Kristoff wins second stage of Driedaagse de Panne

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Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won stage two of the Driedaagse De Panne after a high-speed sprint in Koksijde. The Norwegian extended his overall race lead after also winning stage one.

The final kilometres of the 217km stage was a battle between the sprinters’ lead out trains, with Team Sky, Lampre-Merida and Katusha fighting for position in the narrow roads and final turns. Bradley Wiggins did a massive turn for Elia Viviani and other teams pushed and jostled for position in a thrilling finale.

Kristoff launched his sprint early in the long finishing straight but had the speed and power to hold off his rivals. Viviani was second after coming up near the barriers, with Shane Archbold (Bora-Argon 18) third.

Kristoff’s excellent spring form means he makes sprinting look easy. He assured it is never easy to win.

“It wasn’t an easy stage. It was long and we had to work because we had the race lead. We had to work at the start to keep the break under control and then at the end to get me in position for the sprint. I have to thank the team. I didn’t feel so strong but in the end they delivered me perfectly and I could take it home,” Kristoff said.

“It was a bit of a hectic sprint. I lost Jacopo (Guarnieri) so went on Sacha (Modolo). It was a long sprint, about 200 metres. I saw that Sacha didn’t want to open it up, so I started and then he started. I thought I could take him but you never know if someone is coming up fast at the end.”

Thursday’s final day of racing includes two stages: an 111km morning road race stage around De Panne and then a 14.2km individual time trial. Kristoff now leads Stijn Devolder (Trek Factory Racing) by 16 seconds, with Lars Bak (Lotto Soudal) third overall at 17 seconds. He is keen to win overall but is also focused on the Tour of Flanders.

“The goal is Sunday,” he pointed out. “I’ll try to keep it of course but I know there are some good time trialists just behind me, so we’ll see if I can keep them away or not.”

How it happened

After the strong winds, crashes and chaos of recent racing in Belgium, the stage was a relative straightforward affair. The 217km stage headed west from Zottegem to Koksijde on the coast, with three 13km finishing circuits and a twisting run in to the finish.

The break of the day formed quickly, with 12 riders in the move and the peloton happy to give them their freedom, knowing they would have to ride into a stiff headwind. In the break were Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Nick Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka), Martin Mortensen (Cult Energy), Amaury Capiot (Top Sport), Christoph Pfingsten (Bora-Argon 18), Tim De Troyer (Wanty Groupe Gobert), Mattia Pozzo (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Mirko Tedeschi (SouthEast), Gerry Druyts (Real Estate Services), Michael Vingerling (Team3M) and Jonathan Dufrasne (Wallonie).

The 12 opened a significant gap and had over seven minutes on the peloton with 100km to go. However the middle section of the stage included the Monteberg, Kemmelberg, the Rodeberg and the Vidaigneberg and the climbs tired the break, as the peloton saved their legs for the finale.

Wiggins did some spells on the front leading the chase and training for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Trek Factory Racing also rode to protect Stijn Devolder’s chances of overall victory. The 12 became just eight as the kilometres ticked down as the finishing circuits approached and then the race came back together with 20km to go. Sütterlin was the last to be caught after spending close to 200km out front.

Other attacks came, with Mortensen going again, along with with Dennis Coenen (Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace) and Alessandro Malaguti (Nippo-Vini Fantini). They hung off the front for much of the final two laps but were almost always in sight of the peloton on the long straight sections.

Team Sky hit the front with six kilometres to go, lining up the black and blue jersey to lead out Viviani and bring back the break. However other teams also formed lead out trains as the peloton was squeezed into a single lane. Amazingly nobody crashed or hit the traffic furniture.

The final right and then left turns lined out the peloton but Kristoff did not panic. Luca Paolini helped set up the sprint yet again and then Kristoff finished it off from the front using his power and speed.

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