Home > News

Terpstra takes his second trophy of the Flanders Fortnight with Ronde van Vlaanderen win

Dutchman also won E3 Harelbeke

23-03-2018 E3 Harelbeke; 2018, Bmc Racing Team; Terpstra, Niki; Harelbeke;
April 1, 2018
Share on SMS

Niki Terpstra not only gave the Dutch a sweep of Sunday’s two elite Tour of Flanders races, he also earned his second win of the Flanders Fortnight, adding his first De Ronde victory to an E3 Harelbeke triumph on March 23. Before Sunday the Quick Step rider had placed runner-up and third in the second Monument Classic of the year. The last Dutchman to win De Ronde was Adrie van der Poel 32-years ago.

The Route
The men’s field faced 18 hills, half of which were cobbled, and four flat cobbled sections over 263-km. When the Muur returned to the 2017 edition, positioned 90-km from the finish, most thought it was too far out to make a difference in the race. But was there that a thrust from Tom Boonen made the first real selection.

The action would most likely start with 60-km to go on the second ascent of Oude Kwaremont (2200-metres of 4.2 percent), its first of two pairings with the Paterberg (400-metres of 12.5 percent). Between the first climb of Paterberg and the last peaking with 13-km to go, there was the Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg, and Kruisberg.



The Breakaway
There was an early crash for Sep Vanmarcke (EF-Drapac) but no breakaway over the first 60-km with Quick Step and Bora-Hansgrohe chasing down moves. Finally, with 190-km to go, a raft of eleven riders pushed off the front. Six of the fugitives were from wildcard teams like WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic.

The escapees enjoyed a 5:00 buffer with 160-km and all the climbs remaining.

BMC, Sky and FDJ all did the yeoman’s task of bringing the escape closer. A crash in the peloton occurred while approaching the Muur. Poor Oliver Naesen (Belgium/AG2R), who crashed out of Dwars door Vlaanderen, was one of those who went down and it took him a lot of energy to return to the peloton. Canadian Antoine Duchesne crashed as well and couldn’t carry on.

Action With 50-km To Go

By the time the race reached the second climb of the Oude Kwaremont, the breakaway was still out in front albeit with a few new faces. The Kwaremont split the peloton into three groups, with Peter Sagan in the second and having to chase back on before the first accelerated. On the Paterberg, one could see that Naesen was accounted for, as was Vincenzo Nibali. Michal Kwiatkowski looked strong, but Greg van Avermaet seemed to be struggling a bit. The pack was 40-strong.

There was a lot of chatter on Twitter about riders remaining unpunished after removing helmets or riding on paths to avoid the cobbles, but one rider who was yanked from the race was Sky’s Luke Rowe. Watch him scatter people on the right hand side.

On the 11.6 percent Koppenberg, Mitchelton-Scott’s Matteo Trentin had a good turn before his ex-teammate Terpstra dug deep. The remnants of the breakaway were still 30-seconds ahead when Sonny Colbrelli (Italy/Bahrain-Merida) attacked on the Steenbeekdries with 39-km to go. He couldn’t break from the 30-rider bunch. Four climbs remained.

On the Taaienberg (800-meters, 7.2%) Van Avermaet drove the bus.

Sky tried to road block the peloton because their rider Dylan van Baarle was part of the trio of escapees still leading the race. Again, Colbrelli accelerated on the Kruisberg, and Kwiatkowski, Sagan, Nibali and Quick Step’s Czech Zdenek Stybar springboarded from this surge. Nibali was the next to attack on the highway. Terpstra found his wheel and then left the Italian behind.

The Kwaremont and Paterberg
Terpstra beat on towards the breakaway, with the chasing group 21-seconds in arrears and 23-km to go. The E3 Harelbeke winner bridged on the Kwaremont. Tiejs Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) and Vanmarcke led the efforts of the chase, dropping Naesen and Kwiatkowski. Sagan tried to inject some pace before the Paterberg.

Benoot led the chase up the final climb of the day, but Terpstra held a 30-second lead over the top of the Paterberg. Part of the breakaway, 22-year-old Mads Pederson (Denmark/Trek-Segafredo) was still in between Terpstra and a solo chasing Sagan. Sagan finally gave up and went back to the main chase to fight it out for the podium. Pederson kept his second spot.

Last year’s winner, Terpstra’s teammate Philippe Gilbert, filled out the podium. Sagan’s sixth place gave him the WorldTour lead, 47-points over Alejandro Valverde. Terpstra stands fourth.

Starting with the “Three” Days of Panne on March 21, Quick Step won four of the five races of the Flanders Fortnight.

The top Canadian was Hugo Houle at 59th. That’s Houle’s best-ever Monument result.

Paris-Roubaix is next Sunday.


2018 Ronde van Vlaanderen
1) Niki Terpstra (The Netherlands/Quick Step) 6:21:25
2) Mads Pederson (Denmark/Trek-Segafredo) +0:12
3) Philippe Gilbert (Belgium/Quick Step) +0:17
59) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana) +8:18