Report – Kittel gets his win Scheldeprijs

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Marcel Kittel without a win in Europe in 2014, set that to rights with a win in the sprinters race, Scheldeprijs (Belgium) for the third time

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Report – Kittel gets his win Scheldeprijs

Marcel Kittel has taken his third win in a row at Scheldeprijs today, asserting his dominance in this sprinters classic. Having targeted this race for a while, the team set about executing the plan of protecting Marcel and riding for a bunch sprint.

Everything worked to plan and Marcel jumped with just over 200m to go to take a superb victory, the third of the day so far for Team Giant-Shimano.
Marcel was all smiles after the win, saying: “It really means a lot for me to win here for the third time, especially after a superb job by my teammates”.

“I knew that I could go early at the end as we had a tailwind. My plan was to jump 280m from the line and after perfect preparation for the sprint this was made possible. We showed today that we are one of the top teams – we stayed calm and finished the job perfectly. I’m really happy.”

“I am very happy,” grinned third placed Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) immediately after the race. “When I saw [Marcel] Kittel go I knew the win was gone, and I just made my own sprint. Kittel was in his own league – maybe second place was possible, but first place was not an option today. I am glad that there was no crash in the end, it was very crazy, very fast.”

“The last 20k were very nervous, we all know that this is a sprint race. The team helped me so much; I did not expect that, because they are here to prepare for Paris-Roubaix. Fabian [Cancellara] did a fantastic job, he was in front of me, and that is very special, very nice to see that. The other guys all helped me too. And in the last kilometer I was in good wheels – in the sprint I was close to second place.”

Cancellera plays the teammate
“When you have a wheel like Fabian’s to follow, it’s the perfect ride,” added van Poppel. “He told me to get on his wheel and we will pull you to the front. That was amazing. He is able to get through so much easier. Also Markel [Irizar] was there in the end, too. I was thinking to tell Fabian to stop pulling, though, because I did not want him to risk crashing with Sunday’s big race coming up. But he has so much experience he knows what to do.

“It was very nervous, I don’t really like finishes like this. In this race a top five is very good, and that is what I was hoping for. So for me to get third – I am super happy.”

Luke Rowe on early doors duty
Rowe infiltrated a six-man escape group after a busy start to the race and was one of the main driving forces in it helping them evade the clutches of the peloton for over 150 kilometres. Rowe also looked the freshest in that group as the race neared its conclusion, and surged ahead with around 7km to go in a bid for a brave solo victory.

That attack was thwarted 3km later however After the race, Rowe was pleased with his performance and revealed everyone in the team is in fine fettle ahead of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

“The aim was to stay out of trouble with one eye on Paris-Roubaix, and get a nice long ride in the legs before Sunday. We were given the freedom to ride as we wanted so I made the decision to try and get in the break”.

“With Scheldeprijs renowned for ending in a bunch sprint, some might have seen it as a suicide move, but we worked well together in the break and rode hard on the circuits before it all fell apart in the last 10km.”

“When the others started playing around, I made my move on the cobbles and opened up a decent gap at one point. Then we turned onto the side of the canal and into a headwind, and that’s when my days were numbered. The peloton were absolutely flying by then but I enjoyed it and I’m happy with my form.”

“We’re going to take our feet off the gas between now and Sunday and that’ll allow us to go into Paris-Roubaix fully rested and recovered.”

Result
1 KITTEL Marcel Team Giant-Shimano 04:33:53
2 FARRAR Tyler Garmin Sharp
3 VAN POPPEL Danny Trek Factory Racing
4 PETACCHI Alessandro Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
5 BENNETT Sam Team NetApp – Endura
6 APPOLLONIO Davide AG2R La Mondiale
7 NAPOLITANO Danilo Wanty – Groupe Gobert
8 GUARDINI Andrea Astana Pro Team
9 MARTINEZ Yannick Team Europcar
10 PELUCCHI Matteo IAM Cycling

13 CHICCHI Francesco Neri Sottoli
15 KRISTOFF Alexander Team Katusha
20 BOS Theo Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
21 DéMARE Arnaud FDJ.fr
25 STEEGMANS Gert Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
32 BAUER Jack Garmin Sharp
52 FENN Andrew Omega Pharma – Quick-Step @15
70 SAGAN Peter Cannondale @0.27
76 HUSHOVD Thor BMC Racing Team
84 BOONEN Tom Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
101 DEMPSTER Zakkari Team NetApp – Endura
102 BOOM Lars Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
120 MILLAR David Garmin Sharp @1.42
121 CANCELLARA Fabian Trek Factory Racing
122 THWAITES Scott Team NetApp – Endura 01:58
125 ROWE Luke Team Sky @2.14
141 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald Team Sky @ 4.32
142 THOMAS Geraint Team Sky
157 WIGGINS Bradley Team Sky @4.49

 

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