2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

(formerly Het Volk) (HC), Belgium

70th edition: Saturday, February 28, 2015

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad podium history | 2014 edition | 2016 edition

Live Updates | List of climbs and Route map | Startlist with backnumbers |

Gent - Gent, 200 km

Ian Stannard wins 2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

The Race: There will be gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in Belgium today.

An early seven-man break went clear during the opening kilometers and eventually had a lead of more than five minutes. But they were reeled in one-by-one, the last getting captured with about 45 kilometers remaining.

Three Etixx-Quick Step riders, Tom Boonen, Nicki Terpstra and Stijn Vendenbergh escaped as the results of a hard pull by Boonen with about 40 kilometers to go. But coming with that trio was Sky rider Ian Stannard.

That was the race. A chasing trio of Sep Vanmarcke, Greg Vanavermaet and Zdenek Stybar later also went clear and gave hard chase, but they could not close the gap to the lead quartet.

With about five kilometers to go the Etixx trio in the front group started attacking, and each time Stannard would close the gap. Then, close to the finish, Stannard went clear. Terpstra closed up while Boonen gave valiant but ultimately unsuccessful chase. Terpstra led out the sprint and Stannard looked to easily come around to earn a surprising win. It was a superb performance, taking the race from the Etixx trio.

Stannard also won the 2014 edition of Omloop het Nieuwsblad, also in a 2-man break.

Complete Results: 40.176 km/hr average speed

1	STANNARD Ian	SKY	4hr 58min 41sec
2	TERPSTRA Niki	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	s.t.
3	BOONEN Tom	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	@ 8sec
4	VANDENBERGH Stijn	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	@ 15sec
5	VANMARCKE Sep	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	@ 1min 24sec
6	VAN AVERMAET Greg	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
7	STYBAR Zdenek	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	@ 1min 29sec
8	GILBERT Philippe	BMC RACING TEAM	@ 4min 36sec
9	ROWE Luke	SKY	@ 4min 55sec
10	DEMARE Arnaud	FDJ	s.t.
11	KRISTOFF Alexander	TEAM KATUSHA	s.t.
12	DEBUSSCHERE Jens	LOTTO SOUDAL	s.t.
13	KREDER Wesley	ROOMPOT	s.t.
14	THEUNS Edward	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
15	MARCATO Marco	WANTY-GROUPE GOBERT	s.t.
16	ASSELMAN Jesper	ROOMPOT	s.t.
17	TULIK Angelo	EUROPCAR	s.t.
18	BURGHARDT Marcus	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
19	MAES Nikolas	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	s.t.
20	DE NEGRI Pier Paolo	NIPPO-VINI FANTINI	s.t.
21	HOULE Hugo	AG2R LA MONDIALE	s.t.
22	SCHÄR Michael	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
23	TCATEVICH Aleksei	TEAM KATUSHA	s.t.
24	SENECHAL Florian	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	s.t.
25	PINEAU Jérôme	IAM CYCLING	s.t.
26	OFFREDO Yoann	FDJ	s.t.
27	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	MTN-QHUBEKA	s.t.
28	CHAVANEL Sylvain	IAM CYCLING	s.t.
29	SELVAGGI Mirko	WANTY-GROUPE GOBERT	s.t.
30	LIGTHART Pim	LOTTO SOUDAL	s.t.
31	NAESEN Oliver	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
32	LEUKEMANS Bjorn	WANTY-GROUPE GOBERT	s.t.
33	HAUSSLER Heinrich	IAM CYCLING	s.t.
34	HOOGERLAND Johnny	ROOMPOT	s.t.
35	VACHON Florian	BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	s.t.
36	BENOOT Tiesj	LOTTO SOUDAL	s.t.
37	MINARD Sébastien	AG2R LA MONDIALE	s.t.
38	TEUNS Dylan	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
39	CHAINEL Steve	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	s.t.
40	GATTO Oscar	ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI	s.t.
41	SIEBERG Marcel	LOTTO SOUDAL	s.t.
42	PUCCIO Salvatore	SKY	s.t.
43	HALLER Marco	TEAM KATUSHA	@ 5min sec6
44	WIGGINS Bradley	SKY	0:05:09
45	VANSUMMEREN Johan	AG2R LA MONDIALE	0:05:18
46	GAUDIN Damien	AG2R LA MONDIALE	0:05:18
47	TRENTIN Matteo	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	0:05:45
48	BROECKX Stig	LOTTO SOUDAL	0:07:23
49	DRUCKER Jean-Pierre	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
50	JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt	MTN-QHUBEKA	s.t.
51	FARRAR Tyler	MTN-QHUBEKA	0:09:50
52	WAEYTENS Zico	TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN	0:10:19
53	DE KORT Koen	TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN	s.t.
54	CURVERS Roy	TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN	s.t.
55	SINKELDAM Ramon	TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN	s.t.
56	KEISSE Iljo	ETIXX-QUICK STEP	s.t.
57	DOWNING Russell	CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING	s.t.
58	VAN LERBERGHE Bert	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
59	DUIJN Huub	ROOMPOT	s.t.
60	KERKHOF Tim	ROOMPOT	s.t.
61	ZABEL Rick	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
62	TERPSTRA Mike	ROOMPOT	s.t.
63	FINETTO Mauro	SOUTHEAST	s.t.
64	HELVEN Sander	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
65	KNEES Christian	SKY	s.t.
66	REYNES MIMO Vicente	IAM CYCLING	s.t.
67	KUREK Adrian	CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE	s.t.
68	BRANDLE Matthias	IAM CYCLING	s.t.
69	KIRSCH Alex	CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING	s.t.
70	BRUN Frédéric	BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT	s.t.
71	EISEL Bernhard	SKY	s.t.
72	DECLERCQ Tim	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
73	SELIG Rudiger	TEAM KATUSHA	s.t.
74	DUCHESNE Antoine	EUROPCAR	s.t.
75	MARTINEZ Yannick	EUROPCAR	s.t.
76	SMUKULIS Gatis	TEAM KATUSHA	s.t.
77	BYSTRØM Sven Erik	TEAM KATUSHA	s.t.
78	BERNAUDEAU Giovanni	EUROPCAR	s.t.
79	DE VRIES Berden	ROOMPOT	s.t.
80	VERHELST Louis	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	s.t.
81	VAN GOETHEM Brian	ROOMPOT	s.t.
82	PETIT Adrien	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	s.t.
83	COLLI Daniele	NIPPO-VINI FANTINI	s.t.
84	WYNANTS Maarten	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
85	BRAMMEIER Matt	MTN-QHUBEKA	s.t.
86	VENTER Jaco	MTN-QHUBEKA	s.t.
87	DELAGE Mickael	FDJ	s.t.
88	WYSS Danilo	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
89	GESLIN Anthony	FDJ	s.t.
90	BONNET William	FDJ	s.t.
91	VAN HOECKE Gijs	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
92	WALLAYS Jelle	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
93	VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter	TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN	s.t.
94	VOSS Paul	BORA-ARGON 18	s.t.
95	THWAITES Scott	BORA-ARGON 18	s.t.
96	WAGNER Robert Thomas	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
97	PFINGSTEN Christoph	BORA-ARGON 18	s.t.
98	VAN EMDEN Jos	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
99	TANKINK Bram	LOTTO NL-JUMBO	s.t.
100	JOEAAR Gert	COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS	s.t.
101	BELLETTI Manuel	SOUTHEAST	s.t.
102	SCHILLINGER Andreas	BORA-ARGON 18	s.t.
103	CIOLEK Gerald	MTN-QHUBEKA	s.t.
104	BANDIERA Marco	ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI	s.t.

Live Updates:

Hi, welcome to BikeRaceInfo's live updates of the first big Belgian road race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The race starts and finishes in Gent, a route about due west of Brussels.

Final meters: Terpstra leads out the sprint and then Ian Stannard comes around and wins the race. Boonen is third. What a ride from Stannard! Vanmarcke is fifth.

See you tomorrow (Sunday, March 1) for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

1.5 km to go: Stannard is pulling Terpstra, Boonen can't close the gap.

3 km to go: Stannard closes the gap. Now Terpstra attacks. Stannard closes again.

Now Stannard attacks. Vandenbergh is dropped. Terpstra closes the gap. Boonen is closing in.

5 km to go: The lead quartet is still together. Terpstra attacks. Stannard closes.

Bam! Boonen goes. Big gap. Stannard is chasing.

6.5 km to go: Boonen slips to the back of his group and eats a gel. Stannard is pulling the break. Gap has grown to 32 seconds. The winner will come from this front quartet.

9 km to go: The chasing trio is not closing the gap, they are now 25 seconds behind the four leaders (Stannard, Boonen, Terpstra and Vandenbergh).

14 km to go: The chase trio has an Etixx-Quick Step rider, Stybar. He's sitting on, letting the other two do the work. If they should catch the leaders, he'll be the freshest one. Gap from the leaders to the chasing trio is 21 seconds. If Etixx-Quick Step doesn't win this race, they will have blown one of cycling's great opportunities.

19 km to go: The Boonen group is hitting the final stretch of cobbles with an 18-second lead on their chasers. The race is between the lead quartet and the chasing trio. After that, the nearest rider (Philippe Gilbert) is more than a minute back.

24 km to go: Gilbert looks good chasing, but he's 50 seconds back. Van Avermaet, Vanmarcke and Stybar have lost ground to the lead Boonen group and are now 23 seconds back. Tom Boonen has never won this race.

26 km to go: The first chase group has closed to within 16 seconds of the front Boonen break. Gilbert, alone, is chasing, 44 seconds back.

27 km to go: Boonen hammers and gains a small gap. Stannard brings the other two back up. Further back, Philippe Gilbert is hammering away, trying to get up to the break.

30 km to go: Philippe Gilbert, with two other riders, has gained a small gap on the pack. The lead group is a minute ahead of the pack and 33 seconds ahead of the first chasers.

33 km to go: The lead quartet has 30 seconds on the broken peloton. A group of three, Van Avermaet, Vanmarcke and Stybar, has separated from the pack.

35 km to go: The break is on the Molenberg ascent, 29 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Now the lead is 26 seconds

38 km to go: Hokey Smoke Bullwinkle! The lead quartet has 27 seconds! Ian Stannard is refusing to help the break. No surprise with three Etixx riders in the break.

40 km to go: Four riders slightly away: Stannard, Boonen, Terpstra and Vandenbergh. The quartet (three are Etixx) has 18 seconds on the pack. Is this the race?

41 km to go: Boonen's pull pulled several riders clear, maybe three Etixx-Quick Step riders in the front group. The race is getting really hot. Boonen continues to hammer away.

45 km to go: The break is absorbed, but there are constant accelerations, lots of aggression. The peloton is strung out again in a long line. Now the pack his a2km section of cobbles. Boonen and Stannard are near the front. Boonen hits the front again.

47 km to go: The break is doomed, they have just 7 seconds.

50 km to go: The break is down to two (Matt Brammier and Albert Timmer) as they climb the Wolvenberg, which has a 17% patch. The trio has just 21 seconds. missed it, but it looks like the Boonen group was absorbed.

The bunch can see the fleeing duo. OOOHH.. Luke Rowe has bridge to the break

54 km to go: Boonen, Van Avermaert, Stybar are in the group that broke from the peloton. The break has 42 seconds as they climb the Eikenberg. Nearly everyone is climbing in the gutter, avoiding the cobbles.

58 km to go: Matt Brammier attacks the break. They are on the Taaienberg ascent. The peloton is shattering under Sky's high-speed pressure. Lots of riders are off the front group.

The pack hits the Taaienberg, Tom Boonen looks back and attacks! A small group off the front forms because of Boonen's hit. Gaps all over the place. The race is getting hot.

The break has just 59 seconds.

60 km to go: Looks like Sky's protected rider is Ian Stannard. Wiggins is back pulling. Broeckx is caught. Break's lead is 1min 23sec. Sylvain Chavanel is now near the front.

65 km to go: Stig Broeckx attacks and gets a 35-second gap on the pack. The break's lead is now under two minutes as Sky continues to pull the peloton.

68 km to go: Sky is swarming at the front and bringing up the pace. Things are warming up a bit. Now, on to the cobbled Kruisberg climb. The break now has just 2min 35sec. Wiggins is leading the pack up the climb. Several crashes as the riders fight for postion.

Edvald Boasson Hagen hit the front and got a gap, but is brought back.

75 km to go: Bradley Wiggins and Ian Stannard are right near the front of the peloton. Now Wiggins is doing a pull at the front of the pack. The break (still don't have names, but Matt Brammier, Louis Verhlest, Alexis Goughard are in it) is holding tough, now with a 3min 14sec lead. The race is closing in on the city of Ronse.

80 km to go: The break on the Kaperij ascent. The break is slowly being brought back, the gap is 2min 53sec. The sun is out, its 9.5 celsius (49F), the wind from the south-southwest at 32km/hr (20mph). Francesco Chicchi (Androni Giocattoli) got a flat, but got a quick repair and is chasing back on. Several Sky riders are at the front now.

The pack closed up when it went up the the Kaperij. Now there are several Lotto-Soudal riders leading the peloton on the ascxent.

85 km to go: A MTN-Qhubeka rider just went down in the middle of the peloton, but the pack presses on. Lots of pavé. The riders are getting a thorough bouncing as they move from one side to another side of the road, looking for the best, smoothest path. Many riders are wearing knee or leg and arm warmers. BMC is still at the front.

90 km to go: The peloton is strung out in a single line, except for a group at the front. So far, the pack has been led by BMC with several Sky riders gathered just behind. The break still has 4min 48sec

5:20 AM Pacific Time: No race radios allowed today. There was a minute's silence to commemorate the death of Belgian great Claude Criquielion. Beautiful morning for the start of the race.

Lots of aggression to start the race. By the Muur van Geraardsbergen eight riders were away.

By the 96 km to go seven of the escapees remained, 4min 53 seconds ahead of the peloton.

2015 Het Nieuwsblad list of climbs and route map:

• Leberg @ 63 km
• Berendries @ 67 km
• Muur van Geraardsbergen @ 83 km
• Valkenberg @ 102 km
• Kaperij @ 120 km
• Kruisberg @ 132 km
• Taaienberg @ 142 km
• Eikenberg @ 147 km
• Wolvenberg @ 150 km
• Leberg @ 160 km
• Molenberg @ 166 km

Startlist with backnumbers

TEAM SKY
Director: KNAVEN Servais
1 STANNARD Ian
2 EISEL Bernhard
3 FENN Andrew
4 KNEES Christian
5 PUCCIO Salvatore
6 ROWE Luke
7 SUTTON Christopher
8 WIGGINS Bradley

AG2R LA MONDIALE
Director: JURDIE Julien
11 BAGDONAS, Gediminas
12 GAUDIN Damien
13 GOUGEARD Alexis
14 HOULE Hugo
15 MINARD Sébastien
16 MONDORY Lloyd
17 TURGOT Sébastien
18 VANSUMMEREN Johan

BMC RACING TEAM
Director: PIVA Valerio
21 BURGHARDT, Marcus
22 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre
23 GILBERT Philippe
24 KUENG Stefan
25 SCHÄR Michael
26 TEUNS Dylan
27 VAN AVERMAET Greg
28 ZABEL Rick

ETIXX - QUICK STEP
Director: PEETERS Wilfried
31 BOONEN Tom
32 KEISSE Iljo
33 MAES Nikolas
34 STYBAR Zdenek
35 TERPSTRA Niki
36 TRENTIN Matteo
37 VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume
38 VANDENBERGH Stijn

FDJ
Director: GUESDON Frederic
41 BONNET William
42 BOUCHER David
43 DELAGE Mickael
44 DEMARE Arnaud
45 GESLIN Anthony
46 LADAGNOUS Matthieu
47 LE BON Johan
48 OFFREDO Yoann

IAM CYCLING
Director: SEIGNEUR Eddy
51 AREGGER Marcel
52 BRANDLE Matthias
53 CHAVANEL Sylvain
54 DEVENYNS Dries
55 ELMIGER Martin
56 PINEAU Jérôme
57 REYNES MIMO Vicente
58 SARAMOTINS Aleksejs

LOTTO SOUDAL
Director: FRISON Herman
61 BENOOT Tiesj
62 BROECKX Stig
63 DE BIE Sean
64 DEBUSSCHERE Jens
65 DOCKX, Gert
66 LIGTHART Pim
67 DEHAES Kenny
68 SIEBERG Marcel

TEAM GIANT - ALPECIN
Director: KEMNA Rudie
71 ARNDT Nikias
72 CURVERS Roy
73 DE BACKER Bert
74 DE KORT Koen
75 SINKELDAM Ramon
76 STAMSNIJDER Tom
77 TIMMER Albert
78 WAEYTENS Zico

TEAM KATUSHA
Director: MIKHAILOV Guennadi
81 BYSTRØM Sven Erik
82 HALLER Marco
83 ISAYCHEV Vladimir
84 KRISTOFF Alexander
85 KUZNETSOV Viacheslav
86 SELIG Rudiger
87 SMUKULIS Gatis
88 TCATEVICH Aleksei

TEAM LOTTO NL - JUMBO
Director: VERHOEVEN Nico
91 LEEZER Thomas
92 TANKINK Bram
93 TJALLINGII Maarten
94 VAN ASBROECK Tom
95 VAN EMDEN Jos
96 VANMARCKE Sep
97 WAGNER Robert Thomas
98 WYNANTS Maarten

ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI
Director: SAVIO Gianni
101 BANDIERA Marco
102 CHICCHI, Francesco
103 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano
104 FRAPPORTI Marco
105 GATTO Oscar

BORA-ARGON 18
Director: SCHULZE André
111 ARCHBOLD Shane
112 DEMPSTER Zakkari
113 SCHILLINGER Andreas
114 SCHORN Daniel
115 SCHWARZMANN Michael
116 THURAU Bjorn
117 THWAITES Scott
118 VOSS Paul

BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT
Director: HINAULT Sébastien
121 BRUN Frédéric
122 CAM Maxime
123 FEILLU Romain
124 JARRIER, Benoit
125 LABORIE Christophe
126 MCLAY Daniel
127 PERICHON Pierre-Luc
128 VACHON Florian

CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
Director: WADECKI Piotr
131 CERNY, Josef
132 KIENDYS Tomasz
133 KUREK Adrian
134 MARYCZ Jaroslaw
135 MIHAYLOV Nikolay
136 Rutkiewicz, Marek
137 STEPNIAK Grzegorz
138 TACIAK Mateusz

COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS
Director: DELOEUIL Alain
141 JOEAAR Gert
142 LAPORTE Christophe
143 LEMOINE Cyril
144 PETIT Adrien
145 SENECHAL Florian
146 TURGIS Anthony
147 VANBILSEN Kenneth
148 VERHELST Louis

CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING
Director: ROBERTS Joel
151 DOWNING Russell
152 KIRSCH Alex
153 MORTENSEN Martin
154 PEDERSEN Mads
155 REIHS Michael
156 SVENDGAARD Michael Carbel
157 VINTHER Troels Ronning
158 ZANGERLE Joel

MTN - QHUBEKA
Director: CORNELISSE Michel
161 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
162 CIOLEK Gerald
163 FARRAR Tyler
164 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques
165 REGUIGUI Youcef
166 SBARAGLI Kristian
168 THOMSON Jay Robert
167 VENTER, Jaco

NIPPO - VINI FANTINI
Director: MANZONI Mario
171 COLLI Daniele
172 DE NEGRI Pier Paolo
173 GROSU Eduard Michael
174 MALAGUTI Alessandro
175 MARINI Nicolas
176 POZZO Mattia
177 STACCHIOTTI Riccardo
178 VIOLA Antonio

SOUTHEAST
Director: PARSANI Serge
181 ANDRIATO, Rafael
182  BELLETTI Manuel
183 CECCHINEL Giorgio
184 DAL COL Andrea
185 FINETTO Mauro
186 MARECZKO Jakub
187 PETACCHI Alessandro
188 ZHUPA Eugert

TEAM EUROPCAR
Director: ARNOULD Dominique
191 DUCHESNE Antoine
192 GENE Yohann
193 HUREL Tony
194 JEROME Vincent
195 MARTINEZ Yannick
196 MORICE Julien
197 PICHOT Alexandre
198 TULIK Angelo

TEAM ROOMPOT
Director: BREUKINK Erik
201 ASSELMAN Jesper
202 DE VRIES Berden
203 DUIJN Huub
204 HOOGERLAND Johnny
205 KERKHOF Tim
206 KREDER Wesley
207 TERPSTRA Mike
208 VAN GOETHEM Brian

TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN - BALOISE
Director: PLANCKAERT Walter
211 DECLERCQ Tim
212 HELVEN Sander
213 NAESEN Oliver
214 THEUNS Edward
215 VAN HOECKE Gijs
216 VAN LERBERGHE Bert
217 VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter
218 WALLAYS Jelle

WANTY - GROUPE GOBERT
Director: VAN DER SCHUEREN Hilaire
221 BACKAERT Frederik
222 BAUGNIES Jérôme
223 DE TROYER Tim
224  LEUKEMANS Bjorn
225 MARCATO Marco
226 SELVAGGI Mirko
227 VAN MELSEN Kevin
228 VEUCHELEN Frederik