Cycling: After a 70-kilometer escape, Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) was able to prevail at the E3 Prijs Harelbeke. In the sprint he relegated Philippe Gilbert (Quickstep Floors) and Oliver Naesen (AG2R) to their places. The young Austrian Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora – Hansgrohe) came in strong fifth.
Already 70 km before the finish, the race entered the hot phase after Phillippe Gilbert attacked and some favorites like Sagan, Degenkolb and Co. could not follow. Lukas Pöstlberger, who drove an ambitious race, was very attentive. The young Austrian presented himself well for a long time and only had to let the 35-man group around winner Van Avermaet go with 3 km to the finish at the legendary Oude Kwaremont. With almost 20 km to go, Gilbert tried again, but he was only able to distance himself from Naesen, who was able to catch up with the two leaders after a short pursuit. World champion Peter Sagan experienced a black day, who first missed the decisive group and fell shortly afterwards. Back on the bike, he had to stop a little later to fix a problem with the front brake.
Result E3 Prijs Harelbeke:
1. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC)
2. Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors)
3. Olivier Naesen (Ag2R)
4. Luke Durbridge (Orica Scott)
5. Lukas Postlberger (Bora-hansgrohe)
6.Michael Valgren (Astana)
7. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida)