Marcel Kittel welcomed new sponsor Argos to the cycling world with a crazy win in the Scheldeprijs today, dancing through the raindrops to hold off Garmin's Tyler Farrar for his first cobbled classic win. Kittel launched his sprint down the center of a slick city road in Schoten, just to the right of Farrar and Rabobank's Theo Bos, both of whom went a bit earlier and couldn't hold off the charging German wunderkind.
The 100th edition of the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen passed peacefully enough until the final lap of the finishing circuit, when the rain turned the brick and paint sections into a skating rink. Several crashes occurred, from minor slips to a pair of uglier incidents, one that cost Wouter Mol of Vacansoleil an apparent collarbone break inside of 5km, and one after the finish line, when riders began slipping out and left a photographer injured and headed for the hospital. The favorites for Sunday stayed out of trouble, but the last 20 minutes of the race, when conditions were deteriorating fast, were hard to watch. Results:
- Marcel Kittel, Argos-Shimano
- Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Barracuda
- Theo Bos, Rabobank
- Romain Feillu, Vacansoleil
- Manuel Belletti, AG2R
- Elia Favilli, Farnese Vini
- Alexander Porsev, Katusha
- Sebastian Turgot, Europcar
- Giacomo Nizzolo, RNT
- Guillaume Boivin, SPI
Photos © Fotoreporter Sirotti