Making a Mess of Things

   Congratulations to Team Sky’s Ian Stannard for his repeat win at the Belgian semi-Classic, Het Nieuwsblad, not only because of his comeback from serious injury, but for his masterful job of outfoxing three breakaway companions, all of which were from the same Etixx-Quick Step team! I want to be fair to Stannard and say how smart the Brit played the situation and how strong he rode in the last few miles, however the “EQS” teammates really blew their strategy, but we’ll get back to that part of the story later.

   Het Nieuwsblad, is named after and sponsored by the region’s newspaper, and is usually marked by bad weather. Some cyclists said this year’s event was the coldest they’ve ever experienced! The race’s route covers some of the legendary cobbled climbs featured in the Tour of Flanders. Traditionalists (I’m one of them) like to point out that Het Nieuwsblad also covers climbs that used to be in the Tour of Flanders, since its race organizers chose to make the route more corporate-friendly.

   The historic race was altered to include a finishing circuit so that the cyclists would pass V.I.P. tents several times. Fabled climbs, such as the Bosberg and Muur de Gerardsbergen, were completely eliminated. “The Muur” (see photo above from 2010) was a frequent point for a decisive move during the race, and as a result, a gathering point of hordes of cycling-crazy spectators!

   This route change may be great for “the suits”, but what about the fans and the tradition of the race? Perhaps the one positive is that the semi-Classics can boost their profile and create their own special atmosphere by including these forgotten climbs.

   Stannard looked set for a big season after such an impressive win at last year’s Het Nieuwsblad, but only three weeks later he crashed into a ditch at Ghent-Wevelgem and broke his back. Ian had to wear a body brace (see photo left) and stay off the bike completely for three months, as he gained weight and totally lost his fitness. Finally in September, in his first competitive ride during the first stage of the Tour of Britain, Stannard crashed again and broke his wrist, effectively ending a season that pretty much never was!

   So it was really great to see Ian following the dominant EQS team as they powered up a climb called the Haaghoek, in an attempt to create a gap with about 50 km left to go. 2012 winner Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto NL-Jumbo) had originally made this group, but suffered an untimely tire puncture and was left to chase with BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet and, yet another Etixx rider, Zdenek Stybar.

   In hindsight we can question if maybe it would have been a better strategy to let the three chasers catch up to share the remaining workload (that is, IF the Etixx four could have gotten their three opponents to contribute evenly), but there are no guarantees there wouldn’t be a flat or mechanical failure to throw the advantage out of balance. At that moment they had three to one in the break, the powerful Stijn Vandenbergh, last year’s Paris-Roubaix winner Niki Terpstra and Classics legend Tom Boonen, four-time Roubaix and three-time Flanders victor. Pushing the current advantage seemed the best strategy – and it really should have been!

   The problem was that the Etixx trio was left to do all of the work up front, while Stannard just sat on in their slipstream, saving all his energy. He was outnumbered, and if the others wanted to shed him from the break, it was their responsibility to attack and do so. They just waited too long, and Stannard proved to have plenty left in his legs to respond.

   I said to Sue that their best move was to have Boonen go first because he is the fastest of the three and would take Stannard the most energy to catch, which is exactly what happened, but the Brit was fresh enough to slowly reel Boonen back in, with the other two Etixx riders following him in line. The following move was predictable and Stannard completely saw it coming, when he managed to regain Boonen’s wheel and Terpstra immediately attempted to make a break.

   What wasn’t expected was that Vandenbergh went with Terpstra, and when Stannard jumped across to them, Boonen was left alone to catch up. Stannard then made what proved to be the winning move by accelerating past Terpstra after the catch was made. Vandenbergh, who had done the most work in the day’s breakaway, was toast at this point, and Terpstra’s response to reach Stannard dropped the struggling Boonen.

   Terpstra actually took up the proper position at the front down the finishing stretch, in an attempt to force his Team Sky opponent to come around him, but the Dutchmen started his sprint way too soon, allowing Stannard to close into his slipstream and slingshot right around him at the line. I actually let out a bit of a yelp - it was so fun to watch it unfold!

   If you are interested, Cosmo Catalano puts together brief, humorous highlights of the year’s big races, and you can see the video of this event here.