Katusha responded in the best possible way to their recent trials and tribulations in regards to their World Tour status with victory in the first classic of the Spring season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with Luca Paolini taking the win after a two-man dash to the line alongside Stijn Vanderbergh (Omega Pharma – QuickStep).
The big names lost out despite all the hype, which may be a sign that we’re in for some surprises this season, or also something to do with the freezing temperatures that saw the riders bundled up as though they were on training rides. Time alone will tell.
Certainly though, despite a good bash at it by Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), the usual suspects had their thunder stolen on the day by a fine ride from the leading duo.
Here are some of the comments from the major players in the race.
Stijn Vanderbergh (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) – second place:
“Second place is also good, to win is better but with second I am happy,” Vandenbergh said.
“I was in front with Chava on the Eikenberg when he took action. Then, after the Lippenhovestraat, I attacked.
“It was in my mind I was in a good place because on the Lippenhovestraat I was in the front, and after that we turned to the left I went on the side, and it was a good moment for an attack.
“After the Eikenberg I knew I felt really good and I really felt I was strong overall today. As for the sprint, Paolini went with 250 metres and he took directly two or three metres. He was simply too fast.
“When I attacked I knew I had Paolini with me, and he is really strong. But after a hard race like today you don’t know how he will be in the final. I will sleep good because I am happy with my second place.”
Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) – seventh place
“I am happy about my race,” Chavanel said afterwards.
“I tried to attack and I was thinking somebody would have followed me.
“When I remained alone I really didn’t force the situation. With a headwind it wasn’t possible to go to the finish alone.
“In any case I’m happy about my condition and I want to congratulate Stijn for the great race. He deserves it.”
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) – 84th place
“I still have a lot of work to do,” Boonen remarked after a disappointing event.
“I think I did better than I expected. I’m back on track for the Classics, especially with this really hard weather, these really hard conditions it went well.
“After 100 kilometres I already felt empty, but with the experience I have, and the experience with the race, I still made it through pretty OK to the final, and made it through the accelerations I needed to do because the group was already gone.
“I felt OK and like I said, I need some extra work, but it was the first time I really had to go deep for a longer time – one hours or two hours.
“So, I feel satisfied. Today we had a few guys who were able to make it into the front group. It’s really nice to have a race like that.
“It’s nice to know if you really have a hard half hour, you have teammates who can take over the actions of the race. I’m happy for Stijn. I knew that he can do these kind of actions.
“Unfortunately he was in the breakaway with Paolini who is faster than him, and has a lot of experience. Stijn in any case showed he was ready and on a good track for the next important races.”
Servais Knaven (Team Sky Sports Director) on Geraint Thomas – fourth
“Geraint Thomas (‘G’) crashed and we thought ‘is this the end of the race for him?’” admitted Knaven.
“He was pretty far back but he managed to get back to the front and two hours later he was in the breakaway! It was impressive. He said that the good thing was that he had so many clothes on that he was almost uninjured.
“It was a really good ride. He had really good legs and I think he actually had the legs to be up with the two guys up ahead. But that’s racing and the whole team has a good feeling after today.
“We were hopeful G could get on the podium today and he came really close.
“It was a really hard day today with the temperature and the wind. The guys did a good job and the rest of the team finished behind G in that main group.
“They raced smart and G was there when he had to be there. Our guys are getting to know the roads better and better, which is important for the races coming up.
“The guys looked good afterwards too which is encouraging. They are really motivated for the races coming up.”
Jürgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) – eighth place
“I felt good today and jumped to the group with Van Avermaet. I rode completely à bloc to join the others and had to recuperate for ten kilometres.
“On the cobblestones of the Lippenhovestraat the two strongest guys in the race escaped, Vandenbergh really was impressive.
“I sat in fourth position at that moment, but I still felt the effort I had done to close the gap, I didn’t have any punch left. In the last ten kilometres I had a blur in front of my eyes.”
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) – fifth place
“It was a missed chance,” Van Avermaet said.
“Once I was in the front group, I felt good and was one of the best riders of the race.
“I was still thinking we could take the two leaders because there were some strong riders in our group. But it seems both were too strong. I’m a bit disappointed. These are the races for me and it felt like I could win. ”
Luca Paolini (Katusha) – first
“I’m absolutely happy about this win,” said the Italian.
“It’s a very important victory both for me, for Katusha and for Russia, since today I know is the Russian Men’s Day: I’m very pleased to give them another reason to celebrate.
“It was a special triumph for me in a very prestigious competition, one of the most beautiful Belgian classic race. I felt in a great condition despite the cold weather, and in the end I managed to win thanks also to my bigger experience.
“I have to thank the whole team, they worked great: in the morning we decided the strategy, and everything went as we planned.”
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