Ian Stannard (Team Sky) went on to make it 2 victories in 2 years as he out-smarted 3 Etixx-QuickStep riders in the finale to take an emphatic victory at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had a promising start to their classics campaign despite some bad luck.
Matt Brammeier would represent our African team in the initial 8 rider break of the day. Matt was visibly the strongest rider in the move as they drove out a 5 minute gap over the peloton. With around 80km to go Team Sky brought the race to life and began the chase behind.
While the main field slowly got whittled down to just 40 riders by the 60km to go point, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung were unfortunate to lose Jay Thomson to a crash. Tyler Farrar, Theo Bos and Edvald Boasson Hagen were still part of the select main group while Matt proceeded to force a split of 3 riders up the road.
Matt and his final 2 escapee partners unfortunately had to surrender at the 50km to go banner as Etixx-QuickStep and Lotto-Jumbo came to the fore. Just as this injection of pace was being inflicted upon the race, Tyler and Theo both punctured while Edvald was prominent at the front of the race, following the moves before he too punctured.
Eventually the 3 Etixx – QuickStep riders and Stannard jumped clear with a little under 40km to go. An uncooperative chase group of now only 20 odd riders saw the gap to the front runner’s balloon rather quickly. They would go on to decide the race with Stannard out-smarting the 3 riders from the Belgian squad. Behind them, 4 pursuers would cross the line before the main peloton sprinted in for 9th position. Edvald would be our top finisher just outside of the top 20.
Edvald Boasson Hagen – Rider
Matt Brammeier – Rider
J.P. Heynderickx – Sports Director
