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67th Gent-Wevelgem - PT
Belgium, April 6, 2005
Main Page Results Live report ProTour standings
Mattan swoops, Flecha foiled in controversial finish
By Shane Stokes in Wevelgem
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Nico Mattan took the second ProTour victory by a Belgian rider in three days when he won the 67th edition of Gent-Wevelgem today, staging a last gasp recapture of lone leader Juan Antonio Flecha inside the final kilometre of racing.
The 33 year old Davitamon-Lotto rider reached the line in Wevelgem two seconds clear of the deflated Spaniard, with Daniele Bennati (Lampre – Caffita) leading home Flecha’s Fassa Bortolo team-mate Fabian Cancellara and Credit Agricole’s Thor Hushovd for third. Pre-race favourite Tom Boonen looked strong midway through the 208 kilometre event, but faded in closing stages to finish a disappointed 26th. He will hope to turn things around again in time for Paris-Roubaix this coming weekend.
After the race finish Flecha’s Fassa Bortolo team lodged a protest, on the grounds that they felt the race victor had been aided in the closing stages by press motorbikes and neutral support vehicles. Mattan himself insisted that the vehicles were in his way and that he didn’t deliberately draft in his efforts to catch and pass the race leader.
The College of Commissaires agreed with his version of events, fining the driver of the Shimano neutral support car 400 Swiss Francs and warning the motorbikes in question. They upheld the race result, stating that a detailed report will be sent to the UCI on the matter.
Flecha, however, will feel deeply disappointed with how things unfolded. He was away the second time up the Kemmelberg but was brought back by a chasing group. An attack by Mattan inside the closing ten kilometres carried the Belgian clear, but Flecha got across with Baden Cooke (Francaise des Jeux) and then countered, opening up a decent lead. With one kilometre to go he had five seconds, yet despite the gap he was hauled back before the line. While the commissaires pointed the finger of blame at the vehicles rather than the rider, the Spaniard and his team still feel bitterly disappointed by the result.
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"I did what I could to win," he said. "Myself and Cancellara were always to the fore and, near the end, I made my bid for victory. I was a little nervous because I only had a handful of seconds and I could see vehicles behind me."
"I kept the speed at 55 km/h and was clear until three hundred metres to go. I was very surprised to be caught."
"One consolation is that I leave this race knowing that I have got over the black period I had after Paris-Nice, being sick. Just before the Three Days of de Panne I also had an accident between my bike and a car. My condition is excellent now, though, and I hope to ride strongly in Paris-Roubaix."
Fassa Bortolo were stronger about what happened, releasing a statement this evening criticising the day’s finale. They stated that they "denounced what happened in Belgium at Gent-Wevelgem, a ProTour event, where the rider Flecha was caught and passed inside the final three hundred metres by the Belgian Nico Mattan.
"Although Flecha opened an advantage of six seconds over Mattan, there were, inexplicably five vehicles that followed our rider. These facilitated the return of Mattan and caused Flecha to lose his win.
"It is not possible that that this should happen in a ProTour race. All of the events in this contest should be synonymous of absolute quality," the team fumed, promising to pursue the matter further with the UCI.
For his part, Mattan maintained he did nothing wrong. "This is the best win of my career," he said. "I have always dreamed of winning here. I train on these roads and to take this victory is really important to me.
"I kept going when Flecha attacked, believing I could still win. I was closing up to him when I saw the vehicles, but what could I do about that? I wasn’t going to ease up. I had to get back up to him so I had to just keep going. It wasn’t my fault, they shouldn’t have been there.
"You can’t say that the motorbikes helped me win. I was never right behind them, on their wheel, it was my legs that got me to the line.
"A couple of kilometres before I was clear by myself. Cooke and Flecha got across. Flecha attacked. I waited a little bit, recovering, keeping the same speed as he, before making a big effort to get back to him."
"It really means a lot to win this. It is my best victory. It is a ProTour event and it is also in Belgium, so that makes it very special. It is the best race I could win. I train every day here, I spend a lot of time in the area and know it really well."
How it unfolded
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Gent-Wevelgem’s elevation to ProTour status this year lifted its status from being a prestigious mid-week event sandwiched between the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. In terms of points, the race is now on an equal footing two its two big brothers, even if it doesn’t have quite the same history.
The new billing ensured a top lineup of teams, with all the ProTour squads plus Chocolade Jacques, Navigators Insurance, Landbouwkrediet-Colnago, Bartloworld-Valsir and MrBookmaker.com amassing at the start in Deinze. Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) was the obvious favourite following his excellent win in Flanders, the young Belgian drawing most of the cheers at the sign-on, but the likes of compatriot Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto), Steven De Jongh (Rabobank), Andreas Klier and Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), George Hincapie (Discovery), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), Nico Eeckhout (Jacques), Thor Hushovd (CA), Allan Davis (Liberty), Lars Michaelsen (CSC) and Baden Cooke (Francaise des Jeux) were amongst the long list of contenders who would be happy to spoil the party.
Calm conditions awaited the riders at the start, with temperatures around ten degrees on what was an overcast – but relatively bright – morning. Ahead lay 208 kilometres of racing, with early obstacles likely to be speed and sidewinds before eight climbs helped break things up. The bunch would travel twice up the Viadaigneberg and Rodeberg (137 and 160 km), twice up the Monteberg (148 and 169 km) and twice up the Kemmelberg (150 and 171 km) before an eyeballs-out dash in to the finish in Wevelgem.
Of those climbs, the cobblestoned Kemmemberg was likely to be the most decisive, with an average grade of 9% and steepest section of 21.5% occurring during its eight kilometres.
It didn’t take that long for things to break up, however. Just after ten kilometres into the race a big crash took down some riders, with Tom Steels, Roy Sentjens and Fabrizio Guidi amongst those hitting the dirt. Guidi was the most badly injured, breaking his wrist and abandoning. The biggest effect was a fragmentation of the bunch into three pieces, with a second group number approximately fifty riders being stranded and a smaller collection of riders finding themselves even further back.
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By the time the riders hit Oostende on the coast, the first and second groups were two minutes apart. However, swinging southwest for De Panne meant that the peloton turned into a headwind, leading to a regrouping by the halfway point.
This unity didn’t last too long, with things breaking apart on the run-in towards the climbs. With approximately 84 kilometres remaining a group of thirty-odd riders went clear, including Tom Boonen, Wilfried Cretskens, Kevin Hulsmans, Servais Knaven (Quick.Step), Steven De Jongh, Matthew Hayman, Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Caffita), Nico Eeckhout (Chocolade Jacques), Mark Walters (Navigators Insurance), Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas Bianchi), Lars Michaelsen, Matti Breschel (CSC), Thor Hushovd, Cyril Lemoine, Geoffrey Lequatre, Jaan Kirsupuu (CA), Tom Steels, Nico Mattan, Henk Vogels, Gert Steegmans (Davitamon Lotto), Simone Cadamuro (Domina Vacanze), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Fabian Cancellara, Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa), Stefan Adamsson (Barloworld), Baden Cooke (FDJ), Mauro Gerosa (Liquigas), Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) and Antonio Cruz (Discovery Channel). Missing were riders such as Cruz’s team-mate George Hincapie, plus crash victims Roger Hammond and Andreas Klier. The latter’s fall led to several T-Mobile riders also missing the break by waiting for Klier. However, the in-form Erik Zabel did make the split.
The chasing group slipped to over a minute down just before the climbs began, essentially spelling an end to their chances. Up front, Boonen’s QuickStep team set the pace on the Vidaigneberg, with Michaelsen, Vogels, Backstedt and Cruz leading over the top. Boonen himself led the group up the Rodeberg then, once over the Monteberg, pushed the pace on the much harder Kemmelberg. This effort put Backstedt, Vogels, Steegmans, De Jongh, Lemoine and Lequatre in difficulties, while Boonen’s team-mate Filippo Pozzato made things look even better for his leader when he jumped across from a small chase group to the back of the fragmenting front bunch.
However, he couldn’t quite close the gap. Although there was a bit of a regrouping after the descent, De Jongh, Steegmans, Vogels, Knaven, Lemoine, Lequatre and Pozzato slipped back and were reabsorbed by a chasing group with about 52 kilometres remaining. The gap was hovering around the 50 second mark.
Backstedt led over the top of the Vidaigneberg, second time round, looking strong. About thirty seconds later the persistent chase group crested the top, looking determined to get back in touch. The gap was down to 14 seconds on the Monteberg, prompting a flurry of attacks up front as the strong riders sought to put the hammer down again.
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Flecha kicked with 41 kilometres remaining, opening a gap of ten seconds over Backstedt, Mattan, Boonen, Kirsipuu, Cooke, Hushovd, Cancellara, and Michaelsen by the top. He held this advantage on the second and final ascent of the Kemmelberg, with Hushovd prominent and Boonen staying close to the front, but now starting to suffer.
A regrouping took place after the descent, with Flecha joined by Bennati, Cancellara, Hushovd, Backstedt, Mattan, Cooke and an impressive Pozzato, who jumped from the chase group on the climb and was able to surge again over the top. Meanwhile, Boonen, Kirsipuu, Breschel, Cruz, Kroon and Cretksens were slipping back, dropping to first 15 and then 18 seconds in arrears as the leaders put the hammer down.
With 25 kilometres to go the front runners were 28 seconds up on the chasers. The peloton was just 50 seconds back. Boonen tried to drive his group along and get back to the head of affairs but finally relented, deciding to wait for the main bunch along with his breakaway companions. Up front, the leaders started to jump around as the kilometres ticked down. Pozatto was looking strong and closed down many of the moves, hoping that Boonen would win the sprint if the Rabobank-led chase brought things back. However, Mattan had no intention of waiting around for that to happen. The Belgian jumped with nine kilometres to go, being brought back by Hushovd; he went again, and while Bennati and Cancellara did what they could, they couldn’t quite back on terms.
Pozzato and Bäckstedt were looking strong and could have had a chance of reeling him in, but both went down on a corner, losing any chance they had of winning. A fully committed Mattan opened up a gap of 6 seconds with 7 kilometres to go, beincg chased by Bennati, Flecha, Cancellara, Hushovd and Cooke. This quintet gradually clawed him back, Flecha and Cooke surging to get across and make it three up front.
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Cooke’s sprint made him a big danger, so Flecha wasn’t going to wait around. He put in a huge effort with three kilometres to go, shaking off the other two. Cooke slipped backwards and eventually finished sixth, but Mattan kept going. With one kilometre to go he was five seconds back; it seemed too much to close, but with cars and motorbikes hovering in the gap, he managed to get across with 300 metres remaining. Once there, he went straight past a tiring Flecha, hitting the line two seconds clear and scooping the biggest – and probably the most controversial – win of his career.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
- Helemets anyone?
- After Tom Boonen's win on Sunday the crowds were thick around the Quick.Step team bus.
- The group gets up to full speed coming out of Tourhout.
- Nobody was going to get by Quick.Step without asking.
- A second group rolls though after the wind caused a split.
- The pace quickens with the wind almost to their backs
- Cofidis riders sit comfortably in the second group.
- Iker Flores Galarza (Euskatel) feels the pain on the Kemmelberg.
- Siro Camponogara (Navigators) concentrates on the climb.
- Simone Cadamuro (Domina) suffers
- Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo) speeds over the cobbles.
- Baden Cooke (Francaise des Jeux) keeps up with Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi).
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto), race winner blasts over the top of the Kemmelberg.
- The well worn cobbles of the Kemmelberg.
- Eric Baumann (T-Mobile) on the Kemmelberg
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) leads a chase for Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Fassa Bortolo).
- Tom Boonen fans were in full force today.
- Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) keeps up with Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole).
- Wilfried Cretskens (Quickstep) keeps up the pace with 1 lap of the Kemmelberg to go.
- Two times over the Kemmelberg took its toll on everyone.
- Filippo Pozzato (Quick.Step) makes his way over the cobbles.
- Uros Murn (Phonak) Slovenian national champion.
- Those cobbles can be pretty scary, as Marcus Burghardt finds out.
- Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Fassa Bortolo) makes a break for it the last time up the climb.
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) made it look easy, but it wasn't.
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Splits were the order of the day, as usual
- The peloton in two bits, separated by the road divider
- The peloton races under cloudy skies in Gent-Wevelgem
- It gets messy at the back
- Along the coast it was a small peloton
- Along the coast
- Andreas Klier (T-Mobile) was run over by a moto, and received stitches to his knee
- The aftermath of the Klier crash
- Andreas Klier (T-Mobile) in pain on the ground
- Fabrizio Guidi (Phonak) in pain after breaking his right wrist
- Fabrizio Guidi (Phonak): Everybody hurts
- The scene on the Kemmelberg
- Flecha and Boonen drive it up the Kemmelberg on lap 1
- Flecha and Boonen go over the top on lap 1
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) gets ready for that cobbled corner
- Allan Davis (Liberty) descends the Kemmelberg
- Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) didn't have the legs today
- Filippo Pozzato (Quick.Step) had a good day, until he crashed
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) ...ouch!
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre) grinds up the Kemmelberg
- Nico Eeckhout (Jacques) in a lot of pain
- Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) on the second descent of the Kemmelberg
- Mattan leads Kroon and Pozzato off the Kemmelberg
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) driving the break
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) had that look in his eye
- Cancellara and Flecha drive the break
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre) leads the chase behind Mattan and Flecha
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) wins Gent-Wevelgem ahead of Juan Antonio Flecha
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) is a happy man as he crosses the line to win Gent-Wevelgem
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) on the podium after winning
- Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) gets a post-race recovery drink
- The Mattan clan on the podium
- Daniele Bennati (Lampre) on the podium
- The podium (L to R): Juan Antonio Flecha (2nd), Nico Mattan (1st) and Daniele Bennati (3rd)…and the kids
Results - 208 km
1 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 4.53.07 (42.577 km/h) 2 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 0.02 3 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 0.09 4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 6 Baden Cooke (Aus) Française des Jeux 0.16 7 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0.18 8 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 9 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 10 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 11 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) Crédit Agricole 12 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas - Bianchi 13 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Liquigas - Bianchi 14 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 15 Grégory Rast (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 16 Antonio Cruz (USA) Discovery Channel 17 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC 18 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 19 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Team CSC 20 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) T-Mobile 21 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems 22 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Française des Jeux 23 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 24 Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française des Jeux 25 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 26 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep 27 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 28 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 29 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 30 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quickstep 31 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Rabobank 32 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank 33 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quickstep 0.31 34 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quickstep 0.36 35 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 0.57 36 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep 1.08 37 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 2.05 38 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.55 39 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 40 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 41 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française des Jeux 42 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 43 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 44 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze 45 Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 46 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 2.57 47 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 48 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 49 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 50 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 51 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 3.01 52 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quickstep 53 Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile 6.57 54 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 55 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank 56 Stefan Adamsson (Swe) Barloworld - Valsir 57 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Crédit Agricole 58 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon - Lotto 59 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 60 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 61 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 62 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 63 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 64 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas - Bianchi 65 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago 66 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep 67 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 68 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Chocolade Jacques - T Interim 69 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) Team CSC 70 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 71 Isaac Galvez Lopez (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 72 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 73 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Barloworld - Valsir 74 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker.com - SportsTech 75 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 76 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 12.25 77 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 78 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 79 Jeff Louder (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 80 Josu Silloniz Aresti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi Starters: 193
ProTour standings
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 93 pts 2 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 70 3 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70 4 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep 62 5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 50 6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 50 7 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile 41 8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 41 9 Nico Mattan (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 40 10 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 35 11 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 35 12 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems 35 13 Constantino Zaballa Gutierrez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 35 14 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile 33 15 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 31 16 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 31 17 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 30 18 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 25 19 Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25 20 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 25 21 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - Bianchi 25 22 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 25 23 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 21 24 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 20 25 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux 20 26 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 15 27 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 15 28 Baden Cooke (Aus) Française des Jeux 11 29 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon - Lotto 10 30 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon - Lotto 10 31 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 10 32 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 7 33 Simone Cadamuro (Ita) Domina Vacanze 5 34 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile 5 35 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole 5 36 Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) (Saunier Duval 5 37 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Team CSC 1 38 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir 1 39 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1 40 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 1 41 Servais Knaven (Ned) Quickstep 1 42 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 1 43 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 1 Teams 1 Fassa Bortolo 80 pts 2 Davitamon-Lotto 77 3 T-Mobile Team 70 4 Team CSC 68 5 Rabobank 68 6 Phonak 53 7 Discovery Channel 52 8 Saunier Duval-Prodir 51 9 Quickstep 50 10 Gerolsteiner 47 11 Liquigas-Bianchi 47 12 Crédit Agricole 46 13 Francçaise des Jeux 41 14 Liberty Seguros 41 15 Lampre-Caffita 35 16 Cofidis 29 17 Euskaltel-Euskadi 28 18 Bouygues Telecom 28 19 Domina Vacanze 20 20 Illes Balears 16 Nations 1 Italy 203 pts 2 Germany 200 3 Spain 199 4 Belgium 164 5 USA 85 6 Australia 52 7 Norway 50 8 Switserland 31 9 France 30 10 Luxembourg 15 11 Netherlands 12 12 Russia 6
