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Tour of Belgium - 2.1
Belgium, May 28-June 1, 2008
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Stage 3 - May 30: Anthisnes - Flemalle, 184.5 km
Impressive Belgian champion offers Van Avermaet the flowers
By Brecht Decaluwé
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Top favourite Stijn Devolder lived up to the expectations and dominated the Queen stage in the Tour of Belgium. The Belgian champion had been flying on the multiple Wallonian climbs and just before crossing the finish line with 18 kilometres to go, Devolder pedalled away with a high frequency, with Greg Van Avermaet glued to his compatriot's wheel. Devolder didn't worry about the latter, and did all the work in front to extend his lead over the other time trial specialists – like Leif Hoste - in the background. Eventually Van Avermaet grabbed the stage victory ahead of Devolder, who didn't want to deny his 23 year-old compatriot the flowers.
"I granted the stage victory to Greg," said Devolder to Sport.be. "We didn't have to discuss much about it. I could take a first step towards the overall victory while he was keen on the stage victory. The time trial tomorrow is the second step where I should be able to lay the foundation for the final victory," Devolder explained his tactics in this Tour of Belgium. "I was really keen on some good racing today and I wanted to test my legs uphill. I can only say that the test exceeded my expectations," Devolder shone, "it went really smooth."
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Stage winner Greg Van Avermaet took his first victory of the season and the young Belgian didn't hide the fact that Devolder was the strongest man in the race today. "During the past few days Devolder has shown that he is the strongest man in the race, so I knew who I had to keep an eye on him," Van Avermaet explained. "Uphill he was impressive and I had to dig really deep to hang on. After the first passage of the finish line I took a pull, but I quickly realized that I should save my energy if I wanted to stay with him," Van Avermaet smiled. "I was able to dose my energy to make it to the finish, and I'm pleased that I could finish it in the end."
Thanks to his stage victory and the bonus seconds he took in the Nissan Rush sprints, Van Avermaet takes over the leader's jersey from sprinter Kenny Dehaes. When asked if he could be a threat for Devolder in the time trial Van Avermaet played down the expectations. "Devolder is almost certain of the overall victory. I will give all I have in the time trial, but I'm not a specialist like Stijn."
During the 16.7 kilometre long time trial in Herzele tomorrow, Devolder has to make up only eight seconds on Van Avermaet, while the other specialists against the clock – like Sergey Lagutin and Leif Hoste - are more than a minute down on Devolder.
How it unfolded
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There were 135 riders who took the start in the Queen stage; there were no non-starters in Anthisnes. Right after the start, four riders jumped away from the peloton; Tom Veelers, Bas Giling, Marvin Van der Pluijm and Ward Bogaert featured in the breakaway group. The peloton didn't allow the four riders to ride away easily and after 36 kilometres their attempt was neutralized.
Cyclo-cross specialist Niels Albert was next to take the initiative from the peloton on the selective course. The Belgian rode away with Andy Cappelle, Tom Criel, Sven Nevens and Luca Celli. A little later veteran Maarten Den Bakker and William Walker joined the five leaders.
On the Côte de Desnie the seven leaders had 2'50 on the peloton; Tom Criel was the first to make it over the top. On the next climb it was Walker who led the group over the top, with the peloton distanced at about four minutes. The Australian also won the first Nissan Rush sprint after 75 kilometres. With about 100 kilometres to go the breakaway had 4'15 on the peloton, while averaging 40.7 km/h during the first two hours.
Ninety kilometres from the finish the peloton started to nibble on the advantage of the leaders. Twenty kilometres further - at the second Nissan Rush sprint where Criel won the points – the leaders had no more than two minutes on the peloton, which was led by the Belgian Quick Step team.
When Silence-Lotto joined Quick Step in front of the peloton the chances of the seven leaders were doomed, and at the foot of the Mur de Huy – with 53 kilometres to go - their adventure was over. On the climb that features at the finish of the Fleche Wallonne, Stijn Devolder rode away from the peloton. The Belgian champion looked comfortable while his rivals for the GC were digging deep to stay in touch.
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Fourteen riders distanced themselves from the peloton after the Mur de Huy. Of course Devolder was there, but also Robert Gesink, Greg Van Avermaet, Bert De Waele, Staf Scheirlinckx, Selvaggi, Bram Tankink, Sven Nys, Koen De Kort, Salvator Commesso, Carlos Barredo and Sven Nevens.
After a misjudged corner a group led by Maarten Tjallingii joined the leaders when there were 37 kilometres to go. Leif Hoste, Johan Coenen, Allan Davis, Pieter Weening, Daniel Fleeman and Preben Van Hecke were in this group.
Barredo pulled hard for Devolder on the fourth climb of the day, with only 30 kilometres left in a tough finale. When Devolder accelerated again on the Côte de Stockay, the group split apart and some riders managed to bridge up from behind. A group of six riders rode in front with Devolder, Van Avermaet, Sergey Ivanov, De Waele, Tankink and a surprisingly strong 'Toto' Commesso. The race situation changed constantly and at the third Nissan Rush sprint there were 14 riders left in front of the race with a chance for the stage win. The six were joined by Hoste, Lagutin, Muravyev, Bozich, Marcato, Celli, Tjallingii and Renders.
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The leaders approached the finish line for the first time. The Thier des Thrixhes proved to be a difficult 1200 metres long stretch and Devolder hammered the pedals. Only Van Avermaet was able to follow the Belgian champion, while Sergey Ivanov blew his engine halfway the climb; at the top – with 18 kilometres to go - the two leaders had about half a minute on Ivanov, Tankink and De Waele.
Devolder didn't seem to care about the presence of Van Avermaet and kept pulling in front. With a high frequency pedal rhythm the Belgian champion showed that he has been working on his riding style, as he was known to be an advocate of the big chainring when he turned professional. Van Avermaet took some short pulls, but he seems to be happy that he was able to hang on for the time being.
About a minute behind the leaders nine riders came together, but they were out of contention for the stage victory. Devolder kept leading on the Thiers des Thrixhes with Van Avermaet standing tall. With 120 metres to go Van Avermaet had some energy left to sprint and Devolder didn't seem to care about the stage victory as he had an eye on the overall victory in the Tour of Belgium. Sergey Ivanov won the sprint in the group behind the leaders for third place.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Greg Van Avermaet (Silence Lotto) takes the stage ahead of Stijn Devolder
- Greg Van Avermaet (Silence Lotto) took the points jersey.
- Stijn Devolder rolls in after losing to Van Avermaet
Images by Yoni Peeters/www.CyclingPictures.Be
- Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) attacks on a small climb.
- Belgian Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) leads the two person break away including Greg Van Avermaet (Silence - Lotto).
- Greg Van Avermaet (Silence - Lotto) claims the stage win over Belgium national champion Stijn Devolder (Quick Step).
- Salvatore Commesso (Preti Mangimi) was the seventh rider to cross the line.
- Italian Luca Celli (LPR Brakes) comes across the line 1.32 minutes behind.
- A Silence - Lotto team member leads Greg Van Avermaet to the podium after the Belgian's home soil win.
- Greg Van Avermaet (Silence - Lotto) waits on the podium following his stage three victory.
- Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (Silence - Lotto) thanks his home crowd after winning the stage.
- Greg Van Avermaet's (Silence - Lotto) stage win got the Belgian the tour's yellow jersey.
- Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) picked up the white jersey for his efforts on the stage,
- Belgian Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) gets ready to celebrate after collecting the white jersey.
- Fabio Polazzi (Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon) picked up the sprint classification jersey.
Results
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 4.40.43 (39.43 km/h) 2 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 3 Sergei Ivanov (Rus) Astana 0.56 4 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 5 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Cycle Collstrop 6 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 1.07 7 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Preti Mangimi 1.12 8 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto 9 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence - Lotto 1.28 10 Luca Celli (Ita) LPR Brakes 1.32 11 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana 1.36 12 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3.18 13 Sven Renders (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3.31 14 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3.58 15 Borut Bozic (Slo) Cycle Collstrop 16 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cycle Collstrop 17 Dan Fleeman (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 4.32 18 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.40 19 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 4.42 20 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Cycle Collstrop 21 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 22 Koen De Kort (Ned) Astana 23 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 4.48 24 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 5.48 25 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 8.17 26 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 27 Niek Van Gestel (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 28 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Preti Mangimi 29 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 30 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana 31 Rudy Rouet (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 32 Wouter Mol (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 33 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 34 Sergio Laganà (Ita) LPR Brakes 35 Allan Davis (Aus) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 36 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 37 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 38 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 39 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 40 Frank Hoj (Den) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 41 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence - Lotto 42 Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 43 Eduard Bogaert (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 44 Sven Nevens (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 45 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 46 David Kopp (Ger) Cycle Collstrop 47 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step 48 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 8.31 49 Steffen Wesemann (Swi) Cycle Collstrop 12.55 50 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 51 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans Cras 52 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step 53 Gregory Joseph (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 54 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Silence - Lotto 55 Matti Helminen (Fin) Palmans Cras 56 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 57 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 58 Thomas Ongena (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 59 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 60 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) P3Transfer - Batavus 61 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) LPR Brakes 62 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) LPR Brakes 63 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 64 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 65 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 66 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 67 Robert Wagner (Ger) Skil-Shimano 68 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) Cycle Collstrop 69 Walter Proch (Ita) LPR Brakes 70 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 71 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) LPR Brakes 72 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil-Shimano 73 Jürgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence - Lotto 74 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 75 Jens Mouris (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 76 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step 77 Jean Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 78 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 79 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 80 Tom Criel (Bel) Cycle Collstrop 81 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) LPR Brakes 82 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto 83 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Palmans Cras 84 Romain Villa (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 85 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 86 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana 87 Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) Preti Mangimi 88 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 89 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 13.24 90 Jonathan Bertrand (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 17.03 91 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 92 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 93 Ian Stannard (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 94 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans Cras 95 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 96 Timothy Vangheel (Bel) P3Transfer - Batavus 97 Lars Croket (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 98 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 99 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step 100 Carlo Corra (Ita) Preti Mangimi 101 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Preti Mangimi 102 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Preti Mangimi 103 Massimo Mazzanti (Ita) Preti Mangimi 104 Tom Van De Velde (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 105 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 106 Frank Van Kuik (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 107 Michael Vanderaerden (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 108 Marvin Van Der Pluijm (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 109 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Silence - Lotto 110 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Skil-Shimano 111 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans Cras 112 Roel Vanmuysen (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 113 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 114 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 115 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans Cras 116 Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 117 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 118 Kenny Terweduwe (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 119 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 120 Jonathan Henrion (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 121 René Haselbacher (Aut) Astana 122 Tim Mertens (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 17.16 DNF Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Rabobank DNF Gideon De Jong (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus DNF Wim Botman (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus DNF Sven Wielandt (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team DNF David Reyniers (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team DNF Jeremy Honorez (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon DNF Ryan Wills (NZl) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon DNF Jens Renders (Bel) Palmans Cras DNF Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team DNF Christian Müller (Ger) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team DNF Rieno Stofferis (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team General classification after stage 3 1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 13.40.35 2 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 0.08 3 Sergei Ivanov (Rus) Astana 1.06 4 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 1.10 5 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Cycle Collstrop 6 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 1.21 7 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto 1.26 8 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Preti Mangimi 9 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence - Lotto 1.39 10 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana 1.49 11 Luca Celli (Ita) LPR Brakes 2.43 12 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3.32 13 Sven Renders (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3.45 14 Borut Bozic (Slo) Cycle Collstrop 4.12 15 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cycle Collstrop 16 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.54 17 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Cycle Collstrop 4.56 18 Koen De Kort (Ned) Astana 19 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 20 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 21 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 5.02 22 Dan Fleeman (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 6.04 23 Allan Davis (Aus) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 8.25 24 Sergio Laganà (Ita) LPR Brakes 8.26 25 Sven Nevens (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 8.30 26 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 8.31 27 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana 28 James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 29 Sven Nys (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 30 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 31 Piet Rooijakkers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 32 Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence - Lotto 33 Wouter Mol (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 34 Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 35 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 36 Frank Hoj (Den) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 37 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank 38 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step 39 Floris Goesinnen (Ned) Skil-Shimano 8.45 40 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 9.08 41 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 10.15 42 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Preti Mangimi 11.05 43 David Kopp (Ger) Cycle Collstrop 11.29 44 Eduard Bogaert (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 11.37 45 Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) Preti Mangimi 12.59 46 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 13.03 47 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 13.05 48 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 13.06 49 Tom Criel (Bel) Cycle Collstrop 50 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana 13.07 51 Jürgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence - Lotto 13.09 52 Gregory Joseph (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 53 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) LPR Brakes 54 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) LPR Brakes 55 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 56 Walter Proch (Ita) LPR Brakes 57 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 58 Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) P3Transfer - Batavus 59 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step 60 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 61 Alessandro Maserati (Ita) LPR Brakes 62 Thomas Ongena (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 63 Kevin Neirynck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 64 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 65 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Silence - Lotto 66 Jens Mouris (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 67 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) Cycle Collstrop 68 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 69 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) LPR Brakes 70 Tom Steels (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 71 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence - Lotto 72 Robert Wagner (Ger) Skil-Shimano 73 Geert Omloop (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 74 Romain Villa (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 75 Steffen Wesemann (Swi) Cycle Collstrop 14.27 76 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans Cras 14.46 77 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Palmans Cras 14.48 78 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 14.54 79 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step 15.28 80 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 15.45 81 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 15.51 82 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 16.34 83 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 17.06 84 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Preti Mangimi 17.11 85 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Skil-Shimano 17.13 86 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 17.16 87 René Haselbacher (Aut) Astana 17.17 88 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 89 Ian Stannard (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 90 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 91 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 92 Marvin Van Der Pluijm (Ned) P3Transfer - Batavus 93 Kenny Terweduwe (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 94 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 95 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Skil-Shimano 17.30 96 Ken Devaere (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 17.43 97 Jarno Van Mingeroet (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 17.54 98 Jonathan Henrion (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 99 Glenn d'Hollander (Bel) Silence - Lotto 18.06 100 Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Preti Mangimi 19.00 101 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 19.01 102 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 19.08 103 Sébastien Portal (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 104 Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 19.50 105 Massimo Mazzanti (Ita) Preti Mangimi 20.25 106 Niek Van Gestel (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 21.50 107 Rudy Rouet (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 108 Matti Helminen (Fin) Palmans Cras 23.46 109 Jean Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 25.04 110 Timothy Vangheel (Bel) P3Transfer - Batavus 27.19 111 Jonathan Bertrand (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 27.54 112 Carlo Corra (Ita) Preti Mangimi 113 Michael Vanderaerden (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 114 Roel Vanmuysen (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 115 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step 116 Frank Van Kuik (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 117 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Palmans Cras 29.42 118 Lars Croket (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 29.58 119 Gianni Denolf (Bel) Palmans Cras 30.36 120 Tom Van De Velde (Bel) Profel Prorace Continental Team 121 Tim Mertens (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 30.49 122 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team 31.19 123 Stijn Huys (Bel) Palmans Cras 32.40 Points classification 1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 67 pts 2 Allan Davis (Aus) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 44 3 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 37 4 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 33 5 Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) Preti Mangimi 30 6 Jürgen Roelandts (Bel) Silence - Lotto 29 7 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) LPR Brakes 29 8 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 25 9 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Preti Mangimi 25 10 Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 24 11 René Haselbacher (Aut) Astana 23 12 Sergei Ivanov (Rus) Astana 22 13 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Skil-Shimano 22 14 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Silence - Lotto 19 15 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 19 16 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Cycle Collstrop 17 17 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 16 18 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 15 19 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 15 20 Sergio Laganà (Ita) LPR Brakes 13 21 Luca Celli (Ita) LPR Brakes 13 22 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Preti Mangimi 13 23 Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 13 24 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence - Lotto 12 25 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 11 26 Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) LPR Brakes 11 27 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank 10 28 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 8 29 Tom Criel (Bel) Cycle Collstrop 8 30 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana 5 31 Niels Albert (Bel) Palmans Cras 5 32 Andy Cappelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 5 33 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana 3 34 Sven Nevens (Bel) Mitsubishi-Jartazi 3 35 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 3 Sprint classification 1 Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 24 pts 2 David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 16 3 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 15 4 Sergio Laganà (Ita) LPR Brakes 13 5 Steven De Neef (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto - Jong Vlaanderen 11 6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto 11 7 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 8 8 Tom Criel (Bel) Cycle Collstrop 8 Mountains classification 1 Roy Curvers (Ned) Skil-Shimano 20 pts 2 Fabio Polazzi (Bel) Bodysol - Euro Millions - Pôle Continental Wallon 13 3 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner 6 4 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone 2 5 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 2 6 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Palmans Cras 2
