Sagan wins opening stage at Driedaagse De Panne

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Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling) gave another demonstration of his dominant spring form, winning the first stage of Driedaagse De Panne after going on the attack in the final 20km.

The Slovakian surged clear several times on the final climbs, dragging a group of 10 riders away but still had the speed and sprinting skills to beat France's Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).

Sagan carefully closed the door on Demare as the road curved left in the final two hundred metres but race officials decided not to intervene. It was Sagan's seventh win of the 2013 season and also gave him the race leader's jersey.

Demare and his directeur sportif Marc Madiot carefully studied the replay of the sprint but accepted defeat.

"Peter moved across slightly but that's part of racing, part of sprinting," Demare admitted.

Sagan waited quietly for the judges decision and then headed onto the podium to collect the flowers and the praise after another victory.

How it unfolded:

Racing got underway from the edge of the North Sea at Middelkerke shortly before midday under clear blue skies, but it was hardly beach weather with the peloton wrapped in as many layers as possible against the harsh wind chill and close to zero temperatures.

Before 10km of racing had been complete, the break of Marco Haller (Katusha), Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team), Koen Barbe (Crelan-Euphony) and Sam Bennett (An Post-Chainreaction) established itself on the outskirts of Leffinge. Andrea Di Corrado (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) took off in pursuit but by the 30km mark, the Italian’s chase had faltered and he was back in the peloton. Meantime, the quartet’s lead over the bunch had opened up to 2:25.

Word filtered through that Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol), winner of the first stage of De Panne two years ago in Zottegem, would be without key leadout man Greg Henderson.

Bennett claimed the first points on offer for the day at the first sprint point at 47.7km, ahead of Haller and Barbe, meantime the gap had opened up to just over four minutes before stabilising at six with 135km of racing remaining.

After an earlier attempt by teammate Tim Mertens failed, Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise’s Preben Van Hecke made a brave move off the front earning an advantage of 4:20 after 80km of racing.

The leaders hit the first climb of the day, the Edelare with a gap of 8:46 on the peloton, the largest split of the day, with Van Hecke in limbo three and a half minutes behind. Haller was proving to be the aggressor of the group, taking maximum points on offer. Barbe took the spoils at the second sprint shortly after, with Bennett and Reijen trailing.

The break negotiated the Haaghoek, a two-kilometre sector of cobbles for the first of three times today with little difficulty. However Van Hecke’s time in limbo appeared to be running out as he realised that he would not have the legs to catch the four men out front. With 100km of racing complete, the Belgian was back in the peloton, 4:38 back from the leaders who were on the Berendries ascent.

Boonen on the front

Keen to test his injured knee out, Tom Boonen moved to the front of the peloton over the Haaghoek as the peloton picked up a gear.

Approaching the first of three passes though the finish in Zottegem and with 90km of racing remaining, the peloton was slowly making ground on the four leaders with Lotto Belisol driving the peloton, the gap down to 4:30. The pace lifting considerably resulted in decent splits at the back of the peloton as the team’s gunning for a bunch sprint at the finish, spread out across the width of the road up ahead.

Haller remained the protagonist on the second run over the Haaghoek but as the terrain started to rise, Bennett appeared to trip his front wheel over one of the cobbles, resulting in him losing momentum and then contact with his breakaway companions. As the sector was coming to an end, Haller decided to make a move on the splintering group, going it alone up the road. Barbe was able to gradually make contact with the Katusha rider on the Leberg ascent, meantime the peloton continued to make ground with the gap now under two minutes.

Haller was determined to lose Barbe’s company, attacking again on the Berendries, distancing the Crelan – Euphony rider but he was not about to let Haller go, fighting his way back on to the Katusha rider’s wheel and the pair then exchanging words.

An attack off the front of the peloton from Tomas Vaitkus (Orica GreenEdge) with 70km to go did not appear to worry the pack and he pushed on alone. Approaching the Valkenberg, Oscar Gatto received a wheel from a teammate, losing ground on his sprint rivals while surprisingly Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) led the charge up the climb, with Luke Durbridge (Orica GreenEdge on his back wheel.

An aggressive Greipel made the catch on Vaitkus but the Australian team was determined to put their stamp on the race ahead of the Ten Bossche with Stuart O’Grady directing affairs and setting up another attack from Vaitkus. With 60km to go, the break’s advantage was down to a minute.

Vaitkus caught up with Bennett around 45 seconds ahead of the bunch with the penultimate ascent of the Eikenmolen to come. The pace of the peloton eased somewhat, with the gap yo-yoing between 55 seconds and just over a minute with 56km left to race.

Kess Heytens (Team 3M), Damien Gaudin (Europcar) and Matt Brammeier (Champion System) led the charge up the Eikenmolen with Mattia Pozzo (Vini Fantini – Selle Italia) for company. The Irishman would not be able to hold on, and they soon caught Vaitkus.

The Lituanian had shed Bennett and with 51km to go, he was back in the bunch. The gap had plummeted however, down to 49 seconds with the two lead groups about to merge up ahead.

The race clock ticked over to just over four hours as the breakaway’s last loop from Zottegem began, but again the gap was out to just over a minute with Vaitkus looking strong. As Omega Pharma-QuickStep moved to the front of the peloton, the gap again dropped to below a minute, with Tom Boonen tucked in at fourth wheel. The Belgian super team’s fortunes however were dealt a blow with Iljo Keisse suffering a puncture and waiting for the support car.

Gaudin forged ahead on his own, wrestling with his bike in his trademark style with Vaitkus’ attempts to stick with him in vain.
Omega Pharma-QuickStep finally received a reprieve on the Haaghoek with FDJ dictating the pace and catching Heytens, Vaitkus, and Pozzo. Gaudin’s lead stood at 36 seconds.

Terpstra launched an attack on the Leberg, causing an immediate response from Durbridge once more, along with riders from FDJ and Lotto Belisol. That gave rise to a move from last year’s overall winner Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and he soon had clean air.

30km remained and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) moved to the front of the bunch, Boonen on his wheel as the peloton passed through Middelbeke. The race was in crescendo and Gaudin was mercilessly reeled-in.

Other attacks followed, in the final 20km, including a testing dig by Sagan over the top of a climb but they were swept up, as Omega Pharma-QuickStep and the other teams seemed determined to set up a sprint finish.

The sprinters began to sense victory but Sagan again took charge and turned the race upside down. He accelerated away and nine other riders went with him. Omega Pharma-Quick Step had Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra there to protect Mark Cavendish's interests, but Sagan didn't care and kept driving the pace. Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) and the FDJ duo also helped and suddenly the sprint was going to be between these ten.

Sagan seemed out numbered and perhaps tired but he used his skills and his strength to win yet again.