Afscheidscriterium Johan Museeuw - NE

Gistel, Belgium, May 2, 2004

Results

Museeuw farewelled in Gistel

An estimated crowd of 50,000 people turned out in Gistel, West Flanders, to farewell Johan Museeuw in his last race, a criterium held in his honour. The field included a number of top riders, with the Quick.Step-Davitamon crew out in full force as well as Lotto-Domo's Peter Van Petegem, Rik Verbrugghe and Leif Hoste, Rabobank's Erik Dekker and Michael Boogerd, Fassa Bortolo's Frank Vandenbroucke and Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin. It was an impressive turnout, given the number of UCI races on this weekend.

There could only be one result in such a race, and the Quick.Step team gave Museeuw a textbook leadout for him to "win" the bunch sprint ahead of Peter Van Petegem and Tom Boonen. "On the Champs Elysées I recorded my first really big win in a bunch sprint," said Museeuw afterwards. "I asked the guys to try and make sure that it would be possible again today."

After the race, Museeuw thanked all the people for coming. "I never expected such a crowd. I'm speechless. I can do nothing but thank them for coming."

Finally, Museeuw hung his bike on the hook, signifying the end of his career. But the bike wasn't to stay there, as it had already been auctioned off to benefit a children's cancer charity. The successful bidder was Tom de Wilde from Gent, who paid €15,001 for the privilege. "I hope that this bike can help a lot of people," said Museeuw, whose next appointment is likely to be a directeur sportif for Quick.Step in the Tour of Belgium, between May 19-23.

Photo gallery

Images by Miwako Sasaki/Cycle Sports Japan

All the jerseys
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw was interviewed
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Nico Mattan
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Paolo Bettini and Michael Rogers
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan's son Stefano
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

The peloton
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

What kind of taste
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan's bike
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Bedankt Johan!
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan Museeuw
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

A lot of riders gathered at Johan's party
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

This giant artwork
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Johan and his friends
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Goodbye Johan
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

And Johan's retirement day
Photo ©: Miwako Sasaki

Results

1 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon
2 Peter van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo
3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon