Typical to a classic race in Belgium, the peloton started the day in wind, rain and colder temperatures on cobble stones. The race had three major phase: 14 sections of cobbles in the first 100km, a section in Holland in windy conditions, and the finishing circuit in Antwerp.
Guillaume Boivin was taken out in a crash on the second section as the group entered the cobble section in windy Holland. Pat McCarty stayed with Guillaume to support him, and was forced to abandon the race.
As a result of the crash, the peleton split in three distinct group. Fortunately for team SpiderTech, both trainee Antoine Duchesne and Ryan Anderson were part of the leading group up front. Simon Lambert-Lemay, Martin Gilbert and Francois Parisien all had to fight back, in the speedy winds, from mishaps.
As the race headed to the finishing circuits in Antwerp, Team SpiderTech had three riders in the key split, Gilbert, Anderson and Duchesne. With the support of the teammates, five SpiderTech riders were in the front groups in the ciruits, although the team had planned to have six.
In the final moments, Anderson was very active in several of the key moves and breakaways. In the sprint finish among the leader’s group, Ryan Anderson crossed the line in fifth place as sprinter Martin Gilbert got pinched out.
“It was terrible to lose Guillaume like that. He and Mart [Martin Gilbert] were our key men today. The boys executed the race plan perfect today, they smashed it at 100km heading into Holland and were well positioned,” said Kevin Field, Directeur sportif in Belgium.
Added Field: “After we lost Guillaume, they rallied well and adapted to the changes on the road. As a team they boys were great and we always had good numbers up front heading back into Antwerp and on the finishing circuits. Eeckhout was pretty incredible today, we tried to ride him back with TopSport and Netapp in the final but he was really strong.”
Guillaume Boivin received medical care immediately after his crash. He will be further evaluated tomorrow.
Results
1. Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post – Sean Kelly 4:37:12
2. Christian Bertilsson (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se 0:00:12
3. Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
4. Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team Netapp
5. Ryan Anderson (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
6. Roman Maykin (Rus) Rusvelo
7. Zico Waeytens (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
8. André Schulze (Ger) Team Netapp
9. Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
10. Kevin Suarez Martinez (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
11. Kenneth Van Bilsen (Bel) An Post – Sean Kelly
12. Kevin Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
13. Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bofrost-Steria El.Czc
14. Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
15. Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
16. James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
17. Jarl Salomein (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
18. Steve Schets (Bel) Bofrost-Steria El.Czc
19. Niels Wytinck (Bel) An Post – Sean Kelly
20. Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
21. Luc Hagenaars (Ned) Metec Continental Cyclingteam
22. Egidijus Juodvalkis (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet
23. Kevin Verwaest (Bel) Bofrost-Steria El.Czc
24. Henrik Abom (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
25. Bert Vanlerberghe (Bel) Bofrost-Steria
26. Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
27. Jason Christie (Nzl) Team Differdange – Magic-Sportfood.De
28. Sven Jodts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
29. Benjamin Verraes (Bel) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
30. Steven Van Vooren (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
31. Martin Gilbert (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
32. Olivier Chevalier (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
33. Olivier Pardini (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
34. Johan Coenen (Bel) Team Differdange – Magic-Sportfood.De
35. Mark Mcnally (Gbr) An Post – Sean Kelly
36. Tom Goovaerts (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
37. Jan Barta (Cze) Team Netapp
38. Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team Netapp
39. Antoine Duchesne (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
40. Kevin Claeys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
41. Quentin Bertholet (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
42. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Netapp
43. Simon Lambert-Lemay (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 0:01:16
44. Kevin De Jonghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator 0:01:42
45. Dries Hollanders (Bel) Metec Continental Cyclingteam 0:01:47
46. Justin Van Hoecke (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
47. Francois Parisien (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10 0:02:04
DNF Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Kin San Wu (Hkg) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Alexander Budaragin (Rus) Rusvelo
DNF Nikita Eskov (Rus) Rusvelo
DNF Leonid Krasnov (Rus) Rusvelo
DNF Valery Valynin (Rus) Rusvelo
DNF Nikolay Zhurkin (Rus) Rusvelo
DNF Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Team Netapp
DNF Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team Netapp
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Team Netapp
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech Powered By C10
DNF Jonathan Patrick Mc Carty (USA) Spidertech Powered By C10
DNF Bjorn Selander (USA) Spidertech Powered By C10
DNF Sam Bennett (Irl) An Post – Sean Kelly
DNF Roy Jans (Bel) An Post – Sean Kelly
DNF Scott Law (Aus) An Post – Sean Kelly
DNF Joren Segers (Bel) An Post – Sean Kelly
DNF Rutger Roelandts (Bel) Bofrost-Steria
DNF Francesco Van Coppernolle (Bel) Bofrost-Steria
DNF Pieter Van Herck (Bel) Bofrost-Steria
DNF Jens Vandenbogaerde (Bel) Bofrost-Steria
DNF Hamish Robert Haynes (Gbr) Colba – Superano Ham
DNF Rick Van Caldenborgh (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
DNF Sven Van Den Houte (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
DNF Timothy Vangheel (Bel) Colba – Superano Ham
DNF Tom Dernies (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
DNF Philippe Legrand (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
DNF Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
DNF Kévin Thome (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles – Credit Agricole
DNF Reinier Honig (Ned) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
DNF Jerome Gilbert (Bel) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
DNF Timothy Stevens (Bel) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
DNF Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
DNF Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s
DNF Tim Declercq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Tim Mertens (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator
DNF Clinton Robert Avery (NZl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Joris Boillat (Sui) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Kun Jiang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Mart Ojavee (Est) Champion System Pro Cycling Team
DNF Jurrien Bosters (Ned) Metec Continental Cyclingteam
DNF Flavio Pasquino (Ned) Metec Continental Cyclingteam
DNF Elmar Reinders (Ned) Metec Continental Cyclingteam
DNF Bob Van De Hengel (Ned) Metec Continental Cyclingteam
DNF Jonas Bjelkmark (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
DNF Johan Broberg (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
DNF Johan Landstrom (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
DNF Michael Olsson (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
DNF Edwin Wilson (Swe) Team Cykelcity.Se
DNF Giovanni De Merlier (Bel) Team Differdange – Magic-Sportfood.De
DNF Frank Dressler-Lehnhof (Ger) Team Differdange – Magic-Sportfood.De
DNF Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Team Differdange – Magic-Sportfood.De
DNF Andre Benoit (Ger) Team Heizomat
DNF Fabian Bruno (Ger) Team Heizomat
DNF Raphael Freienstein (Ger) Team Heizomat
DNF Jannick Geisler (Ger) Team Heizomat
DNF Marius Jessenberger (Ger) Team Heizomat
DNF Christopher Muche (Ger) Team Heizomat