Juan Antonio Flecha finishes second at the Circuit Franco-Belge after a gutsy ride on the final day.
Roelandts takes overall title after Bouhanni stage win
Juan Antonio Flecha produced a gutsy ride on the final stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge to end the race in second place overall.
The Spaniard had began the day in fourth position but jumped two places in the General Classification by attacking from the group and taking maximum time bonuses in the final two intermediate sprints.
Flecha battled on but was unable to contest the sprint finish which saw FDJ-BigMAT rider Nacer Bouhanni edge out BMC Racing’s Adam Blythe.
Jurgen Roelandts meanwhile, wrapped up his overall victory by a 17-second margin after finishing third place on the day.
Lively encounter
The fourth and final stage had been another lively encounter and numerous early attacks had been thwarted by the time Jean-Lou Paiani (Saur–Sojasun), Thomas Bertolini (Farnese Vini) and Tim De Troyer (Accent.jobs) eventually broke away.
The trio quickly saw their numbers boosted by the arrival of Boris Dron (Wallonie) and Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post-Sean Kelly), and they had built a lead of over a minute by the time they made it onto the day’s finishing circuit.
Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) and Serge Dewortelaer (Idemasport) would also bridge over to the front group shortly after their second crossing of the finish line, but all seven had been reeled back in on the approach to those potentially-decisive intermediate sprints.
Flecha would not have been out of the mix if Ian Stannard hadn’t been on hand to swap bikes after an ill-timed puncture, but some quick thinking from the British champion ensured Flecha was perfectly positioned to attack from the bunch and wrap up three bonus seconds on not one, but two occasions.
Flecha was again to the fore as the race reached its conclusion, but got swamped in the dying stages after a large crash had caused havoc in the bunch, and rolled home in 20th position after Bouhanni had captured his seventh win of the season.
Battling display
After the stage, Sports Director Steven de Jongh praised Flecha for his efforts during the four days of racing before revealing that Stannard had been caught up in the late pile-up.
He told us: "The boys did really well and worked really hard to get Flecha into position heading into those last two intermediate sprints. The fact that they were on top of a hill suited him perfectly and he didn't disappoint. He's ridden brilliantly this week and can be proud of his performance.
"I didn't see the final sprint because I'd stopped with Ian after his crash. He's a bit banged up at the moment but hopefully with a couple of days rest and recuperation he'll be good to go again for Paris-Bourges. We'll monitor him closely before that and make a decision in the days to come.
"The rest of the guys are fine. Appollonio had a good ride today and G has got better and better with every stage. CJ is also almost back to his best now and that will hopefully bode well for the Tour of Beijing next month. After the bad luck he's had this season it would be great if he could finish it on a high.
"All-in-all this has been a good race but we've just been a bit unfortunate with the injuries we've picked up."
