Sep Vanmarcke survived from an early break and a dangerous solo attack, but was pipped on the line by Jurgen Roelandts of Silence Lotto and Katusha's Vlad Gusev in today's E3 Prijs Vlaanderen/Harelbeke.
But that was the race for second, because at 16km to go, shortly before the Tiegemberg, Fabian Cancellara countered a brief attack by Bram Tankink with the move we've seen so many times before: a devastating acceleration that can only briefly be tracked by anyone else, before they give up and watch the gap grow. 10 seconds... 11... 13... 16... 20... 25... 31... 50... And so on.
It was another eventful day for Cancellara, with a flat and another mechanical in the middle stages of the race, but each obstacle was swept aside with the same ease with which he flicked Tankink off his wheel in the decisive moment.
- Fabian Cancellara, Leopard Trek
- Jurgen Roelandts, Silence-Lotto at 1.00
- Vlad Gusev, Katusha, s.t.
- Sep Vanmarcke, Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
- Bram Tankink, Rabobank, s.t.
- William Bonnet, FDJ
- Heinrich Haussler, Garmin
- Sebastian Hinault, AG2R
- Stuart O'Grady, Leopard
- Serguei Ivanov, Katusha