25 februari 2012
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
On Saturday February 25th, Koen competed in the opening classic
of the Belgian cycling season, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This
classic starts and finishes in Ghent and takes the peloton over a
distance of 199.6 kilometres. Half way through the race Koen had a
flat tyre but he was able to bridge back up to the peloton. On the
Taaienberg, with about 60 kilometres to go, Belgian Tom Boonen
forced a break in the peloton. Several riders were able to stay
with him.
Koen ended up in the peloton, in the first chasing group of about
30 riders. The group did not make a coherent chase and the eight
man group ahead rode toward the early breakaway group. After the
leading group broke apart, Tom Boonen, his compatriot Sep Vanmarcke
and Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha lead the race with the chase being
led behind by BMC and GreenEdge. Koen rode as part of the chase on
behalf of his teammate John Degenkolb.
The three stayed away until the end and it was Vanmarcke that won
the sprint ahead of Boonen and Flecha. Australian Heinrich Haussler
won the sprint of the chasing group for fourth place, 25 seconds
later. Degenkolb came 11th while Koen crossed the line behind
Belgium's Philippe Gilbert in 32nd place. The peloton crossed the
line about five minutes after the day's winner.