BiciRace.com

• News
• Races
• Photos
• Interviews
• Inside Scoop
• Gear & Gadgets

Brabantse Pijl, Belgium

27 March

A Fine Finish for Freire

More Photos

In the Brabantse Pijl, Oscar Freire hammered home the fact that he is no slouch! In Belgium, Freire (Rabobank) proved that he actually had the legs for the Milano-Sanremo, but that his luck simply didn't pan out for him on that day in Italy. On a damp Belgian day, however, Freire's fine form was on fire as he beat out breakaway companions Marc Lotz (Quick.Step) and Axel Merckx (Davitamon-Lotto).

Oscar Freire was part of a select group of 18 that formed with 75K to go. From that group, Freire put in a stinging attack with 20K to go leaving behind Merckx, Lotz, Kroon, Gussev, Hincapie, Nuyens, Joly, Vansummeren and Gerrans. With 10K to go, Merckx and then Lotz bridged across to form a three-man move that would last to the line. The gap of the three grew until the end due to the strong team representation of Rabobank, Quick-step and Davitamon-Lotto. Knowing of Freire's sprint capabilities, Lotz and Merckx had to have been scared of taking Freire to the line. Sure enough, with the line in sight, Freire turned on the speed and took a nice Belgian win.

Finish, 198K, 4:31'16"
1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
2 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick-Step
3 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
4 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.41
5 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 0.42
6 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
7 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick-Step
8 Simon Gerrans (Aus) AG2r Prévoyance
9 Vladimir Gussev (Rus) Team CSC
10 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Crédit Agricole
11 Jochen Summer (Aut) Elk Haus - Simplon
12 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 1.05
13 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step
14 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
15 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim 2.09
16 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 3.38
17 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
18 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
19 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team
20 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
21 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank
22 Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
23 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Domina Vacanze 3.43
24 Johan Coenen (Bel) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
25 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
26 Unai Yus (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
27 Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
28 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC
29 Kurt Hovelynck (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
30 Bert Roesems (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
31 Kristof De Zutter (Bel) Bodysol
32 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Crédit Agricole
33 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
34 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Jartazi Granville Team
35 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
36 Angel Castresana Del Val (Spa) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
37 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld-Valsir
38 Kristjan Fajt (Slo) Tenax
39 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
40 Dominique Cornu (Bel) Bodysol
41 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
42 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Domina Vacanze
43 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel
44 Bart Voskamp (Ned) Team Skil-Moser
45 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
46 Saul Raisin (USA) Crédit Agricole
47 Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Tenax 3.48
48 Francis De Greef (Bel) Bodysol 3.54
49 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 3.59
50 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step
51 Stefan Wijnands (Bel) Jartazi Granville Team
52 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole
53 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
54 Nick Gates (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
55 Henk Vogels (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
56 Christophe Stevens (Bel) Team Skil-Moser
57 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel
58 Alex Coutts (GBr) Flanders
59 Jef Peeters (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim 4.22
60 Sam Van Rooy (Bel) Bodysol
61 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
62 Jan Van Velzen (Ned) Team Skil-Moser
63 Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Tenax
64 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
65 Ronald Mustaars (Ned)
66 Mads Christensen (Den) Quick-Step
67 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank
68 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
69 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step 4.47
70 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick-Step
71 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
72 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC
73 Andy De Smet (Bel) Team Skil-Moser
74 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
75 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bodysol 6.04