2015 E3 Harelbeke

Cycling race January 2015 2015 E3 Harelbeke 2015 UCI World Tour 6 28 E3 Prijs Harelbeke-2015 poster.svg Reworked poster 27 March 2015 215.3 km 5h 15' 00" Geraint Thomas SKY 2015 GBR Zdeněk Štybar EQS 2015 CZE Matteo Trentin EQS 2015 ITA 2014 2016 300 The 2015 E3 Harelbeke was the 58th edition of the E3 Harelbeke cycling race, which took place on 27 March and was the sixth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-confirm-worldtour-calendar-2015 UCI confirm WorldTour Calendar 2015 4 January 2015 Cyclingnews.comhttp://www.uci.ch/road/calendar/detail#date=20150301&view=list&categ=257&country=0&classc=0 2015 UCI Calendar 4 January 2015 UCI The defending champion was Peter Sagan (TTS 2015), who won the 2014 edition in a four-man sprint. https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/e3-harelbeke-2014/results Sagan victorious in E3 Harelbeke 28 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 The race, while important in its own right as part of the spring classics season, was seen as an important part of riders' preparation for the 2015 Tour of Flanders, one of the cycling monuments that took place on many of the same roads the following week. E3 Harelbeke took place on roads in Flanders, starting and ending in the town of Harelbeke. The primary difficulty in the race was the series of short climbs known as hellingen, some of which were cobbled; most of these came in the middle part of the race, with a fairly flat final part. The key move of the race was made on the Oude Kwaremont by Geraint Thomas (SKY 2015), Zdeněk Štybar (EQS 2015) and Sagan. The three riders rode together for over 30 km off, maintaining a gap to the chasing peloton. With approximately 4 km off remaining, Thomas attacked and was able to take a solo victory, and became the first British rider to win the race. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/27/geraint-thomas-wins-e3-harelbeke-team-sky Team Sky's Geraint Thomas becomes first Briton to win E3 Harelbeke 27 March 2015 theguardian.com GMG 28 March 2015 Press Association Štybar chased and was able to take second place, but Sagan was caught by the main peloton. Štybar's teammate Matteo Trentin won the bunch sprint for third place. The other major feature of the race was a succession of crashes. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL 2015) slipped on the Paterberg, though this resulted in nothing worse than a broken shoe; however, a major crash early in the race caused significant problems for a number of riders. The worst affected was Fabian Cancellara (TFR 2015), one of the major favourites for victory; he broke two vertebrae, ruling him out of the remainder of the classics season. Poster controversy thumb|400px|The controversial poster issued before the race About a month before the race took place, in February 2015, the race organisers published a publicity poster for the race. This poster showed a woman, with her dress raised and underwear with the race logo visible. A cyclist's gloved hand was reaching out apparently to pinch the woman's bottom. The poster bore the caption Wie knijpt ze in Harelbeke? (en Who squeezes them in Harelbeke?). This was a reference to Peter Sagan's actions after the 2013 Tour of Flanders, when he pinched the bottom of Maja Leye during the podium ceremony after the race. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/e3-harelbeke-sexist-cycling-poster-withdrawn-10088330.html E3 Harelbeke: 'Sexist' cycling poster withdrawn Richards Victoria 5 March 2015 The Independent 27 March 2015 https://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/e3-harelbeke-advert-causes-controversy-159350 E3 Harelbeke advert causes controversy Clarke Stuart 23 February 2015 Cycling Weekly 27 March 2015 The poster caused significant controversy, especially as the 2011 race had also featured a poster viewed as sexist. The 2015 poster was described as "demeaning" and "misogynistic". The poster was criticised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and by the Belgian Jury of Advertising Ethics. In March, a few weeks before the race was held, the poster was withdrawn and replaced. Route The 2015 edition of E3 Harelbeke was 215.3 km off in length. It started in the Belgian municipality of Harelbeke, where there was a 2.8 km on off neutral zone before the official start. Initially, the route headed north, but after a short distance it turned south-east to reach the town of Avelgem after 12.8 km off. The route then turned north-east through Oudenaarde and reached the first climb, the Katteberg, after 32 km off. The route briefly went south-east again to reach the second climb, the Leberg, 10 km off later. Between the Katteberg and the Leberg, there were two flat sections of cobbles, the Holleweg and the Haaghoek. The race then entered a long loop without any significant climbs, though it did include the Paddestraat, another flat section of cobbles. This loop first went north-east, reaching Burst after 62.5 km off, then south to Appelterre-Eichem nl. The loop turned west at this point, travelling through Geraardsbergen after 86 km off. thumb|left|Route of the 2015 E3 Harelbeke The third climb came after 99.9 km off at La Houppe. This was the longest climb of the day at 3.4 km off in length. The course then turned north to reach the Berg Stene climb after 108.5 km off. The next four climbs came in quick succession over the next 18 km off: the Boigneberg, the Eikenberg (the first of the cobbled climbs), the Stationberg and the Taaienberg. A 15 km on off flat section followed, as the course travelled south-west through Ronse, before a turn to the north to tackle the next climb. This was the Knokteberg, which came after 142.6 km off, and it was followed by another turn to the east and the climb of the Hotondberg after 146.6 km off. The Rotelenberg (after 155 km off) and the Kortekeer (after 156.6 km off) were the next two climbs as the route again approached Oudenaarde. After turning south at Leupegem nl, there were 53 km off remaining. With 46.2 km off remaining, the riders climbed the Kapelberg. The next section was expected to be the key part of the race: the climbs of the Paterberg and the Oude Kwaremont. The Oude Kwaremont was the final cobbled climb of the day; at the top of the climb there were 37.7 km off left to the end of the race. In past editions of the race this was the section where a decisive breakaway was formed; the combination of the two climbs was also a major feature of the Tour of Flanders. The route continued south to the penultimate climb of the day, the Karnemelkbeekstraat, with 29.7 km off remaining, then turned north-west for the final part of the race. This section was mostly flat; the only climb was the Tiegemberg with 18.7 km off to the finish line. It was expected that riders dropped in the hilly section of the course would try to regain contact on this section. The route continued west and finished where it had started in Harelbeke. https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/e3-harelbeke-2015/preview E3 Harelbeke preview: More than a Flanders warm-up Benson Daniel 26 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 http://www.e3harelbeke.be/files/uploads/2015/E3-PARCOURS2015%20-%20omschrijving%20parcours.pdf pdf E3 World Tour Harelbeke Parcours 2015 27 March 2015 e3harelbeke.be KWC Hand in Hand VZW 2 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123101/http://www.e3harelbeke.be/files/uploads/2015/E3-PARCOURS2015%20-%20omschrijving%20parcours.pdf dead http://www.e3harelbeke.be/files/uploads/2015/E3%202015%20Parcours%20DETAIL%2021%2002%202015.pdf pdf E3 2015 Parcours Detail 21 February 2015 27 March 2015 e3harelbeke.be KWC Hand in Hand VZW 2 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150402132148/http://www.e3harelbeke.be/files/uploads/2015/E3%202015%20Parcours%20DETAIL%2021%2002%202015.pdf dead Teams As E3 Harelbeke was a UCI World Tour event, all 17 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. Seven Professional Continental teams received wildcard invitations. E3 Harelbeke deelt laatste wildcards uit https://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cnt/dmf20150220_01539366 27 March 2015 Het Nieuwsblad 20 February 2015 nl UCI WorldTeams ALM AST BMC OPQ FDJ IAM LAM LTB MOV OGE GRS GIA KAT BEL SKY TTS TFR 2015 UCI Professional Continental teams TSV WGG EUC MTN ROO NRI AND 2015a 2015 Pre-race favourites thumb|upright|TTS 2015's Peter Sagan (pictured at the 2015 Tour de France) was a leading contender to win the race. E3 Harelbeke was part of the spring classics season. It was therefore suited to the riders who rode in the several other similar races through the early part of the season, such as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Tour of Flanders and Dwars door Vlaanderen, which were often raced over the same roads. The winner of the 2014 E3 Harelbeke, Peter Sagan (TTS 2015) was one of the major pre-race favourites, although his early-season form had been mixed and he had won just one race in 2015 to that point. The team's preparation for the race was also affected by the suspension of the team manager, Bjarne Riis, by the owner Oleg Tinkov, following the team's poor results. https://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/e3-harelbeke-2015-preview-163834 E3 Harelbeke 2015 preview Puddicombe Stephen 26 March 2015 Cycling Weekly Time Inc. UK 27 March 2015 https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sagan-keen-to-repeat-at-e3-harelbeke Sagan keen to repeat at E3 Harelbeke 26 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 The other principal favourite was Fabian Cancellara (TFR 2015), who won the race in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Although he too had had a relatively unsuccessful Milan–San Remo, finishing seventh, he had shown good form in other races in the season. However, one of his most important teammates, Stijn Devolder, crashed in Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier in the week, potentially affecting Cancellara's chances. The EQS 2015 team was also expected to feature in the race. Although Tom Boonen, the leader of the team and a five-time winner of the race, had crashed at Paris–Nice and was absent with injury, the team had several other riders who could compete for the win. These included Niki Terpstra, who was second in 2014, Zdeněk Štybar and Stijn Vandenbergh. Other favourites included Greg Van Avermaet (BMC 2015), Sep Vanmarcke (BEL 2015), Alexander Kristoff (KAT 2015), Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas (both SKY 2015). Nairo Quintana (MOV 2015) also entered the race as he had in Dwars door Vlaanderen; he was preparing for cobbled stages at the Tour de France rather than competing for the win. https://www.elespectador.com/deportes/ciclismo/nairo-quintana-y-otra-cita-el-pave-e3-harelbeke-articulo-551566 Nairo Quintana y otra cita con el pavé, la E3 Harelbeke 26 March 2015 El Espectador 27 March 2015 es Race report Early stages The race started without Filippo Pozzato (LAM 2015), the 2009 champion, who missed the race due to illness. Shortly after the start, a breakaway was formed by six riders. These were Sjoerd van Ginneken (ROO 2015), Sean De Bie (LTB 2015), Dries Devenyns (IAM 2015), Sébastien Turgot (ALM 2015), Kristian Sbaragli (MTN 2015) and Andrea Dal Col (NRI 2015). The first significant event took place on the Haaghoek cobbles after about 40 km off. A water bottle came loose and caused a large crash in the main peloton. A large number of riders crashed, including Fabian Cancellara (TFR 2015), Sebastian Langeveld (GRS 2015), Robert Wagner (BEL 2015), Lars Boom (AST 2015) and John Degenkolb (GIA 2015). https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/e3-harelbeke-2015/results Thomas solos away from Stybar to win E3 Harelbeke 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 Most of the riders were able to continue, but Cancellara, one of the favourites to win the race, was forced to abandon it in significant pain. It was immediately clear that he would miss Gent–Wevelgem; soon afterwards it was announced that he had two broken vertebrae and would miss the rest of the spring classics season. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trek-forced-to-pick-up-the-pieces-after-cancellaras-crash Trek forced to pick up the pieces after Cancellara's crash Benson Daniel 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 Over the next 70 km off, the breakaway continued to build their lead over the peloton; with 100 km off to race, they had a lead of around six minutes, although Dal Col was dropped. http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/news/road/thomas-emerges-victorious-from-crash-marred-e3-harelbeke_364631 Thomas emerges victorious from crash-marred E3 Harelbeke Powlison Spencer 27 March 2015 VeloNews Competitor Group, Inc. 27 March 2015 29 March 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150329070844/http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/news/road/thomas-emerges-victorious-from-crash-marred-e3-harelbeke_364631 dead Shortly afterwards, the peloton climbed the Taaienberg, where Daniel Oss (BMC 2015), Matteo Trentin (EQS 2015) and Matti Breschel (TTS 2015) attacked and were soon joined by Tiesj Benoot (LTB 2015 yes). This breakaway was soon brought back by KAT 2015. Nairo Quintana was dropped during this period of racing and abandoned the race. TTS 2015 y, along with SKY 2015 y, took up the chase in earnest and reduced the breakaway's lead to under two and a half minutes with 67 km off left. BMC 2015 y joined in the chase and halved the lead over the next 20 km off. Van Ginneken was dropped, leaving three riders in the leading group. Paterberg−Oude Kwaremont thumb|Peter Sagan, Geraint Thomas and Zdeněk Štybar led the race from the Oude Kwaremont climb until Thomas' attack 4 km 1 off from the finish. The riders then entered the crucial section of the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont. Devenyns attacked alone from the breakaway group, while Sep Vanmarcke (BEL 2015 y) attacked the peloton. Vanmarcke was riding the climb in the gutter to one side of the road. He slipped in the mud and had to put a foot down on the cobblestones; this damaged his shoe and left him unable to clip into his pedal, reducing his ability to apply power on the climbs. He continued with the broken shoe over the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont until he was able to change it on a flat section of road. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vanmarcke-approaches-tour-of-flanders-on-tiptoes Vanmarcke approaches Tour of Flanders on tiptoes Decaluwé Brecht 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 Vanmarcke was in a small group of riders that earned a gap on the Paterberg, but they were caught soon afterwards. At this point there was a chase group of around 30 riders, half a minute behind Devenyns as they entered the Oude Kwaremont. Marcus Burghardt (BMC 2015 y) led the peloton on the first part of the climb, until he was attacked by Geraint Thomas (SKY 2015 y), who was followed by Zdeněk Štybar (EQS 2015 y). After a brief period, Peter Sagan (TTS 2015 y) bridged across to Thomas and Štybar; the three riders then caught and dropped Devenyns. The gap between the leading three and the peloton quickly reached 25 seconds, then was reduced to 15 seconds by BMC. Final stages The gap expanded again to 45 seconds at the foot of the final climb, the Tiegemberg; on the climb, BMC's pressure reduced the lead by 20 seconds and dropped several riders from the chasing group. At the top, with 17 km off left, Oss was leading the group, while Greg Van Avermaet, BMC's team leader, was a couple of places further back. Van Avermaet was riding on the wheel of Alexandr Kolobnev (KAT 2015 y), who missed a corner and was forced to brake. Van Avermaet also braked; this action caused him to somersault over his handlebars and crash, injuring him and taking him out of contention for the rest of the race. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-avermaet-falls-hard-in-e3-harelbeke Van Avermaet falls hard in E3 Harelbeke Decaluwé Brecht 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 With Van Avermaet injured, BMC were no longer riding at the front of the group and the breakaway's lead quickly grew to 50 seconds, with only KAT 2015 y's Luca Paolini leading the chase. The gap was reduced slightly to 40 seconds as the riders entered the last 5 km off. With 4 km off left, Thomas attacked the lead group and Štybar waited for Sagan to respond. Sagan, however, was unable to chase Thomas, who built a gap ahead of the other two. Štybar eventually gave chase, but he was unable to catch Thomas. After the race, he attributed his loss to two seconds' hesitation. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hesitation-costly-for-stybar-at-e3-harelbeke Hesitation costly for Stybar at E3 Harelbeke Ryan Barry 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 Thomas continued alone to win the race ahead of Štybar by 25 seconds. Sagan, meanwhile, was both caught and left behind by the main chase group and finished 30th, over a minute behind Thomas. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sagan-at-a-loss-to-explain-sudden-collapse-at-e3-harelbeke Sagan at a loss to explain sudden collapse at E3 Harelbeke Ryan Barry 27 March 2015 Cyclingnews.com 27 March 2015 In the main peloton, Matteo Trentin was led out by his teammates Stijn Vandenbergh and Yves Lampaert. Another teammate, Niki Terpstra, was able to block Alexander Kristoff as he attempted the sprint and Trentin took the third podium place, 38 seconds behind Thomas and 13 seconds behind Štybar. Result thumb|Zdeněk Štybar (2nd), Geraint Thomas (1st) and Matteo Trentin (3rd) Result (1–10) 1 Geraint Thomas GBR SKY 2015 5h 15' 00" 2 Zdeněk Štybar CZE EQS 2015 + 25" 3 Matteo Trentin ITA EQS 2015 + 38" 4 Alexander Kristoff NOR KAT 2015 + 38" 5 Sep Vanmarcke BEL BEL 2015 + 38" 6 Matti Breschel DEN TTS 2015 + 38" 7 Jürgen Roelandts BEL LTB 2015 + 38" 8 Jack Bauer NZL GRS 2015 + 38" 9 Jens Keukeleire BEL OGE 2015 + 38" 10 Daniel Oss ITA BMC 2015 + 38" References External links http://www.e3harelbeke.be e3-harelbeke/2015 E3 Harelbeke (2015) Category:E3 Saxo Classic E3 Harelbeke E3 Harelbeke