25 mei 2011
- 29 mei 2011
Tour of Belgium
From May 25th to May 29th the Tour of Belgium took place.
On Wednesday May 25th the stage race began with a 5.6 kilometre
prologue in Buggenhout. Koen obtained 33rd place. Koen conceded 16
seconds to his compatriot Lieuwe Westra who won the prologue with a
time of 6'36".
On Thursday's stage from Lochristi to Knokke-Heist, it was all
hands on the deck for the Skil-Shimano formation when a leading
group got away which included the Belgian favourite for the race
Philippe Gilbert. Together with the Rabobank team amongst others,
the teams managed to get the leading group. The peloton broke in
two in the process, however, with classification leader Westra
missing the cut as well as Belgian champion Stijn Devolder. Koen
was well placed in the leading peloton and was able to work well
for team sprinter Kenny van Hummel. In the finale Rabobank
sprinters Theo Bos and Australian Graeme Brown were dropped from
the leading group. Van Hummel was perfectly led out and he obtained
an excellent second place behind German Andre Greipel who won the
stage. Due to a small break in the group, Koen finished 7 seconds
behind Greipel in 47th place.
"Nice stage in Belgium. Needed to do a lot of work to bring the
second group back but we succeeded, proud of the team and Kenny's
2nd place," Koen tweeted afterwards.
In the third stage from Knokke-Heist to Ieper which took the
riders over a distance of 187.8 kilometres, the peloton broke apart
just like the preceding day. This came about due to several leading
groups. When the final breakaway group was caught, the Skil-Shimano
formation went to the front of the race to work for sprinter Tom
Veelers. At the start of the final sprint, Veelers' chain came off
and his sprint was over. The Lithuanian Aidis Kruopis from
Landbouwkrediet-Colnago was the surprising winner ahead of Dutchmen
Stefan van Dijk and Pim Ligthart. Koen finished in the small
peloton in 38th place.
"Today I rode in the interest of the team. It was tough. The form
is coming back," Koen said. "Sure we'll see what tomorrow brings!"
On Saturday there will be a stage through the Ardennes from Bertem
to Eupen over a distance of 202 kilometres.
On Saturday's 202 kilometre stage from Bertem to Eupen, Koen was
not able to stay with the best. He finished the day in the last big
group to cross the line 21 minutes after Belgian Philippe Gilbert
crossed the line. Koen was 107th.
As Koen said on Twitter: "Today wasn't good but that was to be
expected after 4 weeks of struggling with injuries. Can only get
better from here."
The final stage from Oreye to Putte took the peloton over a
distance of 170 kilometres and finished in a mass sprint, as
expected. Koen and his teammates worked toward delivering Kenny van
Hummel to the front at the right time. Van Hummel sprinted to
second place behind German Andre Greipel, but van Hummel was
disqualified from the sprint due to his use of his elbow against
Lithuanian Aidis Kruopis. Koen crossed the line in 99th place. The
overall classification was won by Belgian Philippe Gilbert. Koen
was 49th overall