Sunny weather eliminates epic breaks and leads to bunch sprint
Team Sky’s Christopher Sutton won the bunch sprint to take Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux) and André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto. Tyler Farrar, who was boxed in, only managed fourth place. Boonen tried an attack with six kilometers to go, forfeiting his chances in the sprint. He was caught with two kilometers to go and missed out on a third win in the race.
Sutton crossed the line with a huge smile, visibly astonished about what he had pulled off. “Yes, I am pretty surprised,” the Australian said after the race on Belgian TV. But he was the designated man for his Sky team. “I felt pretty good this morning and told the team I was up for it.” His teammates put their faith in Sutton. “Edvald Boasson Hagen told me that he would prepare the sprint for me.”
He was asked again in the final ten kilometers, when it had become very apparent that a huge bunch sprint would end the race. “I told them I was up for it,” Sutton said. Boasson Hagen set the pace, with Sutton patiently sitting behind. “I was there with 500 meters to go, then I saw the 200-meter mark. I noticed someone came up on the right so I thought it is time to go.” Off he went, leaving Hutarovich and big sprint favorite Greipel behind.
Sutton was quite happy with his teammates. “They did an incredible job. [Juan Antonio] Flecha did a big pull. Matthew Hayman crashed, Edvald Boasson Hagen went,” a beaming Sutton said. The Australian said it was one of his biggest wins so far, alongside the Tour Down Under stage he took in 2010. “I always wanted to win one of the classics and it is really nice that I started with Kuurne.”
His sports director Steven de Jongh was a classics specialist in his active times. “I haven’t spoken to him yet but I am sure he will be very happy,’ Sutton said.
A sunny day for a change
It was a dry day in Belgium, so last year’s epic rain race would not be repeated. For the final the sun even came out. The weather made some riders itchy and the jumping started early on, with a group of five managing to get away: Edwig Cammaerts, Coyot, Andrew Fenn, Navardauskas and Van Groen. They quickly built a lead of five minutes. Fenn was dropped before the decisive action of the break. That decisive action was running the red light at a train crossing. The four leaders were quickly and swiftly eliminated from the course by the commissaires.
With the eviction of his former break companions, Fenn was suddenly the leader on the road. He was later joined by Sander Armée and Matthieu Ladagnous.
On the fourth climb of the day, the Kruisberg, Juan Antonio Flecha set the pace. Fenn, a first-year professional and a former Paris-Roubaix junior winner, had a hard time keeping the pace in the front group. He was reeled in by the bunch on the Oude Kwaremont, with 85km to go. Stijn Devolder was involved in a big crash before the Kwaremont, and had to use precious energy to get back to the peloton. Flecha set the pace again on the cobbles on the Oude Kwaremont, with Tom Boonen more attentive than yesterday.
At the Cote Du Trieu, Thomas Voeckler attacked and he formed a group with six others – Maxime Vantomme, Matthew Hayman, Jürgen Roelandts, Sergej Lagoetin, Martin Velits and Sébastien Minard. The seven caught the two leaders, Armée and Ladagnous, before the next climb, the Tiegemberg.
In the back, a large group including Devolder and Tyler Farrar, was dropped and rode around 20 seconds behind the peloton for several kilometers. It was not until the Nokereberg that the group was able to close the gap again.
With 42km to go, the gap to the nine-man front group dropped under the one-minute mark. With the peloton larger again, the difference was quickly reduced and the nine were caught with 34km to go.
Lars Ytting Bak went solo, shortly after the front group was caught. He build a lead of half a minute by the time he hit the finish line for the first time. But there were still two laps of 13km to go, with a strong wind not helping the Danish rider. A group of five was chasing Bak for a few kilometers, around 15 seconds behind Bak and 15 seconds ahead of the peloton.
With 20km to go, the peloton had caught the chasers but three riders, including Jimmy Engoulvent who was also part of the five-man break, tried again. The other two were Sébastien Hinault and Alessandro Proni. Bak was still over 20 seconds clear.
With 17 kilometers to go, the three had caught Bak. The gap was around a dozen seconds on the peloton. Omega Pharma – Lotto controlled the bunch for André Greipel. The peloton entered the last lap – with 13km to go, 13 seconds behind the leading quartet of Bak, Engoulvent, Hinault and Proni.
With six kilometers to go the gap was down to half a dozen seconds. Engoulvent used a roundabout to go solo. The other three sat up and to their surprise saw Boonen attack and join Engoulvent.
Boonen seemed to be afraid of the sprinters like Farrar, Greipel or Gerald Ciolek. The duo was caught just after the two-km banner, setting up things for the bunch sprint.