Cycling: The Quick-Step Floors team continues to rush from victory to victory. The Belgian team could not be tamed in the E3 Harelbeke one-day race either. Niki Terpstra and Philippe Gilbert ensured a double victory. Behind them, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) took third place. World Champion Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) was not able to ride at the very front today.
Spengler on the run, fall divides the peloton
The E3 Harelbeke one-day race is also considered the perfect preparation for the upcoming classics on cobblestones this season. The Ronde van Vlaanderen is on the program on April 1st, before the hell of the north awaits the bravest riders in the peloton with Paris-Roubaix on April 8th. So today at the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen some well-known professionals faced each other. First, however, as always, the escapees wrote the beginning of racing history. In addition to the Swiss Lukas Spengler (WB Aqua Protect), seven other professionals were on the run. The group broke up through the slipways and the passages on cobblestones. The same happened in the peloton due to a fall. Since Quick-Step Floors was represented with seven men in the first part, this seemed to be a preliminary decision.
Quick-Step Floors also dominates E3 Harelbeke
Because of the high speed of Quick-Step Floors, the peloton at Taaienberg finally fell apart. Several small groups formed. There were curious scenes when support vehicles blocked the path and the riders had to get off their bikes and walk past them. The Quick-Step Floors team was undeterred by this. With Yves Lampaert and Niki Terpstra, two professionals broke away from the competition, caught the last escapees and from then on were at the top as a duo. Behind was a trio in pursuit with Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) and Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), although of course only two of them were interested in the tracking work. So the Belgian team in the blue and white jerseys had everything under control.
Terpstra and Gilbert ensure a double victory
Already on the first few kilometers of the joint escape it was clear that Lampaert was the weaker of the two. He was distanced several times up the slipways, but his team-mate kept waiting for him. Ultimately, however, Terpstra lost too much time as a result, so that at some point he had to set out as a soloist. At Lampaert the stove was off. Shortly thereafter, he was caught by the chasing group, which had grown. They were able to reduce the gap to Terpstra from over 40 seconds to under 20 seconds, but the lack of consensus meant that this lead should be enough. Niki Terpstra was already celebrating a few meters before crossing the finish line as the winner. Behind him, teammate Philippe Gilbert made the one-two perfect. Greg Van Avermaet was third. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), who was partly active in the chasing group, finally finished about four minutes behind together with world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe). The Swiss Stefan Küng (BMC) was a strong tenth as a helper.
¡Victoria de Niki Terpstra!
The neerlandés are now a Merecida Victoria
Gilbert cerrando doubles para Quick Step.
Naufragio de BMC and a constant sense#RBE3H pic.twitter.com/fJI00ptJxk— Alpe d'Huez B&T (@Alpe__dHuez) March 23, 2018