Lampaert: I'm sorry I couldn't finish it off for Declercq

NINOVE BELGIUM FEBRUARY 29 Jasper Stuyven of Belgium and Team Trek Segafredo Yves Lampaert of Belgium and Team Deceuninck QuickStep Soren Kragh Andersen of Denmark and Team Sunweb Breakaway during the 75th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2020 Men Race a 200km race from Ghent to Ninove OmloopHNB OHN20 on February 29 2020 in Ninove Belgium Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images
Yves Lampaert attacks in the finale (Image credit: Getty Images)

Yves Lampaert had to settle for second place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and while he conceded Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) was the stronger in the two-up sprint in Ninove, he was nevertheless frustrated and disappointed not to have won for his Deceuninck-QuickStep team.

In particular, he’d wanted to honour the work of his teammate Tim Declercq, who joined him in the seven-man move that went to the finale from all of 75 kilometres out.

Declercq’s usual role at QuickStep is to bash out kilometres on the front of the bunch in the early phases, hence the nickname 'El Tractor'. Here, however, he found himself with a ticket to the finale.

Not that any delusions of grandeur were allowed to sneak in. "Yves, this isn't your first time in the finale. Tim, you work for Yves," came the swift orders from the team car.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.