Ian Stannard wins Het Nieuwsblad

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Report, reaction, video and results – Ian Stannard beats the odds to win Het Nieuwsblad for the second time – Paul Burgoine talks to him.

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Ian Stannard wins Het Nieuwsblad

Britain’s Ian Stannard beat the odds on Saturday, winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for the second time. Up against it with three Etixx – Quick-Step riders in the four up break, Ian matched the attacks and then outsprinted Paris-Roubaix winner Nikki Terpstra to clinch a history making victory.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Ian Stannard told TeamSky.com after the race. “It’s nice to do the double sweep at the race, but after the difficulties I had last year breaking my back it’s nice to have got myself back to where I was”.

Ian Stannard in the press conference said afterwards (Thanks Paul Burgoine) when asked about the two wins, “One was wet, one was dry. Last years win was a bit of a breakthrough season but the rest of the season didn’t go to well with me breaking my back and stuff. So I really wanted to win this or at least be up there fighting hard for it. The team put me in the best possible position for it, they showed a lot of faith in me so it was nice to have come back and won especially after all my troubles, last year.”

Were you was in a difficult situation with three Etixx riders? “Yeah, I was a little bit worried about it. I thought they were going to attack me pretty hard at the end but the chase group were only 20 seconds behind so they couldn’t really play about too much. So I could just play poker on the back. As a team they haven’t won it for 10 years and it’s a big one missing off Boonen’s palmares. I knew they were going to race hard”.

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Pic: Paul Burgoine

“Boonen tried to attack me and I rode back up to him, when you ride back up to a guy like that, you know you have got good legs. So I went over the top of him. I was aware Tom was behind but Niki Terpsta went a bit early in the sprint and shielded me from the wind a bit. I just had to grit my teeth and go for it.“

Do you think Etixx made tactical mistakes? “Its a hard situation. There were riders behind chasing and they want to be in the front to win. Maybe if the gap was a minute, they could have played it more. I don’t know what else they could have done really. The group behind chasing played into my hands nicely so I was happy to finish it off and win it.”

Do you feel you had something to prove today after all of last years troubles? “Yeah more to myself, I just wanted to show I was back at the level I was at last year. its been a hard couple of months since breaking my back then my wrist, putting on weight. I had three months off the bike so I’m happy to get back here and perform. I worked hard at the December camp and in the Qatar Time Trial, I was only seconds off Cancellara and Wiggins so I knew I had the form coming into this. Having a Tour de France champion riding with you is a bit nerve racking but it worked out ok!”

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Pic: Paul Burgoine

What did Tom Boonen say to you on the podium? “That was good team time trial!”

The icing on the cake was 9th for Stannard’s teammate Luke Rowe.

Tom Boonen - “Today we made a mistake in the final”

“We were in control of the race with three riders in the front group. In the final kilometers we attacked. Niki went first, Stannard reacted, and then I countered with my move. I was pretty sure at that time that it was the right moment to do it. But Stannard had the strategy to ride on the wheels of us three in the lead group, and save his energy until the final kilometers, so he was a bit fresher”.

“He was also strong today. So, he caught me. The best thing to do at that point would have been to stay calm and wait for the sprint. But we had been full gas for the last hour, so really it was about instinct at that point. So, Niki attacked again, then Stannard, and then the final sprint was between those two guys. There is a thin line between a great race and a costly mistake and unfortunately we took the risk of not waiting for the sprint, and it didn’t work out”.

“It would have been great to win the race, but that’s cycling. Congrats to Stannard. He rode a smart tactical race and his reactions to our attacks were impressive. His sprint was also strong. As a team we rode super strong today and while we unfortunately fell short of victory, we know what we are capable of for future races.”

Good day for Brammeier

It was a good race for Matt Brammeier of MTN-Qhubeka. Matt got in a break which managed to open a big gap on the peloton and there were only two left out front when the peloton, led by a solo Luke Rowe at first, who caught them including Brammeir at the 50km to go banner. “We had a good group out front today with the right combination of teams, riders and a couple of strong guys”.

“As soon we got in it, I knew it was a good group and we could go quite far. As every climb went by, I just tried to push on and make it to the next climb and make it as deep into the race as I could. I made it up to the Haaghoek and then I tried to do as much as I could for the guys but I got flat tyre there at the end which was a bit of bad luck”.

“Maybe I could have done a few more pulls then but I would’ve exploded in the end anyway, so I am happy with my performance”.

RESULT
1. Ian STANNARD, TEAM SKY, in 4:58:41
2. Niki TERPSTRA, ETIXX-QUICK STEP, at :00
3. Tom BOONEN, ETIXX-QUICK STEP, at :08
4. Stijn VANDENBERGH, ETIXX-QUICK STEP, at :15
5. Sep VANMARCKE, TEAM LOTTO NL-JUMBO, at 1:24
6. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:24
7. Zdenek STYBAR, ETIXX-QUICK STEP, at 1:29
8. Philippe GILBERT, BMC RACING TEAM, at 4:36
9. Luke ROWE, TEAM SKY, at 4:55
10. Arnaud DEMARE, FDJ, at 4:55
44. Bradley WIGGINS, TEAM SKY, at 5:09
57. Russell DOWNING, CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING, at 10:19
85. Matt BRAMMEIER, MTN-QHUBEKA, at 10:19
94. Paul VOSS, BORA-ARGON 18, at 10:19
95. Scott THWAITES, BORA-ARGON 18, at 10:19

WOMEN’S

1 Van Der Breggen
2 Ellen Van Dijke
3 Lizzie Armitstead

30 Molly Weaver
68 Claire Thomas
87 Elieen Rowe
105 Christmas

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