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Sorry - this page has been removed. Alexander Kristoff wins Tour of Flanders as Geraint Thomas falls short
(2 months later)
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. Norwegian Alexander Kristoff beat Dutchman Niki Terpstra in a sprint finish to win the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
The Katusha rider, runner-up in the Milan-San Remo race last month, outpowered and outsmarted his rivals, breaking away with Terpstra 25km from the finish and beating the Etixx-Quick Step rider in a two-man sprint. Belgian Greg van Avermaet of BMC took third place ahead of Tinkoff-Saxo’s Slovakian rider Peter Sagan.
For further information, please contact: Kristoff, 28, adds the Tour of Flanders crown to the Milan-San Remo title he won last year by claiming another prized one-day classic, which ran from Bruges to Oudenaarde in Belgium.
“It was not easy with Niki but I’m really happy, I had great legs today,” said Olympic bronze medallist Kristoff, who joined the Russian team in 2012.
Britain’s Geraint Thomas, who was among the pre-race favourites, did not follow the decisive breakaway and ended up outside of the top 10, finishing in 14th place. Team Sky defended Thomas and his team on Twitter, saying they “gave it everything”.
Terpstra attacked 25km from the finish and Kristoff jumped onto his wheel before the duo built a 30-second lead over a group of favourites.
Van Avermaet and Sagan also moved away from the chasing pack on the final climb of the Paterberg – a brutal cobbled 400-metre climb with an average gradient of 12.5 per cent – but they never came close to rejoining the leading duo.
With 2km to go, Terpstra, well aware of Kristoff’s superior sprinting ability, refused to take further turns in front. Kristoff, winner of the Three Days of La Panne warm-up race this week, did not panic, waiting for Terpstra to make his move in the final straight before easily overpowering the 2014 Paris-Roubaix champion.
One of the seven early breakaway riders, Jesse Sergent of New Zealand, crashed after being clipped by a neutral service car that was trying to overtake the group in a curve. His Trek team said he suffered a broken collarbone that would require surgery.
Another neutral service car then crashed into the FDJ team car, which caused rider Sébastien Chavanel to fall hard onto his back. FDJ confirmed Chavanel was fine, but had been taken to a local hospital for further checks.