28th March: Harelbeke – Harelbeke
The cobbled classics continued with the “Mini Flanders” at E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, where the peloton took on several climbs and cobbled ascents. It was an unfortunate start to the race for Team Picnic PostNL with Kevin Vermaerke having to step off the bike after an early crash. From there, the race split into several sections with the team well represented with five riders in the front group of around 50. At one point they led the second peloton by over two minutes but eventually things merged together; while in the meantime Julius van den Berg had forged ahead in a break group, but they too were brought to heel by the now full peloton with 100 kilometres to go. From there, the race entered a new phase and the expected classics specialists came to the fore. Van den Berg battled to the line and was the team’s first rider home in Harelbeke.
Van den Berg said: “It was a pretty chaotic race, especially at the start where there was the crash that Kevin was involved in. We were in front of it with about four or five guys, and our goal today was to be in the race so we really wanted to try and get in the break. We all tried a lot and I was in a little bit break with two other guys but the peloton started riding because quite a few of the favourites were behind, but eventually everything came back together after the first few climbs. Niklas tried to anticipate and get away with a group but unfortunately he just couldn’t bridge to it. From there it was on legs and positioning. We knew that we weren’t going to be the guys who could get a top result from the main peloton, so that’s why we wanted to be ahead of the race, but unfortunately that didn’t work out today. It wasn’t a great race for us but we showed our intentions and we were all 100 percent committed to be in front and be in the break and the moves. I think we can all take something from the day and we’ll see what the next races bring.”