Elia Viviani disappointed after failing to finish off Quick-Step work at Ghent-Wevelgem
Italian champion misses out for a second year despite being well set up by his Deceuninck-Quick-Step team-mates
Italian sprint star Elia Viviani wanted to finish off Deceuninck-Quick Step's work and keep its string of wins going, but leaves Ghent-Wevelgem disappointed after being blocked and finishing 19th.
The Italian champion's result comes one year after narrowly losing to Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) after the team had again worked for his sprint. This time, Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) came out on top in Wevelgem.
"We can't ask more than what they did today," Viviani said. "[Zdeněk] Štybar and [Philippe] Gilbert did an amazing job. After Tim [Declercq] was in the front all day, he continued to pull for us.
"I can't ask more from my guys. Sometimes you have space and luck, and it's easy, sometimes you position well and in the end you are out the top 10. I'm disappointed for my team and after missing the chance from last year, two chances gone. It's full disappointment."
Last year, Viviani fell down in tears after missing his chance to win one of the few classics that suit a sprinter. It set off a string of wins for him, stages in the Giro d'Italia, the Italian Championship and stages in the Vuelta a España. But Ghent-Wevelgem remained out of reach for another year.
"I confirmed I can win this race again today, but everything needs to go in the right way," he added. "The good thing, I'm in the best team to win this race. Maybe the third time can be the good one for me."
The team won a string of one day races with Julian Alaphilippe in Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, and Zdeněk Štybar in the E3 BinckBank Classic on Friday.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
On Sunday, it appeared to be on the wrong foot. First Jumbo-Visma broke the race apart and saw to an 18-man move go free with only Deceuninck-Quick Step helper Tim Declercq in the move. They managed to see the race come back together, seeing the end of a move with Team Sky's Luke Rowe and three-time winner Sagan, and push for a Viviani victory.
Gilbert and Štybar followed attacks and kept the group largely together for the flat roads from the Kemmelberg to the line in Wevelgem. But UAE Team Emirates with Kristoff and Fernando Gaviria worked the best in the final moments. Viviani refused to but the blame on Gaviria for how he worked, coming off in the last metres and closing the space, to help his team-mate.
"Every sprint has its own story and today's story is a really sh*t story," Viviani continued.
"I focused on Kristoff's wheel because I saw he could be the strongest, from 5K to go I was just following him, and in the moment he went, Fernando came from the left and he just went on his wheel and stopped.
"Kristoff had a free way to go and I was there in the middle between Fernando and [Matej] Mohorič. I just stopped pedalling 200m to go. We know this is the risk, but after 250 kilometres everyone's legs are like that and the luck or the good move is the winning one. And today was not our day."
Viviani now takes a break now and will race again in the Tour de Romandie and Giro d'Italia before July, when he will make his debut in the Tour de France.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
We rode and reviewed the Ouray, Parlee Cycles' first new bike model since facing bankruptcy
The storied American brand continues with a Portugal-made carbon steed that goes zoom but doesn’t fit like a race bike
By Tyler Boucher Published
-
Forget distance covered, these are the key stats to note in your Strava Year in Sport
We asked a coach how to best analyse our end of year Strava data
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Elia Viviani says helmet 'saved his life' in Paris-Roubaix crash
The Italian abandoned the race after 40km on Sunday, but left without any fractures
By Adam Becket Published
-
GB's Neah Evans claims stunning first world title on final day of Track World Championships
Great Britain finishes with 10 medals, after Madison silver and elimination race bronze
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Mark Cavendish wants to continue for 'at least' two more years
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter turns 37 this weekend
By Adam Becket Published
-
Elia Viviani outsprints the pack in wind-blown stage one of Tour de la Provence
The Ineos Grenadiers rider took his first victory since returning to the team
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Fabio Jakobsen on aiming for the Tour de France, lawsuit against Groenewegen and supporting Cavendish
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider showed he is back to being one of the fastest sprinters around at the Vuelta a España
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Last updated
-
'My head was filled with doubts and insecurities but I'm ready to win sprints again': says Elia Viviani as he re-joins Ineos in 2022
The former Italian champion and Olympic gold medallist is confident he can get back to the top of sprinting
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
'I don’t want to end my time with the regret of not ever trying': Julian Alaphilippe wants to try and win Tour de France before retiring
The double world champion will focus on the Classics in 2022 but still has an eye on the French Grand Tour
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published
-
Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel share their thoughts ahead of Il Lombardia 2021
The two Deceuninck - Quick-Step riders come into the final Monument of the year as two of the main favourites
By Tim Bonville-Ginn Published