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Victory for Rivera and Gilbert in the Tour of Flanders

Rivera earns her second Women's WorldTour victory of the season

April 2, 2017
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On Sunday Philippe Gilbert won his first Tour of Flanders, the second Monument of the season, while Sunweb’s American sprint ace Coryn Rivera nabbed her second of five Women’s WorldTour races this year. Gilbert attacked 54-km from the finish and a crash in the chase helped him to solo to a famous win, his third Monument after the 2010 Giro di Lombardia and 2011 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The Women’s Race
The women’s field had 12-climbs and five cobbled sections to tackle in a 153-km course. Like the men’s event, the women’s Ronde Van Vlaanderen would take on the Muur-Kapelmuur, appearing as the seventh climb, and the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg duo finishing with 13.2-km to go to the line in Oudenaarde.


Just before the first section of cobbles, Canadian Alison Jackson crashed and would not finish. No breakaways lasted very long as the field completed 41-km in the first hour of racing. Three riders got away for a short distance, but were brought back by the time the race went back through Oudenaarde. By the top of the fourth climb, the Leberg, there were many riders off the back.


After the Muur Lisa Klein of Cervelo-Bigla did a flyer but for only a short while. It was Sunweb’s Rozanne Slik who had a more successful solo expedition, grabbing a 1:30 gap. At the 115-km mark, five chasers lit out after her, but it all came back together on the Kanarieberg, 1-km of 7.7% with 35-km to go.

After the Kanarieberg there were 37-riders at the front of the race. From that mob a strong foursome stole away on the Kruisberg: Orica’s Annemiek van Vleuten, Strade Bianche winner Elisa Longo Borghini, Pole Katarzyna Niewiadoma of WM3 Energie and Boels-Dolmans’ Anna van der Breggen. Only the Kwaremont and Paterberg remained.

The Kwaremont looked like it would be the quartet’s undoing, with a 16-rider chase snapping at its heels, but the four survived, though van der Breggen and Niewiadoma slipped off the back for a bit. The break made it over the Paterberg intact as well. The run-in to Oudenaarde would be tense.

With 5-km remaining, the break held 20-seconds over the Sunweb-led chase. But the pursuers caught the fugitives just inside the kilometre mark to create a 19-rider bunch sprint. Boels-Dolmans led out Chantal Blaak, but Rivera turned on the gas and triumphed, becoming the first North American to win the prestigious race.
https://twitter.com/wcstats/status/848523281997156352
Rivera takes over the lead in the WorldTour from Longo Borghini. The next WWT race on the calendar is Amstel Gold on April 16.

Leah Kirchmann was top Canadian in 69th place, 7:25 back.

The Men’s Race
At 259.5 kilometres, the 101st edition of the Tour of Flanders, the second of five Monument Classics, featured 18 hills and five sections of cobbles. Back for the first time in six years, the Muur van Geraardsbergen, 1.1-km of maximum 20% grade leading to the famous chapel, returned at kilometre 165. The Oude Kwaremont was climbed thrice, twice while paired with the Paterberg. The last pairing peaked with 16.7-km and 13.2-km remaining respectively.

Almost immediately from the gun in Antwerp, six riders bolted, soon joined by two more. The first two hours of racing were completed at 41-kmh. By the first two sections of cobbles, the Lippenhovestraat and Paddestraat, the eight escapees had 10:20 on the peloton.

When the day’s sixth climb began with 110-km to go, the gap was 7:00 as Cannondale-Drapac set the pace in the peloton.

On the Muur, Quick Step’s Tom Boonen and Gilbert forced the pace, creating a 14-rider platoon containing teammate Matteo Trentin, Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale), Trek’s Jasper Stuyven and Alexander Kristoff of Katusha, but without favourites Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan. With 74-km remaining, the gap from the Boonen-Gilbert group, now picking up remnants of the breakaway, back to the Lotto-Soudal-led peloton was 1:10.


After 193-km, the breakaway was over. Sixty-eight kilometres and eight climbs–including two Oude Kwaremont/Paterberg combos–remained and the gap was 1:00. Orica-Scott and BMC joined the increasingly frantic chase. With the chase making inroads, Gilbert attacked on the penultimate Kwaremont and took a lead.


Vannmarcke crashed on the descent of the Kwaremont. Gilbert committed fully to his attack as Van Avermaet and Sagan finally joined the main chase. The Belgian champion stayed ahead over the Paterberg and Koppenberg with Van Avermaet and Sagan in a large bunch 40-seconds back and two men in between. The crowds roared Gilbert up the Taaienberg.

Just as Boonen suffered a mechanical on the Taaienberg, Van Avermaet, Sagan, Trentin, Oliver Naesen (Belgium/AG2R) and Yoann Offredo (France/Wanty-Groupe Gobert) attacked and soon hauled in the two men in between to create a new chase of seven. The septet was 58-seconds adrift with 32-km to go.

When Sagan made a big surge on the final trip up the Kwaremont, he hit the foot off a barrier, causing a crash with Van Avermaet. Naesen seemingly got a jacket caught in his wheel at the same time. Chaos.


Cannondale’s Dylan Van Baarle became Gilbert’s closest chaser, Van Avermaet and Niki Terpstra (Quick Step) making it over to him with 11-km to go. Into the headwind Gilbert grunted, with the trio making little gains into his gap. Terpstra, who didn’t have to work, could smell a Quick Step one-two. But Van Avermaet would deny Terpstra.

Philippe had time to walk the bike across the line and hold it aloft. After runner-up spots in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke before a triumph in last week’s Three Days of Panne, the Ronde van Vlaanderen title rounds out a fine spring for Phil Gil.
https://twitter.com/wcstats/status/848554428475076608
Antoine Duchesne of Direct Energie was top Canadian in 85th, 8:35 in arrears.

Next Sunday is Paris-Roubaix.

14th Ronde van Vlaanderen Women
1) Coryn Rivera (USA/Sunweb) 4:02:38
2) Gracie Elvin (Australia/Orica-Scott) s.t.
3) Chantal Blaak (The Netherlands/Boels-Dolmans) s.t.
69) Leah Kirchmann (Canada/Sunweb) +7:25
78) Joëlle Numainville (Canada/Cylance) s.t.

101st Ronde van Vlaanderen
1) Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/Quick Step) 6:23:45
2) Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium/BMC) +0:28
3) Niki Terpstra (The Netherlands/Quick Step) s.t.
85) Antoine Duchesne (Canada/Direct Energie) +8:35
103) Hugo Houle (Canada/AG2R) +11:31