep and Katusha.

Tiesj Benoot stated before the race that he needed to be ‘attentive once they reached the Kruisberg’. The racing certainly was more nervous. When approaching the Kruisberg there was a crash in the peloton that took down Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto-Soudal), Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-GreenEdge) and Dennis van Winden (LottoNL-Jumbo). The latter was hospitalized.

Watch the video race highlighs

The winning move

The lead group was less than two minutes ahead and starting to lose numbers as the rest of the climbs came into view. Benoot was certainly attentive because one climb later he was there when Luke Rowe (Team Sky) set a blistering pace on the Taaienberg with only Benoot, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) swiftly marking his move.

World champion Peter Sagan impressed a little later as he bridged up alone, with Daniel Oss (BMC) blowing up his engine when trying to keep up.

In front, Dhaene, Gougeard, Reus and Morice were the remaining leaders after the Taaienberg. At 20 seconds from the leaders Van Avermaet set a fierce pace on the Eikenberg, putting Rowe briefly in trouble. On the cobbles of the Karel Martelstraat the four strong men bridged up with dropped riders Dhaene and Morice.

Etixx crash and crack

Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) was riding in third position in the peloton when he slipped away when coming off the cobbles. He was able to continue his race although the chase lost valuable seconds as they were forced to reform.

Just before the cobbles of the Haaghoek the remaining two leaders were brought back, creating a new lead group of eight riders. They were Benoot, Van Avermaet, Rowe, Sagan and the survivors of the long breakaway move Reus, Gougeard, Morice and Dhaene.

Nearly a minute further back there was a crash at the back of the peloton that took out BMC riders Philippe Gilbert, Floris Gerts and Manuel Quinziato.

After the asphalted Boembeke, the final climb of the day at 32 kilometres from the finish the eight leaders were still nearly a minute ahead of the peloton led by Etixx-QuickStep’s Nikolas Maes, Lukasz Wisniowski and Stijn Vandenbergh. When they sat up Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Tosh Van Der Sande rode away from the peloton.

The final run in

The remaining obstacles on the roads to Gent were the long pavé sections of the Paddestraat, Lippenhovestraat and the Lange Munte. In front, Reus flatted and lost contact with the leaders. Behind, 23-year-old Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) rode away from the peloton on the Lippenhovestraat, blasting by Theuns and Van Der Sande. Stuyven quickly passed Reus, too, but the leaders were still 40 seconds ahead.

When heading to the Lange Munte, Stuyven was battling the headwind in no man’s land, riding at 35 seconds from the seven leaders and 15 seconds ahead of the small Etixx-QuickStep-led peloton. Stuyven’s efforts were ruined when he slipped on one of the multiple corners ahead of the Lange Munte. The riders leading the way in the peloton were Wisniowski, Martin, Vandenbergh, Nikki Terpstra and Tom Boonen.

Sagan upped the pace on the cobbles of the Lange Munte, quickly dropping Reus, Dhaene and Morice. A little later 22-year-old Gougeard was dropped too but he returned when Sagan came off the front. Coming off the cobbles the gap for the five leaders on the peloton was still more than 50 seconds. From there, there were no more small twisting farm roads but 17 wide national roads to the finish town Gent.

The peloton had one last roll of the dice, with several teams complimenting Etixx’s work on the front. With 10 kilometres remaining the gap to the leaders began to drop and with 5 kilometres remaining the peloton could sense blood. However, one long turn Sagan, followed by an important turn from Gougeard ensured that the break would stay away.

Van Avermaet started the sprint in fourth wheel but took an aggressive line into the final corners. It meant he was on the front coming around the last bend, with Sagan and Benoot desperately trying to respond. However, they couldn’t catch the BMC rider and the Belgian hung on for a deserved milestone victory.

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