Ian Stannard (Sky) defied the odds to win Saturday's opening semi-classic, the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium.
Stannard had found himself in a hostile situation, surrounded by three Etixx-QuickStep riders in a four-man escape group in the race's final 20 kilometres. Stannard couldn't have had worse company given the Classics pedigree of his companions: Tom Boonen, Niki Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh.
Initially, Stannard sat near the back of the group, letting Etixx do all the work to create distance between themselves and a small chase unit containing Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo), who had punctured earlier.
Although the Etixx riders took it in turn to attack Stannard, with the British rider notably chasing down a strong move by Boonen. Rather than wait for more attacks, it was Stannard himself who accelerated into the final three kilometres dropping all but Terpstra.
Stannard then got the better of Paris-Roubaix champion Terpstra in the sprint to the line.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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