Juan Antonio Flecha was denied a repeat victory by the narrowest of margins after a thrilling finish to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Brilliant second for in-form Spaniard
Juan Antonio Flecha was denied a repeat victory by the narrowest of margins after a thrilling finish to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The Team Sky rider was edged into second place by just a few centimetres by Rabobank's Sebastian Langeveld after a sprint finish in Ghent at the end of the 203 kilometres race which marks the start of the Classics season.
The two men were well clear of the rest and on a memorable day for Team Sky Mathew Hayman, who had been instrumental in Flecha's move earlier, kept on superbly to take third place.
The Belgian race, which features nine sections of pavé and nine climbs, took place in wet and windy conditions and it came to life when Langeveld launched a solo attack with 53 kilometres remaining soon after an early eight-man break, which had an advantage of seven minutes at one point, was reeled in.
Langeveld soon distanced many of the big names as he built up a lead of his own of more than a minute from a chase group of 11 riders. When it reached 1:22 with 28km remaining, Flecha decided it was time to try and bridge the gap so the Spaniard powered off on his own and quickly started to eat into Langeveld's advantage.
The gap continued to come down and Flecha made the catch right under the 15km banner. The duo then rode together to the 5km mark when Flecha tried to kick again but Langeveld responded and the pair were locked together heading into the final kilometre.
They marked each other before starting the sprint around 300 metres from the line and it was Langeveld who landed the spoils by the smallest of margins.
Brave bid
"After such a long and hard race we both did a great sprint at the end but Sebastian was about 10cm faster than me!" said Flecha afterwards.
"Just after the line he put up his arms to celebrate but I wasn't 100% sure who had won as it was so close."
And Flecha had no complaints afterwards, stressing: "It was a fantastic sprint and sometimes you have to know how to take a loss."
Team Sky had been well placed throughout, with the likes of Jeremy Hunt and Ian Stannard working hard for Flecha in the middle stages.
Hayman then took over, the Aussie playing his role to perfection. He helped drive the group of riders who were chasing Langeveld before defending champion Flecha made his move.
"I think that was the right moment to start gambling," explained Flecha of his kick on the cobbles of the Paddestraat. "It was a nice race again for us and so nearly another victory."
Mat finish
Hayman's work still wasn't done though as he kept tabs on the select second group before finding extra reserves to move off the front with 7km remaining with his eyes locked on third place.
And he claimed the final spot on the podium by outsprinting Yoann Offredo (FDJ) in St. Peter's Square, Hayman coming in exactly a minute back from the first two, well ahead of the main peloton which finished over five minutes adrift.
That group contained Russell Downing in 18th, Stannard in 27th, Edvald Boasson Hagen in 41st and Michael Barry in 60th.
Sports Director Steven de Jongh was full of praise for his men afterwards, telling us: "We saw a really strong performance from the team as a whole, with both Flecha and Mathew Hayman finishing on the podium.
"What Flecha did was really impressive. He took more than a minute out of Langeveld on his own. We knew he was in good shape and that really showed today.
"And Mathew stepped up big time. We had a meeting with him the day before the race and he said he felt really good and he reiterated that again today and then proved it in the race. He was brilliant and that's great for his confidence.
The focus switches immediately to Sunday now and de Jongh had news of a team change for Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, explaining: "Michael Barry had a little bit of a health issue so he's not going to start tomorrow. Russell Downing comes in for him."
