Gent - Wevelgem 2008 - updates

Gent - Wevelgem 2008 played out on April 9 ended in a sprint finish won by Oscar Friere (Rabobank)

Oscar Freire (Rabobank), won the 70th edition of the Gent-Wevelgem ProTour one-day classic on Wednesday.

Oscar Friere wins the sprint

Riders hammer up the Kemmelberg, thankfully no big crashes on the descent this year

The triple world champion dominated Swiss rider Aurelien Clerc, Belgian Wouter Weylandt and German veteran Erik Zabel in a mass sprint to become the first Spaniard to capture the Gent-Wevelgem.

The 209km race, sandwiched between the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix, was marked by a near 100km-long breakaway led by Ermanno Capelli.

The Italian was joined after Mont Kemmel, the second of the day's climbs, by his compatriot Filippo Pozzato and local hope Philippe Gilbert with the leaders rejoining the main pack 26km from the finish.

Norwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen and then Swiss competitor Martin Elmiger broke again 20km out with this duo being joined by Frederic Guesdon, Manuel Quinziato and Australian Stuart O'Grady.

The peloton, pushed by riders from the Rabobank, High Road, Quick Step and Barloworld teams, caught this quintet with three kilometres to go, with Freire prevailing in the dash for the line.

"My legs were strong, I asked the team to control things," said the 32-year-old Freire whose three world titles came in 1999, 2001 and 2004.

Reaction
AFP report; "It's a huge satisfaction to become the first Spanish winner of this race," said Friere. "It makes me proud, but it wasn't easy. There was wind out there. But I had strong legs today, and I asked the team to control things."

Freire, whose three world titles came in 1999, 2001 and 2004, added: "It's a good win. As for my next race, that's the Amstel Gold on April 20."

1 Oscar Friere Rabobank 5.01.35
2 Aurélien Clerc Bouygues Telecom s/t
3 Wouter Weylandt Quickstep
4 Erik Zabel Milram
5 Kenny De Haes Topsport Vlaanderen
6 Luca Paolini Acqua Sapone
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Caisse D'Epargne
8 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC
9 Heinrich Haussler Gerolsteiner
10 Roger Hammond High Road
11. Herve Duclos-Lassalle Cofidis s.t.,
12. Peter Wrolich Gerolsteiner s.t.,
13. Filippo Pozzato Liquigas s.t.,
14. Rony Martias (FRA/BTL) s.t.,
15. Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole s.t.,
16. Guennadi Mikhailov Mitsubhi Jrtazi s.t.,
17. Mark Cavendish High Road s.t.,
18. Sven Renders TopSport s.t.,
19. Tom Veelers Skil/Shimano s.t.,
20. Matti Breschel CSC s.t.