2018 Gent - Wevelgem (World Tour), Belgium
Ghent - Wevelgem (English), Gand - Wevelgem (French)
80th edition: Sunday, March 25, 2018
Gent-Wevelgem complete results for every edition | 2017 Edition | 2019 edition | Race map | Start list
Deinze - Wevelgem, 251.1 km
Weather in Wevelgem at 2:00 PM, local time: 12C (54F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the NNW at 13 km/hr (8 mph). No rain was forecast.
Peter Sagan wins Gent-Wevelgem for the third time. Sirotti photo
The race: Here's the story from winner Peter Sagan's Bora-hansgrohe team.
In races where so much can depend on good fortune, BORA-hansgrohe today created the luck that brought UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, to his third Gent-Wevelgem win. First, by driving the pace to reduce the advantage of the day’s break, before supporting the Slovak rider and keeping him safe in the ride to the finale. However, when it came to the sprint, there was no luck required, with Peter starting early and surging ahead, timing his push to perfection with none of his rivals able to come close.
The Stage
On any normal day, a 250km race over hard Belgian terrain would be brutal, especially with the eleven tough climbs and multiple cobblestone sections to make things difficult, but many of the riders at Gent-Wevelgem would still be feeling the efforts of riding E3-Harelbeke just two days earlier, just to make the going even more difficult. After a fairly flat opening 120km came the climbs, with some of the gradients reaching 14%, before a flat 30km to the finish. Positioning would be the key to winning this race – that and a very healthy dose of luck not to puncture or suffer a mechanical and to be in the right place at the right time when the decisive moves came.
The Team Tactics
With a similar profile to Friday’s E3-Harelbeke race, the aim today would be to concentrate on reading the race and being in the right place at the right time. With the outcome of the one-day classics races being so dependent on simple good luck, the team would be planning on making as much of that luck as possible, by riding to support Peter and delivering him to the key points of the stage in a strong position to contest the win.
The Race
The crisp and cold morning saw most of the riders start the day in arm and leg warmers. With 120km to ride before the first climbs of the day, riders would have plenty of time to get warmed up, but this didn’t mean the start was going to be relaxed. The hard pace from the drop of the flag meant a break didn’t go until 35km had been covered, but once the group of six made their move, they really pushed ahead – creating a significant ten-minute gap that spurred the chasing peloton on to reduce their advantage.
The race started in Deinze at 11:30 AM.
As always, German National Champion, Marcus Burghardt, was the key player in reducing the break’s lead, cutting it in half over 50km. With Daniel Oss adding to Marcus’ efforts, the pace left some of the peloton dropping off the back, but on the front, a small group, with UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, in the mix, broke off, first making the catch on the break, before leaving them behind. One of these twenty-three riders, with the group made up of some of the big favourites, would be the race’s winner, and the Slovak rider still had Marcus with him to keep him safe. In the final 2km the attacks came, but Peter stayed calm, saving his energy and keeping a cool head. Starting his sprint from a long way out, nobody could touch the UCI World Champion, and once he was out in front, there was no chance of anyone taking his third Gent-Wevelgem win from him.
The podium, from left: Elia Viviani (2nd), Peter Sagan & Arnaud Demare (3rd). Sirotti photo
From the Finish Line
"I’m very happy and I’m glad to win this race again. My team did a great job. In the finale, there were two of us remaining in the front group and I’m really happy with our performance. Sprints are always like a lottery and I was wondering what was going to happen. In the end, I started my sprint early and it worked out – I had the legs to keep going. I felt good the second time we climbed the Kemmelberg. It wasn’t too stressful and there wasn’t a lot of wind to make things difficult, which is why we came to the finish in a bigger group. It was a different race today from all of the Gent-Wevelgems I’ve ridden and the lack of stress and the better weather conditions made it easier. It wasn’t anywhere near as crazy as the race has been over the last few years, but it was still really fast." – Peter Sagan, UCI World Champion
"Today's great victory at the Gent-Wevelgem is the result of the exceptional effort of every single rider, from start to finish. Rüdiger Selig and Andreas Schillinger pulled hard in the first 50km to control the race and make sure we didn't have a breakaway attempt by one of the stronger teams. Then, our strategy was for the squad to stay together, as long as possible, protecting Peter and avoiding any crashes. There were at least 5-6 strong sprinter teams today, so we had to keep a close eye on all the moves. Juraj Sagan, Maciej Bodnar and Daniel Oss were brilliant in keeping Peter safe and worked so hard throughout the race. In the final 50km Marcus Burghardt played a crucial role in helping Peter, launching attacks and counter-attacks to neutralise the efforts of the other teams. We wanted to see what the situation would be after the final climb on the Kemmelberg and Burgi stayed with Peter who, in the finale, launched a perfectly-timed sprint to take this well-deserved win." – Jan Valach, Sport Director
Complete results:
251.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 48.990 km/hr
1 | Peter Sagan | Bora-hansgrohe | 5hr 7min 32sec |
2 | Elia Viviani | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
3 | Arnaud Démare | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
4 | Christophe Laporte | Cofidis | s.t. |
5 | Jens Debusschere | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
6 | Oliver Naesen | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
7 | Matteo Trentin | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
8 | Zdenek Štybar | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
9 | Jasper Stuyven | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
10 | Wout van Aert | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
11 | Sacha Modolo | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
12 | Jan-Willem van Schip | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
13 | Michael Matthews | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
14 | Greg Van Avermaet | BMC | s.t. |
15 | Julien Vermote | Dimension Data | s.t. |
16 | Vyacheslav Kuznetsov | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
17 | Philippe Gilbert | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
18 | Marcus Burghardt | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
19 | Brian van Goethem | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
20 | Yves Lampaert | Quick-Step Floors | +5'' |
21 | Sep Vanmarcke | EF Education First-Drapac | +8'' |
22 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
23 | Luka Mezgec | Mitchelton-Scott | +12'' |
24 | Magnus Cort | Astana | +1' 01'' |
25 | Alexander Kristoff | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
26 | Michael Valgren | Astana | +1' 14'' |
27 | Preben Van Hecke | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | +1' 22'' |
28 | Tony Martin | Katusha-Alpecin | +2' 49'' |
29 | Justin Jules | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | +3' 14'' |
30 | Andrea Pasqualon | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
31 | Alex Kirsch | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
32 | Edward Theuns | Team Sunweb | +3' 17'' |
33 | Jasha Sütterlin | Movistar | s.t. |
34 | Mike Teunissen | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
35 | Dries Van Gestel | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
36 | Koen de Kort | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
37 | Bert Van Lerberghe | Cofidis | s.t. |
38 | Timo Roosen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
39 | Niki Terpstra | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
40 | Frederik Frison | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
41 | Jelle Wallays | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
42 | Danny van Poppel | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
43 | Filippo Ganna | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
44 | Daniel Oss | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
45 | Gianni Moscon | Sky | s.t. |
46 | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana | s.t. |
47 | Florian Sénéchal | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
48 | John Degenkolb | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
49 | Heinrich Haussler | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
50 | Sebastian Langeveld | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
51 | Coen Vermeltfoort | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | +5' 34'' |
52 | Rudy Barbier | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
53 | Ryan Gibbons | Dimension Data | s.t. |
54 | Rick Zabel | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
55 | Juraj Sagan | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
56 | Gijs Van Hoecke | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
57 | Jérémy Lecroq | Vital Concept | s.t. |
58 | Edward Planckaert | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
59 | Lars Bak | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
60 | Marcel Sieberg | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
61 | Julien Duval | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
62 | Huub Duyn | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
63 | Christophe Noppe | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
64 | Stefan Küng | BMC | s.t. |
65 | Michael Schär | BMC | s.t. |
66 | Roy Curvers | Team Sunweb | s.t. |
67 | Stijn Devolder | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
68 | Jorge Arcas | Movistar | s.t. |
69 | Zico Waeytens | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
70 | Owain Doull | Sky | s.t. |
71 | Olivier Le Gac | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
72 | Boy van Poppel | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
73 | Hugo Houle | Astana | s.t. |
74 | Laurens De Vreese | Astana | s.t. |
75 | Carlos Barbero | Movistar | s.t. |
76 | Nélson Oliveira | Movistar | s.t. |
77 | Christian Knees | Sky | s.t. |
78 | Francisco Ventoso | BMC | s.t. |
79 | Dmitriy Gruzdev | Astana | s.t. |
80 | Michal Golas | Sky | s.t. |
81 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Dimension Data | s.t. |
82 | Pim Ligthart | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
83 | Andrey Amador | Movistar | +5' 39'' |
84 | Kristijan Koren | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
85 | Ignatas Konovalovas | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
86 | Jimmy Duquennoy | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
87 | Jacopo Guarnieri | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
88 | Simone Consonni | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
89 | Héctor Carretero | Movistar | s.t. |
90 | Ian Stannard | Sky | s.t. |
91 | Tom Devriendt | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
92 | Maarten Wynants | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
93 | Dylan Groenewegen | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
94 | Jos van Emden | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
95 | Jürgen Roelandts | BMC | s.t. |
96 | Tom Scully | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
97 | Mathew Hayman | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
98 | Cyril Lemoine | Cofidis | s.t. |
99 | Dylan van Baarle | Sky | s.t. |
100 | Jack Bauer | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
101 | Alexander Edmondson | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
102 | Nico Denz | Ag2r La Mondiale | +11' 47'' |
103 | Floris Gerts | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
104 | Kenneth Van Rooy | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
105 | Luke Durbridge | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
106 | Benjamin King | Dimension Data | s.t. |
107 | Stijn Vandenbergh | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
108 | Antoine Duchesne | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
109 | Tanguy Turgis | Vital Concept | s.t. |
110 | Ramon Sinkeldam | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
111 | Jay Thomson | Dimension Data | s.t. |
112 | Bert De Backer | Vital Concept | s.t. |
113 | Lukas Spengler | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
114 | Geoffrey Soupe | Cofidis | s.t. |
115 | Mark McNally | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
116 | Gediminas Bagdonas | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
117 | Kenneth Vanbilsen | Cofidis | s.t. |
118 | Marco Marcato | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
119 | Michael Van Staeyen | Cofidis | s.t. |
120 | Sjoerd van Ginneken | Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij | s.t. |
121 | Alberto Bettiol | BMC | s.t. |
122 | Iván García | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
123 | Kristoffer Halvorsen | Sky | s.t. |
124 | Sonny Colbrelli | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
125 | Julien Stassen | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
126 | Oliviero Troia | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
127 | Ben Swift | UAE-Team Emirates | s.t. |
128 | Alex Dowsett | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
129 | David Per | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
130 | Jenthe Biermans | Katusha-Alpecin | s.t. |
131 | Borut Božic | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
132 | Michael Hepburn | Mitchelton-Scott | s.t. |
133 | Nicolas Dougall | Dimension Data | s.t. |
134 | Luka Pibernik | Bahrain-Merida | s.t. |
135 | Michael Goolaerts | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
136 | Taylor Phinney | EF Education First-Drapac | s.t. |
137 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
138 | Tim Declercq | Quick-Step Floors | s.t. |
139 | Jempy Drücker | BMC | s.t. |
140 | Tom Leezer | LottoNL-Jumbo | s.t. |
141 | Bryan Coquard | Vital Concept | s.t. |
142 | Maciej Bodnar | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
143 | Oscar Gatto | Astana | s.t. |
144 | Kenny Dehaes | WB-Aqua Protect-Veranclassic | s.t. |
145 | Jasper De Buyst | Lotto-Soudal | s.t. |
146 | Tony Gallopin | Ag2r La Mondiale | s.t. |
147 | Kris Boeckmans | Vital Concept | s.t. |
148 | Dries De Bondt | Veranda's Willems-Crelan | s.t. |
149 | Julien Morice | Vital Concept | +11' 56'' |
2018 Gent-Wevelgem course map
Start list with back numbers, March 24: 2018
BMC | |
1 | VAN AVERMAET Greg |
2 | ROELANDTS Jurgen |
3 | BETTIOL Alberto |
4 | SCHÄR Michael |
5 | KÜNG Stefan |
6 | DRUCKER Jean-Pierre |
7 | VENTOSO Francisco |
BORA-HANSGROHE | |
11 | SAGAN Peter |
12 | BODNAR Maciej |
13 | BURGHARDT Marcus |
14 | OSS Daniel |
15 | SAGAN Juraj |
16 | SCHILLINGER Andreas |
17 | SELIG Rüdiger |
LOTTO-SOUDAL | |
21 | HOFLAND Moreno |
22 | DE BUYST Jasper |
23 | DEBUSSCHERE Jens |
24 | FRISON Frederik |
25 | BAK Lars Ytting |
26 | SIEBERG Marcel |
27 | WALLAYS Jelle |
QUICK-STEP FLOORS | |
31 | GILBERT Philippe |
32 | DECLERCQ Tim |
33 | LAMPAERT Yves |
34 | VIVIANI Elia |
35 | SENECHAL Florian |
36 | STYBAR Zdenek |
37 | TERPSTRA Niki |
AG2R LA MONDIALE | |
41 | NAESEN Oliver |
42 | BAGDONAS Gediminas |
43 | BARBIER Rudy |
44 | DENZ Nico |
45 | DUVAL Julien |
46 | GALLOPIN Tony |
47 | VANDENBERGH Stijn |
ASTANA | |
51 | DE VREESE Laurens |
52 | GATTO Oscar |
53 | GRUZDEV Dmitriy |
54 | HOULE Hugo |
55 | LUTSENKO Alexey |
56 | CORT NIELSEN Magnus |
57 | VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael |
BAHRAIN-MERIDA | |
61 | COLBRELLI Sonny |
62 | BOZIC Borut |
63 | GARCIA CORTINA Ivan |
64 | HAUSSLER Heinrich |
65 | KOREN Kristjan |
66 | PER David |
67 | PIBERNIK Luka |
EF EDUCATION FIRST-DRAPAC | |
71 | VANMARCKE Sep |
72 | DOCKER Mitchell |
73 | LANGEVELD Sebastian |
74 | MCLAY Daniel |
75 | MODOLO Sacha |
76 | PHINNEY Taylor |
77 | SCULLY Thomas |
GROUPAMA-FDJ | |
81 | DEMARE Arnaud |
82 | CIMOLAI Davide |
83 | DUCHESNE Antoine |
84 | GUARNIERI Jacopo |
85 | KONOVALOVAS Ignatas |
86 | LE GAC Olivier |
87 | SINKELDAM Ramon |
MITCHELTON-SCOTT | |
91 | TRENTIN Matteo |
92 | BAUER Jack |
93 | EDMONDSON Alexander |
94 | HAYMAN Mathew |
95 | HEPBURN Michael |
96 | DURBRIDGE Luke |
97 | MEZGEC Luka |
MOVISTAR | |
101 | AMADOR Andrey |
102 | ARCAS PEÑA Jorge |
103 | BARBERO Carlos |
104 | BENNATI Daniele |
105 | CARRETERO Hector |
106 | OLIVEIRA Nelson |
107 | SÜTTERLIN Jasha |
DIMENSION DATA | |
111 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald |
112 | GIBBONS Ryan |
113 | DOUGALL Nick |
114 | KING Benjamin |
115 | THOMSON Jay Robert |
117 | VERMOTE Julien |
KATUSHA-ALPECIN | |
121 | MARTIN Tony |
122 | BIERMANS Jenthe |
123 | DOWSETT Alex |
124 | GONCALVES Jose |
125 | KUZNETSOV Vyacheslav |
126 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste |
127 | ZABEL Rick |
LOTTO NL-JUMBO | |
131 | GROENEWEGEN Dylan |
132 | WYNANTS Maarten |
133 | LEEZER Tom |
134 | ROOSEN Timo |
135 | VAN EMDEN Jos |
136 | VAN HOECKE Gijs |
137 | VAN POPPEL Danny |
SKY | |
141 | MOSCON Gianni |
142 | DOULL Owain |
143 | HALVORSEN Kristoffer |
144 | KNEES Christian |
145 | STANNARD Ian |
146 | GOLAS Michal |
147 | VAN BAARLE Dylan |
TEAM SUNWEB | |
151 | MATTHEWS Michael |
152 | ARNDT Nikias |
153 | CURVERS Roy |
154 | HOFSTEDE Lennard |
156 | STAMSNIJDER Tom |
156 | TEUNISSEN Mike |
157 | THEUNS Edward |
TREK-SEGAFREDO | |
161 | STUYVEN Jasper |
162 | DE KORT Koen |
163 | REIJNEN Kiel |
164 | PEDERSEN Mads |
165 | RAST Grégory |
166 | DEGENKOLB John |
167 | VAN POPPEL Boy |
UAE-TEAM EMIRATES | |
171 | KRISTOFF Alexander |
172 | BYSTROM Sven Erik |
173 | CONSONNI Simone |
174 | GANNA Filippo |
175 | MARCATO Marco |
176 | SWIFT Ben |
177 | TROIA Oliviero |
SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE | |
181 | CAPIOT Amaury |
182 | NOPPE Christophe |
183 | PLANCKAERT Edward |
184 | VAN GESTEL Dries |
185 | VAN HECKE Preben |
186 | VAN ROOY Kenneth |
187 | WARLOP Jordi |
WANTY–GROUPE GOBERT | |
191 | DUPONT Timothy |
193 | PASQUALON Andrea |
194 | MCNALLY Mark |
195 | VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume |
196 | DEVRIENDT Tom |
197 | VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter |
198 | OFFREDO Yoann |
VERANDA'S WILLEMS-CRELAN | |
201 | VAN AERT Wout |
202 | LEYSEN Senne |
203 | DE BONDT Dries |
204 | DUYN Huub |
205 | GOOLAERTS Michael |
206 | DEVOLDER Stijn |
207 | WAEYTENS Zico |
WB-AQUA PROTECT-VERANCLASSIC | |
211 | DEHAES Kenny |
212 | JULES Justin |
213 | DUQUENNOY Jimmy |
214 | KIRSCH Alex |
215 | STASSEN Julien |
216 | SPENGLER Lukas |
217 | VANTOMME Maxime |
COFIDIS | |
221 | LAPORTE Christophe |
222 | CHETOUT Loïc |
223 | SOUPE Geoffrey |
224 | LEMOINE Cyril |
225 | VAN STAEYEN Michael |
226 | VAN LERBERGHE Bert |
227 | VANBILSEN Kenneth |
ROOMPOT-NEDERLANDSE LOTERIJ | |
231 | WIPPERT Wouter |
232 | GERTS Floris |
233 | LIGTHART Pim |
234 | VAN GINNEKEN Sjoerd |
235 | VAN GOETHEM Brian |
236 | VAN SCHIP Jan Willem |
237 | VERMELTFOORT Coen |
VITAL CONCEPT CYCLING CLUB | |
241 | BOECKMANS Kris |
242 | COQUARD Bryan |
243 | DE BACKER Bert |
244 | LE BON Johan |
245 | LECROQ Jérémy |
246 | MORICE Julien |
247 | TURGIS Tanguy |