Omloop Het Nieuwsblad podium history | 1996 edition | 1998 edition

Ghent-Lokeren, 200 km / 38.961 km/hr
195 starters / 105 classified finishers

Peter van Petegem wins 1997 Omloop Het Volk. TDW photo

The race: From the gun the attacks went off in this truly aggressive day of racing.

Just after the start, Jan Poppe, Wim Omloop and Jacky Durand went clear. At one point during their 130 kilometer-long escape, their gap was an impressive ten minutes.

They were caught and with sixty to go, other breaks began firing off. But eventually the race came back together.

The move that mattered happened with sixteen kilometers to go. Franco Ballerini attacked and soon he had Tom Steels, Johan Capiot, Peter van Petegem, Andrei Tchmil and Hendrik Redant with him.

That made three TVM riders in the break. TVM did not waste the opportunity. One TVM rider after another attacked.

Finally, with 4.5 kilometers still to go Peter van Petegem took off and that was the race. He was well and truly gone.

Tom Steels led in the rest of the break for second place.

Complete Results:

1	Peter Van Petegem	TVM-Farm Frites	5hr 8min
2	Tom Steels	Mapei-GB	8sec
3	Johan Capiot	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
4	Hendrik Redant	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
5	Andrei Tchmil	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	s.t.
6	Franco Ballerini	Mapei-GB	s.t.
7	Jaan Kirsipuu	Casino	27sec
8	Tristan Hoffman	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
9	Christophe Mengin	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
10	Jo Planckaert	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	s.t.
11	Wim Feys	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	s.t.
12	Stéphane Barthe	Casino	s.t.
13	Christophe Capelle	Cofidis	1min 7sec
14	Andreas Klier	Team Nürnberger Versicherung	s.t.
15	Emmanuel Magnien	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
16	Bruno Boscardin	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
17	Rossano Brasi	Polti	s.t.
18	Tom Desmet	Collstrop-Total	s.t.
19	Peter Farazijn	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	s.t.
20	Jan Koerts	Rabobank	s.t.
21	Brian Holm Sørensen	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.
22	Frankie Andreu	Cofidis	s.t.
23	Frédéric Moncassin	Gan	s.t.
24	Frank Høj	Collstrop-Total	s.t.
25	Maximilian Sciandri	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
26	Frédéric Guesdon	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
27	Michel Van Haecke	Ipso-Euroclean	s.t.
28	Kai Hundertmarck	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.
29	Gilles Talmant	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
30	Rolf Aldag	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.
31	Wim Vansevenant	Vlaanderen 2002	s.t.
32	Mario Aerts	Vlaanderen 2002	s.t.
33	Kurt Van De Wouwer	Vlaanderen 2002	s.t.
34	Enrico Cassani	Polti	s.t.
35	Thierry Gouvenou	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
36	Jürgen Werner	Refin-Mobilvetta Design	s.t.
37	Maarten Den Bakker	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
38	Wim Van Den Meulenhof	Foreldorado-Golff	s.t.
39	Bert Dietz	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.
40	Erik Dekker	Rabobank	s.t.
41	Henk Vogels	Gan	s.t.
42	Stuart O'Grady	Gan	s.t.
43	Aart Vierhouten	Rabobank	s.t.
44	Michael Blaudzun	Rabobank	s.t.
45	Jaime Javier Hernandez	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
46	Ludwig Willems	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	s.t.
47	Carlo Bomans	Mapei-GB	s.t.
48	Wilfried Peeters	Mapei-GB	s.t.
49	Johan Museeuw	Mapei-GB	s.t.
50	Nico Mattan	Mapei-GB	s.t.
51	Flavio Vanzella	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
52	Jesper Skibby	TVM-Farm Frites	s.t.
53	Rolf Sörensen	Rabobank	s.t.
54	Bart Leysen	Mapei-GB	s.t.
55	Richard Virenque	Festina-Lotus	1min 34sec
56	Bruno Thibout	Cofidis	s.t.
57	Cédric Vasseur	Gan	s.t.
58	Fabio Sacchi	Polti	s.t.
59	Gerrit De Vries	Polti	s.t.
60	Thierry Marichal	Cedico-Ville de Charleroi	s.t.
61	Marco Milesi	Brescialat	s.t.
62	Serguei Outschakov	Polti	s.t.
63	Claude Lamour	Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne	s.t.
64	David Lefèvre	Casino	s.t.
65	Marek Lesniewski	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
66	Ludovic Auger	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
67	Jan Poppe	Ipso-Euroclean	s.t.
68	Andy De Smet	Ipso-Euroclean	s.t.
69	Koen Beeckman	Ipso-Euroclean	s.t.
70	Philippe Gaumont	Cofidis	s.t.
71	François Simon	Gan	s.t.
72	François Lemarchand	Gan	s.t.
73	Francesco Arazzi	Brescialat	s.t.
74	Marco Lietti	Refin-Mobilvetta Design	s.t.
75	Danny Baeyens	Collstrop-Total	s.t.
76	Jörg Jaksche	Polti	s.t.
77	Jean-Jacques Henry	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
78	Anthony Morin	Big Mat-Auber 93	s.t.
79	Wim Omloop	Palmans-Lystex	s.t.
80	Eddy Bouwmans	Foreldorado-Golff	s.t.
81	Raymond Meijs	Foreldorado-Golff	s.t.
82	Mauro Bettin	Refin-Mobilvetta Design	s.t.
83	Nicolas Jalabert	Cofidis	s.t.
84	Franck Bouyer	La Française des Jeux	s.t.
85	Mike Weissmann	Team Nürnberger Versicherung	s.t.
86	Jim Van de Laer	Cofidis	s.t.
87	Nico Eeckhout	Lotto-Mobistar-Isoglass	1min 55sec
88	Geert Verheyen	Vlaanderen 2002	2min 30sec
89	Arnaud Pretot	Gan	3min 5sec
90	Marcel Wüst	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
91	Robbie McEwen	Rabobank	3min 15sec
92	Laurent Pillon	Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne	3min 45sec
93	Arvis Piziks	Rabobank	s.t.
94	Hans De Meester	Palmans Cras	11min 10sec
95	Rik Van Slycke	RDM-Asfra	s.t.
96	Jens Zemke	Team Nürnberger Versicherung	s.t.
97	Franky De Buyst	Tonissteiner-Colnago	s.t.
98	Magnus Bäckstedt	Collstrop-Total	s.t.
99	Michael Van der Wolf	Foreldorado-Golff	s.t.
100	Glenn D'Hollander	Vlaanderen 2002	s.t.
101	John Talen	Foreldorado-Golff	s.t.
102	Thierry Laurent	Festina-Lotus	s.t.
103	Jacky Durand	Casino	s.t.
104	Mario Kummer	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.
105	Giovanni Lombardi	Deutsche Telekom	s.t.