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Tour of Belgium - 2.3
Belgium, May 21-25, 2003
Stage 1 - May 21: Oostende-Oostende, 176.5 km
Steels wins in Oostende
By Jeff Jones
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Belgian champion Tom Steels (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) scored a long awaited victory in the first stage of the his national tour, which finished in a bunch sprint in Oostende. Steels was very impressive in the rush for the line, having to go the long way round to beat Dutch champion Stefan Van Dijk (Lotto-Domo) and Rik Reinerink (BankGiroLoterij). Thus he will start tomorrow's second stage from Oostende to Knokke-Heist in the race leader's jersey.
118 riders started the 176 km stage from Oostende - Oostende in windy but relatively dry conditions. Jurgen Van Goolen (Quick.Step), Yuri Mitlushenko (Landbouwkrediet), Thierry De Groote (Palmans) and Jehudi Schoonacker (Vlaanderen-T Interim) made the first attack in Diksmuide after 17 km, which was short lived. Eight kilometres later there was a massive crash in the peloton, with Telekom's David Kopp coming down and breaking his arm.
Following the crash, the peloton split in half with Peter Van Petegem, Fabian Cancellara, Mario Aerts and Andreas Klier all missing the cut. After that it was attack and counter attack with numerous riders getting clear, only to be foiled by the wind and the fast moving peloton.
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After they reached the four finishing circuits, the riders contested time bonus sprints each lap, save for the last. The first, at km 139, was won by Jean Delatour's Samuel Dumoulin, followed by Tom Steels and Nico Eeckhout. The latter was one of the main aggressors in the stage, but was never able to get clear.
The second sprint at km 148 was taken by Andy Cappelle in front of Matthew Gilmore and Frank Vandenbroucke, while the third saw a strong MAx van Heeswijk being led out by teammate George Hincapie to take the bonus seconds, in front of Rik Reinerink and Tadej Valjavec. In between these two sprints, a dangerous group of 16 riders had escaped, including Bart Voskamp, Rik Reinerink, Wilfried Cretskens, Michael Rogers, Stefan van Dijk, Marc Streel, Wesley Van Speybroeck, Tom Flammang, Hayden Roulston, Max van Heeswijk, George Hincapie, Tadej Valjavec, Geert Omloop, Dave Bruylandts, Jurgen Vandewalle and Kevin De Weert. However after the third sprint everything came back together, thanks to the work of Marlux and Rabobank.
There were several more attacks in the final two laps, including Jan van Velzen (BankGiroLoterij) and Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Domo), who managed to get away for a few kilometres, but were caught just before the bell lap. As they crossed the line, BankGiroLoterij's Bram Schmitz raised his arms in victory, before being told by teammate Bart Voskamp that there was one lap to go...
Voskamp wasn't a factor in the bunch sprint though, which saw Tom Steels boxed in and then launching himself around the outside of Van Dijk to take the stage win.
Photos
Images by AFP
- Tom Steels celebrates on the finish line as he wins the first stage of the Tour of Belgium
- Steels and his teammates celebrate
- Belgian sprinter Tom Steels receives a bottle of Champagne from former sports' director Briek Schotte
Results
1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 4.12.28 (41.9 km/h) 2 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 3 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 4 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 5 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 6 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 7 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 8 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 9 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 10 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 11 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 12 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 13 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 14 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 15 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 16 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 18 Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 19 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 20 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 21 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 22 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 23 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 24 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 25 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 26 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 27 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 28 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 29 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 30 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 31 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 32 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 33 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 34 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 35 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick Step-Davitamon 36 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 37 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 38 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 39 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 40 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 41 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 42 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 43 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 44 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 45 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 46 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 47 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 48 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 49 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 50 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 51 Johan Dekkers (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 52 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal-Berry Floor 53 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 54 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 55 Manuel Toldo (Ita) Flanders-Iteamnova 2.59 56 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour 57 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 24.30 58 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 59 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 25.05 60 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 61 Thierry Masschelein (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 62 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 63 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 64 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 65 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 66 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 67 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 68 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 69 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 70 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 71 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 72 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 73 Juan De Los Angeles Segui (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 74 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 75 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Team Telekom 76 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 77 David Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 78 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 79 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 80 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 81 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 82 Jans Koerts (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 83 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 84 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 85 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 86 Christophe Kern (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 87 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 88 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 89 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Team Telekom 90 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 91 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 92 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 93 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 94 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 95 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 96 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 97 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 98 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 99 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Team Telekom 100 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 101 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 102 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-Iteamnova 103 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 104 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 105 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) US Postal-Berry Floor 106 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 107 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 108 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 109 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 110 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 111 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 112 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova Points 1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 35 pts 2 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 27 3 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 25 4 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 23 5 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 19 6 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 18 7 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17 8 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 13 9 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 12 10 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 11 11 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 12 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 13 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 3 14 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 15 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 Sprints Nieuwpoortsteenweg - km 139 1 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 8 pts 2 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 5 3 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 Nieuwpoortsteenweg - km 148 1 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 pts 2 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 3 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 3 Nieuwpoortsteenweg - km 156 1 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 8 pts 2 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 5 3 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 General classification after stage 1 1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 4.12.16 2 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 0.06 3 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 4 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 0.09 5 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 6 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 7 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 0.10 8 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 0.11 9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 10 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 11 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 0.12 12 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 13 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 14 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 15 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 16 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 17 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 18 Bram Schmitz (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 19 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 20 Marc Streel (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 21 Bert Roesems (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 22 Geert Omloop (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 23 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 24 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 25 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 26 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 27 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 28 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 29 Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 30 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 31 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 32 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 33 Chris Peers (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 34 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 35 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 36 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 37 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Quick Step-Davitamon 38 Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 39 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) US Postal-Berry Floor 40 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 41 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 42 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step-Davitamon 43 Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 44 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 45 Dave Bruylandts (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 46 Leif Hoste (Bel) Lotto-Domo 47 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quick Step-Davitamon 48 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Fassa Bortolo 49 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 50 Eddy Seigneur (Fra) Jean Delatour 51 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 52 Johan Dekkers (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 53 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal-Berry Floor 54 Geoffrey Demeyere (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 55 Manuel Toldo (Ita) Flanders-Iteamnova 3.11 56 Bruno Thibout (Fra) Jean Delatour 57 Glenn D'hollander (Bel) Lotto-Domo 24.42 58 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 59 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank 25.17 60 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Rabobank 61 Thierry Masschelein (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 62 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 63 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 64 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 65 Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 66 Jehudi Schoonacker (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 67 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 68 Ludovic Martin (Fra) Jean Delatour 69 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 70 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 71 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Jean Delatour 72 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 73 Juan De Los Angeles Segui (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 74 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Jean Delatour 75 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Team Telekom 76 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 77 David Lefevre (Fra) Jean Delatour 78 Emmanuel Magnien (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 79 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 80 Thierry De Groote (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 81 Roger Hammond (GBr) Palmans-Collstrop 82 Jans Koerts (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 83 Stephan Schreck (Ger) Team Telekom 84 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 85 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 86 Christophe Kern (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 87 Robert Hayles (GBr) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 88 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 89 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Team Telekom 90 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 91 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 92 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 93 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 94 Damien Nazon (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 95 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 96 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 97 Fabian De Waele (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 98 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 99 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Team Telekom 100 Jurgen Landrie (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova 101 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 102 Scott Guyton (NZl) Flanders-Iteamnova 103 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 104 Erwin Thijs (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 105 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) US Postal-Berry Floor 106 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 107 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Lotto-Domo 108 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 109 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo 110 Serge Baguet (Bel) Lotto-Domo 111 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 112 Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) Flanders-Iteamnova Points classification 1 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 35 pts 2 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 27 3 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Lotto-Domo 25 4 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 23 5 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 19 6 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 18 7 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 17 8 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 13 9 Bjorn Cornelissen (Ned) Flanders-Iteamnova 12 10 Michel Van Haecke (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop 11 11 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 12 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 13 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 3 14 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 15 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3 Sprints classification 1 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Jean Delatour 8 pts 2 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) US Postal-Berry Floor 8 3 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf 8 4 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 5 5 Rik Reinerink (Ned) Bankgiroloterij Cycling Team 5 6 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5 7 Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) Quick Step-Davitamon 3 8 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 3 9 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Lotto-Domo 3
