Adam Blythe Runner-Up At Omloop van het Houtland

Sheffield’s Adam Blythe finished second to Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) Wednesday at Omloop van het Houtland-Lichtervelde to post his third top five finish this month for the BMC Racing Team.

The BMC Racing Team went to work after a four-man breakaway was brought back near the end of the 193.8-kilometer race. On the third-to-last of eight laps of a 9.8 km circuit, Blythe sat back as his teammates set a furious pace up front.

“We decided to go full gas with the team and that caused a split,” he said. “The team did a super job for me and I just waited for the finish, riding as easy as I could.”

With a kilometre to go, teammate Klaas Lodewyck shepherded Blythe onto Kittel’s wheel in anticipation of the bunch sprint. “I moved up before the dangerous corner and everything was perfect,” Blythe said.

“But Kittel was just too strong. I couldn’t get past him.” Timothy Dupont (Bofrost-Steria) finished third. Blythe’s result improved on his third place finish at this race in 2010 and added to a fourth place result Sunday at GP d’Isbergues and a fifth on Sept. 1 on Stage 2 of the World Ports Classic.