Sunday, February 26, 2012 Mark Cavendish makes sprinting look easy as he takes Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne by Ben Atkins at 11:02 AM EST

Categories: Pro Cycling, Spring Classics, Race Reports and Results World champion powers to victory after Team Sky controls a race littered with breakaways Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the second race of the traditional Belgian Openingsweekend, in a manner that looked all too easy. The World champion was delivered to the final 270 metres by his teammates, and then launched his sprint; once the Manxman was up to speed, there was nobody in the peloton that even came close to catching him.



Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) was the rider to come closest, putting himself on the wheel of Cavendish and then trying to come around in the final metres. The Belarusian managed to pull his front wheel alongside Cavendish’s rear one, but the World champion was already sitting up to celebrate the victory at this point.



Kenny van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) was the best of the rest, several lengths back, at the head of the rest of the sprinters.



"It’s incredible,” said Cavendish to the TV cameras afterwards. “I don’t know if I can even take any credit for this win. The whole day [the Sky team] looked after me; I was never in the wind and I was always at the front of the peloton.”



Cavendish’s victory was far from guaranteed though, in a race punctuated by several breakaways. The rabbits of the day, who escaped after an hour, were of no real danger, but a split at the front of the peloton, caused by the Rabobank duo of Maarten Wynants and Jetse Bol on the Oude Kwaremont with 90km to go pulled a group of around 20 riders clear.



The splinter group contained a number of Cavendish’s rivals for victory, including Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) and John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i). Luckily for the World champion though, it also included a number of his own teammates who, while they could not help chase down the group, were able to disrupt its progress a little.



More crucially though, Cavendish’s big rival André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) had also missed the split, and it was his team that did the lion’s share to close things down. The majority of the group was finally caught with around 45km to go; another break went clear, including French champion Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), but Team Sky calmly allowed it to dangle off the front, before closing it down in the final kilometres.



"The break went on the Oude Kwaremont and we had three in the front,” Cavendish explained. “The other guys stayed with me but we stayed at the front of the peloton. When they brought it back they started riding immediately and just stayed there from 50 kilometres to go. They just rode to the finish. I’m so proud.



"I didn’t feel so good earlier on,” he admitted. “I was vomiting the whole day. After we finished the cobbled climbs I spoke with CJ [Sutton, last year’s race winner - ed] and said ‘you might need to be prepared to sprint as I don’t feel so good’. But once we took control I got settled down and I had the power there.



As Cavendish’s teammate and minder Bernhard Eisel pulled over, the World champion opened his sprint from a long way out, but he had the power to hold on to the line.



"I had to go a bit earlier than I’d hoped,” he said. “It was quite a windy finish and I saw the bunch come and I had to go at about 270m but I was able to hold on and win."



After a number of attempts the breakaway finally breaks away



It took an hour of racing for a breakaway group to get away, but when it did it was allowed to get a long way clear. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), Jérôme Baugnies (Team NetApp), Julien Fouchard (Cofidis), Koen Barbé and Gilles Devillers (both Landbouwkrediet), Nico Eeckhout (An Post-Sean Kelly) and Justin Van Hoecke (Wallonie Bruxelles-Crédit Agricole) managed to build up a lead of more than eight minutes before Team Sky took control and began to close them down.



As they hit the Oude Kwaremont with 90km to go, with the peloton less than three minutes behind, Van Avermaet accelerated and took Eeckhout with him. By the time they reached the top, the two of them led the other five by several seconds.



Rabobank had moved around Team Sky at the front though, and the gap was creeping downwards as Maarten Wynants and Jetse Bol put the pressure on; as the peloton reached the top it was down to 2’37”, but a lot of damage had been done and there were less than 20 riders in the front part.



Boonen himself then came to the front of the group to try to widen the gap; Team Sky was there in numbers, but Cavendish was not, and so Paris-Roubaix champion Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Barracuda) came through to work for Tyler Farrar, who’d also made the split.



Included in the group were Boonen and Andy Fenn (both Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Farrar and Vansummeren (both Garmin-Barracuda), Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing), Juan Antonio Flecha and Mathew Hayman and Ian Stannard (all Sky), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-DCM), John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i), Maarten Wynants, Jetse Bol and Denis Van Winden (all Rabobank).



Lotto-Belisol had missed the split entirely and so the Belgian team put most of its men on the front of the main peloton to try to close down the Boonen/Farrar group. The gap was widening though, as most of those up front had no intention of allowing André Greipel or Mark Cavendish back into the race.



Up front, four of the dropped riders rejoined Van Avermaet and Eeckhout, but Devillers was missing. With 75km to go, the group of six was less than two minutes ahead of the Boonen/Farrar group, and 2’30” ahead of the main peloton.



As Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Rabobank kept forcing the pace of the group, the gap between Boonen/Farrar and the leaders was tumbling, and the gap between them and the peloton was widening. Gert Steeegmans (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) attacked over the top of the Mont de Trieu, with 72km to go, in an attempt to bridge to his team leader, but he was pulled back as he hit the main road.



The breakaway groups come together but the powerful sprinters’ teams have them under control



The Team Sky riders in the group were now refusing to work, much to the dissatisfaction of Vansummeren, but there were still plenty of riders in the group that were. With 58km to go the group caught the race leaders, but the gap to the peloton was just 48 seconds and, with the race now on wide, smooth roads, it was closing.



Chavanel was trying to spoil things for the chasers, but Europcar was also up there now; within a kilometre they had slashed the gap to 30 seconds. With the Nokereberg approaching though, which was the final obstacle before heading for the Kuurne finishing circuit, they were determined to stay away as long as possible.



Boonen came forward as the cobbled climb began, hopping onto the sidewalk and weaving around a bus shelter to avoid the bumps for a few metres, and began to drive for the top. Over the summit the lead had grown to 23 seconds, then Greipel himself leapt from the front of the peloton in an effort to bridge the gap; Steegmans was right on his wheel, and a group formed behind the German sprinter; Cavendish was there this time.



After several attempts Bol managed to get away from the front group; he was quickly joined by Mol and Eeckhout and, as they entered the final 45km, the rest were finally picked up by the peloton; on the straight roads heading into Kuurne the big bunch - now led by Team Sky - was looming large behind them.



Bol dropped back, but an attack from Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) was joined by Chavanel, Aleksandr Kuchynski (Katusha), Sébastien Delfosse (Landbouwkrediet), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis); they soon caught up with Mol and Eeckhout, making a group of seven up front.



A new group is clear but the same result is inevitable



Team Sky was now in full control of the peloton, with all eight riders lined up on the front, but the British team was allowing the gap to grow. As they crossed the finish line to start the two finishing circuits the leading seven were 54 seconds ahead.



The extensive traffic furniture of Kortrijk, as the peloton entered the final 30km, caused a number of crashes towards the rear of the bunch; with one particularly large, high-kerbed island in the middle of the road on a sharp right hand bend causing a number of riders to come down.



Lotto-Belisol moved back up to the front to join Team Sky, but both team’s were quite happy to allow the seven riders to stew out front. As the kilometres went by though, the seconds began to tick away, and under the 20km to go banner they had just 32 seconds, and, as they took the bell with one 16km lap to go, they still had 27 seconds.



With 9km to go, and with the peloton on their heels, Engoulvent was vainly trying to keep the break clear. Inside the final 8km he attacked and was incredibly joined by Eeckhout, who’d been part of the early break; as the others drifted back, the two of them vainly continued, just a few metres ahead of the baying peloton.



With 5km to go it was finally all over, as Flecha led his team past the two stubborn fugitives. The Sky train had been considerably depleted by the unaided chase though, and a number of other teams began to move forward.



Katusha, FDJ-BigMat, and Lotto-Belisol all tried to take over the front of the peloton, but the British team was not willing to yield. Lotto-Belisol then joined forces with Team Sky and took over once more; under the final kilometre banner it was these two teams that led, with Cavendish in fourth wheel and Griepel not far behind him.



With less than 300 metres to go though, Cavendish opened up his sprint and never it looked like anyone was going to come close to getting by him. Hutarovich threw his bike, and managed to get his front wheel alongside the World champion, but Cavendish was already freewheeling at that point, sitting up to celebrate a straightforward-looking victory.



Result Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne

1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Sky

2. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-BigMat

3. Kenny van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM

4. Arnaud Démare (Fra) FDJ-BigMat

5. Alexander Serebryakov (Rus) Team Type 1-Sanofi

6. Tom Veelers (Ned) Project 1t4i

7. Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Europcar

8. Stefan Van Dijk (Ned) Accent.jobs-Willems Verandas

9. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha Team

10. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol



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