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Tour of Belgium - 2.1

Belgium, May 25-29, 2005

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Stage 2 - May 26: Oostende - Knokke-Heist, 165km

Boonen wins the knokke in Knokke

By Gabriella Ekström

Wise from yesterday where Boonen's teammates lost track of each other with only kilometres to go, the white and blue Quick.Step train made no mistakes today. Perfectly delivered to the line by loyal teammates, Tom Boonen repeated the pattern of the first stage and added a few more seconds between himself and Nico Eeckhout of Chocolade Jacques in the fight for the jet black leader's jersey.

"I merely finished off the nice work of my team," said Boonen to Sporza post-stage. "With the first break of the day, there were four men from Quick.Step. I didn't want to ride, per se. Eeckhout asked me to do something. Once it regrouped we went hard. It worked. A few time trialists were surprised."

Boonen is not completely ruling out the final victory now, thanks to his bonus seconds. "Ah, we'll see. I can time trial. It's also only 15 km, eh. It'll depend on the form on the day, but I have ambitions."

How it unfolded

The action started early in the stage when Masahiro Shinigawa (Shimano-Memory Corp) and Michele Maccanti (LPR) went down and were taken to a hospital for closer observation. It was later reported that both seemed to have avoided serious injuries.

Shortly after the start 27 riders tried to break away, and the presence of Quick.Step was notable as they put four of their riders in the early break. The group that contained Sébastien Rosseler, Servais Knaven, Kevin Hulsmans, Wilfried Cretskens (Quick.Step), Jan Kuyckx (Davitamon-Lotto), Jan Boven and Mathew Hayman (Rabobank), Tom Stubbe and Wouter Van Mechelen (Chocolade Jacques), Xavier Hérinne (R.A.G.T.), Matthé Pronk, Erwin Thijs and Stefan Van Dijck (MrBookmaker), Maxime Monfort, Nico Sijmens and Jurgen Van De Walle (Landbouwkrediet), Linas Balciunas and Gilles Canouet (Agritubel), Rudi Kemna and Marco Bos (Shimano), Alessandro Maserati and Dmitri Konyshev (LPR), Robby Meul and Maxim Rudenko (Jartazi), Arthur Farenhout and Niki Terpstra (AXA) didn't last too long, and after they had been brought back, the peloton kept a steady but high pace, recording 46 km/h for the first hour.

Kristof De Zutter (Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen) showed his team colours during a short attack, but was brought back by the Quick.Step team, which had already started to control the race. With 95 kilometres to go, it looked like a break would be allowed to go, and after a few attempts, two groups containing Dimitriy Konyshev (LPR) and David Boucher (MrBookmaker) and Steven De Neef (Bodysol-Jong Vlaanderen) and Steven De Champs (Profel) succeeded in getting away. The two Stevens caught Konyshev and Boucher and the four man break they created built up a five minute gap over just 10 kilometres.

Although having the grace of the peloton at first, that was to change when the crosswinds set in. Race leader Tom Boonen saw how serious the situation was becoming because of the wind, and went to the front of the peloton and pulled like a working horse. The peloton that only contained three ProTour teams broke up in the wind, and the second group lacked the routine or will to quickly create the echelon they needed.

Quick.Step and Chocolade Jacques didn't hesitate once, but drove on while the gap to the bigger group containing Nico Mattan among others, grew bigger. The greatest part of Mattan's Davitamon team sat in the first group as well, but showed little will to wait for Mattan, who eventually lost several minutes and is no longer a contender for the overall.

The Chocolade Jacques team were on a mission to bring back the break before the sprints, but had to see Boucher win the two first sprints because of the amount of time the break had been given by the peloton at first. When the third and last sprint came up, the break was finally neutralized, and it was clear that Nico Eeckhout wanted the three bonus seconds that would give him the virtual lead. Quick.Step looked as if they were going to die hard, but after some fist fighting at the front, they seemed to back off and allowed Nico to take the points.

As the finish was coming up, Johan Verstrepen (Landbouwkrediet) and later Laurens Ten Dam (Shimano) tried their luck in short attacks, but Quick.Step had it all under control. During the last ten kilometres, Boonen sat securely behind Kevin Hulsmans and Guido Trenti, while LPR's Danilo Napolitano and Nico Eeckhout fought for Boonen's wheel with both hands and shoulders. Never bothered by the commotion behind him, Boonen was once again the strongest sprinter, only slightly challenged by Ukrainian Mikhailo Khalilov (LPR).

Despite having lost a lot of energy fighting for the position behind Boonen, Eeckhout sprinted well to take third and four more bonus seconds, and thereby keeps only a small margin of five seconds to the leader with tomorrow's double stage coming up.

Results

1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep                                         3.47.05 (43.65 km/h)
2 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR                                          
3 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                         
4 Guido Trenti (USA) Quickstep                                              
5 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Agritubel                                           
6 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                       
7 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team LPR                                          
8 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                     
9 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                   
10 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Agritubel                                           
11 Ivan Fanelli (Ita) Team LPR                                              
12 Michael Simms (Aus) Profel Cycling Team                                  
13 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen           
14 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel                                           
15 Crescenzo D'Amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                     
16 Julien Smink (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                 
17 Maxim Rudenko (Ukr) Jartazi Granville Team                               
18 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank                                          
19 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                         
20 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                      
21 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                 
22 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Jartazi Granville Team                               
23 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                           
24 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                         
25 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                  
26 Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu) Jartazi Granville Team                        
27 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                     
28 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                           
29 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                             
30 Nick Ingels (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen                
31 David Boucher (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                         
32 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                          
33 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                           
34 Guillaume Auger (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                   
35 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team LPR                                          
36 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       
37 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                     
38 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                              
39 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank                                        
40 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                                 
41 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                     
42 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen             
43 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       
44 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                           
45 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quickstep                                       
46 José Antonio Pecharroman Fabian (Spa) Quickstep                          
47 Steven De Champs (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                               
48 Dmitri Konychev (Rus) Team LPR                                           
49 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep                                       0.18
50 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep                                      0.54
51 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep                                           
52 Matti Helminen (Fin) Profel Cycling Team                             4.18
53 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                      6.30
54 Rudi Kemna (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                   
55 Peter Van Agtmaal (Ned) AXA                                              
56 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                            
57 Andries Verspeeten (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                             
58 Jos Lucassen (Ned) AXA                                                   
59 Sébastien Minard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                  
60 Emilien Benoit Bergès (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                             
61 Xavier Hérinne (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                    
62 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank                                           
63 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank                                          
64 Kevin Ista (Bel) R.A.G.T Semences                                        
65 John Gadret (Fra) Jartazi Granville Team                                 
66 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen              
67 Denis Bertolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                       
68 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                          
69 Claudio Astolfi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                       
70 Peter Ronsse (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                                
71 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team LPR                                       
72 Niki Terpstra (Ned) AXA                                                  
73 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen            
74 Vytautas Kaupas (Ltu) Jartazi Granville Team                             
75 Roman Luhovyy (Ukr) R.A.G.T Semences                                     
76 Alain Van Katwijk (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                            
77 David Verheyen (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                                 
78 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                           
79 Leonardo Moser (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                        
80 Christoph Roodhooft (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                   
81 Robby Meul (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                                  
82 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                            
83 Jorn Van Der Veken (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                             
84 Thomas Onghena (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                                 
85 Paul Van Schalen (Ned) AXA                                               
86 Jef Peeters (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                          
87 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                             
88 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen    
89 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen              
90 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen          
91 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                       
92 Robert Slippens (Ned) AXA                                                
93 Geert Omloop (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                          
94 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                      
95 Jurgen Van Loocke (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                        
96 Ondrej Sosenka (Cze) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                        
97 Florent Brard (Fra) Agritubel                                            
98 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA                                                     
99 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Agritubel                                     
100 Gilles Canouet (Fra) Agritubel                                          
101 Arthur Farenhout (Ned) AXA                                              
102 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel                                         
103 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                     
104 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                               
105 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon - Lotto                                    
106 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                                             
107 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep                                      
108 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                             
DNF Michele Maccanti (Ita) Team LPR                                         
DNF Masahiro Shinawaga (Jpn) Shimano - Memory Corp                          
DNF Eelke Van Der Wal (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                           
DNF Benjamin Levecot (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                 
 
General classification after stage 2
 
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep                                         7.16.48
2 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                     0.05
3 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                               0.13
4 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR                                          
5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team LPR                                      0.14
6 David Boucher (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                          
7 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel                                        0.16
8 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen              
9 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                        0.18
10 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim              0.19
11 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       
12 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Agritubel                                      0.20
13 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Agritubel                                           
14 Crescenzo D'Amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                     
15 Michael Simms (Aus) Profel Cycling Team                                  
16 Ivan Fanelli (Ita) Team LPR                                              
17 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                    
18 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                      
19 Maxim Rudenko (Ukr) Jartazi Granville Team                               
20 Nick Ingels (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen                
21 Julien Smink (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                 
22 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                         
23 Guido Trenti (USA) Quickstep                                             
24 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank                                             
25 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                           
26 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                     
27 Raimondas Vilcinskas (Ltu) Jartazi Granville Team                        
28 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank                                          
29 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                           
30 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Jartazi Granville Team                               
31 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                 
32 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       
33 Steven Caethoven (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                     
34 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                          
35 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                              
36 Johan Verstrepen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                         
37 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team LPR                                          
38 Guillaume Auger (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                   
39 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                     
40 Tom Stubbe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                           
41 José Antonio Pecharroman Fabian (Spa) Quickstep                          
42 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quickstep                                       
43 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank                                                 
44 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank                                        
45 Dmitri Konychev (Rus) Team LPR                                       0.28
46 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep                                       0.37
47 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen       1.01
48 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                      
49 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep                                      1.13
50 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep                                           
51 Steven De Champs (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                           1.41
52 Matti Helminen (Fin) Profel Cycling Team                             4.38
53 Kevin Ista (Bel) R.A.G.T Semences                                    6.50
54 Rudi Kemna (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                   
55 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                            
56 Paul Van Schalen (Ned) AXA                                               
57 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen              
58 Roman Luhovyy (Ukr) R.A.G.T Semences                                     
59 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                      
60 Robby Meul (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                                  
61 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                          
62 Sébastien Minard (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                  
63 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) Team LPR                                       
64 Thomas Onghena (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                                 
65 Vytautas Kaupas (Ltu) Jartazi Granville Team                             
66 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                              
67 Andrea Rossi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                          
68 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen          
69 David Verheyen (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                                 
70 Kevin Van Der Slagmolen (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen    
71 Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Agritubel                                     
72 Ronald Mutsaars (Ned) Rabobank                                           
73 John Gadret (Fra) Jartazi Granville Team                                 
74 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                             
75 Niels Scheuneman (Ned) Rabobank                                          
76 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                           
77 Jos Lucassen (Ned) AXA                                                   
78 Andries Verspeeten (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                             
79 Leonardo Moser (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                        
80 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                      
81 Bart Vanheule (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen              
82 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                            
83 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                       
84 Denis Bertolini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                       
85 Niki Terpstra (Ned) AXA                                                  
86 Claudio Astolfi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                       
87 Jef Peeters (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                          
88 Cédric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel                                          
89 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                
90 Alain Van Katwijk (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                            
91 Ondrej Sosenka (Cze) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                        
92 Geert Omloop (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                          
93 Gilles Canouet (Fra) Agritubel                                           
94 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon - Lotto                                     
95 Florent Brard (Fra) Agritubel                                            
96 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                                              
97 Jurgen Van Loocke (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                    7.11
98 Emilien Benoit Bergès (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                         7.31
99 Xavier Hérinne (Fra) R.A.G.T Semences                                    
100 Peter Ronsse (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                               
101 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen           
102 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quickstep                                      
103 Jorn Van Der Veken (Bel) Profel Cycling Team                        7.35
104 Danny Stam (Ned) AXA                                                    
105 Arthur Farenhout (Ned) AXA                                              
106 Robert Slippens (Ned) AXA                                           8.19
107 Peter Van Agtmaal (Ned) AXA                                             
108 Christoph Roodhooft (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech             11.35
 
Points classification
 
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep                                              60 pts
2 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       51
3 Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR                                        38
4 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team LPR                                        38
5 Lénaïc Olivier (Fra) Agritubel                                          22
6 Saulius Ruskys (Ltu) Agritubel                                          21
7 Crescenzo D'Amore (Ita) Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil                    19
8 Guido Trenti (USA) Quickstep                                            19
9 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                 18
10 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) Agritubel                                        17
11 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago                    17
12 David Boucher (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                       16
13 Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                    15
14 Sjef De Wilde (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen            15
15 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                14
16 Marco Bos (Ned) Shimano - Memory Corp                                  12
17 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team                            12
18 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen           10
19 Paul Van Schalen (Ned) AXA                                             10
20 Dmitri Konychev (Rus) Team LPR                                          6
21 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                          5
22 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                      3
23 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep                                          3
24 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep                                         3
 
Sprints classification
 
1 Nico Eeckhout (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       29 pts
2 Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto                                 18
3 David Boucher (Fra) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                        16
4 Steven De Neef (Bel) Bodysol- Win for Life - Jong Vlaanderen            10
5 Dmitri Konychev (Rus) Team LPR                                           6
6 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech                           5
7 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                       3
8 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep                                           3
9 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim                  3
10 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep                                         3
 
Teams classification
 
1 Team LPR                                                          21.51.24
2 Agritubel                                                                 
3 Jartazi-Revor                                                             
4 Chocolade Jacques-T Interim                                               
5 Quickstep-Innergetic                                                      
6 Bodysol-Win For Life-Jong Vlaanderen                                      
7 Shimano-Memory Corp                                                       
8 MrBookmaker-Sportstech                                                    
9 Landbouwkrediet-Colnago                                                   
10 Davitamon-Lotto                                                          
11 Rabobank                                                                 
12 Profel Cycling Team                                                  4.18
13 Acqua&Sapone-Adria Mobil                                             6.30
14 RAGT Sémences                                                       13.00
15 Axa Pro Cycling Team                                                19.30