Rowe on the attack in Belgium

Luke Rowe produces a dogged breakaway display during the 102nd edition of Schedleprijs.

Kittel wraps up a three-peat of wins

Luke Rowe produced a dogged display in the breakaway at Scheldeprijs before the sprinters came to the fore and Marcel Kittel powered his way to a third consecutive triumph. Rowe infiltrated a six-man escape group after a busy start to the race and was one of the main protagonists in driving it forward as they evaded the clutches of the peloton for over 150 kilometres. Rowe also looked the freshest in that group as the race neared its conclusion, and surged ahead with around 7km to go in a bid for a brave solo victory. That attack was thwarted 3km later however as the sprint trains hit full stride, and from the flat-out finish that ensued it was Kittel who emerged to join Piet Oellibrandt and Mark Cavendish on an elite list of three-time winners. The Giant-Shimano rider latched onto the coattails of Omega Pharma – Quick-Step’s lead out and then sprang clear in the final 200m to take a comfortable victory by over three bike lengths. Garmin-Sharp rider Tyler Farrar took second place on the day with Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) rounding out the podium. The action took place under sunny skies and even though a level crossing had temporarily halted their progress, Rowe’s group saw their lead grow to around five minutes before the peloton began gradually reeling them back in. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, FDJ and Garmin-Sharp did the lion’s share of the chasing and the break was eventually annulled when Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli) was swept up with just 2.5km to go. Giant-Shimano had been biding their time patiently in the bunch and delivered Kittel onto Alessandro Petacchi’s wheel before the German rider kicked clear to seal his fifth success of the season.

Good preparation

After the race, Rowe was pleased with his performance and revealed everyone in the team is in fine fettle ahead of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. He told us: “The aim was to stay out of trouble with one eye on Paris-Roubaix, and get a nice long ride in the legs before Sunday. We were given the freedom to ride as we wanted so I made the decision to try and get in the break. “With Scheldeprijs renowned for ending in a bunch sprint, some might have seen it as a suicide move, but we worked well together in the break and rode hard on the circuits before it all fell apart in the last 10km. “When the others started playing around, I made my move on the cobbles and opened up a decent gap at one point. Then we turned onto the side of the canal and into a headwind, and that’s when my days were numbered. The peloton were absolutely flying by then but I enjoyed it and I’m happy with my form. “We’re going to take our feet off the gas between now and Sunday and that’ll allow us to go into Paris-Roubaix fully rested and recovered.”