The first of the Belgian Classics came today along with some stereotypically-Belgian weather conditions. Rain soaked cobblestones made the going treacherous today, with a race of exciting attacking and counter-attacking marred by crashes that would see many of the favourites out of contention. In spite of a valiant effort to stay in touch with the lead group, ably supported by teammate Daniel Oss, Peter Sagan finished the race in the bunch due to both an unlucky crash and a lack of cooperation from the chasers. Re-focusing their attention on Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem, the BORA-hansgrohe riders rode conservatively to save energy and finish safely to ride another day.
The Stage
The E3-Harelbeke has all of the ingredients that make the Belgian Classics so special: cobblestones, brutal climbs, a long and varied parcours and – this year – some difficult weather conditions. Over the 206km distance, riders would traverse eight cobblestone sections and no fewer than fifteen climbs. These aren’t the long and winding mountain climbs of the stage races, but short, punchy and brutally energy sapping, with high gradients and often over cobblestones, with the famous Oude Kruisberg, Kapelberg, Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont climbs coming at pivotal points during the day. The final climb of the day came nearly 20km before the finish, but in this race, it’s the riders’ position before this final stretch that so often decides the race’s outcome.
The Team Tactics
As the first of the Belgian Classics, the season was really getting underway now, and the key players were starting to show how their preparation was working out. With a busy weekend of hard races, the team would be watching how today would unfold before deciding how to ride – it would be essential that the team save their energy for Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday and not work too hard if the conditions weren’t right to push for the win.
The Race
The slightly flatter start to the day gave riders a chance to make the jump and get into the breakaway, with eight riders escaping and building a strong advantage. While the break built their lead to six minutes, an early crash brought down the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan. The tough Slovak rider simply shrugged off the fall, but it was a sign that the day was going to be tough for a number of different reasons. The pace was proving too much for the chasing peloton as it split into two groups, with the front group catching up with the break, and a small group, with Peter Sagan and Daniel Oss in their midst, working to stay in contact. The smoother road sections made it easier to work, but with Peter being the strongest rider here, there was little desire to work with him to reel in the lead group. While Peter and Daniel both worked relentlessly to reduce the gap, they were lapped up by the reduced peloton. With eleven determined and organised riders out in front, it became clear that the peloton would be unable to make the catch, which left the UCI World Champion and the rest of the BORA-hansgrohe team riding to finish safely to contest Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday.
Results
01 N. Terpstra 5:03:34
02 P. Gilbert + 0:20
03 G. Van Avermaet + 0:20
26 P. Sagan + 3:23
From the Finish Line
“It was a fast and nervous E3 Harelbeke and until the Taaienberg, everything was going exactly according to the way we had planned. Then when Quick-Step attacked, Daniel and I took the responsibility to go across and close the gaps, bringing the chasing groups together. That required a big effort and when you do that so far from the finish, it’s difficult. At 30km into the race, I was caught in a tumble. I didn’t suffer anything serious, just some road rash on my right thigh. However, that didn’t affect my performance and I now look forward to the next race.” – Peter Sagan, UCI World Champion
“It was a hard E3 Harelbeke for us but our guys fought until the end and really gave their best today. Rudi Selig and Christoph Pfingsten were caught in the big crash that split the peloton and were affected but, fortunately, they didn’t suffer any serious injury. Our guys were at the front but Quick-Step and the other big teams had many strong riders putting pressure on the peloton. When Tesptra and Lampaert broke away, Peter and Daniel put on a tremendous effort to close all the gaps by themselves, with little cooperation from the other riders. That effort took its toll on both of them. We wanted to have a credible chance at winning, but if you spend all that energy with 70km to go to the finish, it’s nearly impossible to recover. It’s the first Classic of the season, we’ll focus now on Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem.” – Jan Valach, Sport Director
