Sometimes it can seem as though Peter Sagan has forgotten how to lose, although it wasn't for the want of trying on the opening stage of the Three Days of De Panne. Charged with leading out his Cannondale teammate Oscar Gatto in the finishing sprint in Zottegem, Sagan carried out his duties too well, if anything, and was simply unable to slow down to allow the Italian to come past.

The Cannondale one-two thus came in the wrong order, with Sagan heading to the winner's rostrum while Gatto soft-pedalled back to the team bus, but other than that late hiccup, the race went precisely as they had planned beforehand. Sagan's vicious acceleration on the penultimate climb of the Eikenmolen was a pre-meditated move designed to drag Gatto clear, and they were joined over the top by Omega Pharma-QuickStep pair Gert Steegmans and Niki Tepstra.

"I just attacked the last two climbs and we caught the group on the front. Then, in the finish I was pulling the sprint for Oscar. I was thinking he would pass me on the line and we would do first-second," Sagan said, adding with a laugh, "We did, but it was a little bit different."

Sagan's dig on the Eikenmolen saw them pick up the remnants of an earlier break featuring QuickStep's Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and with fewer than 10 kilometres remaining, it was clear that this 12-man move would decide the race, as QuickStep and Cannonale were natural allies of circumstance. Be it with Sagan or with Gatto, Cannondale's eyes were on stage victory, while Terpstra has designs on another overall win in De Panne.

Terpstra was the outstanding time triallist in the break, although Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) made a brave bid to catch the leaders in the final kilometres. Together with Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr), Durbridge came within touching distance of the leaders but could get no closer than that by the time the race reached the streets of Zottegem.

"It was good for us that Durbridge didn't get back on. It's good for Niki that there weren't other strong time trial riders in the break," QuickStep directur sportif Wilfried Peeters said.

Steegmans lost a position in the final corner and finished fourth, but he would have been hard-pressed to out-strip the flying Sagan, who opened his sprint with 200 metres remaining and quickly opened a small gap over Kenneth Van Bilsen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise). Sagan denied afterwards that he had slammed on his brakes in an effort to help Gatto overtake him, and the Italian had to settle for second.

"I wanted to do well for him and the team because I'm just as happy when the guys who work for me in the big races get results in other days," Sagan said. "I want to be able to say thanks to the team for their work. We want to do well for the team."

Cavendish out

The stereotypical image of the Three Days of De Panne is of a race fought out under low, grey skies straight from Jacques Brel's Plat Pays, but instead pleasant sunshine and clear blue skies greeted the peloton as it lined up for the start on Tuesday morning. Indeed, the lack of wind meant that the race meant that the likes of Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) must have set out with lingering hopes of a bunch finish, in spite of the 13 hellingen on the course.

One sprinter was missing from the start, however. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) had planned to line up after missing Gent-Wevelgem through illness but the Manxman was a late withdrawal from the race, although his team remains hopeful that he will be ready for Scheldeprijs next week.

The day was marked by a five-man break featuring Tim De Troyer (Wanty), Stijn Steels (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Jay Robert Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka), Kevin Peeters (Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace) and Tom Devriendt (Team 3M), and with 50 kilometres remaining, they led by two minutes. Once on the series of hills around Zottegem, however, FDJ.fr began to make inroads into their lead, while a counter-attack featuring Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty) bridged across on the cobbles at Haaghoek with 28 kilometres remaining.

Van Keirsbulck's forcing on the Leberg soon afterwards saw him lead a delegation across to the front of the race by the next climb, the Langendries, but it was notable that the green jerseys of Cannondale were beginning to mass at the head of the bunch. The inevitable attack duly came on the Eikenmolen, where the two outstanding Tour of Flanders contenders in this race, Sagan and Terpstra, duly declared themselves present and correct.

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