After taking the stage win and the race leader’s jersey on yesterday’s penultimate stage of the Ster ZLM Toer, Philippe Gilbert and his Omega Pharma Lotto team rode well on the final day to scoop the overall victory in the race.
Gilbert managed his rivals without major problems, allowing an early break to soak up the first intermediate sprint, then winning the second. Closest rival Niki Terpstra (Rabobank) consequently dropped from one to three seconds behind, and was unable to pick up bonuses in the final sprint, won by Leigh Howard (HTC Highroad). He proved quicker than Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank Sungard) and Garmin-Cervélo’s Tyler Farrar, who won the points jersey.
Gilbert tried to seal his overall victory in style, attacking solo in the final kilometre. The peloton managed to get him back, though, and a big bunch sprint ensued.
Howard was delighted with his success, as was his squad. It won on the opening day with the prologue effort of Patrick Gretch; today’s success bookended the race for the US ProTeam, and ensured that the riders finished with strong morale.
“Our goal for today was to work for Leigh in the sprint, but it was a very difficult stage with a lot of rain, wind and storms,” said directeur sportif Jan Schaffrath. “The run-in was not easy either, I counted five speed bumps in the last couple of kilometers and other 'road furniture' too, but Leigh came through well.
“He was protected from the wind when he needed to be then given the perfect lead out and the rest he could handle for himself.”
Gilbert won the race in 2009, also taking the fourth stage there, and on today’s fifth leg he knew he had to just monitor his closest rivals. The intermediate sprints were the biggest danger and so when Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) and Bertjan Lindeman (Cyclingteam Jo Piels) got a gap inside the first hour of racing and were joined by Reinier Honig (Landbouwkrediet), his team allowed them the leeway to soak up the first of those two sprints.
The break didn’t have the legs to stay away, though, and was brought back with more than 90 kilometres remaining. Gilbert and Terpstra squared up for the second sprint, with the race leader grabbing maximum points there, bolstering his lead by two seconds over his third-placed rival.
That made things more comfortable but he still had to be attentive; Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Cervelo), who started the day third in the general classification, clipped away with Gianni Meersman (FDJ) and Alex Dowsett (Sky) and set about reducing his overnight deficit.
Gilbert and his team were attentive, though, and things came back together for the sprint. The Belgian tried to win solo and when that didn’t work, he eased back and celebrated his second win in three years in the race. Terpstra and Navardauskas had to be content with second and third in the general classification.
Schaffrath was pleased for stage winner Howard, who was picking up his first victory of the year. “It's a great way to complete the event for him, and for the team too,” he said. “We've had victories at both ends of the race and we led overall for the first three days too. It's difficult to ask for more."