Ian Stannard Wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Last updated : 28 February 2015 By Covsupport News Service

Ian Stannard of Team Sky has won the 70th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

The opening race of the Belgian classic season started with the 70th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, a 200.2k race which started and finished in Gent.

All the big teams entered with Team Sky including Sir Bradley Wiggins, Ian Stannard. Luke Rowe and the highly experienced Berni Eisel.

Irishman Matt Brammeier of MTN Qhubeka, Alexis Gougeard of AG2R, Chris Laborie, Michael Reihs, Kevin Van Melsen and Louis Verhelst were the first to break and were joined by Albert Timmer of Giant Alpecin and Sean Bieke of Lotto Soudal.

After a group of fifty riders had been dropped on the Kluisberg climb, the eight out front had a lead of 6.10 with 145kms remaining.

On the 2000m section of cobbles known as the Haaghoek, Bieke have problems with the chain on his bike and dropped out of the front group.

With 83kms left, the gap had dropped to three minutes and by the time, the riders had reached the Taaienberg, only Timmer and Brammeier were left.

Tom Boonen had been heading a group of about twenty riders after Sir Bradley Wiggins had taken long turns to get the peloton to smash the breakaway.

Luke Rowe of Team Sky joined Timmer and Brammeier with 47kms left but they were chased down and on the cobbles at Haaghoek,  Vandenbergh, Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra, Vanmarcke and Steve Chainel got away.

Vanmarcke briefly led before being stopped by a puncture and when Tom Boonen attacked again on the Leberg only Terpstra, Vandenbergh and Team Sky's Ian Stannard were with him.

Stannard might have been outnumbered by riders from Etixx Quick Step by three to one but the British champion used it to his advantage.

Their lead was only around 25 seconds but the quartet managed to take that out to a minute.

Under the flam rouge and Ian Stannard picked his moment and sprinted past Niki Terpstra to win in 4.58.41.

Third was Tom Boonen eight seconds back and fourth was his Etixx team-mate Stijn Vandenbergh who came in fifteen seconds back.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Stannard told TeamSky.com. “It’s nice to do the double sweep at the race, but after the difficulties I had last year breaking my back it’s nice to have got myself back to where I was.  

“Being with those three guys I knew they were all committed to trying to win. As a team they haven’t won it for 10 years and it’s a big one missing off Boonen’s palmares. I knew they were going to race hard. With Sep Vanmarcke and Greg van Avermaet chasing behind it put the pressure on them. I could just sit back, play a bit of poker and enjoy the ride.

“I just wanted to get a free ride for as long as I could. That was my idea. When they all started attacking me it wasn’t a great feeling. When Boonen went I was thinking ‘right, what do I do here?’ I knew if I rode him back I’d get attacked. I paced myself back a little bit. I could feel the wheel behind was trying hard to stay with me. So I felt like it was going pretty good and then I just took my chance.”

Stannard also paid tribute to the work of his Team Sky team-mates who looked after him for much of the race.

“All the guys got me into the climbs perfectly. I felt a bit of pressure when you’ve got a Tour de France winner putting it all on the line for you. You can only really finish it off can’t you! The whole team has really lifted a level since last year. We were always at the front and always perfectly positioned. Quick-Step took me to the end and I only had to race the last 4km."